Title: Research Professor
Company: University of Illinois Chicago
Location: Chicago, Illinois, United States
Bernard D. Santarsiero, PhD, Research Professor at the University of Illinois Chicago, has been recognized by Top Educators for dedication, achievements, and leadership in Structural Biology and Pharmaceutical Sciences Education.
Dr. Santarsiero’s distinguished career spans more than five decades in biomedical research and higher education, becoming well-known as a leading authority in structural biology, infectious disease drug discovery and diversity-focused academic program development. Celebrating 25 years as a faculty member at the University of Illinois (UI) Chicago, he has served as a research professor in the department of pharmaceutical sciences at the Retzky college of pharmacy since 2000, where his expertise in coronavirus research, including early work on SARS and MERS, and anthrax metabolic pathway studies positioned his team at the forefront of drug discovery for emerging pathogens and bioterrorism-related threats.
In recent years, Dr. Santarsiero has held several key leadership roles at UI Chicago. In 2023, he became the director of research initiatives in the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Research. He previously became an associate at the Pharmacognosy Institute in 2021, an adviser to the senior vice provost for academic programs, student success and engagement in 2020, and the director of research initiatives at the graduate college in 2017.
Dr. Santarsiero’s former positions included spending 2018 to 2025 coordinating the Portal to Biomedical Research Careers PREP program within the graduate college. His commitment to broadening participation in science was also reflected in his role as a coordinator for underrepresented minority student and STEM initiatives for 10 years, starting in 2015.
From 2017 to 2023, Dr. Santarsiero directed research initiatives for the Office of the Vice Chancellor for Diversity, Equity and Engagement. Earlier assignments included co-chairing the chancellor’s committee on the Status of LGBT, Queer People and Allies during two periods, directing X-ray diffraction resources at UI Health Biorepository and serving as adjunct professor in chemistry. Dr. Santarsiero also excelled as the assistant to the director at the Research Resources Center, was the coordinator for technology development at the university’s Center for Clinical and Translational Science, and was the associate director at the UICentre.
Before his tenure in Chicago, Dr. Santarsiero was a visiting investigator at The Scripps Research Institute from 1998 to 2000, following his role as the director of structural genomics at the Genomics Institute of the Novartis Research Foundation between 1998 and 2000. He also worked as the engineering project manager at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory from 1996 to 2000, and was the division manager at Rigaku, where he managed the Macromolecular (Protein) marketing group, between 1992 and 1996. Earlier academic appointments included research associate at the University of Alberta for five years, beginning in 1987, visiting scientist at the University of Washington in 1987 and Dr. Santarsiero’s role as Myron A. Bantrell research fellow in chemical catalysis at California Institute of Technology for over five years, between 1980 and 1986.
A pivotal milestone in Dr. Santarsiero’s career was co-founding Syrrx (now part of Takeda Pharmaceutical Company Ltd.) in 1998. As a consultant and co-founder until 2007, he helped establish the company following the patented technology that he and two others developed with the University of California, Berkeley, and roughly $100 million in venture capital.
Dr. Santarsiero’s success can be attributed to his academic foundation, which includes a Bachelor of Science in chemistry from Harvey Mudd College in Claremont, California, in 1975 and a Doctor of Philosophy in physical chemistry from the University of Washington in Seattle in 1980. These formative experiences were influenced by mentors whose passion for teaching and research inspired him throughout his own career trajectory. Early exposure through Project Open Future, a summer program supporting low-income students from under-resourced schools, and volunteer work tutoring disabled students also instilled a lifelong dedication to educational access and equity.
Among Dr. Santarsiero’s professional affiliations, which reflect both his scientific stature and advocacy for diversity within academia, he is an active member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Chemical Society, the American Society for Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, the American Society of Pharmacognosy, and others. He is also a member, former treasurer and elected fellow of the American Crystallographic Association.
Beyond his scientific pursuits, Dr. Santarsiero has been deeply engaged with civic organizations advancing equal rights. He served as the secretary with Gerber/Hart Library and Archives from 2004 to 2006, spent more than a decade with the Servicemembers Legal Defense Network, was a board member and newsletter editor with American Veterans for Equal Rights’ Chicago chapter before joining its national board, and has advocated tirelessly on healthcare access issues affecting LGBTQ servicemembers and veterans. Moreover, Dr. Santarsiero has been committed to animal rescue and adoption, having provided homes for several shelter dogs over recent years.
Dr. Santarsiero’s scholarly output included authorship or co-authorship on more than 165 peer-reviewed journal articles spanning organometallic chemistry, catalysis, natural products research, drug discovery and solid-state materials science. He also contributed as the co-editor for Acta Crystallographica from 2012 to 2020.
Throughout his career, Dr. Santarsiero has demonstrated exceptional expertise across structural biology and infectious disease drug discovery, including coronaviruses such as SARS and MERS, and anthrax metabolic pathway research. He has also become recognized for his leadership in recruiting underrepresented minority students into STEM fields, supporting LGBTQ students in higher education and developing diversity-focused faculty recruitment programs that have brought dozens of new faculty members from diverse backgrounds into academia. As a testament to his hard work, Dr. Santarsiero has secured nine U.S. patents reflecting innovative advances across these fields.
Dr. Santarsiero has also been recognized with numerous honors, including him and his engineering team at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory receiving a Research and Development Award for developing high-throughput structural biology instrumentation in 2002. More recently, he won the Diamond Award for Academic Leadership in Higher Education presented by The Not Alone Foundation in 2024. In 2025, UI honored him with a Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Faculty Award, a Chancellor’s Academic Award and a Latinos Lifetime Service Award from the chancellor’s committee for the senate. Furthermore, Dr. Santarsiero was featured in Harvey Mudd College Magazine in recognition of his impact on student engagement in research and the promotion of diversity within science education.
Looking ahead, Dr. Santarsiero is entering a new phase focused on teaching, writing and service on foundation or corporate boards following formal retirement from active laboratory work at IU Chicago while remaining closely affiliated as an adjunct research professor. He continues teaching an honors college course exploring drug discovery through cultural perspectives, with plans underway to develop these lectures into a textbook manuscript.
Dr. Santarsiero’s professional journey has been shaped by a commitment to lifelong learning and openness to new ideas. He encourages colleagues and students alike to explore beyond their immediate disciplines, remain adaptable amid technological change, and share their enthusiasm for discovery with others, principles he considers vital as science evolves rapidly.
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