SCIENTIFIC ADVISORY BOARD

ASA ABELIOVICH, M.D., PH.D.

Asa Abeliovich is currently CEO, President and Founder of Leal Therapeutics, which is a near-clinical biotechnology company developing novel nucleic acid and small molecule therapeutics for major neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric disorders.
Read More

Prior to Leal Therapeutics, Asa Abeliovich was Chief Executive Officer and Founder at Prevail Therapeutics, which develops gene therapies for Parkinson’s disease and related disorders, until its acquisition by Eli Lilly in 2021, and was Co-Founder of and consultant to Alector, a biotechnology company which is developing antibodies for the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases. Asa was previously a tenured Associate Professor of Pathology, Cell Biology, and Neurology at Columbia University, as well as a member of the Taub Institute for Alzheimer’s Disease and the Aging Brain. He has also previously served as an Attending Physician in Neurology at the New York-Presbyterian Hospital and the New York Psychiatric Institute. Asa was awarded the Lamport Award for Excellence in Basic Science Research at Columbia University in 2005. Asa is on the Scientific Advisory Board of The Silverstein Foundation for Parkinson’s with GBA.

Asa holds M.D. and Ph.D. degrees from Harvard Medical School and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), respectively, and Bachelor’s degrees in life sciences and humanities from MIT. Asa was awarded a Medical Scholar Training Program Fellowship and completed his residency training in neurology at the University of California, San Francisco.

JULIAN ADAMS, PH.D.

Dr. Adams has more than 30 years of experience in drug discovery and development with a strong focus on cancer research. Dr. Adams, recently joined Gamida Cell as Chairman, and also serves Clal Biotechnology Industries as its Chief Scientific Officer and President.

Read More

He was previously president of research and development at Infinity Pharmaceuticals.
Prior to joining Infinity in 2003, Dr. Adams was the senior vice president of drug discovery and development at Millennium Pharmaceuticals, where he headed multiple global drug discovery and development programs, including the successful Velcade® (bortezomib) program.

Dr. Adams also held senior positions in research and development at LeukoSite (acquired by Millennium) and at ProScript, as well as in medicinal chemistry at Boehringer Ingelheim, where he is credited with discovering Viramune® (nevirapine) for HIV. Dr. Adams has won many awards, holds 40+ patents and has authored more than 100 papers and book chapters in peer-reviewed journals. He earned a B.S. from McGill University and a Ph.D. from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He also received a Doctor of Science, honoris causa, from McGill University in 2012.

ROY ALCALAY, M.D.

Roy Alcalay is chief of the Movement Disorders Division at Tel Aviv Sourasky Medical Center in Tel Aviv, Israel. He moved from Columbia University in 2021 where he holds a part time Associate Professorship.
Read More
He obtained his medical degree from Tel Aviv University, Israel, his neurology training from the Harvard University residency program at Massachusetts General Hospital and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and his movement disorders training at Columbia University. He earned a Master’s in biostatistics (Patient Oriented Research track) from Columbia University. His research focuses on biomarkers and genetics in Parkinson’s disease. 

In addition to serving on the advisory board of the Silverstein Foundation for GBA/PD, he also serves on the advisory board of the Parkinson’s Foundation and he is a member of the Michael J. Fox Foundation (MJFF) PPMI steering committee. His work is supported by the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the Parkinson’s Foundation and the MJFF.

CARROLEE BARLOW, M.D., PH.D.

Dr. Carrolee Barlow, M.D., Ph.D., B.A., has been Chief Executive Officer of The Parkinson’s Institute since March 5, 2013. Dr. Barlow most recently served as the Chief Scientific and Medical Officer of BrainCells, Inc. a company she joined in 2004.

Read More

She also served as the Director of Molecular Neuroscience and the Therapeutic Area Head for Stroke and Neurodegeneration at Merck Research Laboratories, a company she joined in 2002.
Prior to joining Merck, she held a faculty position in the Laboratory of Genetics at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, California, where she maintained an adjunct appointment. She served as a Scientific Advisor of Bionomics Ltd. until September 22, 2016. At the Salk Institute, her research laboratory focused on developing animal models of human neurological disease.

