David S. Perlin, Ph.D.

David S. Perlin, Ph.D. is Chief Scientific Officer and Executive Vice President of the Center for Discovery and Innovation; Professor of Medical Sciences at the Hackensack Meridian School of Medicine; Professor, Georgetown University Medical Center; Fellow of the New York Academy of Sciences; and Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology.

His research emphasizes studies to diagnose and overcome high threat bacterial, fungal and viral infections in high-risk patients by exploiting insights obtained from molecular investigations of drug resistance, pathogenicity, and host response to improve current therapies, and develop novel drugs and diagnostics.

Dr. David S. Perlin is a highly accomplished biomedical researcher and chief executive who is well recognized for his innovative and entrepreneurial leadership in the biomedical sciences. He is the inaugural Chief Scientific Officer and EVP for the Hackensack Meridian Center for Discovery and Innovation (CDI), which seeks to rapidly translate innovations in science to improve outcomes for patients with cancer, infectious diseases, autoimmune and other acute and chronic disorders. Dr. Perlin has been engaged for >30 years in developing molecular insights and technologies to detect, combat and prevent deadly infections. He is an expert in drug discovery and drug resistance mechanisms, and he has helped develop novel therapeutics and diagnostics against high-threat bacteria, viruses, and fungi. He has published more than 320 papers and book chapters and has co-authored two books, and his laboratory is supported by multiple grants from the NIH, Pharma and biopharma sectors, and the NIH has continuously funded him for 30+ years. He has served on numerous advisory boards for Pharma and Biotech to develop FDA approved drugs. Currently, he leads an NIH-designated national Center of Excellence in Translational Research (CETR) to discover novel anti-infectives against drug resistant bacterial infections. He also co-leads with Rockefeller University Nobel Laureate Dr. Charles Rice the Metropolitan Antiviral Drug Accelerator (MAVDA), one of nine national centers under the NIH AViDD program to develop novel small molecule antiviral drugs against SARS-CoV-2 and other pandemic viruses. During COVID-19, his group established one of the first FDA EUA-approved COVID-19 molecular tests for a healthcare system; they jointly developed a highly successful high-titer convalescent plasma therapy program for hospitalized COVID-19 patients; they engaged in drug discovery against SARS-CoV-2 with Pharma and Biotech partners, and they developed high- throughput technology for the assessment of virus variants of concern. Dr. Perlin has served on advisory boards for the NIH, Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, Global Action Fund for Fungal Infections, Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center, and numerous Pharma, biotech and diagnostic companies Under Dr. Perlin’s leadership, the CDI was named by NJBIZ in 2020 as the top Business Incubator in the state and was further honored with a “Medical Technology Pioneer Health Care Heroes” award for their COVID-19 response. Dr. Perlin is a Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology (2018) and the New York Academy of Sciences (2006). He was named by RO1 a top 10 influencer in healthcare in New Jersey in 2019 and 2020; an Outstanding Scientist in New Jersey by the Edward J. Ill Excellence in Medicine Awards in 2020, 2021, and in 2021, a Top 25 National Innovator by Modern Healthcare. He was named in 2022 a top 25 Notable Health Care Leader by Crain’s New York Business.