Dudnyk executive team
Christopher Tobias, PhD
Executive Vice President, Chief Scientific Officer, Director of Business Development
Dr. Tobias, respected scientific director and uber successful business development guru, was a proud son of Cleveland, Ohio, a salt-of-the-earth town, but without much in the way of resources for a brilliant scientist who needed to further his education. So, Chris did what any suburban Cleveland kid would do. He stole car parts.
Seriously, along with his profound intellect, Chris was born with a natural athletic skill and tremendous balance. So, he traded a few years of early morning workouts, strained muscles, and rides in buses to meets for a medical technology degree from Michigan State University. That started his scientific odyssey, which took him from MSU to Georgetown University to a molecular biology and oncology lab to Drexel University College of Medicine for a doctoral degree in neuroscience to medical writing and, eventually, to the wonderful world of Dudnyk as Chief Scientific Officer.
Along the way, his agility and balance as a hall of fame high school scholar athlete and Division I NCAA athlete have served him well at Dudnyk. Chris can perform some strategic gymnastics, being able to move effortlessly from Chief Scientific Officer to his other event—Director of Business Development. Like an Iron Cross, a complicated move that not many people can pull off. “Sticking it” is a specialty that Dr. Tobias has mastered across multiple disciplines.
PharmaVOICE, a premier pharmaceutical industry journal, included Christopher Tobias, PhD, on its 2012 list of the 100 most inspiring people.
Dr. Tobias has 14 peer-reviewed publications in medical journals. Most recently he was the lead author on the following articles:
Tobias CA, Han SS, Shumsky JS, Kim D, Tumolo M, Dhoot NO, et al. Alginate encapsulated BDNF-producing fibroblast grafts permit recovery of function after spinal cord injury in the absence of immune suppression. J Neurotrauma. 2005;22(1):138-156.
Tobias CA,* Shumsky JS, Tumolo M, Long WD, Giszter SF, Murray M. Delayed transplantation of fibroblasts genetically modified to secrete BDNF and NT-3 into a spinal cord injury site is associated with limited recovery of function. Exp Neurol. 2003;184(1):114-130.
Tobias CA, Shumsky JS, Shibata M, Tuszynski MH, Fischer I, Tessler A, et al. Delayed grafting of BDNF and NT-3 producing fibroblasts into the injured spinal cord stimulates sprouting, partially rescues axotomized red nucleus neurons from loss and atrophy, and provides limited regeneration. Exp Neurol. 2003;184(1):97-113.
Tobias CA, Dhoot NO, Wheatley MA, Tessler A, Murray M, Fischer I. Grafting of encapsulated BDNF-producing fibroblasts into the injured spinal cord without immune suppression in adult rats. J Neurotrauma. 2001;18(3):287-301.
Tobias CA, Kim D, Fischer I. Improved recombinant retroviral titers utilizing trichostatin A. Biotechniques. 2000;29(4):884-890.
*Co-first authorship
Dr. Tobias holds degrees from these institutions:
- PhD in Neuroscience from Drexel University College of Medicine
- MS in Physiology from Georgetown University
- BS in Medical Technology from Michigan State University