Scripps Research mourns passing of pioneering scientist Richard Lerner Lerner made major scientific contributions and built Scripps Research into a world-renowned hub of innovative science and medicine.
December 04, 2021
LA JOLLA, CA Richard Lerner, MD, a scientific pioneer who developed technologies that had a major impact on science and medicine, and who played a critical role in shaping Scripps Research and San Diego's burgeoning life sciences sector, passed away on December 2, 2021. He was 83 years old.
Richard had a tremendous influence on science, the institute, and the lives and work of many of us at Scripps Research, says Peter Schultz, PhD, President and CEO of Scripps Research and a long-time collaborator with Lerner. He was truly a giant and his vision, leadership and passion for science will be deeply missed.
A Stanford-trained physician-scientist, Lerner served as Director and President of Scripps Research from 1987 through 2012. During his tenure, Scripps Research established a Florida campus and launched the institute's bi-coastal graduate school, now named the Skaggs Graduate School of Chemical and Biological Sciences. With its interdisciplinary research focus, the school soon ranked among the top 10 graduate programs of its kind in the U.S.
Richard's fearlessness and bold ideas propelled Scripps Research to its current stature as one of the world's leading biomedical research institutes, says Schultz.
Paul Schimmel, PhD, a professor in the institute's Department of Molecular Medicine, says Lerner infused the institute with an esprit de corps that invigorated the science. We felt we were with him on a non-stop adventure, says Schimmel, like pioneers of the old west, who would transform medical research and its associated graduate education.
Lerner also recruited an impressive cadre of scientists to La Jolla in fields ranging from structural and computational biology to immunology and molecular medicine, and also established the institute's now top ranked Department of Chemistry.
Scripps Research chemistry professor Barry Sharpless, PhD, who Lerner recruited in 1991, says Lerner provided a remarkable environment for the institute's researchers. He just hired us and said I will support you, do your thing, says Sharpless, who won the 2001 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. That was something rare in a leader.
Lerner was known as a highly creative and interdisciplinary scientist and his lab produced numerous impactful discoveries and technologies. Among more than 400 published works, his achievements include the development of synthetic peptide vaccines, catalytic antibodies, and combinatorial antibody and DNA-encoded chemical libraries innovations that are used by academic and industry laboratories worldwide.
His work paved the way to widely used novel therapeutics including the arthritis drug Humira and the lupus treatment, Benlysta. He was a visionary, says Sharpless. He saw what chemistry could do for medicine and biology.
Highly entrepreneurial, Lerner was an early advocate of pushing new basic research discoveries and technologies toward their useful and practical applications in the marketplace. He cultivated relationships between academia and industry at a time when such partnerships were unusual. His boundary-crossing ideas helped establish Scripps Research and the entire San Diego science sector into the global hub for translational research and entrepreneurship that it is today.
Originally from Chicago, Lerner received his bachelor's degree from Stanford University in 1959 and his medical degree from Stanford's School of Medicine in 1964. After finishing medical school, he interned for a year at Stanford Hospital, then accepted a postdoctoral fellowship in 1965 in the Department of Experimental Pathology at Scripps Research, known at the time as the Scripps Clinic and Research Foundation. After his fellowship, he joined the Wistar Institute in Philadelphia where he conducted research for a year before returning to Scripps Research as a faculty member in 1970.
In 1987 Lerner was named President of the institute. He served in that position for 25 years, during which time the institute's research operations grew substantially, including nearly tripling its laboratory space. Scripps Research attracted some of the world's top scientific talent during his tenure, including several Nobel laureates.
In 2012, Lerner was appointed as the Founding Director of the Shanghai Institute for Advanced Immunochemical Studies at Shanghai Tech University, Shanghai, China. In this capacity he recruited world scientific leaders to implement the institute's strategic focus, as well as directed research in his own laboratory.
He received numerous honors over his career, including the Wolf Prize in Chemistry, California Scientist of the Year Award, the Paul Ehrlich and Ludwig Darmstaedter Prize, the Windhaus Medal, and the Prince of Asturias Award. He was an elected member of the National Academy of Sciences and the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences, and received honorary degrees from Oxford University, Ben-Gurion University, Northwestern University, Karolinska Institute, and Florida Atlantic University.
He held positions on many boards of directors, including Kraft Foods, Sequenom, and OPKO Health, Intra-Cellular Therapies and Teva Pharmaceuticals, and served on the scientific advisory boards of 5AM Ventures, Bay City Capital and Sorrento Therapeutics.
Lerner also served on the editorial boards of high-impact scientific journals, including the Journal of Virology, Molecular Biology and Medicine, Vaccine, Bioorganic and Medicinal Chemistry Letters, Drug Targeting and Delivery, Bioorganic and Medicinal Chemistry, Molecular Medicine, Catalysis Technology, and Angewandte Chemie.
A long-time resident of La Jolla, Lerner is
Most recent headlines
05/01/2027
Worlds first 802.15.4ab-UWB chip verified by Calterah and Rohde & Schwarz to be ...
09/10/2026
September 10 2026, 06:00 (PDT) Dolby Expands Dolby OptiView Platform with New Capabilities at IBC 2026
New Sports Intelligence helps providers better unders...
07/10/2026
Dalet, a leading technology and service provider for media-rich organizations, today announced the latest Long-Term Supported (LTS) release of Dalet Flex. Build...
