In search of stability

Abstract

Craig Lindsley flew out to Tulsa in November 2012 to give a talk about the research in his labs at the Vanderbilt Center for Neuroscience Drug Discovery (VCNDD) in Nashville. His host was William K. Warren Jr., a businessperson and philanthropist who had endowed the medicinal chemist’s chair at Vanderbilt University. Lindsley walked his audience through what was then a six-year effort to develop compounds that address the cognitive challenges and tough-to-treat symptoms of schizophrenia. When he wrapped up his talk, he opened the floor for questions. What happened next changed the course of VCNDD. “Bill stood up and said, ‘I have some questions for you,’ ” Lindsley recalls. “What would you do if I gave you a million dollars?” “What about $5 million?” “What about $10 million?” Warren wasn’t throwing around theoretical money. His foundation was prepared to make a major investment in VCNDD’s efforts to move a drug candidate