Paul Aisen, MD

Founding Director of the University of Southern California’s Alzheimer’s Therapeutic Research Institute (ATRI)

Dr. Paul Aisen received his BA in biochemistry and molecular biology from Harvard and his medical degree from Columbia. He completed his residency at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland and Mount Sinai Medical Center in New York, and then fellowship training in rheumatology at New York University.

After serving as chief medical resident at Mount Sinai, he began a solo practice in internal medicine and rheumatology in New York. Dr. Aisen joined the faculty of Mount Sinai in 1994 and moved to Georgetown University in 1999 as a professor of neurology and medicine.

From 2007 through 2015, he was professor in the Department of Neurosciences at the University of California, San Diego and director of the Alzheimer’s Disease Cooperative Study. Since 2015, he has been professor of Neurology at USC and director of ATRI.

Nicholas Ashton, PhD

Associate Professor of Neurochemistry at the Department of Psychiatry and Neurochemistry at the University of Gothenburg 

Dr. Nicholas Ashton is an associate professor of neurochemistry at the Department of Psychiatry and Neurochemistry at the University Gothenburg. He also holds a senior researcher position at the department of Old Age Psychiatry, King’s College London. He received his PhD in 2017 from King’s College London in the group of Professor Simon Lovestone.

Dr. Ashton has a >10 years of experience in biofluid analysis and assay development for Alzheimer’s disease which ranges from discovery mass spectrometry methods to ultra-sensitive immunoassays. Recently this work has produced ultra-sensitive single molecular array (Simoa) assays for phosphorylated tau in blood, which are now widely used in research settings, therapeutics trials and being validated for clinical use.

Dr. Ashton has published >200 original research articles in field of fluid biomarkers and in 2021, Dr. Ashton was awarded the Queen Silvia’s Prize to a Young Alzheimer Researcher for his contribution dementia research and the Viola prize for mentorship.

Rhoda Au, PhD

Professor of Anatomy & Neurobiology, Neurology and Epidemiology at Boston University Schools of Medicine and Public Health, Senior Fellow at the Institute for Health Systems Innovation and Policy at the Questrom School of Business, and Director of Neuropsychology at the Framingham Heart Study

Dr. Rhoda Au is Professor of Anatomy & Neurobiology, Neurology and Epidemiology at Boston University, and is a Senior Fellow at the Institute for Health Systems Innovation and Policy at the Questrom School of Business. She also serves as Director of Neuropsychology at the Framingham Heart Study.

Dr. Au has been developing a multi-sensory brain health monitoring platform that is customizable, technology agnostic, and scalable. Her objectives include transitioning the platform from reliance on high friction technologies to low friction ones and developing broad based data sharing resources to accelerate data science/AI driven discovery of digital biomarkers. Her research seeks to move the primary focus of health technologies from precision Alzheimer’s medicine to a broader emphasis on precision brain health.

Niranjan Bose, PhD

Managing Director of Health & Life Sciences at Gates Ventures

Dr. Niranjan Bose is currently the Managing Director (Health & Life Sciences Strategy) at Gates Ventures LLC, where he serves as the Science Advisor to Mr. Bill Gates. Prior to joining Gates Ventures in August 2014, he was the Chief of Staff to the President of the Global Health Program at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

He was with the Gates Foundation from 2007 through 2014, which included a few years with their Enterics and Diarrheal Diseases (EDD) program strategy team, where he was responsible for managing a portfolio of investments, which included clinical development of enteric vaccines (rotavirus, cholera, enterotoxigenic E coli and shigella).

Prior to joining the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, he was with Strategic Decisions Group (and SDG Life Sciences), where he was a Senior Consultant and assisted clients in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries with strategy development, company valuations, portfolio management frameworks, revenue forecasting, and competitive assessments.

Niranjan holds a PhD in biochemistry from Dartmouth College and an MS in biological sciences and BS in pharmaceutical sciences from Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani, India. He also received the Business Bridge Diploma from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth.

