Life Sciences Executive
Dr. Hugo Villar Joins UC San Diego Extension

January 30, 2008

By Henry DeVries

Scientist and biotechnology executive Dr. Hugo Villar, founder of the drug discovery technologies company Altoris, Inc., has joined UC San Diego Extension as Director of Life Sciences Programs.

Dr. Hugo Villar

His technical interest over the past 20 years has been in the application of computers to diverse problems in the life sciences. As a result Villar has published articles in over 80 technical peer-review publications and holds over 18 patents in different aspects of drug discovery.

Villar founded Altoris in 2003 to provide new informatics tools for the life sciences. He was Vice President of Chemoproteomics at Triad Therapeutics, a San Diego biotechnology company, from 2001 until 2004, where he developed drug discovery technologies, including patented bioinformatics techniques.

From 1992 until 2001 he held several positions at Telik, Inc., a company focused on the development of oncological products, ultimately leading their product development efforts as Vice President of Discovery Technologies. Previously Villar worked at IBM, SRI International and the Molecular Research Institute, where he still serves on its board of directors.

He holds a Ph.D. in Chemistry from the Universidad Nacional de La Plata (Argentina) and a Masters in Business Administration, with emphasis on Health Care and Pharmaceutical Management, from the University of Colorado, a hybrid online and face-to-face learning experience that reaffirmed his belief in the importance of life-long continuing education.

Media Contact: Henry DeVries, 619-540-3031 or 858-534-9955