Biography

Dr. Richard DiMarchi is a Distinguished Professor of Chemistry, a Linda and Jack Gill Chair in the Gill Institute for Neuroscience, and the former chairman of the Chemistry Department at Indiana University Bloomington. He serves as a senior leader within the Gill Institute, where he integrates foundational peptide chemistry with translational research to address diabetes, obesity, and associated diseases.

A pioneer in peptide therapeutics with a distinguished career spanning industry and academia, Dr. DiMarchi previously held senior research leadership roles at Eli Lilly and Company and Novo Nordisk, where his work contributed to the discovery and development of landmark biologic medicines including rDNA-derived Humalog®, rGlucagon®, and Forteo®. He is named on more than 100 U.S. patents and is an author on more than 275 peer-reviewed scientific publications, reflecting his lasting influence on therapeutic chemistry and biotechnology. He has co-founded eight successful start-up biotechnology companies.

At Indiana University, his laboratory focuses on single-molecule multi-mechanism peptide agonists targeting GLP-1, GIP and glucagon receptors — a strategic approach that has reshaped clinical practice for metabolic diseases by improving glycemic control and promoting weight loss. His discoveries have helped catalyze a new class of therapies transforming the treatment landscape for obesity and diabetes worldwide.

Dr. DiMarchi’s scientific leadership has been recognized with numerous prestigious honors. He received the 2023 Mani L. Bhaumik Breakthrough of the Year Award, presented by the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), for his pioneering research that laid the foundation for drugs transforming obesity care. He and collaborator Professor Matthias Tschöp were awarded the 2026 Rolf Luft Award for their advances in peptide chemistry and development of novel dual- and triple-agonist therapies with unprecedented efficacy against diabetes and obesity. Dr. DiMarchi is also a member of the National Academy of Medicine and the National Inventors Hall of Fame, underscoring his impact on science and human health.