Dr. Barlow received her M.D. from the University of Utah followed by a residency at The New York Hospital, Cornell Medical Center in Internal Medicine. She obtained a Ph.D. in molecular and developmental biology at the Karolinska Medical Nobel Institute in Stockholm, Sweden. She completed medical subspecialty training in the field of endocrinology at the NIH and a post-doctoral fellowship in neurogenetics at the National Human Genome Research Institute.

LEONARD BELL, M.D.

Dr. Bell was the principal founder of Alexion in 1992 and served as the Chief Executive Officer from the Company’s inception until he retired as CEO on March 31, 2015.

Read More

Under his leadership Alexion grew to become a global biopharmaceutical company with employees serving patients with severe and life-threatening disorders in 50 countries through fully integrated research, discovery, development, manufacturing, and commercial capabilities.
Prior to founding Alexion, Dr. Bell was an attending physician at Yale-New Haven Hospital and Assistant Professor of Medicine and Pathology at the Yale University School of Medicine, where he also received his M.D. degree. Dr. Bell was a recipient of the numerous awards and honors as an academic scientist prior to founding Alexion.

Dr. Bell received his A.B. from Brown University and M.D. from Yale University School of Medicine. Dr. Bell is currently an Adjunct Assistant Professor of Medicine and Pathology at the Yale University School of Medicine.

GREGORY GRABOWSKI, M.D.

Dr. Grabowski is Professor Emeritus of Pediatrics and Genetics at the Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Research Foundation, and Chief Scientific Officer of Kiniksa Pharmaceuticals. He most recently served as Chief Scientific Officer of Synageva BioPharma, before its acquisition by Alexion in June 2015.

 

Read More

Prior to that, Dr. Grabowski spent over 20 years at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical Center, where he was the A. Graeme Mitchell Chair of Human Genetics and Director of Human Genetics at the Children’s Hospital Research Foundation.
He was also a Professor in the Departments of Molecular Genetics and Biochemistry, and Pediatrics, at the University of Cincinnati College of Medicine. Previously, Dr. Grabowski spent 13.5 years at the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, where he developed the world’s largest clinic for patients afflicted with Gaucher disease and other lysosomal diseases. He established basic research and diagnostic laboratories for genetic diseases as well as the first treatment center for enzyme therapy in Gaucher disease.

Dr. Grabowski received his M.D. from the University of Minnesota where he also completed his residency in Pediatrics and fellowship training in Human Genetics. During his research career, he has published over 330 scholarly works on the basic and clinical sciences of lysosomal storage and genetic diseases, while maintaining active clinical and treatment programs for genetic diseases.

RICHARD HARGREAVES, PH.D., FBPHS

Richard Hargreaves, Ph.D., FBPhS, joined Celgene as Corporate VP, to head Neuroscience and Imaging Research and Early Development in January 2017.

Read More

Previously VP, Head, New Indications Research Unit (NIRU) and Research & Early Development Centers of Excellence (RED-CoEs) at Biogen and VP Global Imaging and VP Discovery Head for Neuroscience in Merck Research Laboratories (MRL).
He has led the teams that have advanced numerous novel PET imaging agents and neuroscience drug candidates to the clinic contributing to the successful development and registration of several NCEs. He is published extensively in peer-reviewed scientific journals (>200 peer reviewed papers and 3 books) on neuroscience drug discovery, translational biomarkers and the use of biomedical imaging in drug discovery and development.

He received the Gary Neil Award for “Innovation in Drug Development” from the American Society of Clinical Pharmacology and Therapeutics for work on imaging in drug discovery and development and the first Sir James Black Award for Drug Discovery from the British Pharmacological Society. Richard holds a BSc and Ph.D. from Kings College London University UK and is an Honorary Fellow of the British Pharmacological Society.

FRANZ HEFTI, PH.D.

