Peter Hagedorn is an Expert Scientist at Roche Innovation Center Copenhagen. His research is currently focused on characterizing and mitigating potential toxicities of oligonucleotides in the CNS. Peter has worked on the pharmaceutical research and development of nucleic acid therapeutics for more than 10 years. He holds a master’s degree in Biophysics from the Niels Bohr Institute, University of Copenhagen, Denmark, and a PhD in Molecular Biology and Bioinformatics from the University of Southern Denmark.

Karl Herrup received his Bachelor’s degree from Brandeis University in Waltham, MA and his Ph.D. in Neuroscience from Stanford University.  After two postdoctoral fellowships – in Neurogenetics at Children’s Hospital/Harvard Medical School, and in Neuropharmacology at the Biozentrum in Basel Switzerland – he joined the faculty of the Human Genetics Department of Yale Medical School as an Assistant, then Associate, Professor.  He became Director of the Division of Developmental Neurobiology at the E. K. Shriver Center in Waltham, MA before moving to the Departments of Neurosciences and Neurology at Case Western Reserve University Medical School and University Hospitals of Cleveland. While in Cleveland, he directed the University Alzheimer’s Center for six years. In 2006 he moved to the Piscataway/New Brunswick campus of Rutgers University to become Professor and Chair of the Department of Cell Biology and Neuroscience.  In July 2012, he moved to Hong Kong to become the Head of Life Science at The Hong Kong University of Science and Technology.  He returned to the United States in March 2019 to become a Professor of Neurobiology at the University of Pittsburgh. His laboratory research is focused on the biology of nerve cell death and the paradoxical role that failed cell cycle regulation plays in the process. His work includes a strong translational interest that directs his studies towards a few select human neurodegenerative diseases including Alzheimer’s, a very common late-life dementia, and ataxia-telangiectasia, a very rare multisystem disorder of childhood.

Senior Investigator, Gladstone Institute of Neurological Disease

Professor of Neurology and PathologyUniversity of California, San Francisco

Yadong Huang, MD, PhD, is a senior investigator at Gladstone Institutes, where he is also the director of the Center for Translational Advancement and an investigator in the Roddenberry Stem Cell Center. In addition, he is a professor of neurology and pathology at UC San Francisco.Huang earned an MD from Qingdao Medical University in China, and a PhD in biochemistry and pathology from Peking Union Medical College and Chinese Academy of Medical Sciences in Beijing. He was trained as a postdoctoral fellow at the Arteriosclerosis Research Institute at the University of Muenster, Germany. Huang joined Gladstone Institutes in 1995 as a postdoctoral fellow, and became a staff research investigator in 1999. In 2015, he was promoted to senior investigator.Huang studies the pathogenesis of Alzheimer’s disease, focusing on the roles of apoE4. His lab demonstrates that apoE4 is expressed in neurons where it is proteolytically cleaved, leading to the generation of neurotoxic fragments. Neuronal apoE4and its fragmentsupregulate neuronal MHC-I expression to drive selective neurodegeneration. Huang’s lab also showed that expression of apoE4 causes age-dependent impairment of GABAergic interneurons in the hippocampus, leading toneuralnetwork dysfunctionand learning and memory impairment. He has been heavily involved in identifying strategies, including precision medicine anddrug repurposing,for the treatment or prevention of Alzheimer’s disease by targeting apoE4. Huang has published more than 120 scientific papers. He is a scientific co-founder for two pharmaceutic companies: E-Scape Bio, Inc. and GABAeron, Inc.

[email protected]

Ed Kaye, a pediatric neurologist, is the chief executive officer and a director of Stoke Therapeutics.

Ed previously served as CEO of Sarepta Therapeutics, where he led the successful push to win FDA approval of Exondys 51, a pioneering drug for Duchenne muscular dystrophy. Before taking on the CEO role at Sarepta, he served as the company’s chief medical officer for six years, leading the drive to develop Exondys 51. He also served on Sarepta’s board of directors.