29/09/2026
Oak View Group (OVG) has announced Cisco as an Official Technology Partner, with plans to standardize infrastructure across its venue network on Cisco solutions...
29/09/2026
SportsNet Pittsburgh (SNP) won three honors at the 2026 Mid-Atlantic Emmy Awards.
Program awards went to Bucs BP in the Sports Program Live category (produced ...
29/09/2026
The Professional Women's Hockey League has announced home openers for all 12 teams for the 2026-27 season, along with a broadcast partnership with CBC under...
29/09/2026
Manifold technologies has been recognized as a contributor to the Media eXchange...
29/09/2026
FuboTV has announced My Local Sports, allowing subscribers in select markets to add their local regional sports network (RSN) as an add-on to a Fubo Sports subs...
29/09/2026
Asian News International (ANI), a wire agency and video news provider based in India, has deployed Grass Valley's AMPP Media Operating System and Framelight...
29/09/2026
South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) has deployed Ikegami UHK-X600 cameras as part of an upgrade to IP-based production infrastructure. The deployment ...
29/09/2026
REMI, REMCO models will drive the bulk of the broadcaster's NHL productions ...
29/09/2026
Three years in, the facility is supporting more centralized race production, com...
29/09/2026
NBC, Peacock, and NBSN are carrying all four Wild Card series with a production ...
29/09/2026
19 Nonfiction Projects Across All Stages of Production to Receive More Than $1 million in Support as Documentary Film Program Approaches 25th Anniversary
LOS ...
29/09/2026
Two new plug-ins launch alongside updated bundles
Zynaptiq have just announced the launch of two new plug-ins, alongside new and improved versions of two of...
29/09/2026
All-in-one bus processor revealed
Wes Audio's ng product range has come a long way since it was first introduced, and now includes a tasty selection of ...
29/09/2026
eds3_5_jq(document).ready(function($) { $(#eds_sliderM519).chameleonSlider_2_1({ content_source:......
29/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/09/2026
Ikegami announces that the South African Broadcasting Corporation, SABC, has chosen Ikegami UHK-X600 camera systems as part of an advance to IP-based operation ...
29/09/2026
Blendkit Offers 20% Discount to Celebrate Crossing 150K Asset Milestone
Brie Clayton September 29, 2026
0 Comments
Blendkit, the largest 3D asset libr...
29/09/2026
Interactive streaming specialist Ease Live supported more than 76.5 million fan sessions across three major European media operators during this summers FIFA Wo...
29/09/2026
Ease Live has added support for VAST (Video Ad Serving Template) to its graphical overlay technology, opening up new ways for broadcasters, streamers and rights...
29/09/2026
Rise AV has announced the launch of the inaugural Rise AV Awards, a new global awards programme celebrating the women, advocates and organisations across the AV...
29/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/09/2026
Share
Copy link
Facebook
X
Linkedin
Bluesky
Email...
29/09/2026
Clear-Com announced that First Baptist Nashville has upgraded its production communications with a Clear-Com intercom solution as part of a comprehensive sanct...
29/09/2026
Blackmagic Cinema Camera 6K Captured Action Shots for Sketch
Brie Clayton September 28, 2026
0 Comments
Camera's portable design and dynamic range...
29/09/2026
Kean Production Services Deploys AJA ColorBox to Deliver Consistent, Accurate Co...
29/09/2026
Berklee Alumni and Faculty Nominated for the 2026 Latin Grammy Awards A total of 28 Berklee alumni and faculty earned nominations across 20 categories this ye...
29/09/2026
Berklee's K-Pop & Beyond Explores Connections Between K-Pop and Hip-Hop Now in its fifth year, the series brings together artists, industry leaders, and s...
29/09/2026
We tend to think we live in a digital world, with hopes and fears around artificial intelligence (AI), quantum computing, data centres and the next big technolo...
29/09/2026
Today, in partnership with the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP), Apple relea...
29/09/2026
Final Cut Camera, the professional filming app for iPhone, receives a major upda...
29/09/2026
RT lyric fm is proud to announce the annual Choirs for Christmas competition callout. Warm up those vocal chords and join us on RT lyric fm for a celebration ...
28/09/2026
The NHL has announced Adobe as an Official Creative, Marketing and AI Partner beginning with the 2026-27 season. The partnership will provide the league and its...
28/09/2026
MultiDyne will exhibit at CABSAT 2026 (October 5-7, Dubai Exhibition Centre), showcasing an expanded technology portfolio following its June 2026 acquisition of...
28/09/2026
ARRI and HONOR have announced the HONOR Magic9 Pro Max, a flagship smartphone carrying ARRI branding on the device and packaging as the first product-level expr...
28/09/2026
Net Insight has added the Nimbra 1020G to its pan-Asian live media trial network, giving customers and partners in the region a way to evaluate ST 2110 and JPEG...
28/09/2026
Vindral has been named a recipient of a 2026 Technology and Engineering Emmy Award by the National Academy of Television Arts and Sciences in the category of We...
28/09/2026
Interra Systems will exhibit at CABSAT 2026 (Stand B2-37, Dubai Exhibition Centre, October 5-7), demonstrating its BATON QC platform, ORION monitoring solutions...
28/09/2026
Two years into its new production facility, the TOUR is expanding centralized wo...
Scripps Research mourns passing of pioneering scientist Richard Lerner Lerner made major scientific contributions and built Scripps Research into a world-renowned hub of innovative science and medicine.