Publications

  • Fabbrini E, Koshkina A, Hackett M, Zhao M, Thalluri K, Hompesch M, Macias A, Schneider K, D'Alessio DA, DiMarchi RD, Azoulay S. (2025) "Sustained Action of Imapextide, a Glucagon-Like Peptide-1 Receptor Antagonist, in Healthy Volunteers." J Clin Endocrinol Metab. dgaf691.
  • Gutgesell RM, Khalil A, Liskiewicz A, Maity-Kumar G, Novikoff A, Grandl G, Liskiewicz D, Coupland C, Karaoglu E, Akindehin S, Castelino R, Curion F, Liu X, Garcia-Caceres C, Cebrian-Serrano A, Douros JD, Knerr PJ, Finan B, DiMarchi RD, Sloop KW, Samms RJ, Theis FJ, Tschöp MH, Müller TD. (2025) "GIPR agonism and antagonism decrease body weight and food intake via different mechanisms in male mice." Nat Metab. 7(6):1299. 
  • Finan B, Douros JD, Goldwater R, Hansen AMK, Hjerpsted JB, Hjøllund KR, Kankam MK, Knerr PJ, Konkar A, Mowery SA, Müller TD, Nielsen JR, Nygård SB, Perez-Tilve D, Raun K, Yang B, Tschöp MH, DiMarchi RD. (2025) "A once-daily GLP-1/GIP/glucagon receptor tri-agonist (NN1706) lowers body weight in rodents, monkeys and humans." Mol Metab. 96:102129.
  • Müller TD, Adriaenssens A, Ahrén B, Blüher M, Birkenfeld AL, Campbell JE, Coghlan MP, D'Alessio D, Deacon CF, DelPrato S, Douros JD, Drucker DJ, Figueredo Burgos NS, Flatt PR, Finan B, Gimeno RE, Gribble FM, Hayes MR, Hölscher C, Holst JJ, Knerr PJ, Knop FK, Kusminski CM, Liskiewicz A, Mabilleau G, Mowery SA, Nauck MA, Novikoff A, Reimann F, Roberts AG, Rosenkilde MM, Samms RJ, Scherer PE, Seeley RJ, Sloop KW, Wolfrum C, Wootten D, DiMarchi RD, Tschöp MH. (2025) "Glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP)." Mol Metab. 95:102118. 
  • Sánchez-Garrido MA, Serrano-López V, Ruiz-Pino F, Vázquez MJ, Rodríguez-Martín A, Torres E, Velasco I, Rodríguez AB, Chicano-Gálvez E, Mora-Ortiz M, Ohlsson C, Poutanen M, Pinilla L, Gaytán F, Douros JD, Yang B, Müller TD, DiMarchi RD, Tschöp MH, Finan B, Tena-Sempere M. (2024) "Superior metabolic improvement of polycystic ovary syndrome traits after GLP1-based multi-agonist therapy." Nat Commun. 15(1):8498. 
  • Sachs S, Götz A, Finan B, Feuchtinger A, DiMarchi RD, Döring Y, Weber C, Tschöp MH, Müller TD, Hofmann SM. (2024) "GIP receptor agonism improves dyslipidemia and atherosclerosis independently of body weight loss in preclinical mouse model for cardio-metabolic disease." Cardiovasc Diabetol. 23(1):341. 
  • Zaykov AN, Gelfanov VM, Tagmose TM, Demozay D, Manfè V, Rohlfs R, Rivir M, Perez-Tilve D, Finan B, DiMarchi RD. (2024) "Toward once-monthly insulin therapy via synergy in two pharmacokinetic protractors: Fc-conjugation and fatty acid acylation." RSC Chem Biol. 5(8):763-775.
  • Kusminski CM, Perez-Tilve D, Müller TD, DiMarchi RD, Tschöp MH, Scherer PE. (2024) "Transforming obesity: The advancement of multi-receptor drugs" Cell. 187(15):3829-3853.
  • Petersen J, Ludwig MQ, Juozaityte V, Ranea-Robles P, Svendsen C, Hwang E, Kristensen AW, Fadahunsi N, Lund J, Breum AW, Mathiesen CV, Sachs L, Moreno-Justicia R, Rohlfs R, Ford JC, Douros JD, Finan B, Portillo B, Grose K, Petersen JE, Trauelsen M, Feuchtinger A, DiMarchi RD, Schwartz TW, Deshmukh AS, Thomsen MB, Kohlmeier KA, Williams KW, Pers TH, Frølund B, Strømgaard K, Klein AB, Clemmensen C. (2024) "GLP-1-directed NMDA receptor antagonism for obesity treatment"Nature. 629(8014):1133-1141.
  • Glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide regulates body weight and food intake via GABAergic neurons in mice.Liskiewicz A, Khalil A, Liskiewicz D, Novikoff A, Grandl G, Maity-Kumar G, Gutgesell RM, Bakhti M, Bastidas-Ponce A, Czarnecki O, Makris K, Lickert H, Feuchtinger A, Tost M, Coupland C, Ständer L, Akindehin S, Prakash S, Abrar F, Castelino RL, He Y, Knerr PJ, Yang B, Hogendorf WFJ, Zhang S, Hofmann SM, Finan B, DiMarchi RD, Tschöp MH, Douros JD, Müller TD. (2023) "Glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide regulates body weight and food intake via GABAergic neurons in mice"Nat Medtab. 5(12):2075-2085.
