Scott Weir, Pharm.D., Ph.D.

 Director | Institute for Advancing Medical Innovation
 Professor | Department of Pharmacology and Therapeutics
 Associate Director | Translational Research
 Kelly Family Foundation IAMI Professor in Cancer Drug Discovery and Development

Scott J. Weir, Pharm.D., Ph.D., is co-director of the Institute for Advancing Medical Innovation, which conducts product development-focused translational research, transforming laboratory and bedside discoveries into therapeutic, diagnostic and medical device products with clear paths to market. Weir has over 39 years of professional experience in the field of drug discovery and development, 20 of which were spent in the pharmaceutical industry prior to joining KU Medical Center in 2006.

During his tenure in the pharmaceutical industry, Weir contributed to the development and registration of over 26 drug products. His specific areas of expertise are in clinical pharmacology and developing innovative approaches to drug discovery and development. He has built a reputation of being innovative in bridging the “Valley of Death” through high-performance public-private partnerships as well as repurposing FDA-approved drugs and rescuing abandoned drugs.  Such partnerships have resulted in the creation of a robust cancer drug discovery portfolio of approximately 30 projects as well as advancement of six KU-invented anticancer agents to clinical trials over the past six years.

In 2015, IAMI established a preferred partnership with BioNovus Innovations LLC, providing a clear path to commercialization of medical innovations created within the University of Kansas and its regional partners, including Children’s Mercy Kansas City.  This public-private partnership has advanced to a unique product development-focused translational research model CureBridgeCollaborative with ten Kansas City area biotechnology companies formed to date.

From 2012-2017, Weir served on the National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS) Advisory Council as well as the Cures Acceleration Network (CAN) Board. He co-chaired the NCATS Working Group that developed goals and objectives for the NIH Clinical and Translational Science Award program. Weir also participated on the Institute of Medicine Mapping the Drug Discovery and Development initiative and served on the NCI STTR/SBIR Working Group, advising this small business granting program on initiatives designed to strengthen collaborations with NCI-designated cancer centers. Weir serves on several scientific and external advisory boards including Family Health International 360, the Myeloproliferative Neoplasm Research Foundation, Center for Clinical and Translational Science at the University of Kentucky, and KU Medical Center Midwest Stem Cell Therapy Center. He also serves on the Board of Directors for the Leo and Anne Albert Institute for Bladder Cancer Care and Research as well as in an advisory capacity to several biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies.

Thais Sielecki, Ph.D.

Co-Director | Institute for Advancing Medical Innovation
Chief Science Officer | Curebridge Collaborative

Dr. Sielecki serves as the co-director of IAMI and CSO for the Curebridge Collaborative, a public-private partnership focused on advancing novel therapies, diagnostics and devices from the lab to the clinic. Dr. Sielecki has worked at several start-ups, leading drug discovery and development efforts through both non-dilutive and dilutive funding rounds. Prior to this, she worked as vice president of preclinical development for Cytokine PharmaSciences, Inc., a company focused on inflammatory disease and women's health through small molecule development and controlled release. In that role at CPSI, Dr. Sielecki ran programs in oncology, inflammation and women’s health from early lead discovery through to Phase I and assisted in Phase II and III study design as her primary focus. As part of the management team, she also assisted with a product management portfolio, in-licensing, intellectual property management and company strategy. CPSI was successfully sold to Ferring in 2012.

Prior to CPSI, Dr. Sielecki worked at DuPont-Merck and Bristol-Myers Squibb as a Principal Research Scientist and continues to consult for pharmaceutical and biotech companies in the management and evaluation of early research, preclinical and early clinical studies. During over 30 years of research and development experience, Dr. Sielecki has been involved in over 40 preclinical and clinical research programs with multiple programs reaching marketing approval. Programs she has been closely involved in include CPSI-2364, CPSI-1306, Misopessc, PilobucTM, DMP754, DMP802 among others. Her experience spans oncology, inflammation, women’s health, CNS diseases and anti-bacterials with a strong background in drug delivery and controlled release delivery systems.

Dr. Sielecki holds a Ph.D. in organic chemistry from Colorado State University and completed a Post Doctoral research position at Stanford University. She has over 60 publications and patents over her career.

Melinda Broward, M.S.

Project Director | Institute for Advancing Medical Innovation

Melinda Broward, M.S., is a project director for IAMI and supports the Lead Development and Optimization core center. Melinda organizes cross-functional teams to ensure researchers, cores, centers, industry partners, regulatory and technology transfer resources collaborate in an integrated and organized fashion to support the creation and advancement of drug projects.

