Richard Coughlin, Ph. D.
West 1973
With six patents to his name, Richard Coughlin, Ph.D., is a pioneer in the field of biomedical research.
His past research into disease-causing bacteria attracted millions of dollars of National Institutes of Health (NIH) funding. One of the largest amounts Coughlin received to conduct his research was a $1.2 million grant to develop vaccines for HIV-1. Although no HIV-1 vaccine has worked in clinical trials, he is optimistic that one will work some day. He also has worked on vaccines that combat Lyme disease, pneumonia and mycobacteria. His six patents are for identification methods for bacteria and for vaccines that prevent infection.
Beginning his professional career in 1984, Coughlin held several research and management positions for companies that include Centocor, Cambridge Biotech Corp. and ImmuCell Corp., all in the Northeast. At Aquila Biopharmaceuticals Corp., where he was senior director of immunology, he isolated a new human pathogen, granulocytic Erhlichia. Collaborating with the Centers for Disease Control in Atlanta, he developed a test for this new disease the same year it was identified to cause human illness. In 1995, he co founded Genesis Biologics, Inc., in Worcester, Mass., a company focused upon retroviral diagnostics.
In 2004, Coughlin co-founded Sequela, located in Scarborough, Maine. The company develops diagnostic tests for people with high blood pressure and is largely supported by the NIH. He is Sequela’s chief scientific officer and president.
In addition to his own research, Coughlin is active in reviewing the research of others. He is a reviewer on a NIH bioengineering and nanotechnology study section, a tech board member and reviewer for the Maine Technology Institute, and a member of the Scientific Advisory Board of Molecular Targeting Technologies, Inc.
Coughlin has authored scores of publications on immunology and disease prevention. He also has been an expert lecturer at many conferences, both in the U.S. and abroad.
In addition to the foundation provided by Principal Al Burr and his staff, Coughlin remembers two classes in particular that prepared him for his future. “Although Mr. Jerling’s science class seems to have prepared me best for my profession,” he says, “my debate training under Mr. Schaffer was at least as important.”
Coughlin received his B.S. in physics and math at Purdue University in 1977. He earned his Ph.D. in biophysics at Michigan State University in 1982. From 1982-84, he received post-doctoral training in the Department of Atherosclerosis and Lipoprotein Research at Baylor College of Medicine. He also has taken management training at the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, as well as the Sloan School of Management at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Coughlin lives with his wife, Sharon, in Falmouth, Maine. He has four children.