Short Biography: Brian Guth
Brian grew up in the town of Dearborn, a suburb just outside of Detroit, Michigan, the third of
three children. His school years were spent in the Dearborn public schools, in which both
parents were teachers. The long summer vacations were spent travelling with the family
throughout North America in their Avion travel trailer. Brian graduated from Dearborn High
School in 1974 receiving also the year’s science award and being a National Merit Scholar.
The college years were spent at Hope College in Holland, Michigan ending up with a double
major in Biology and Chemistry in 1978. An interest in research was already apparent with a
summer fellowship between the Junior and Senior years doing parasitology research at the
Kellogg Research Center near Kalamazoo, Michigan and after the Senior year working for the
University of Michigan Great Lakes Division, doing a fish survey at a nearby power plant.
Graduate studies were done at the University of California, San Diego in their
Physiological/Pharmacology program, sponsored by the NIH. His thesis work, completed in
1983, was done in the laboratory of Prof. Colin Bloor in the Department of Pathology
studying effects on regional myocardial blood flow and function during myocardial ischemia
and reperfusion. Following completion of the thesis work, Brian worked 2 years as an NIH
post-doc in the Seaweed Canyon Laboratory directed by Dr. John Ross, Jr. In this capacity he
served as on site coordinator of the laboratory integrating his personal research with that of
other cardiology fellows and guest scientists. At the conclusion of his post-doctoral fellowship,
Brian was appointed Assistant Adjunct Professior at the University of California, San Diego
School of Medicine.
In 1989 Brian received a fellowship from the Alexander von Humboldt Stiftung to do
research work at the University of Essen, Germany with his colleague and friend Prof. Gerd
Heusch, Head of the Department of Pathophysiology. At the conclusion of this fellowship, he
took a position as Laboratory Leader at Boehringer Ingelheim Pharma GmbH & Co KG (then
known as Dr. Karl Thomae GmbH) in the thromboembolic research group. Since then he has
taken the position of Director, General Pharmacology in the Department of Drug Discovery
Support, a position he still holds. His professional interests, supported by his involvemenet
with the Safety Pharmacology Society, deal with early safety testing of drug candidates.
Brian lives in Warthausen, Germany with his family. Brita, his wife, has a very successful
veterinary practice specializing on small animals. His two daughters, Lucy Ann (8) and Katy
Hanna (6) are attending the local public school in the 3rd and 1st grades, respectively. Travel
and sports keeps the family busy, when not at work or school.