Bradley T. Keller Ph.D.

Bradley T. Keller, Ph.D., passed away on the morning of July 30, 2026. Beloved husband of Annette L. Keller (nee Moreland); dear father of Stephen B. (Gretchen) Keller and Andrew P. (Sydney) Keller; loving grandfather of Vincent A. Keller and Gavin D. Keller; brother of Richard W. (Abigail) Keller, Beverly "Sue" (Kevin) Kochenour and Lori I. (Brian) Overmiller; dear uncle, great-uncle, brother-in-law and friend to many. Bradley was born and raised in Red Lion, Pennsylvania, where he graduated from Red Lion High School in 1972. Even as a teenager, the questions his science and chemistry teachers asked in class had already sparked the curiosity that would define his life's work. He never forgot it - decades later, he returned home to be inducted into the Red Lion Area School District Alumni Leo Club Hall of Fame, where he spoke to a new generation of students about the career that his early curiosity had set in motion. From Red Lion, Bradley went on to earn his B.A. in Biology from the University of Delaware, followed by a Ph.D. in Biochemistry and postdoctoral training in Pharmaceutical Chemistry at the University of Kansas - the beginning of a lifelong, proud loyalty to the Kansas Jayhawks. His postdoctoral research examined novel cellular methylation inhibitors as potential antiviral agents, early evidence of the rigor and curiosity he would carry through a 33-year career in pharmaceutical research and drug discovery. In 1987, Bradley joined Hoffmann-LaRoche Pharmaceutical Co. in Nutley, New Jersey, as Director of the bioassay laboratory, leading research that contributed to the development of licensed drugs. A year later he returned to the Midwest to join Monsanto's Biological Sciences Department, where his early work developed a novel nasal epithelial cell culture model used to study drug transport, absorption, and metabolism. He went on to spend more than 15 years with Searle and then Pfizer's cardiovascular and inflammation discovery research group in St. Louis, where he served as Discovery Project Leader on an initiative to identify a new class of drugs to lower LDL cholesterol - research that led to the identification of a potent inhibitor of the ileal bile acid transporter and that Bradley helped carry from the laboratory bench through Phase 1 and into Phase 2 clinical trials. That same science later became the foundation of his proudest professional achievement. As Vice President of Research at Lumena Pharmaceuticals, Bradley directed the research and preclinical toxicology program that carried a bile acid transporter inhibitor through clinical development for children and adults suffering from rare, life-threatening cholestatic liver diseases. That compound, maralixibat, went on to reach patients as an approved medication - a milestone that most scientists spend an entire career hoping for and never see. Bradley considered it the privilege of his professional life to know that his work in the lab ultimately became a medicine that changed patients' lives. Bradley never slowed his pursuit of that same purpose. He went on to help build and lead research at Tioma Therapeutics, developing anti-CD47 antibodies for cancer treatment and helping secure regulatory approval in London to begin first-in-human trials; at OxaluRx, where he led the search for new treatments for primary hyperoxaluria, a rare and devastating kidney disease; and, in his final chapter, as Vice President of Preclinical Development at Precision Virologics and Unleash Immuno Oncolytics, and as President and CEO of Accuronix Therapeutics, where he continued working to move new cancer therapies toward patients until the end of his life. Over the course of his career, Bradley authored or co-authored 35 publications and 28 scientific abstracts, wrote 30 internal research documents, and was named an inventor on 9 patents - a body of work built one careful experiment at a time, and one that made him deeply proud. He was a longtime member of the American Heart Association, the American Association for the Study of Liver Disease, and the American Association for Cancer Research. But for all he accomplished in the lab, Bradley never stopped being, as he liked to say, "still a small-town boy." He was, first, a devoted husband to Annette. A caring, compassionate father who was equally determined that his sons, Stephen and Andrew, grow up to be good men. Lastly, he was a proud grandfather to Vincent and Gavin. He was a true handyman, having learned the craft at his own father's side, and he passed that same hands-on capability down to his own family. He loved to travel, and rarely stopped - from favorite return trips to Hawaii and Florida to new corners of the world he hadn't yet seen including Bora Bora and Dubai, whether for pleasure or for the work that so often called him abroad. He loved live music and concerts, a good round of golf, and he was a fiercely loyal season ticket holder for the St. Louis Cardinals and Saint Louis University Billikens for more than 30 years, alongside his enduring devotion to his Kansas Jayhawks. Through it all, Bradley remained, in his own words, a scientist at heart - endlessly curious, always asking the next question, and never satisfied to leave a mystery unsolved. Bradley will be deeply missed by his family, his many friends and colleagues around the world, and the patients he never met whose lives were touched by the work of his hands and his mind. Services: Funeral service at Schrader Funeral Home and Crematory, 14960 Manchester Road at Holloway, Ballwin, Wednesday, August 5, 1:00 p.m. Interment Bellerive Gardens. If desired, contributions may be made to the University of Kansas Alumni Association (https://kualumni.org/give/). Visitation: Tuesday, August 4, 5:00-8:00 p.m. In keeping with Brad's wishes, attendees are encouraged to wear KU attire or KU colors - red, blue, and yellow - rather than black. Brad will not be wearing a suit, and attendees are not expected to wear suits or other formal attire. Friends may sign the family's online guestbook at Schrader.com.

Tributes

Bradley T. Keller Ph.D.

March 22, 1954 - July 30, 2026