Dr Maziasz is currently the Director of COX-2 Technology at Searle Research & Development. He joined Searle as a senior toxicologist in 1991 and was responsible for preclinical safety in anti-inflammatory drug development programs. In 1993, he began supporting the selective COX-2 inhibitor group, and is a member of the original team that selected and developed celecoxib. He managed the preclinical safety program for celecoxib and participated in the meeting with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s Advisory Committee on Arthritis which led to the approval of celecoxib in that country. His graduate training is in pharmacology and toxicology; he earned a PhD in biochemical toxicology from the University of Wisconsin in 1986 and was a National Institute of Health Fellow in Toxicology at the University of Kansas Medical Center.