Founding Partner, Medical Industry Advisor
Dr. Steven Holshouser is a founding partner of Equitas Group and an innovative medicinal chemist with a broad background in drug discovery and industry development.
His experience in synthetic chemistry and molecular biology was developed by maintaining a synthetic chemistry lab and developing in vitro testing to expedite in-house pharmaceutical compound development.
Initially, Steven served Hempgrid, the group’s plant-based industrial hemp initiative, as an advisor on health, wellness, laboratory operations, and client-driven strategic initiatives while concurrently serving as the United States Business Development Executive for Evotec International, Inc. In this role, he focused on identifying and implementing strategic alliances with biotech startups, major pharmaceutical companies, nutraceutical firms, and leading medical institutions.
While simultaneously gaining scientific and business knowledge of the pharma sector, he is also focused on the hemp/cannabis industry, its progress, and the growing laboratory requirements, working alongside many colleagues and executives. Having a strong drug development background, Steven’s experience is invaluable for evaluating the use of CBD in foods, supplements, and medicinal uses.
Before joining Hempgrid/Equitas, Steven excelled in drug synthesis and discovery as the former Director of Screening and Lead Optimization in the Drug Discovery Department at the Medical University of South Carolina.
Simultaneously, he also served as a Scientific Officer at Inquisatex Epitherapeutics and Clarity Nutraceuticals, where he assisted in optimizing the purity of Cannabinoid preparations and in identifying novel therapeutic targets for the development of improved formulations.
Through his previous engagements and client work, Steven has advanced his scientific expertise by utilizing medicinal chemistry techniques and high-throughput lead optimization to design drugs for improved pancreatic cancer treatments. He gained industry experience at GlaxoSmithKline, using novel computational approaches alongside traditional techniques to accelerate drug development for the treatment of Chronic Obstructive Pulmonary Disease.
Steven earned his Doctorate in Drug Discovery and Biomedical Sciences from the Medical University of South Carolina and his Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry and Bachelor of Arts in Chemistry from the College of Charleston, Charleston, South Carolina.