Melinda has more than 30 years of experience in early drug discovery and development. This includes 20 years of large pharmaceutical drug development experience at the former Marion Laboratories, Inc., Marion Merrell Dow, Inc. Hoechst Marion Roussel, Inc., Aventis Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Quintiles, Inc. and Aptuit, Inc. Her areas of focus have been early drug development screening models of absorption, metabolic stability and blood brain barrier. She also spent three years in poultry pharmaceutical quality control testing (raw and finished products) at I.D. Russell Inc., two years in basic research at the Kansas City VA Medical Center and three years in toxicology testing at Midwest Research Institute. Her expertise includes preclinical drug safety (toxicology and safety pharmacology), early absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion (ADME), high throughput screening and lead optimization. Melinda joined the University of Kansas in 2007 as a project director and assists the High Throughput Screening Laboratory at KU and IAMI in early drug discovery and development. 

Tyce Bruns, B.S., M.S.

Director | Investigator-Initiated Trial Development, Clinical Trials Office
Project Director | Institute for Advancing Medical Innovation

Tyce Bruns, M.S., has served as the director of investigator-initiated trial development for the Clinical Trials Office at KU Medical Center since 2022. Tyce also has a role within IAMI as a project director in the Office of Project and Portfolio Management, a position he has held since 2009. Tyce has more than 25 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, working for several companies before joining the university, including Kansas City Analytical Service, AAI Pharma, Quintiles, Aptuit. His experience includes a project management focus in a wide variety of projects from virtual start-ups to large, global organizations. Tyce earned a bachelor's degree in biology from Kansas State University, a master's degree in business management from Baker University and a Project Management Professional certification from the Project Management Institute.

Suzette Coleman, AAS

Executive Assistant to Dr. Weir | Institute for Advancing Medical Innovation

Suzette is a dedicated executive assistant with more than 25 years of experience supporting top-level executives, optimizing executive workflows and enhancing organizational efficiency. A leader of organization and efficiency, she supports IAMI by managing complex schedules and calendars, coordinating meetings and travel and ensuring seamless operations. Suzette holds an associate of applied science degree in business management, and she is passionate about enabling executives to achieve their goals while maintaining work-life harmony.

Eliza Hodes, B.S., PMP

Project Director | Institute for Advancing Medical Innovation

Eliza Hodes, B.S., PMP, supports small molecule drug development. Eliza organizes cross-functional teams to ensure researchers, cores, centers, industry partners, regulatory and technology transfer resources collaborate in an integrated and organized fashion to support the creation and advancement of drug projects. Eliza has more than 15 years of experience in early drug discovery and development. This includes 8 years of large pharmaceutical drug development experience at Catalent Pharma Solutions, cancer research at the Stowers Institute, clinical trial lab management and ADME/DMPK pre-clinical bench work. Her areas of focus have been oral dose formulation development and global patient delivery. Eliza joined the University of Kansas in 2025 as a project director and assists the High Throughput Screening Laboratory at KU, MedChem, Cancer Biology and IAMI in early drug discovery and development. 

Carolyn Vivian, M.S.

Drug Development Research Project Manager | Institute for Advancing Medical Innovation

Carolyn Vivian, M.S., has been with IAMI since 2019. Carolyn is a molecular biologist by training and has over 30 years of basic science research in academia. She previously worked at University of Texas, MD Anderson Cancer Center, University of North Carolina, Stowers Institute for Medical Research and the University of Kansas Medical Center with research focusing on tumor suppressors, cystic fibrosis, polycystic kidney disease, cancer metastasis and mitochondrial DNA. Carolyn earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from Siena College and a master’s degree in Molecular Genetics and Developmental Biology from The University of Texas, Houston Graduate School for Biomedical Science.

Robyn Wood, B.G.S.

Project Director | Institute for Advancing Medical Innovation

Since 2009, Robyn Wood has been a project director supporting late-stage drug, device and diagnostic projects, as well as the CureBridge Collaborative public-private partnership. A Kansas native and KU alum with a bachelor’s degree in biology, she has over 40 years of drug development experience in the pharmaceutical industry. Prior to her work with IAMI, Robyn spent 17 years with Interx Research/Merck labs as a research biologist, later moving to Oread Pharmaceuticals, Quintiles and Aptuit. At Quintiles, Robyn was hired as the first project manager to support drug development projects, and while there she moved into a senior director position. When Aptuit acquired the early drug development business at Quintiles, Robyn moved from director of pharmaceutical services project management to global director of client services and led project management, proposal development and project financial tracking groups in Kansas City, Rahway and Edinburgh, Scotland.