  • Sachs S, Götz A, Finan B, Feuchtinger A, DiMarchi RD, Döring Y, Weber C, Tschöp MH, Müller TD, Hofmann SM. (2023) "GIP receptor agonism improves dyslipidemia and atherosclerosis independently of body weight loss in preclinical mouse model for cardio-metabolic disease." Cardiovasc Diabetol. 22(1):217.
  • Campbell JE, Müller TD, Finan B, DiMarchi RD, Tschöp MH, D'Alessio DA. (2023) "GIPR/GLP-1R dual agonist therapies for diabetes and weight loss-chemistry, physiology, and clinical applications." Cell Metab. 35(9):1519-1529.
  • Moreau F, Kirk NS, Zhang F, Gelfanov V, List EO, Chrudinová M, Venugopal H, Lawrence MC, Jimenez V, Bosch F, Kopchick JJ, DiMarchi RD, Altindis E, Kahn CR. (2022) "Interaction of a viral insulin-like peptide with the IGF-1 receptor produces a natural antagonist." Nat Commun. 13(1):6700. 
  • Maity-Kumar G, Ständer L, DeAngelis M, Lee S, Molenaar A, Becker L, Garrett L, Amerie OV, Hoelter SM, Wurst W, Fuchs H, Feuchtinger A, Gailus-Durner V, Garcia-Caceres C, Othman AE, Brockmann C, Schöffling VI, Beiser K, Krude H, Mroz PA, Hofmann S, Tuckermann J, DiMarchi RD, Hrabe de Angelis M, Tschöp MH, Pfluger PT, Müller TD. (2022) "Validation of Mct8/Oatp1c1 dKO mice as a model organism for the Allan-Herndon-Dudley Syndrome." Mol Metab. 66:101616.
  • Quarta C, Stemmer K, Novikoff A, Yang B, Klingelhuber F, Harger A, Bakhti M, Bastidas-Ponce A, Baugé E, Campbell JE, Capozzi M, Clemmensen C, Collden G, Cota P, Douros J, Drucker DJ, DuBois B, Feuchtinger A, Garcia-Caceres C, Grandl G, Hennuyer N, Herzig S, Hofmann SM, Knerr PJ, Kulaj K, Lalloyer F, Lickert H, Liskiewicz A, Liskiewicz D, Maity G, Perez-Tilve D, Prakash S, Sanchez-Garrido MA, Zhang Q, Staels B, Krahmer N, DiMarchi RD, Tschöp MH, Finan B, Müller TD. (2022) "GLP-1-mediated delivery of tesaglitazar improves obesity and glucose metabolism in male mice." Nat Metab. 4(8):1071-1083.
  •  Knerr PJ, Mowery SA, Douros JD, Premdjee B, Hjøllund KR, He Y, Kruse Hansen AM, Olsen AK, Perez-Tilve D, DiMarchi RD, Finan B. (2022) "Next generation GLP-1/GIP/glucagon triple agonists normalize body weight in obese mice." Mol Metab. 63:101533.
  • Weiss A, Murdoch CC, Edmonds KA, Jordan MR, Monteith AJ, Perera YR, Rodríguez Nassif AM, Petoletti AM, Beavers WN, Munneke MJ, Drury SL, Krystofiak ES, Thalluri K, Wu H, Kruse ARS, DiMarchi RD, Caprioli RM, Spraggins JM, Chazin WJ, Giedroc DP, Skaar EP. (2022) "Zn-regulated GTPase metalloprotein activator 1 modulates vertebrate zinc homeostasis." Cell. 185(12):2148-2163.e27.
  • Fuselier T, Mota de Sa P, Qadir MMF, Xu B, Allard C, Meyers MM, Tiano JP, Yang BS, Gelfanov V, Lindsey SH, Dimarchi RD, Mauvais-Jarvis F. (2022) "Efficacy of glucagon-like peptide-1 and estrogen dual agonist in pancreatic islets protection and pre-clinical models of insulin-deficient diabetes." Cell Rep Med. 3(4):100598. 
  • Dhayalan B, Glidden MD, Zaykov AN, Chen YS, Yang Y, Phillips NB, Ismail-Beigi F, Jarosinski MA, DiMarchi RD, Weiss MA. (2022) "Peptide Model of the Mutant Proinsulin Syndrome. I. Design and Clinical Correlation." Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 13:821069.
  • Tan Q, Akindehin SE, Orsso CE, Waldner RC, DiMarchi RD, Müller TD, Haqq AM. (2022) "Recent Advances in Incretin-Based Pharmacotherapies for the Treatment of Obesity and Diabetes." Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 13:838410.
  •  Yang Y, Glidden MD, Dhayalan B, Zaykov AN, Chen YS, Wickramasinghe NP, DiMarchi RD, Weiss MA. (2022) "Peptide Model of the Mutant Proinsulin Syndrome. II. Nascent Structure and Biological Implications." Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 13:821091.
  • Müller TD, Blüher M, Tschöp MH, DiMarchi RD. (2022) "Anti-obesity drug discovery: advances and challenges." Nat Rev Drug Discov. 21(3):201-223. 
  • He R, Mowery SA, Chabenne J, Finan B, Mayer JP, DiMarchi RD. (2021) "A Facile Procedure for One-Pot Stable Conjugation of Two Proglucagon Cysteine-Containing Peptide Analogs." Front Endocrinol (Lausanne). 12:693958.
  • Zhang F, Altindis E, Kahn CR, DiMarchi RD, Gelfanov V. (2021) "A viral insulin-like peptide is a natural competitive antagonist of the human IGF-1 receptor." Mol Metab. 53:101316.