Aaron Burstein, PharmD, FCCP

Head of Search and Evaluation at Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation (ADDF)

Dr. Aaron Burstein serves as Head of Search and Evaluation at the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation managing a team of scientists responsible for the Therapeutics Portfolio (i.e., Drug Development, Neuroimaging and CSF Biomarkers).

Dr. Burstein earned his BS Pharmacy and PharmD degrees from the State University of New York at Buffalo. He subsequently completed a fellowship in Clinical Neuropharmacology focused on investigational treatments for neurological disorders including epilepsy and stroke, as well as on pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic mathematical modeling techniques. He is a Fellow of the American College of Clinical Pharmacy.

Dr. Burstein’s career includes 28 years in clinical research and development across academia, the National Institutes of Health, and the pharmaceutical industry. He has 20+ years’ experience in the pharmaceutical industry serving most recently as Senior Vice President of Clinical Development at vTv Therapeutics. Prior to that, Dr. Burstein served as Senior Director at Pfizer, where he served various positions of increasing responsibility within Clinical Research, Clinical Development and Developmental Operations organizations, with a focus on investigational products for CNS indications including Alzheimer’s disease.

Howard Fillit, MD

Dr. Howard Fillit is a geriatrician, neuroscientist, and innovative philanthropy executive, who has led the ADDF since its founding. Dr. Fillit has held faculty positions at The Rockefeller University, the SUNY-Stony Brook School of Medicine and the Cornell University School of Medicine. In 1987, he joined the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, where he is a clinical professor of geriatric medicine and palliative care, medicine and neuroscience. Dr. Fillit also maintains a limited private practice in consultative geriatric medicine with a focus on Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias.

He has authored or co-authored more than 300 publications and is the senior editor of Brocklehurst’s Textbook of Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology. Dr. Fillit is the recipient of many awards and honors including the Rita Hayworth Award from the Alzheimer’s Association. He is a fellow of the American Geriatrics Society, the American College of Physicians, the Gerontological Society of America and the New York Academy of Medicine.

Dr. Fillit earned his bachelor of arts in neurobiology cum laude from Cornell University and his medical degree from the SUNY-Upstate Medical University.

Tony Giordano, PhD

President and CEO at NeuroTherapia

Dr. Tony Giordano has founded and led numerous biotechnology companies during his career, advancing a half-dozen products into clinical trials and one product onto the market as a medical food. He has also been involved in Alzheimer’s disease research, starting as a Staff Fellow at NIA, then as a research scientist at Abbott Labs before leading Alzheimer’s disease research programs as VP of R&D at Message Pharmaceuticals and Associate Professor of Biochemistry at LSU Health Sciences in Shreveport. Tony was also the founding CEO of Cognition Therapeutics.

Michael Gold, MD

Chief Medical Officer at Neumora

Dr. Michael Gold brings over 20 years of pharmaceutical industry experience across all stages of CNS drug development. Most recently, he served as Vice President, Therapeutic Head CNS Development at AbbVie, where he was responsible for AbbVie’s CNS pipeline and led a group of approximately 40 physicians and scientists focused on conducting clinical development.

Prior to joining AbbVie, Dr. Gold held leadership positions at a number of biopharmaceutical companies, including Bristol Myers Squibb, Johnson & Johnson, GlaxoSmithKline, UCB and PPD, Inc.

Miia Kivipelto, MD, PhD

Professor of Clinical Geriatrics at Karolinska Institute’s Center for Alzheimer Research and Senior Geriatrician, Director for Research & Development of Theme Aging at Karolinska University Hospital, and Scientific Founder and Medical and Scientific Director at Fingers Brain Health Institute 

Dr. Miia Kivipelto is Professor of Clinical Geriatrics at Karolinska Institutet (KI), Center for Alzheimer Research, and senior geriatrician and Director for Research & Development of Theme Aging at Karolinska University Hospital, Stockholm, Sweden. Part of her Nordic-UK Brain Network (NBN) multidisciplinary research team (around 100 researchers and clinical staff) is located at University of Eastern Finland and Imperial College London (ICL), UK, where she has part time position as Professor. Her frontline research findings have been published in leading journals 400+ publications, H-index 83) and she has received numerous prestigious national and international awards.

