Education: Ph.D. Pharmacology, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill

Experience:

05/16 - 04/26       Founder and Chief Science Officer, MindImmune Therapeutics, Inc.

03/10 - 09/15       Founder and Chief Scientific Officer, Mnemosyne Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

04/92 - 03/09      Research Fellow, CNS Discovery, Pfizer Global Research and Development 

Basic research and drug discovery in neuropsychiatry and neurodegenerative diseases.  Over 100 publications and 20 issued US patents.  Special interests in glutamate receptor pharmacology and in how the brain is changed by psychedelics.

Expertise: I am a neuropharmacologist with extensive experience in drug discovery, development, and company formation and growth.  I am currently Ryan Research Professor of Neuroscience and Adjunct Professor, Department of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, in the College of Pharmacy, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI.  I was Founder and Chief Science Officer of MindImmune Therapeutics, Inc., a drug discovery entity focused on developing immunological modulators to treat diseases of the mind and brain.  Prior to MindImmune, I founded Mnemosyne Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and as Chief Scientific Officer was the architect of the company’s therapeutic platform, the Subunit-selective NMDA Receptor Modulators.  Mnemosyne partnered its first program, a GluN2B NAMs for depression, with Novartis, Novartis fully acquired this asset as well a second Mnemosyne asset, an NMDA receptor PAM for schizophrenia, through the purchase of Cadent Therapeutics.  Prior to founding Mnemosyne, I was a research scientist in the CNS Discovery group at Pfizer, Inc. in Groton CT (1992-2009).  While at Pfizer, I was a principal in developing the scientific rationale for use of NMDA receptor GluN2B antagonists for stroke, neuropathic pain, Parkinson’s disease, and depression and in the clinical development of the prototype GluN2B antagonist CP-101,606.  I also was involved in developing the therapeutic utilities of phosphodiesterase inhibitors for neuropsychiatric disease.  This includes the identification of PDE10A inhibitors for schizophrenia and Huntington’s disease, with the first PDE10A inhibitor to reach Phase II development.  I also led the discovery teams that advanced the first PDE9A inhibitor into Phase II testing for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease and the first PDE5A inhibitor into Phase II testing to improve functional recovery after stroke.  After receiving a Ph.D. in Pharmacology from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill in 1987 I was a Staff Fellow in the laboratory of Dr. James W. Putney at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, participating in research elucidating the fundamentals of intracellular calcium signaling.

Education: Ph.D. Pharmacology, University of North Carolina Chapel Hill

Experience:

05/16 - 04/26       Founder and Chief Science Officer, MindImmune Therapeutics, Inc.

03/10 - 09/15       Founder and Chief Scientific Officer, Mnemosyne Pharmaceuticals, Inc.

04/92 - 03/09       Research Fellow, CNS Discovery, Pfizer Global Research and Development 

Basic research and drug discovery in neuropsychiatry and neurodegenerative diseases.  Over 100 publications and 20 issued US patents.  Special interests in glutamate receptor pharmacology and in how the brain is changed by psychedelics.

Expertise: I am a neuropharmacologist with extensive experience in drug discovery, development, and company formation and growth.  I am currently Ryan Research Professor of Neuroscience and Adjunct Professor, Department of Biomedical and Pharmaceutical Sciences, in the College of Pharmacy, University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI.  I was Founder and was Chief Science Officer of MindImmune Therapeutics, Inc., a drug discovery entity focused on developing immunological modulators to treat diseases of the mind and brain.  Prior to MindImmune, I founded Mnemosyne Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and as Chief Scientific Officer was the architect of the company’s therapeutic platform, the Subunit-selective NMDA Receptor Modulators.  Mnemosyne partnered its first program, a GluN2B NAMs for depression, with Novartis, Novartis fully acquired this asset as well a second Mnemosyne asset, an NMDA receptor PAM for schizophrenia, through the purchase of Cadent Therapeutics.  Prior to founding Mnemosyne, I was a research scientist in the CNS Discovery group at Pfizer, Inc. in Groton CT (1992-2009).  While at Pfizer, I was a principal in developing the scientific rationale for use of NMDA receptor GluN2B antagonists for stroke, neuropathic pain, Parkinson’s disease, and depression and in the clinical development of the prototype GluN2B antagonist CP-101,606.  I also was involved in developing the therapeutic utilities of phosphodiesterase inhibitors for neuropsychiatric disease.  This includes the identification of PDE10A inhibitors for schizophrenia and Huntington’s disease, with the first PDE10A inhibitor to reach Phase II development.  I also led the discovery teams that advanced the first PDE9A inhibitor into Phase II testing for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease and the first PDE5A inhibitor into Phase II testing to improve functional recovery after stroke.  After receiving a Ph.D. in Pharmacology from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill in 1987 I was a Staff Fellow in the laboratory of Dr. James W. Putney at the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, participating in research elucidating the fundamentals of intracellular calcium signaling.