Dr. Franz Hefti is Chief Executive Officer at Prevail Therapeutics, a wholly owned subsidiary of Eli Lilly and Company. He has more than 15 years of experience in the biotech industry as executive, board member, co-founder and scientific advisor of many early-stage neurology companies.

Read More

Prior to Prevail, he was Chief Executive Officer of Acumen Pharmaceuticals, a biotech company developing novel therapies for Alzheimer’s disease (ABOS), Chief Scientific Officer at Avid Radiopharmaceuticals (acquired by Eli Lilly and Company), a company that developed Amyvid® for Alzheimer’s disease brain imaging and was Executive Vice President of Drug Development at Rinat Neuroscience (acquired by Pfizer), which was responsible for early development of tanezumab and fremanezumab (Ajovy®) for pain and migraines. Earlier in his career, Dr. Hefti held senior management positions in neuroscience at Merck and Genentech. He also held positions in academia as a Professor at the University of Southern California and Associate Professor at the University of Miami, where he carried out discovery research on therapeutic approaches to neurodegenerative diseases. He has published more than 250 papers on neurotrophic factors and topics in neuropharmacology. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Zurich and completed his postdoctoral research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

KARL KIEBURTZ, MD MPH

Karl Kieburtz MD MPH is a Professor of Neurology at the University of Rochester, and President of Clintrex Research Corporation. He was the founding Director of the Center for Health & Technology, the initial Robert J. Joynt Professor in Neurology, and served as the Senior Associate Dean for Clinical Research and Director of the Clinical & Translational Science Institute in Rochester.

Read More

Dr Kieburtz’s primary research interest is novel therapeutics for neurodegenerative diseases. He led the NINDS sponsored trials of neuroprotective agents for PD (NET-PD), and
served as the Chair of the Executive Committee of the Parkinson Study Group. He previously served on and chaired the FDA Advisory Committee on Peripheral and
Central Nervous System Disorders. In 2009, he was one of the co-founders of Clintrex Research Corporation which has collaborated with over 150 organizations
developing products for brain and neurological disorders.

He received his BA in Neuroscience from Amherst College. He completed his MD and MPH degrees at the University of Rochester, as well as his Neurology training and Fellowship in Experimental Therapeutics.

DIMITRI KRAINC, M.D., PH.D.

Dimitri Krainc, M.D., Ph.D. currently serves as the Aaron Montgomery Ward Professor and Chairman of the Department of Neurogenetics at Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago.

Read More

Previously, he spent over two decades at Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School where he completed his research and clinical training and served on the neurology faculty. Dr. Krainc founded two biotech companies that develop targeted therapies for neurodegenerative disorders. He in an elected member of the American Neurological Association, The Association of American Physicians, and the National Academy of Medicine.

PETER T. LANSBURY, JR., PH.D.

Peter Lansbury was born in 1958 and grew up in Buffalo, NY. He received his AB (cum laude) in chemistry from Princeton University in 1980 and subsequently received his PhD in organic chemistry from Harvard University in 1985 under the direction of Nobel laureate E. J. Corey.

Read More

His postdoctoral fellowship was spent at the Rockefeller University, working with the late Tom Kaiser.  In 1988, he accepted a position as assistant professor of chemistry at MIT, and was promoted to associate professor in 1993.  He moved to his current position at the Center of Neurologic Diseases in 1996, and was promoted to Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School in 2004.  During this time, he founded to Laboratory for Drug Discovery in Neurodegeneration and the Morris K. Udall NIH Parkinson’s Disease Research Center of Excellence at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, which he directed for ten years.   He was the founder of Link Medicine, and served as its Chief Scientific Officer from 2005 until its sale to AstraZeneca in 2012.  At Link, he and his team advanced a small molecule through phase 1b study in Alzheimer’s disease.  He served as Chief Scientific Officer of Lysosomal Therapeutics, Inc. from it’s founding in 2013 until its sale in 2021 to Bial Pharma.  During this time, he and his team developed a brain-penetrant, safe, and well-tolerated glucocerebrosidase allosteric activator for the treatment of GBA1-PD, a genetic subtype of Parkinson’s disease.  This compound is currently in clinical trials for modification of GBA-PD progression. Peter currently serves on the Scientific Advisory boards of Aliada Therapeutics, Lucy Therapeutics,  and Vincere.

