Author: [AUTHOR] Published on 9/1/2025 12:00:00 AM
John Wagner, MD, PhD, Entrepreneur-in-Residence, Aditum Bio, and Chief Medical Officer, Tempero Bio, Concord, MA
What does being the 2025 Gary Neil Prize Recipient mean to you?
The Gary Neil Prize is a terrific honor and privilege. First and foremost, I am deeply appreciative of my dear colleagues who recognized and nominated me for this award. It is humbling to receive an award meant to recognize the application of significant, innovative science to clinical drug development. Throughout my career, I have focused on, in particular, the use and advancement of biomarkers in drug development, including biomarker validation and qualification, fit-for-purpose biomarkers, use of target engagement and disease-related biomarkers, digital biomarkers, and the FNIH Biomarkers Consortium. Finally, the Gary Neil Prize also honors the many peers, contributors, teams, and stakeholders who worked tirelessly to advance biomarkers in drug development and medical practice.
What professional accomplishment are you most proud of?
By far, I am most proud of the mentees, colleagues, peers, and teams with whom I have worked. Helping others achieve their goals and aspirations is more satisfying than achieving my own goals, plus the impact is multiplied. I am particularly proud of the extraordinary early-career scientists I have had the privilege to mentor; they embody the future and spirit of ASCPT.
Who has inspired you in your career?
Many, many mentors, colleagues, peers, patients, friends, family, and mentees have inspired and motivated me. Solomon H. Snyder, my PhD advisor, drove my curiosity, interest in clinical medicine, and involvement in industry. Sol is one of the most intellectually curious people I have encountered and is known for saying, “Of course, if you can predict the consequences of your own experiments before they commence, your research is very likely to be boring.” One of my cystic fibrosis patients, Hayley Wester, was a living inspiration. Although she died at the age of 22 years, her energy, charisma, and bravery were unparalleled. Her favorite quote was from Yoda in The Empire Strikes Back: “Do or do not. There is no try.”
Do you have a favorite tip or trick for clinical practice or research that you want to share with fellow members?
Many of us practice team science, collaborative work with a variety of team members or stakeholders. From my perspective, there are at least two tips or principles to follow in daily professional practice: be curious and be fully present. Cultivating curiosity and following observations to their conclusions leads to discovery and progress. Being fully present and avoiding multitasking—to every extent possible—are the keys to success in research or clinical practice. Also–and this is very important–have fun in what you are doing. Having fun keeps professional life fresh and can be motivational as well.
What is your favorite society memory?
My favorite ASCPT memory is the crowdsourced asparagus urinary odor kinetics clinical experiment we did at the ASCPT 2015 Annual Meeting. We conducted the first-ever crowdsourced clinical study aimed at characterizing asparagus urinary odor kinetics in healthy participants. Never before have so many people at ASCPT talked so much about the odor of their urine, all for the good cause of science and education. Read about it in Ramamoorthy et al published in CPT: PSP*.
How do you keep focused and motivated?
Patients keep me focused and motivated. “There is so much more to be done; the patients are waiting” is a quote originally attributed to Dr. Paul Janssen, and is a guiding principle underlying my professional life, including clinical practice, industry clinical pharmacology and translational science contributions, ASCPT, and journal editorial work. Our contributions are urgently needed—knowing and remembering that patients are waiting drive focus and urgency.
What was your childhood dream job?
My first choice career when I was a child was a mad scientist.
What is one thing that people would probably be surprised to know about you?
Most surprising is probably that I have a regular meditation practice.
Dr. Wagner has been a member of ASCPT since 2000.
*Ramamoorthy A, Sadler BM, van Hasselt JGC, Elassaiss-Schaap J, Kasichayanula S, Edwards AY, van der Graaf PH, Zhang L, Wagner JA. Crowdsourced Asparagus Urinary Odor Population Kinetics. CPT Pharmacometrics Syst Pharmacol. 2018;7(1):34–41. doi: 10.1002/psp4.12264.
