Olaf Kinzel

Olaf Kinzel is an experienced medicinal chemist currently serving as Senior Director of Medicinal Chemistry at Acerta Pharma B.V., a member of the AstraZeneca Group, since July 2020. Previously, Olaf held the position of Sr. Director of Chemistry at Phenex Pharmaceuticals AG from August 2009 to July 2020, where responsibilities included heading the internal Medicinal Chemistry efforts and participating in the Project Steering Committee, with a focus on oncology and immunology. Prior to that, Olaf was a Research Fellow at Merck from March 2000 to August 2009, contributing to the discovery of various inhibitors including PARP and HIV-1 targets. Olaf's career began with a postdoctoral fellowship that involved innovative synthesis techniques at Dompé and culminated with a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from the University of Cologne.