  • DiMarchi RD, Mayer JP. (2021) "Icodec Advances the Prospect of Once-Weekly Insulin Injection." J Med Chem. 64(13):8939-8941. 
  • Yang B, Gelfanov VM, Perez-Tilve D, DuBois B, Rohlfs R, Levy J, Douros JD, Finan B, Mayer JP, DiMarchi RD. (2021) "Optimization of Truncated Glucagon Peptides to Achieve Selective, High Potency, Full Antagonists." J Med Chem. 64(8):4697-4708. 
  • DiMarchi RD. (2021) "Advances in the treatment of metabolic diseases." Mol Metab. 46:101208. 
  • Zhang Q, Delessa CT, Augustin R, Bakhti M, Colldén G, Drucker DJ, Feuchtinger A, Caceres CG, Grandl G, Harger A, Herzig S, Hofmann S, Holleman CL, Jastroch M, Keipert S, Kleinert M, Knerr PJ, Kulaj K, Legutko B, Lickert H, Liu X, Luippold G, Lutter D, Malogajski E, Medina MT, Mowery SA, Blutke A, Perez-Tilve D, Salinno C, Sehrer L, DiMarchi RD, Tschöp MH, Stemmer K, Finan B, Wolfrum C, Müller TD. (2021) "The glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP) regulates body weight and food intake via CNS-GIPR signaling." Cell Metab. 33(4):833-844.e5. 
  • Agrawal A, Ni P, Agoro R, White KE, DiMarchi RD. (2021) "Identification of a second Klotho interaction site in the C terminus of FGF23." Cell Rep. 34(4):108665. 
  • Sachs S, Niu L, Geyer P, Jall S, Kleinert M, Feuchtinger A, Stemmer K, Brielmeier M, Finan B, DiMarchi RD, Tschöp MH, Wewer Albrechtsen N, Mann M, Müller TD, Hofmann SM. (2021) "Plasma proteome profiles treatment efficacy of incretin dual agonism in diet-induced obese female and male mice." Diabetes Obes Metab. 23(1):195-207.
  • Pan J, Parlee SD, Brunel FM, Li P, Lu W, Perez-Tilve D, Liu F, Finan B, Kharitonenkov A, DiMarchi RD. (2020) "Optimization of Peptide Inhibitors of β-Klotho as Antagonists of Fibroblast Growth Factors 19 and 21." ACS Pharmacol Transl Sci. 3(5):978-986. 
  • Sachs S, Bastidas-Ponce A, Tritschler S, Bakhti M, Böttcher A, Sánchez-Garrido MA, Tarquis-Medina M, Kleinert M, Fischer K, Jall S, Harger A, Bader E, Roscioni S, Ussar S, Feuchtinger A, Yesildag B, Neelakandhan A, Jensen CB, Cornu M, Yang B, Finan B, DiMarchi RD, Tschöp MH, Theis FJ, Hofmann SM, Müller TD, Lickert H. (2020) "Targeted pharmacological therapy restores β-cell function for diabetes remission." Nat Metab. 2(4):380. 
  • Taylor SI, DiMarchi RD. (2020) "Smarter Modeling to Enable a Smarter Insulin." Diabetes. 69(8):1608-1610. 
  • Stemmer K, Finan B, DiMarchi RD, Tschöp MH, Müller TD. (2020) "Insights into incretin-based therapies for treatment of diabetic dyslipidemia." Adv Drug Deliv Rev. 159:34-53. 
  • Kabotso DEK, Smiley D, Mayer JP, Gelfanov VM, Perez-Tilve D, DiMarchi RD, Pohl NLB, Liu F. (2020) "Addition of Sialic Acid to Insulin Confers Superior Physical Properties and Bioequivalence." J Med Chem. 63(11):6134-6143.
  • Brunel FM, Mayer JP, DiMarchi RD. (2020) "Recent advances in the chemical synthesis of insulin and related peptides." Future Med Chem. 12(8):649-654. 
  • Bader M, Li Y, Tweedie D, Shlobin NA, Bernstein A, Rubovitch V, Tovar-Y-Romo LB, DiMarchi RD, Hoffer BJ, Greig NH, Pick CG. (2020) "Neuroprotective Effects and Treatment Potential of Incretin Mimetics in a Murine Model of Mild Traumatic Brain Injury." Front Cell Dev Biol. 7:356.
  • Knerr PJ, Mowery SA, Finan B, Perez-Tilve D, Tschöp MH, DiMarchi RD. (2020) "Selection and progression of unimolecular agonists at the GIP, GLP-1, and glucagon receptors as drug candidates."Peptides. 125:170225. 
  • Chabenne JR, Mroz PA, Mayer JP, DiMarchi RD. (2020) "Structural Refinement of Glucagon for Therapeutic Use." J Med Chem. 63(7):3447-3460. 
  • Li Y, Glotfelty EJ, Namdar I, Tweedie D, Olson L, Hoffer BJ, DiMarchi RD, Pick CG, Greig NH. (2020) "Neurotrophic and neuroprotective effects of a monomeric GLP-1/GIP/Gcg receptor triagonist in cellular and rodent models of mild traumatic brain injury." Exp Neurol. 324:113113.
  • Stemmer K, Müller TD, DiMarchi RD, Pfluger PT, Tschöp MH. (2019) "CNS-targeting pharmacological interventions for the metabolic syndrome." J Clin Invest. 129(10):4058-4071.

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