Henry Johnson

Henry W. B. Johnson is Director at Kezar Life Sciences and was previously a senior member of the medicinal chemistry team at Onyx Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a subsidiary of Amgen. Prior to joining Onyx, he served as a research scientist at Exelixis, Inc. for eight years. During his time there he contributed to several drug discovery programs and he was a primary contributor in the development of four small molecules which entered the clinic.

He obtained his Ph.D. at the University of Utah with Jon Rainier where he completed the synthesis of the natural product gambierol and designed a new methodology targeting cyclic ethers. He earned his B.S. in biochemistry from Cal Poly, San Luis Obispo. Dr. Johnson is an author of more than 40 scientific publications and patents. In his current role, he utilizes CDD as a tool to promote a collaborative, nimble, and hypothesis-driven culture.