Daniel E. Levy

DANIEL E. LEVY, PhD is an organic and medicinal chemist dedicated to improving the quality of patients' lives by contributing to the discovery and development of new therapeutic agents.

While pursuing his undergraduate degree at the University of California - Berkeley, Dr. Levy explored all opportunities to participate in organic chemistry research and to develop his laboratory skills. Under the supervision of Professor Henry Rapoport, he contributed to projects including the synthesis of novel analogs of pilocarpine and the synthesis of 4-amino-4-deoxy sugars from amino acids.

Following the completion of his bachelor's of science in 1987, Dr. Levy pursued his Ph.D. at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Under the direction of Professor Satoru Masamune, Dr. Levy completed a thesis entitled "Towards the Synthesis of Calyculin A."

After receiving his Ph.D. in 1992, Dr. Levy contributed to biotechnology companies pursuing novel therapeutics for the treatment of inflammation, cancer and cardiovascular diseases. He held positions at companies including Glycomed, COR Therapeutics, Scios and Intradigm. Dr. Levy is currently the Vice President of Manufacturing at Censa Pharmaceuticals. He is also the founder of DEL Biopharma LLC providing research and development support to pharmaceutical companies.

In 1995, Dr. Levy coauthored with Dr. Cho Tang a book entitled "The Chemistry of C-Glycosides" and later collaborated with Dr. Peter Fugedi in the development and presentation of short courses entitled "Modern Synthetic Carbohydrate Chemistry" and "The Organic Chemistry of Sugars" offered by the American Chemical Society Continuing Education Department. In 2005, Dr. Levy coedited with Dr. Fugedi the book "The Organic Chemistry of Sugars" based on the short course of the same name.

Through his studies, Dr. Levy noticed that many organic chemistry students rely on memorization of the vast number of reactions taught in introductory courses. It was this observation that motivated him to write "Arrow Pushing in Organic Chemisty: An Easy Approach to Understanding Reaction Mechanisms." This book, published in 2008, began as an outline of his approach to study and tutor organic chemistry. It is designed to teach strategies that minimize memorization and increase understanding. The goal of this supplementary text is to retain and motivate more students in the pursuit of organic chemistry and related disciplines. The second edition, complete with new chapters and expanded material, was published in 2017. "Arrow Pushing in Organic Chemistry" is dedicated to the memory of Professor Henry Rapoport.