Per aspera ad astra
A rough road leads to the stars
SilharCo is a chemical company, providing custom chemical synthesis and organic chemistry services.
Peter Šilhár, PhD.
Education
Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry at Institute of Chemical Technology in Prague, Czech Republic, Department of Organic chemistry M.Sc. in Organic Chemistry at Slovak University of Technology in Bratislava, Slovak Republic, Department of Organic Chemistry
Years in Research
Postdoctoral Fellow at The Scripps Research Institute, La Jolla, CA, USA (2009 – 2012). Actively involved in research of small molecule inhibitors of Botulotoxin proteases. Botulotoxin is the one of the world’s deadliest poisons, nowadays it is widely used in cosmetic industry or to relieve muscle spasms. But, Botulism caused by food poisoning or potential bio-terrorist attack can be very fatal and efficient antidote is lifesaving and desirable.
Postdoctoral Fellow at University of Bern, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Bern, Switzerland ( 2007 – 2009). Research in field of antisense therapeutics in group of Prof. Christian J. Leumann. Antisense therapeutics are being used in ‘gene silencing’ to combat diseases such as cancer, neurodegenerative disorders or infectious diseases. This method can silence or almost completely switch off the target (trouble-making) gene.
Work Experience
API (Active Pharmaceutical Ingredients) Engineer / Research Scientist Senior – Researching, developing and optimizing the synthesis of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs). Followed by the production of validation batches of several APIs in a well known pharmaceutical company based in Slovakia with tradition and many successful pharmaceutics.
As a Research Scientist at a chemical company specializing in production of hyaluronic acid in Czech Republic I was supporting research and development on hyaluronic acid. Preparation of chemically modified hyaluronic acid and its use in hydrogels for cosmetic industry and as a food supplement.
Senior Chemist at Moravek Biochemicals, Inc., Brea, California, USA. Custom chemical synthesis of isotope labeled compounds/molecules – either with non-stable (14C and 3H) or stable isotopes (2H, 13C, 15N).