Nutritional Therapist
Larry Callahan grew up on the South side of Chicago as the oldest of eight children. He obtained a Bachelor’s Degree in Chemistry from Roosevelt University and a Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Chicago. His thesis was on the mechanism of the B-Z DNA transition. Larry also synthesized non-hydrolysable analogs of Adenosine Phosphosulfate (APS), and Phospho-Adenosine Phosphosulfate (PAPS). These analogs led to the purification and cloning of enzymes involved in sulfation.
After obtaining his Ph.D. Larry worked at the Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER). He was the first to show that CD4 based therapies were unlikely to be effective as a treatment for HIV and worked out the mechanism of polyanionic substances inhibiting HIV. He also explained the role of electrostatic charge distribution within HIV’s gp120 V3 loop in controlling both the pathogenicity and infectivity of HIV.
Larry has also worked at the United States Pharmacopeia (USP) in the lab developing and testing a variety of analytical methods. He also developed monographs for biotechnology derived products and other complex materials.
Larry managed a team of contractors that was responsible for the development and deployment of several chemical-biological databases. These include Chemdb for NIAID’s Division of Aids, ChemId for the National Library of Medicine’s, and an Imaging Agent database for the National Cancer Institute.
Larry returned to FDA in 2008 and was responsible for the development of the ISO 11238 standard one of five standards that are part of the ISO Identification of Medicinal Products (IDMP) effort. He was responsible for the development of Global Substance Registration in collaboration with NIH’s National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS).
Larry is committed to improving global health through the organization of information to further modernize regulation, drug development and address shortages of medical products. Trials of Life is an effort he has cofounded with Paul Houston, the goal of Trials of Life is to determine regimens that are truly effective in improving the human condition throughout the world.