Malcolm Skolnick, Ph.D. believes CLEAN can be a nexus for people or organizations interested in solving environmental problems. “The people and the ideas in CLEAN can influence large corporations and promote legislation,” Skolnick says. “Bringing people of various backgrounds together is a role CLEAN can play.”

A physicist, professor, inventor and patent attorney, Skolnick’s own background is quite varied with some impressive accomplishments. He received his Ph.D. in physics from Cornell University and JD from the University of Houston Law Center.

Skolnick is chief executive officer of CytoGenix, Inc. a biopharmaceutical company developing DNA medicines and vaccines. Prior to joining CytoGenix, Skolnick held academic positions in the Medical School, Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences and the School of Public Health of The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UT Health Science Center). He is currently an adjunct professor in the School of Public Health, where he formerly served as professor of Technology and Health Law.

Prior to joining the School of Public Health, Skolnick managed the UT Health Science Center's Office of Technology Management and oversaw the university's activities in protecting and licensing its patent portfolio of technology. While at the health science center, he conducted several clinical trials in pain management, smoking cessation and reduction of withdrawal symptoms in drug addiction.

The road Skolnick has traveled in career and volunteer work involved connecting skills and talent with projects through the joy of learning. As a scout master for 12 years, Skolnick acquired an appreciation for nature and an interest in environmental issues. He says his experience as a trainer for Peace Corp volunteers made him an “antiestablishmentarian.” His life’s journey discovers life as it comes rather than following a preconceived route.

“Physics was something I was seduced into in high school and college,” Skolnick recalls. After receiving a Ph.D. in theoretical physics at Cornell University, he attended the Institute for Advanced Study in Princeton, New Jersey. He then moved to Boston and served on the physics faculty of MIT. He left MIT to work at the Education Development Center (EDC) where he concentrated on developing teaching modules for science in the elementary schools. This led to a stint training Peace Corps volunteers in the teaching techniques developed at EDC. Skolnick left EDC to become a faculty member at the University of New York at Stony Brook where, as deputy director of the Instructional Resources Center, he developed computer-assisted classes in physics and foreign languages. Skolnick’s interest in applying computers to medical studies led him to start the Health Sciences Communication Division in the Stony Brook Health Sciences Center.

While at Stony Brook, Skolnick received an invitation to give a paper and to meet the people who were starting UT Health Science Center in Houston. During his visit, he received an offer to join the faculty of the Medical School. He accepted the offer and started the Biomedical Communication Department. Eventually the department was absorbed in other departments, and Skolnick joined the Graduate School of Biomedical Sciences as a professor of biophysics.

During this transition, Skolnick’s oldest son, Michael, was preparing to go to law school. Skolnick’s developing interest in environmental law and his son’s parallel activity led to a decision to audit law classes to learn more. This exposure increased Skolnick’s interest in the law and he decided to apply to law school. “My son was helpful. Michael brought great insights from the prep course he was taking, “Skolnick says. “I got the prep books and I took the LSAT. My son aced the test and scored very high. I scored well enough to get accepted at the University of Houston Law Center.”

Michael received many offers from law schools and chose to enroll at The University of Texas. It took some time for Skolnick to complete the work and graduate, and he says he appreciated the sincerity and hard work of people attending law classes at night and the excellent quality of instruction he received.

During the time he was in law school, Skolnick had been running a research project on trans-cranial electro-stimulation at UT Health Science Center. Some of the work that came out of that project was sponsored by an outside organization and needed to be patented. Skolnick worked with a local patent attorney who told him that he seemed to have good grasp of law and went on to suggest that with a background in physics and a law degree he should consider patent law. Taking the next turn on the road to new discoveries and opportunities, Skolnick accepted the challenge and became a patent attorney.

His new ability as a patent attorney and work at the medical school led to Skolnick’s involvement with people who were starting a company originally interested in cloning cells from fetal tissues. “This was an ideal opportunity to learn about law and ethical conflicts. I was teaching a class on the conflict between Science and Law and thought that this company’s activities were a perfect case example,” Skolnick says.

Skolnick worked with the founders of Cryogenics Solutions to try to get cloning research started in universities. “I ran into buzz saws and road blocks,” Skolnick says. “Some people thought anyone associated with the company was evil. The universities would not let their scientists get involved in the research. I tried to explain to the zealots and the ethics committees that the genie is out of the bottle and we need to talk about it.”

Skolnick failed to get a university to accept the research projects. Finally coming to the conclusion that there was too much emotional bias to make the cloning project work, Skolnick advised the company to start another line. They became interested in an enzyme, called Telomerase, which acts as a clock in cells. Cancer cells are immortal because they have learned how to control Telomerase. The scientists at Cryogenic Solutions thought that if they could discover how to control the clock in cell reproduction, they might find a way to control cancer and possibly aging. Through this research, the company discovered a gene silencing technology known as single stranded DNA expression vectors (ssDNA). Skolnick was asked to license the ssDNA for the company.

In the spring of 1999, Cryogenic Solutions was making progress. At the same time, life events brought Skolnick to his next turn in the road. The president of the company was diagnosed with cancer and died two months later. Skolnick became temporary CEO. Also during this time, Skolnick’s wife had surgery, and he took a leave of absence from the UT Health Science Center to help her with rehabilitation. Skolnick eventually left the university and joined Cryogenic Solutions as President and CEO.

Now named CytoGenix, Inc., with Skolnick as CEO, the company has developed several techniques for identifying and silencing disease-causing genes. The company has used these techniques to develop anti-viral, anti-bacterial and anti-inflammatory products. The company’s anti-herpes compound has been submitted to the FDA and studies are being completed to obtain an Investigational New Drug Application to initiate clinical trials. CytoGenix will follow the clinical trials for its herpes drug with compounds designed to reduce inflammation in contact dermatitis, psoriasis and related conditions and anti-bacterial compounds designed to combat even antibiotic resistant bacteria.

Scientists at CytoGenix also have discovered methods to make DNA without using bacterial fermentation. This has opened a number of new pathways for the company including marketing DNA compounds to other companies and producing DNA vaccines.

Skolnick is concerned about the environmental crises the planet and people are facing. “The unparalleled disaster brought by Hurricane Katrina has refocused our attention on the combined issues of global warming and our overuse of foreign oil,” Skolnick says. “We have a political administration with its head in the sand. Not only do they refuse to deal with global warming and the related problems of energy consumption, they also keep trying to gut environmental protection laws. They have cut budgets for scientific research and adherence to intelligent design. The victims of Katrina’s fury and government ineptitude may have a hard time accepting that the destruction of their lives is part of an intelligent design.”

As a CLEAN board member, Skolnick brings a broad range of talent and expertise as well as an enthusiasm for ways CLEAN can be effective in creating much needed awareness about environmental issues. He says CLEAN can be a gathering place for like-minded people, a voice for people to consider.

Skolnick and his wife, Lois, have been married for 47 years. They have four children: Michael, a trial attorney in Salt Lake City; David, an engineer and technical writer in Pembroke near Boston; Sara, a board certified ob-gyn physician in Austin; and Jonathan, architect and website designer, in San Francisco. They have six grandchildren.