James Empfield, PhD

Dr James Empfield joined our team in 2016 and serves as the Executive Vice President of Drug Discovery. Before coming to Xenon, he was the Vice President of Drug Discovery and Chemistry at Vertex Pharmaceuticals. In that role, he was also the Co-Site Head of Research of Boston, and he shared responsibility for the entire research organization and delivery of lead optimization projects into preclinical development. He also had a long and successful career at AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals, eventually becoming the Director of the CNS Chemistry Department. Jim earned his PhD in chemistry from the University of Pennsylvania, an MS in chemistry from Bucknell University, and a BSc in chemistry from Lebanon Valley College.