Dr. Kivipelto’s translational research focuses on the prevention, early diagnosis and treatment of cognitive impairment, dementia and Alzheimer’s disease (AD). Through epidemiological studies, Prof. Kivipelto has identified various lifestyle and vascular risk factors for dementia and interactions with genetic factors and clarified underlying mechanisms. She has developed the first tool for predicting dementia risk based on midlife risk profiles. This is still one of the few validated risk scores in the field and is in clinical use (including clinical trials). These findings paved the way to the current prevention trials.

Professor Kivipelto is the PI of the landmark FINGER Randomized Controlled Trial (RCT) (Finnish Geriatric Intervention Study to Prevent Cognitive Impairment and Disability), which is the first large-scale trial showing that a multi-domain lifestyle-based intervention can reduce the risk of cognitive and functional impairment among at risk persons from general population. FINGER has caused a paradigm shift, i.e. cognitive decline is no longer an inevitable consequence of aging, but can be prevented with multidomain interventions. This pragmatic model is now tested and adapted worldwide, and Professor Kivipelto has launched the World Wide FINGERS network, a unique interdisciplinary network to share experiences, harmonise data, and plan joint international initiatives for the prevention of cognitive impairment/dementia (45 countries currently involved). She is also founder of the FINGERS Brain Health Institute aiming to find novel solutions to promote brain health and prevent cognitive impairment and dementia.

Professor Kivipelto has also contributed to understanding of biological mechanisms underlying dementia/AD and she is actively involved in phase I-III clinical trials and is leading several international consortia. She has received numerous of prestigious awards, including Forska!Sverige Research Award (2022), Melvin R. Goodes Prize, USA (2021) for excellence in drug discovery (for FINGER concept), the Ryman Prize, New Zealand (2020), Arthur C. Cherkin Award, USA (2019), Swedish Doctoral Union Alzheimer prize (2018), Neuroscientist of the Year (Finland, 2018), MetLife Foundation Major Award for Medical Research (2016), Swedish Alzheimer Research Foundation Major Award (2016), Waijlit and Eric Forsgren’s award for dementia researcher (2015), Best PI at KI award (2014) and AXA Research Award (2014), Karolinska Institutet Skandia’s Lennart Levi prize (2013), Junior Chamber International Award for Ten Outstanding Young Persons of the World (2011), Academy of Finland Award for Social Impact (2009).

Giacomo Koch, MD, PhD

Neurologist and Neuroscientist at the Santa Lucia Foundation 

Dr. Giacomo Koch is a neurologist and neuroscientist. He is Full Professor of Human Physiology at University of Ferrara and leads the non-invasive cortical stimulation lab at Santa Lucia Foundation in Rome, Italy.

Prof. Koch has a world-class experience in the field of clinical neurophysiology. His main expertise is in the application of non-invasive brain stimulation techniques such as transcranial magnetic stimulation (TMS) and transcranial direct current stimulation (tDCS), mainly used in combination with structural and functional magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) and with electroencephalography (EEG).

The main goals of his research are to understand the mechanisms underlying cortical plasticity and cortical connectivity in the healthy human brain, to develop novel therapeutic approaches to promote recovery of neurological functions. He pioneered novel research based on multifocal TMS to investigate in real-time the activation of cortical circuits and to study the mechanisms of cortico-cortical plasticity. The main current focus of his research is on the field of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and dementia. Prof. Koch conducted a series of clinical studies that led to the first clinical evidence that therapy with dopaminergic agonists such as rotigotine may slow cognitive decline and preserve functional activities in patients with AD. The translational approach of his research has also been directed to explore novel therapies for AD that are based on personalized non-invasive brain stimulation.