DIMITRI KRAINC, M.D., PH.D.

Dimitri Krainc, M.D., Ph.D. currently serves as the Aaron Montgomery Ward Professor and Chairman of the Department of Neurology and Director of the Center for Rare Neurological Diseases (CRND) at Northwestern University, Feinberg School of Medicine in Chicago.

Read More

Previously, Dr. Krainc spent 21 years at Harvard Medical School where he completed his research training followed by a neurology residency and fellowship in movement disorders at Massachusetts General Hospital.
He then served on the neurology faculty at MGH and Harvard Medical School until 2013 when he relocated to Chicago.

Dr.Krainc is the founder of Lysosomal Therapeutics, Inc (LTI), a biotech company in Cambridge, Massachusetts where he also serves as the chair of Scientific Advisory Board. He also serves as an Advisor of Intellia Therapeutics Inc. Dr. Krainc recently received the Javits Award for his achievements in the field of neurological science.

STEVE SQUINTO, PH.D.

Stephen Squinto, Ph.D., is a Venture Partner with OrbiMed who brings over 25 years of biotechnology industry experience. Dr. Squinto was a co-founder of Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and most recently served as its Executive Vice President and Chief Global Operations Officer.

Read More

Prior to 2013, he was Alexion’s Global Head of Research and Development. From 1988 to 1992, Dr. Squinto held various positions at Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
Prior to Regeneron, he held a joint academic position at both the Tulane University and LSU Medical Schools. He is a recipient of numerous honors and awards from academic and professional organizations for his scientific work.

Dr. Squinto received his B.A. in Chemistry and Ph.D. in Biochemistry and Biophysics from Loyola University of Chicago.

JIM SULLIVAN, PH.D.

Jim Sullivan, Ph.D., is CEO of Vanqua Bio a company focused on the development of novel therapeutic agents for neurological conditions including Parkinson’s disease.
Read More
He is also a Venture Partner with Orbimed. Previously, he was the Vice President of Research at Abbvie where he was responsible for AbbVie’s research efforts in a variety of therapeutic/disease areas including oncology, immunology, neurology, hepatitis C and cystic fibrosis. Jim has advanced more than 100 compounds into clinical development across a number of disease states and technology platforms. These include products on the market for HCV (Mavyret and Viekira), the first-in-class Bcl2 selective inhibitor, Venclexta for hematological cancers, a new oral agent for patients with rheumatoid arthritis, RINVOQ, and multiple compounds currently in Phase II or III
clinical trials. He has authored/co-authored more than 130 scientific publications and is an inventor on 11 patents.

Jim is an adjunct faculty member at Northwestern University and serves on the board of a number of companies and foundations including Regis Technologies, Hibercell, MATTER Healthcare Incubator, Chicago Biotechnology Accelerator and the Pistoia Alliance. He earned his bachelor's degree and Ph.D. in biochemistry from Trinity College Dublin and conducted post-doctoral research in neurobiology at Northwestern University.

PETER THOMPSON, M.D.

Peter Thompson, M.D., is a General Partner of OrbiMed, with over 30 years of industry experience.

Read More

He held executive positions at Becton-Dickinson and Chiron, co-founded and was CEO of Trubion Pharmaceuticals, co-founded Corvus Pharmaceuticals, Cleave Biosciences, Silverback Therapeutics, Edgewise Therapeutics, Terremoto Biosciences and serves as a Director on several public and private company boards. Dr. Thompson is an Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year awardee, an Affiliate Professor of Neurosurgery at the University of Washington, an inventor on numerous patents and a board-certified internist and oncologist.

He was on staff at the National Cancer Institute following his internal medicine training at Yale University.