Don Frail is a man that likes to get things done at Pfizer.
“You can make things happen, you can watch things happen, or you can wonder what happened,” he says. “Personally, I prefer making things happen.”
Most recently what he’s made happen is Pfizer’s new $200 million, 330,000-square-foot research building. Located on its Chesterfield campus, the building consolidates all of Pfizer’s St. Louis research activities in one place. It’s a project Frail inherited from Daniel Getman after taking over in 2008 as Pfizer’s site director and vice president of research and development.
“It was actually Dan who got the project underway, and I was on the steering committee,” Frail says. “So I was involved in the project and all the discussions from day one. It was a real learning experience, but enjoyable. The most fun part was thinking about how scientists do their work, and then figuring out how to incorporate that into the design of
the building.”
If anyone knows how a scientist works, it’s Frail. His own research experience spans biology and pharmacology across multiple therapeutic areas and diseases. He’s participated in the identification of over 20 compounds for clinical development, and he has co-authored over
50 publications and patents. And to think he began his career as a clam digger on Long Island.
“I grew up on Long Island and spent seven summers digging clams,” he says smiling. “I was going to go into Marine Biology and be with Flipper, and stuff like that, but then I became interested in human biology.”
Part of the reason for this interest was that Frail’s father had Multiple Sclerosis. As a result, he leaned toward medical research while in college.
“I ended up going to graduate school with a fellowship from the Multiple Sclerosis Society,” he adds. “So there is definitely a connection from my dad all the way through my training and it continues today.”
Frail received a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from McGill University before heading to St. Louis where he completed a post-doctoral fellowship in the Department of Pharmacology at Washington University School of Medicine.
“It was serendipity that I came to Washington University,” he says. “Frankly, before that I didn’t realize what a great place for medical research it is.”
Frail held science and management positions at Wyeth and Abbott Labs before joining Pharmacia where he led their Central Nervous System discovery efforts.
“My move to Pharmacia was a case where someone I worked with several years earlier remembered me and called me,” Frail says. “He was a master at seeing things in people they didn’t even see in themselves. So he was sort of a guardian angel along the way. I’ve had a number of them.”
When Pfizer took over Pharmacia, Frail returned to St. Louis to head up all of the biology functions in the Discovery Unit which included between 150 to 200 biologists. A few years ago, he took over as vice president of the Indications Discovery Unit. Today, he still retains that title. Asked how he balances all these responsibilities he quotes Michael Dell of Dell Computers. “If I’m the smartest guy around the table, then we’re in trouble.”
“I like to keep that in mind,” he says smiling. “Surround yourself with good, smart people. I think that is what has helped
me do both jobs, and it is essential to do them well.”