He is the author of >320 peer-reviewed publications and several book chapters. H index: 65 (Scopus).

Russell Lebovitz, MD, PhD

CEO of Amprion

Dr. Russell Lebovitz worked for 15 years as a successful senior scientist and research physician in a variety of academic settings before transitioning to a second career focused on financial, operational and executive management of emerging technology companies. Between 1997 and 2003, he managed global projects in operations, marketing and finance for a number of Fortune 100 technology including Royal Dutch Shell, Enron, ABB, SprintNextel, AT&T Wireless, Johnson & Johnson, Merck, Compaq/HP, King Pharmaceuticals, and JPMorganChase. Since 2003, Russ has been a serial entrepreneur and active investor in life sciences projects involving protein diagnostics, imaging technology & image analysis, machine learning, drug development and medical devices.

Since 2005, Dr. Lebovitz has served as a life sciences venture partner and entrepreneur in residence with several different early stage funds in Silicon Valley and Southern California. Through these relationships, he has served as CEO of diagnostics, therapeutics and consumer healthcare companies including CSixty, Marval Biosciences, Skincential Sciences and Amprion.

Dr. Lebovitz currently  oversees an extremely talented team focused on accurate and early diagnosis of Alzheimer’s, Parkinson’s and related neurodegenerative diseases at Amprion. He has also served on the faculty of Baylor College of Medicine in Houston and The Fox Chase Cancer Center in Philadelphia, and currently serves on the Board of Directors for Skincential Sciences, Amprion, Ambra Biosciences and FP Complete and as a Venture Advisor for Bootstrap Labs.

Frank Longo, MD, PhD

George E. And Lucy Becker Professor of Medicine and Professor (by courtesy) of Neurosurgery at Stanford University, and Founder and Chairman of the Board at PharmatropiX.

Dr. Frank Longo received his MD and PhD in neuroscience from the University of California, San Diego and trained as a resident and fellow in neurology at the University of California, San Francisco. He joined the UCSF faculty and was eventually appointed as professor and vice chair of UCSF’s Department of Neurology.

Dr. Longo served as the chair of the Department of Neurology at the University of North Carolina – Chapel Hill and at Stanford University. His ongoing research interests include elucidation of mechanisms underlying neurodegenerative diseases and translational research targeting such mechanisms.

Dr. Longo is the 2015 recipient of the inaugural Melvin R. Goodes Prize for Excellence in Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery from the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation, and he currently serves on the National Advisory Council on Aging for the NIH.

Dawn Matthews, MSEE, MBA

Co-Founder and CEO of ADM Diagnostics (ADMdx)

Dawn Matthews is Chief Executive Officer and co-founder of ADM Diagnostics (ADMdx). ADMdx combines neuroimaging with advanced processing and artificial intelligence to detect and differentiate dementias and other brain disorders, including Alzheimer’s disease and Traumatic Brain Injury. The company has translated these advances into its first FDA cleared product, CorInsights MRI, pipeline products, and clinical trial services for pharmaceutical clinical trials.

With over 30 years of life sciences management experience, Ms. Matthews leads and contributes directly to R&D, operations, and commercialization activities. She serves as Co-Chair of the Radiologic Society of North America Quantitative Biomarkers Tau PET and Amyloid PET working groups, Scientific Advisor for the Alzheimer’s Drug Development Foundation, and was co-lead of the Imaging Biomarkers group of the Critical Path for Parkinson’s Consortium.

Earlier, she was Director of Marketing and Business Development in the Motorola BioChip Systems business unit, co-founder, Acting Chief Financial Officer, and Vice President of a medical device company through its Initial Public Offering, and Senior Principal Engineer at Baxter Healthcare.

