Spyros is a recognized researcher and global pharmaceutical executive with experience in drug development, life cycle management, medical affairs and digital health. Spyros is currently Vice President and Global Head of Neurodegeneration at TEVA. Prior joining TEVA he was the Global Program Lead responsible for a portfolio of development programs in neurodegeneration, migraine, neuroinflammation, psychiatry and rare diseases at Pfizer’s Neuroscience Research Unit. Before Pfizer, he served as Therapeutic Area Head, Neurosciences, Allergan Global Medical Affairs responsible for peri- and post approval neuroscience programs and as Global Clinical Lead/Clinical Development, Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease at Biogen IDEC. Spyros has managed teams that consistently met and exceeded goals leading to successful regulatory filings, product launches, “beyond the pill” strategies and growing portfolios. He has led and completed multi-billion dollar business development efforts and corporate partnerships with profit and non-profit organizations. Spyros has proven people skills, is a strong leader focused on innovation, organizational excellence and efficiency.

Spyros is a board-certified Neurologist and a Movement Disorders specialist trained at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery, Queen Square, London, UK. He received his PhD on the genetics of Parkinson’s disease.

Spyros started his career in academic neurology. He was appointed faculty at the University of Miami, Miller School of Medicine where he held positions of increasing responsibility. Before joining industry he was Associate Professor of Neurology and Director, Research Programs at the Division of Movement Disorders, Department of Neurology. As an academic researcher, Spyros conducted award-winning clinical and translational research in neurodegenerative disease and Movement Disorders. He has received funding from multiple sources including the US National Institutes of Health, the Muscular Dystrophy Association and the Alzheimer’s Association. His primary academic interests are in the space of technology and digital health. Spyros is currently chairing the newly formed International Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorders Society’s (IPMDS) Taskforce on Technology.

Johannes Tauscher currently serves as Vice President for CNS Experimental Medicine / Early Clinical Development at Takeda Pharmaceuticals Intl. based in Deerfield, IL. Dr Tauscher obtained his medical degree at University Vienna, Austria, and underwent subsequent specialty training in Psychiatry and Neurology at the Medical University of Vienna, Austria, and the Clarke Institute of Psychiatry in Toronto, Ontario. Additionally he trained in Molecular Neuroimaging at the Vivian Rakoff PET Centre, Univ. of Toronto. In 2001 he was appointed Associate Professor of Psychiatry with the Medical University of Vienna, and served as Head of the Outpatients Clinic of the Dept. of General Psychiatry, where he also practiced as a Psychiatrist and Neurologist in private office.

In 2004, Dr Tauscher moved to the US as a Sr. Clinical Research Physician with Eli Lilly and Co. in Indianapolis, IN, responsible for the clinical development of novel psychiatric treatments. Dr. Tauscher was promoted to Head of the Translational Imaging Group in 2006, leading a group of physician/scientists and operational staff, implementing Lilly’s Imaging Biomarker Strategy through a world-wide network of research partners.

Prior to joining the Pharmaceutical Industry, Dr Tauscher’s major research endeavors comprised of imaging studies in psychiatric disorders, and to use these image modalities to elucidate the mechanism of action of psychotropic drugs. Dr Tauscher published more than 70 articles in peer reviewed scientific journals and 5 chapters in standard textbooks. He received international recognition for his academic accomplishments (Rafaelsen Fellowship Award, CINP 1998; Young Investigator Award, ICOSR 2001; Young Minds in CNS Award, APA 2001; Memorial Travel Award, ACNP 2002; Independent Investigator Award, NARSAD 2002), and serves as reviewer for a number of scientific journals.

Dr. Dave earned an undergraduate degree in biology from Rutgers University and a PhD in Pharmacology & Physiology from the MCP-Hahnemann University. His thesis work focused on serotonergic regulation of motor function and learning and memory. He completed his postdoctoral fellowship at a small biotechnology firm Adolor Corporation investigating opioid-receptor regulation of pain and inflammation pathways. Kuldip went on to work for the pharmaceutical company Wyeth managing programs within the Women's Health Department focusing on the hormonal regulation of mood and sexual disorders. At the Michael J. Fox Foundation, Kuldip serves as Director, Research Programs, and stays closely linked to the Parkinson's community in order to develop an aggressive and innovative agenda for accelerating research and drug development for Parkinson's disease. This ensures that MJFF priorities reflect and best serve the ultimate needs of patients. Kuldip regularly meets with academic and industry scientists around the world to identify promising proposals to support, providing troubleshooting and ongoing management of projects as they go forward. He supports the Foundation's priority interest in alpha-synuclein, an important protein linked genetically and pathologically to Parkinson's disease. He also oversees the emerging targets portfolio to identify and validate novel targets for PD.