Earlier in his career, Ed spent 10 years at Genzyme Corporation, most recently as group vice president of clinical development, where he supervised clinical research in programs focused on lysosomal storage disease and genetic neurological disorders. At Genzyme, Ed also held various roles, including vice president of medical affairs for lysosomal storage diseases, vice president of clinical research and interim head of PGH global medical affairs.

Ed currently serves as a member of the boards of directors at Cytokinetics, Inc. and the Massachusetts Biotechnology  Council. Prior to entering the biotech industry, Ed trained in pediatrics, pediatric neurology and biochemical genetics. He was on the research staff at Massachusetts General Hospital and Tufts University Medical Center and was the chief of biochemical genetics at the Children’s Hospital of Philadelphia. He remains on the pediatric neurology staff at Boston Children’s Hospital. Ed earned his B.S. in biology from Loyola University and earned his M.D. at the Loyola University Stritch School of Medicine.

Dr. Khodaparast has a Ph.D. in Neurophysiology that focused on using vagus nerve stimulation (VNS) to promote restorative brain plasticity and treat neurological disease. His research is considered foundational for the principle of target plasticity therapy and has led to multiple VNS clinical trials for stroke rehabilitation. Dr. Khodaparast has over 10 years’ experience in translating neuromodulatory therapies to treat neurological and psychiatric disorders. He is a scientifically driven entrepreneur, has led clinical research at multiple early-stage medical device companies involved in Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, and Cardiac Disease.

Over the past 5 years Dr. Khodaparast has been lead Principal Investigator for multiple successful NIH funded studies, his publications have received over 1200 citations, and is an inventor of transcutaneous auricular neurostimulation. More recently, Dr. Khodaparast co-founded and serves as Chief Science Officer for Spark Biomedical, where he is responsible for overseeing Spark’s clinical initiatives, and works to advance the technology into new potential indications.

Rob has his PhD. in neuroscience and is an associate director of clinical development in neurology at Ionis Pharmaceuticals where his focus is on bringing novel treatments using antisense oligonucleotides into early stage clinical trials, particularly to help treat individuals with neurodevelopmental disorders. Previously, his work focused on research into the development of translatable biomarkers of cognitive function for use in clinical trials. Rob is based in Massachusetts and is originally from NY (Long Island). He is married with a 22 month-old son and a very stubborn Shiba Inu. In his spare time Rob loves cooking, especially in the smoker, as well as spending time outdoors on the beach or hiking.

Dr Amir Lahav is a clinical neuroscientist and a leading innovator in digital health with a special focus on developing and validating novel biomarkers and AI-driven technology for remote monitoring of patients with neurodegenerative diseases. Amir has 15+ years of experience in the healthcare industry, academic research, clinical data science, and Around the Pill solutions. He is currently the Head of R&D at Mitsubishi Tanabe Pharma Holding America, and a freelance consultant for several HealthTech companies in the DTx space. Formerly, Amir served as the Head of Digital Innovation at Pfizer’s Rare Disease Unit, where he led the development of technology solutions and mobile health apps, from proof-of-concept studies to global scale-up implementation in clinical trials. Prior to pharma, Amir was a professor of pediatrics at Harvard Medical School and a PI on multiple technology-driven clinical trials. Amir leads Redenlab’s digital health & strategy, driving innovation in new markets and disease groups.

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 Ph.D. in organic chemistry from Harvard University in 1985 under the direction of Nobel laureate E. J. Corey. 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 NeurologicDiseases 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. He is currently Chief  Scientific Officer of Bial  Biotechnology, a company focused on developing disease-modifying therapeutics for Parkinson’s and related diseases.

Ming Lim undertook his undergraduate medical training at the University Nottingham, UK. Following completing his paediatric neurology training in South London, he began his doctoral research in the Institute of Psychiatry, Psychology and Neuroscience (London) with the award of a Royal College of Paediatrics and Child Health Fellowship. He was appointed as Consultant Paediatric Neurologist at the Evelina London Children’s Hospital; and is Reader (Associate Professor) in Paediatric Neurology within Faculty of Life Sciences & Medicine, King’s College London.