She received her BSEE at the University of Notre Dame and MSEE at the University of Michigan, both with a biomedical emphasis, and her MBA at Northwestern University.​

Bradford Navia, MD, PhD

Chief Medical Officer and Executive Vice President at Aprinoia

Dr. Bradford Navia is the Chief Medical Officer, Executive Vice President at Aprinoia Therapeutics, Cambridge, MA, a clinical stage diagnostic and therapeutic neuroscience company, focused on the development of novel imaging agents for the detection of tau and alpha synuclein aggregates, and the development of novel therapeutics for neurodegenerative disorders, including selective monoclonal antibodies to tau and a protein degradation platform targeting tau and alpha synuclein aggregates. With support from ADDF, he is currently leading a phase 3 trial of APN 1607, a first in class 3R, 4R tau tracer, as a diagnostic marker for PSP and nonAD tauopathies.

Prior to joining Aprinoia, Dr Navia spent 16 years in industry in various roles with increasing responsibility and successfully led several phase 1 to 3 trials in psychiatry and neurology, and was involved in multiple INDs, sNDA and NDAs, including the approval of KYNMOBI for the treatment of Parkinson’s Off episodes. As an associate professor at Tufts Medical School, he received nearly $20M in NIH (NINDS) funding for research focused on neurogenetics, the neurobiology of HIV infection and the application of neuroimaging approaches (MRS, MRI, DTI) to studies on the chronic neurological effects of HIV infection and to clinical trials in CNS drug development. He has authored over 200 hundred publications, abstracts, and chapters.

He received his medical degree at Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons, neurology training at Cornell, NY and his doctoral degree in neuroscience and genetics at Harvard University, Cambridge, MA.

He received his medical degree at Columbia College of Physicians and Surgeons, neurology training at Cornell, NY and his doctoral degree in neuroscience and genetics at Harvard University, Cambridge, MA.

Laura Nisenbaum, PhD

Executive Director of Drug Development at the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation (ADDF)

Dr. Laura Nisenbaum is a proven scientific leader with 30 years of biotechnology industry and academia experience. At the ADDF, she oversees the Scientific Affairs, Biomarker Development, and Aging and Alzheimer’s Prevention teams.

Most recently, Dr. Nisenbaum served as Senior Director of Aducanumab Biomarkers and Diagnostic Pathways at Biogen, where she led the biomarker strategy for Aducanumab, as well as the Diagnostics Pathway group within the Biomarker Organization.

Her time at Biogen followed 20 years of experience at Eli Lilly and Company where she served as Asset Manager for Chorus, an autonomous early-phase clinical development organization within Lilly. Dr. Nisenbaum also served as Research Fellow and neuroscience lead in tailored therapeutics, translational medicine, and preclinical drug discovery.

Prior to joining the biotechnology field, Dr. Nisenbaum received a Fulbright Scholarship to study in Cologne, Germany. She then completed her PhD in neuroscience in 1991 at the University of Pittsburgh and transitioned to industry after completing postdoctoral training at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), the University of Tennessee College of Medicine, and a faculty position in Physiology and Neurobiology at the University of Connecticut.

Throughout her career, Dr. Nisenbaum has contributed to the discovery and development of more than 15 novel therapeutics, bringing three molecules for FDA approval. She has also authored over 35 publications in peer-reviewed scientific journals.

Miranda E. Orr, PhD

Associate Professor of Internal Medicine in Geriatrics and Gerontology at Wake Forest University School of Medicine and Research Health Scientist at the Salisbury VA Medical Center

Dr. Miranda Orr’s research focuses on cellular stress responses at the intersection between healthy brain aging and neurodegeneration. She earned a PhD in Neuroscience from Montana State University, specializing in mechanisms of tau pathogenesis using Alzheimer’s disease stem cell and mouse models.

Her postdoctoral training focused on the biology of aging and translational geroscience at the Sam and Ann Barshop Institute for Longevity and Aging Studies in San Antonio, TX. Her laboratory discovered a link between intraneuronal tau accumulation, a defining neuropathology in Alzheimer’s disease, and cellular senescence, a hallmark of aging. This seminal study established senescent cells as a therapeutic target for neurodegenerative diseases and helped ignite a new field of study. She has translated this finding to clinical testing where she is leading a multisite Phase II trial targeting senescent cell clearance in older adults with mild cognitive impairment or early Alzheimer’s disease. For this work, she received the 2022 Melvin R. Goodes Prize for Excellence in Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery from the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation and was featured in the January and September 2023 issues of National Geographic for identifying, imaging, and therapeutically targeting senescent cells in Alzheimer’s disease.

