Emma R. Parmee

Dr. Emma R. Parmee

Associate VP & Head of Exploratory Chemistry at Merck & Co.
Emma R. Parmee

Emma Parmee is currently the Head of Exploratory Chemistry and co-chair of MRL’s Early Discovery Council.  In this position, she is responsible for the development of small molecule tools and lead series to enable the validation and progression of innovative new targets into the Lead Optimization portfolio.  From 2010 to 2013, Emma was the Discovery Chemistry Site Lead in West Point where she was responsible for oversight of Medicinal and Exploratory Chemistry efforts carried out at the site in Neuroscience, HIV, and Bone. 

Prior to her move to West Point, Emma was located in Rahway where she worked for nearly eighteen years in the CVD and DO areas and contributed to several projects which have gone on to demonstrate clinical POC including the beta 3 agonist program and the GRA program.  She was also privileged to work on the DPP-4 inhibitor project and contribute to the discovery of Januvia for which she was awarded Thomas Alva Edison Patent Award from the R&D Council of NJ and the SCI Gordon E. Moore Medal for Innovation.  Her work has led to more than thirty issued US patents and over forty publications in peer-reviewed journals.

Prior to joining Merck, Emma completed a NATO postdoctoral fellowship at MIT under Professor Satoru Masamune.  Emma came to the USA from England in 1990 following completion of her D. Phil. Degree at the University of Oxford, studying the total synthesis of milbemycin natural products.