Thomas S. Scanlan is Professor of Physiology & Pharmacology, and Director of the Program in Chemical Biology at Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU) in Portland, Oregon.  He was formerly Professor of Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Cellular & Molecular Pharmacology at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). 

Dr. Scanlan’s formal training is in organic chemistry, and in began his independent career using chemical approaches to study thyroid hormone action.  Dr. Scanlan’s research accomplishments include the discovery and development of selective thyromimetics, most notably Sobetirome (GC-1) which has been studied clinically for different metabolic disease indications. Dr. Scanlan also discovered and characterized a novel class of biogenic amine thyroid hormone metabolites called thyronamines that have biological activities distinct from those of thyroxine and T₃.  Most recently Dr. Scanlan’s research has focused on the development of central nervous system penetrating thyromimetics as therapeutics for demyelinating diseases such as multiple sclerosis.  Dr. Scanlan has over 11,000 career citations and an h-index of 56. His honors include the National Science Foundation Career Award, the Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellow Award, the Arthur C. Cope Scholar Award from the American Chemical Society, the Resko Faculty Research and Mentoring Award, and the Technology Transfer Achievement Award (OHSU).