Meriel Owen, PhD

Associate Director, Search and Evaluation at Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation (ADDF)

Mark Roithmayr

Chief Executive Officer at Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation (ADDF)

Mark Roithmayr is an admired nonprofit leader with four decades of experience in both start-ups and mature organizations. At the ADDF, Mr. Roithmayr is responsible for steering the Foundation’s overall strategy, focus, and business operations. Since joining the ADDF in 2017, the organization has transformed dramatically in impact, scale, presence, and brand. Under his leadership, the ADDF’s revenue has increased five-fold from $17M to an excess of $90M and mission related investing has grown over 100%.

As such, Mr. Roithmayr sets the strategic vision of the ADDF and works in partnership with the Co-Founder and CSO, Howard Fillit, MD, Executive Leadership, and the Board of Governors and Overseers to advance and execute the Foundation’s mission of accelerating the discovery of drugs to prevent, treat, and cure Alzeimer’s disease and related dementias. His areas of expertise and focus include venture philanthropy, strategic planning, volunteer development, and brand-building. One of Mr. Roithmayr’s milestone accomplishments was securing Bill Gates, as well as Jeff Bezos and MacKenzie Scott, as donors to further the Foundation’s venture philanthropy efforts. Additionally, he secured a 10-figure gift from the families of Leonard and Ronald Lauder, ensuring all overhead costs will be covered at the ADDF for the next two decades.

Prior to joining the ADDF, Mr. Roithmayr was Chief Relationship Officer at the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society. There, he helped launch its venture philanthropy initiative, directed its 56 national chapters, and led annual fundraising of over $200 million. Prior his time at the Leukemia and Lymphoma Society, he served for seven years as president of Autism Speaks. As that organization’s first president, he shepherded its growth from a start-up into the world’s largest autism research and advocacy organization. Earlier in his career, Mr. Roithmayr held several executive positions, spanning two decades, with the March of Dimes. He earned a bachelor’s degree in communications at Rowan University.

Marwan Noel Sabbagh, MD, FAAN

Behavioral Neurologist in Alzheimer’s and Memory Disorders at Barrow Neurological Institute

Dr. Marwan Sabbagh is a leading investigator for many prominent national Alzheimer’s treatment trials. Dr. Sabbagh is on the editorial board for Journal of Alzheimer’s Disease and Alzheimer’s and Dementia TRCI. He is editor-in-chief of Neurology and Therapy. He has authored and co-authored over 420 medical and scientific articles on Alzheimer’s research.

Dr. Sabbagh is the author of The Alzheimer’s Answer: Reduce Your Risk and Keep Your Brain Healthy, with foreword by Justice Sandra Day O’Connor, and of The Alzheimer’s Prevention Cookbook: 100 Recipes to Boost Brain Health. He has edited Palliative Care for Advanced Alzheimer’s and Dementia: Guidelines and Standards for Evidence Based Care and Geriatric Neurology, published in 2014 and Fighting for my Life: living in the shadow of Alzheimer’s disease in 2019 and Strong Heart, Sharp Mind published in 2022.

Dr. Sabbagh earned his undergraduate degree from the University of California, Berkeley and his medical degree from the University of Arizona in Tucson. He received his residency training in neurology at Baylor College of Medicine, Houston, Texas, and completed his fellowship in geriatric neurology and dementia at the University of California, San Diego School of Medicine, where he served on the faculty as assistant professor. Before joining the faculty of the Barrow Neurological Institute, he was the Camille and Larry Ruvo Endowed Chair for Brain Health, the Director of the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health in Las Vegas and the founding Principal Investigator of the NIH funded Nevada Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center. Prior to that, he was the director of the Banner Sun Health Research Institute in Sun City AZ. Presently, he also serves as Associate Program Director for Research for the Neurology Residency.

