Trials of Life

Paul Houston

Co-founder / Operations and Clinical Research

Paul Houston was born in Gorleston , Great Yarmouth where he enjoyed his childhood with his brother and mother who all spent their summers working on the family’s holiday park on the coast of Scratby, Norfolk. Paul worked for 11 years at EMA and CDISC on medicines and clinical research standards and also on European Commission funded projects in translational research where he led data standards integration and development efforts. 

With Trials of Life Paul is now looking to leverage that work and the wealth of quality standards work to elevate the evidence base for alternative medicines and integrative health programs.  Paul has ADHD, he is self diagnosed, and has ‘biohacked’ and managed his symptons since he was a psychology student at Aston University in Birmingham England where he graduated with a Joint honours BSc in Psychology and management. Paul has battled MDD ( Major Depressive Disorder) most of his adult life, a common comorbidity of ADHD, but he remains philosophical “I have but one job in life; that is to die old so I can complete more meaningful work and to be a father as long as possible “.

One of Paul’s focuses will be to look at implementing clinical trials and observational trials where people can choose a selection of complementary programs for their heatlh, diet, and exercise needs to combat health and mental challenges they may face. This is an area fast gaining ground, once more, in a time where medicine is no longer being pushed as a first line solution and preventative medicine and functional medicine approaches are coming to the foreground; albeit too slowly.

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Larry Callahan

Co Founder / Chief Scientist

Larry Callahan grew up on the South side of Chicago as the oldest of eight children.  He obtained a Bachelor’s Degree in Chemistry from Roosevelt University and a Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Chicago.  His thesis was on the mechanism of the B-Z DNA transition.  Larry also synthesized non-hydrolysable analogs of Adenosine Phosphosulfate (APS), and Phospho-Adenosine Phosphosulfate (PAPS).  These analogs led to the purification and cloning of enzymes involved in sulfation.   

After obtaining his Ph.D. Larry worked at the Food and Drug Administration’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER).  He was the first to show that CD4 based therapies were unlikely to be effective as a treatment for HIV and worked out the mechanism of polyanionic substances inhibiting HIV.  He also explained the role of electrostatic charge distribution within HIV’s gp120 V3 loop in controlling both the pathogenicity and infectivity of HIV.

Larry has also worked at the United States Pharmacopeia (USP) in the lab developing and testing a variety of analytical methods.   He also developed monographs for biotechnology derived products and other complex materials.     

Larry managed a team of contractors that was responsible for the development and deployment of several chemical-biological databases.  These include Chemdb for NIAID’s Division of Aids, ChemId for the National Library of Medicine’s,  and an Imaging Agent database for the National Cancer Institute.

Larry returned to FDA in 2008 and was responsible for the development of the ISO 11238 standard one of five standards that are part of the ISO Identification of Medicinal Products (IDMP) effort.  He was responsible for the development of Global Substance Registration in collaboration with NIH’s National Center for Advancing Translational Sciences (NCATS). 

Larry is committed to improving global health through the organization of information to further modernize regulation, drug development and address shortages of medical products.  Trials of Life is an effort he has cofounded with Paul Houston, the goal of Trials of Life is to determine regimens that are truly effective in improving the human condition throughout the world.

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