Carter-Bernan Consulting, LLC

Valerie S. Bernan, Ph.D.  has twenty years of research experience in Drug Discovery and Development.  She received her Ph.D. at Georgetown University under the direction of Dr. Edward Katz, where she began her research on actinomycetes and the production of microbial products.  From 1989-2008, she was member of the Natural Products Microbiology  department at American Cyanamid/Wyeth culminating as a Principal Research Microbiologist.  Her primary interests are in the field of Natural Products Microbiology, Directed Biosynthesis, and Biodiversity. Dr. Bernan's  research contributions include the isolation, fermentation optimization, and scale-up of eubacteria, actinomycetes, and fungi from environmental sources.  Her research emphasizes  unusual terrestrial actinomycets, endophytes, and symbiotic microorganisms from invertebrate marine animals.  These efforts resulted in the development of the internationally recognized marine microorganism isolation and fermentation program at Wyeth.  Dr. Bernan also has expertise in the taxonomic classification of actinomycetes and eubacteria for patent purposes, utilizing both molecular and biochemical characterization.  Her contributions have resulted in advanced lead compounds, patents, numerous publications, book chapters, and invited lectures. 

Guy T. Carter, Ph.D. retired from Pfizer, Inc. in 2010 where he had been Assistant Vice President of Chemical Technologies in the pharmaceutical R & D organization.  In this role at Pfizer (and pre-2010 at Wyeth) he was responsible for Natural Products Discovery, which included all aspects of this program from the acquisition of biodiversity, microbiology and fermentation through chemical isolation and genetic engineering.  Dr. Carter received a bachelor’s degree in Chemistry from Lehigh University and a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of Wisconsin, and was an NIH Postdoctoral Fellow with the late Professor Kenneth Rinehart at the University of Illinois.  In 30 years of research in industry he discovered numerous biologically active natural products, including the nemadectins, which led to the commercial antiparasitic agent Moxidectin.  As a result of this research he is named as an inventor on 21 issued US Patents and as a co-author on more than 100 publications.  Dr. Carter has also been active in many international scientific organizations including editorial boards of the Journal of Antibiotics, Journal of Natural Products, Antimicrobial Agents and Chemotherapy, and Natural Products Reports.  He has served on the Executive Committee of the American Society for Pharmacognosy (1998-2001), and as its Vice President (2007), and President (2008). He has participated in several NIH Study Section reviews, including being a regular member of the Synthetic and Biological Chemistry B Study Section 2005-2008. Dr. Carter was the Chair of the Gordon Research Conference on Marine Natural Products held in February 2010.

For references to selected scientific contributions, please click on the link below.

Selected References to Scientific Contributions