Philip Scheltens, MD, PhD

Partner and Head of the Dementia Fund at EQT Life Sciences

Dr. Philip Scheltens is Head of the Dementia Fund and partner at EQT Life Sciences. Before joining EQT, Dr. Scheltens worked as founder and Director of the Alzheimer Center at Amsterdam University Medical Center in Amsterdam, The Netherlands.

He is an MD (neurology) and holds a PhD in Medicine from the VU University Amsterdam and is currently Emeritus Professor of Neurology at Amsterdam University Medical Centers.

Jeffrey Stavenhagen, PhD

Chief Scientific Officer at Therini Bio

Dr. Jeffrey Stavenhagen is currently CSO of Therini Bio. Prior to this, he worked overseas first as VP of Biology at Therachon in Basel where he he led R&D for Therachon’s Achondroplasia program was acquired by Pfizer in 2019. He also built Lundbecks discovery biologics program in Copenhagen, leading Lundbeck’s first internal antibody programs into clinical development for neurodegenerative diseases. During his tenure at Lundbeck, he first met Dr. Akassoglou, founder of Therini Bio, co-leading the collaboration on the anti-Fibrin antibody project.

Dr. Stavenhagen started his biotech career as the first employee at MacroGenics (Rockville), where he built a novel Fc engineering platform that resulted in Margenza®, one of the first Fc optimized monoclonal antibodies on the market. Dr. Stavenhagen received his Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from Columbia University and performed post-doctoral studies at the Fred Hutchinson Research Center in Seattle.

Ronald van der Geest, PhD

Chief Data Officer at Treeway

Dr. Ronald van der Geest currently holds the esteemed position of Chief Data Officer (CDO) at Treeway, a role he has adeptly fulfilled for the past nine years. The focus of Treeway’s development centers on recognizing the pivotal role that immunology and inflammation play in the progression of diseases such as ALS and Alzheimer’s.

With a solid foundation as a clinical pharmacologist and an expert in drug delivery, Dr. van der Geest earned his Ph.D. from Leiden University in The Netherlands. He continued his studies at UC San Francisco in the United States. Dr. van der Geest began his career at Johnson & Johnson in Belgium. Notably, during his tenure at Tibotec, he led the development of Prezista and other innovative protease inhibitors.

In 2010, Dr. Geest co-founded 3D-PharmXchange. His contribution extended to assuming the role of CDO, as well as analogous positions, within emerging biotech enterprises. Among his notable achievements is his leadership in the development of Glybera, the groundbreaking approved gene therapy by uniQure. His expertise encompasses various realms, including translational development, orphan drugs, personalized medicines, and advancements driven by biomarkers.

At present, Dr. Geest remains actively engaged in advisory board positions and interim management roles. Through these engagements, he offers invaluable support to clients in crucial areas such as fundraising, drug development, and corporate strategy.

Tim West, PhD

Vice President of Research & Development at C2N Diagnostics

Dr. Tim West obtained his PhD in molecular cell biology and neuroscience from Washington University. He conducted his graduate thesis research and post-doctoral training in the laboratory of Dr. David Holtzman, one of C₂N’s scientific founders. In those capacities, Dr. West led a group of scientists and technicians studying neonatal stroke and hypoxic-ischemic injury.

During 2006 and 2007, he served as Staff Scientist and Assistant Director of Technology Development for the Hope Center for Neurological Disorders at the Washington University School of Medicine. Dr. West has extensive experience in database management and computer programming, and supports C₂N’s establishment of a software platform tracking work flow and inventories, stores data, and enhances quality control.

Dr. West was a recipient of a Kauffman Fellowship for Bio-Entrepreneurship. He received his B.Sc. Honors in Molecular Biology at University College London and performed a laboratory internship at the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research.