Since 2014 The Wake Forest Department of Chemistry and the alumni group, the Wake Forest Friends of Chemistry, has sponsored two alumni awards, a Distinguished Alumni Award and a Young Alumni Award. The Distinguished award honors Chemistry alumni for their preeminent contributions and service to the advancement of any facet of the chemical sciences and who have a sustained and enduring record of achievement, recognized nationally or internationally, and who continue to exemplify WFU’s commitment to excellence in their contributions.
The Young Alumni Award honors Chemistry alumni under the age of 40, who have significantly contributed to any facet of the chemical sciences and continue to exemplify WFU’s commitment to excellence in their contributions.
We are proud to announce that the recipient of the 2024 Young Alumni Award is Mallory Makowsky, Pharm.D.. Mallory received her B.S. from Wake Forest University in 2008, with joint majors in Chemistry and Mathematics. While a student at Wake, Mallory worked in the Chemistry Department stockroom (which no longer exists in our newly renovated building!), and she completed an Honors thesis with Dr. Suzanne Tobey. Following her graduation from Wake, Mallory completed her Doctor of Pharmacy degree with a focus on Medicinal Chemistry & Pharmacokinetics/Biopharmaceutics at the University of Maryland in 2012, including externships in Late Stage Clinical Development at Eli Lilly & Co. (Indianapolis, IN) and Regulatory Project Management with the FDA (Silver Spring, MD). Makowsky then went on to complete a postdoctoral fellowship in Early-Stage Development at Merck (Rahway, NJ), during which time she also served as an Adjunct Faculty member in Advanced Pharmacy Practice at Rutgers University Earnest Mario School of Pharmacy. Over the past 10 years, Mallory distinguished herself in the field of clinical development and pharmaceutical research at MedImmune (now AstraZeneca, in Gaithersburg, MD), where she was responsible for the design, execution and oversight of global Phase III registrational trials in GI cancers, and contributed to three new drug approvals for the treatment of hepatobiliary tumors. In this role, and as a registered pharmacist (in New Jersey and Florida), Mallory co-authored 13 publications in influential journals. Since June 2024, Mallory has continued her passion for research and drug development at Erasca INC (San Diego, CA), where she currently serves in the role of Senior Director of Clinical Development, focusing on novel therapies for the treatment of RAS mutated malignant melanoma. Mallory’s impressive list of contributions in the field of pharmaceutical research and clinical development speaks to her commitment to human well-being, in keeping with Wake’s motto, Pro Humanitate, and we are so proud of all that she has accomplished.