Vasily Gelfanov received his M.S. degree in Biology with honors from Belarusian State University (Minsk, Belarus) in 1986. He was awarded his Ph.D. in Biology from the Shemyakin-Ovchinnikov Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry (Moscow, Russia) in 1992. Dr. Gelfanov has completed post-doctoral training at the Institute of Molecular Biology, Academia Sinica (Taipei, Taiwan). Prior to joining the department he was a Senior Scientist II at Vicuron Pharmaceuticals (Fremont, CA).

Dr. Gelfanov's research is aimed at understanding structure-function relationship of macromolecules with a particular emphasis on pharmacology. He leads the cellular biochemistry in the DiMarchi research program by providing expertise in bioanalytical methods, cell-based assays and in vitro pharmacology. These biochemical contributions have been seminal to the development of novel drug candidates that have emerged from the DiMarchi research program and advanced to treatment of human obesity and diabetes.