The Children's Neuroscience Department Brain and Spine Inflammation Service at the Evelina is one of the largest in Europe with a highly successful research portfolio; leading and participating in multi-centre/multi-national investigator-led studies; contributing to industry-led studies; and collaborating in basic studies investigating the role of inflammation in neurodegeneration and immunobiology of antibody-mediated central nervous system disorders. 

In the past 5 years, Dr Ming Lim, the clinical lead of the service and research lead for children's neurosciences and Evelina Children’s Hospital, within his full time NHS post, has generated a substantial grant income (Lead applicant £1.28m; Co-applicant ~£2.5m) and published comprehensively on childhood neuroinflammation (~75 publications; >150 total publication; H-Index 41). 

His work has contributed to important characterisation and understanding of many childhood inflammatory disorders and his team is credited in leading clinical and research programs which now seek to optimise the management of severe childhood neuroinflammatory disorders. The service infrastructure and collaborative national and international networks also provide crucial clinical and research training in paediatric neuroinflammation.

Dr. Maricich is a licensed, board-certified physician, investor, clinical developer and strategist. He works to improve patient health and our healthcare system by investing in, advising, and providing leadership at innovative firms. At Pear Therapeutics, he leads the Clinical, Regulatory, and Quality groups as the Chief Medical Officer and Head of Development. He leads and manages the development programs from Discovery/TPP stage, through Translational, Clinical Development, Regulatory submission and review as well as Medical Affairs. In addition to overseeing subsequent pipeline programs across a broad-spectrum of disease areas, he has led the reSET, reSET-O, and Somryst programs.

Prior to joining Pear, Dr. Maricich worked with and lead successful teams and programs at Healthcare & Life Science/biotech (HLS) firms, including Corixa (acquired by GlaxoSmithKline), Xdynia (acquired by Cavion), Cavion (acquired by Jazz Pharmaceuticals) and AWS. He founded a digital health firm while a med student that used AI and NLP to structure clinical data.

Dr. Maricich completed his education and training at Harvard University, the University of Washington, the University of Notre Dame, and the University of Virginia.

Dr. Avindra Nath is a physician–scientist who specializes in neuro-immunology and neurovirology. His research is focused on the clinical manifestations, pathophysiology and treatment of emerging neurological infections with a focus on HIV infection. In recent years, he has studied the neurological complications of endogenous retroviruses, Ebola, Zika virus and SARS-CoV-2 and conducts research on patients with undiagnosed neuroinflammatory disorders. He has served on advisory committees to the NIH, CDC, FDA and WHO. The International Society of NeuroVirology gave him the Pioneer in NeuroVirology Award for his contributions to HIV neuropathogenesis and elected him as the President of the Society. He received the Wybran award from the Society of Neuroimmune Pharmacology for contributions to Neurovirology. He also received the NIH Director’s award for his work on SARS-CoV-2 and the HHS Secretary’s award for his work on Ebola infection.Dr. Nath is the Clinical Director of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) at NIH, where he is also Chief of the Section of Infections of the Nervous System, Director of the Translational Center for Neurological Sciences.Dr. Nath received his medical degree from Christian Medical College in Ludhiana, India, and completed a residency in neurology from the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston, followed by a fellowship in multiple sclerosis and neurovirology at the same institution. He then completed a fellowship in neuro-AIDS at NINDS. Having held faculty positions at the University of Manitoba and the University of Kentucky, he joined Johns Hopkins University in 2002 as Professor of Neurology and Director of the Division of Neuroimmunology and Neurological Infections. He joined NIH in 2011.

Dr. Nath is the Clinical Director of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (NINDS) at NIH, where he is also Chief of the Section of Infections of the Nervous System, Director of the Translational Center for Neurological Sciences.

Dr. Nath received his medical degree from Christian Medical College in Ludhiana, India, and completed a residency in neurology from the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston, followed by a fellowship in multiple sclerosis and neurovirology at the same institution. He then completed a fellowship in neuro-AIDS at NINDS. Having held faculty positions at the University of Manitoba and the University of Kentucky, he joined Johns Hopkins University in 2002 as Professor of Neurology and Director of the Division of Neuroimmunology and Neurological Infections. He joined NIH in 2011.