Matthew Condakes, PhD, is a medicinal chemist and drug discovery leader with over seven years of experience advancing small-molecule programs from early discovery through IND submission. He has served as a medicinal chemistry and project team lead in both biotech and large pharma settings, with therapeutic experience spanning oncology, classical hematology and fibrotic diseases, and deep expertise in multiple modalities such as covalent inhibitors and degraders. Matthew has led interdisciplinary teams, managed CRO partnerships, and co-authored multiple IND submissions, bringing a pragmatic, data-driven approach to SAR, ADME optimization, and candidate selection. He earned his PhD in Organic Chemistry from UC Berkeley and dual AB/AM degrees summa cum laude in Chemistry from Harvard, and is an author on numerous peer-reviewed publications and patent applications in medicinal chemistry.