Sophie Parmentier-Batteur received her Pharm.D degree from University of Lille, France and her Ph.D. degree in Neuropharmacology from the University René Descartes of Paris, where she studied the role of the inflammatory response in ischemic stroke and other neurological disorders. Following her graduate studies, she completed two postdoctoral trainings studying the mechanisms of neuroprotection and neurogenesis against stroke at UCSF and at the Buck Institute for Research in aging, Novato, CA. In 2005, she joined the Neuroscience team of Merck Research Laboratories. A key role for Sophie since 2005 has been to lead teams in the translation of basic research findings into drug candidates in the early development pipeline. In addition to leading several drug discovery projects for the treatment of stroke, schizophrenia, and Alzheimer’s Disease, Sophie has implemented new capabilities aimed at improving the validation of novel targets including models of iPSC-derived human neurons and High Content Imaging System. She currently is a Director leading the Early Discovery Neuroscience Group in West point, PA, and co-chairing the Neuroscience Early Discovery Unit core team.

Dr Richard Wyse is the Director of Research and Development at The Cure Parkinson’s Trust. He was senior lecturer in pediatric cardiology at Great Ormond Street Hospital, London for more than 20 years, and has also worked extensively at the Brompton and Hammersmith Hospitals in London, and in the pharmaceutical and medical devices industries in London and Philadelphia. For 3 years he was vice-chairman of the Academic Board and Trustee of the Royal Society of Medicine, as well as its President of Medical Genetics. Commercially, he has been Medical Director of two companies in the UK and USA, and has chaired over 30 international pharmaceutical conferences, published 4 industry books (on Pharmacoeconomics and Patient Outcomes), and around 120 academic and clinical research papers in a variety of therapeutic areas. He is currently engaged in worldwide basic and clinical research developing radical new pharmaceutical and regenerative medicine treatments for Parkinson’s disease (PD). These include a major global initiative involving drug repositioning clinical trials conducted in many specialist neurology hospitals around the world to determine and compare the relative patient benefits of a large number of different therapeutics each with compelling biochemical and pharmaceutical rationales for the disease-modifying treatment of PD, and which straddle >60 different biological targets.

Dr. Diwadkar is currently Associate Professor of Psychiatry & Behavioral Neurosciences at Wayne State University School of Medicine. He received his B.A. in Psychology and Computer Science from Coe College and his PhD in Psychology and Cognitive Science from Vanderbilt University. Following neuroimaging-related fellowships at Carnegie Mellon University and the University of Pittsburgh, he served on the faculty of the University of Pittsburgh (where he maintains an adjunct appointment) and at Wayne State University where he has been since 2005. He uses vivo neuroimaging to understand brain network mechanisms underlying psychological and physiological processes, having published in the areas of learning, memory, cognition, and sensorimotor function. More recently he has extended the use of fMRI to identify correlates of thermo-regulatory related brain responses.

He has significant clinical neuroimaging interests, particularly in understanding brain network dysfunction underlying psychiatric illness. He has published extensively in the areas of schizophrenia, mood disorders, and borderline personality disorder. A particular area of his interest is in understanding how risk and vulnerability for psychiatric illness impacts brain network function in adolescence, and how network dysfunction in turn increases the risk for psychiatric illness. His research has been supported by the National Institutes of Mental Health, the Children's Research Center of Michigan, the Children’s Hospital of Michigan Foundation, the Prechter World Bipolar Foundation, and the National Alliance for Research on Schizophrenia and Depression.

Dr. Rene Anand’s research interests lie in neurological disorders, including autism, and the development of therapeutics. Dr. Anand is developing stem cell models of neurodevelopmental (autism, addiction, schizophrenia) and neurodegenerative (AD and PD) diseases to understand how disease susceptibility arises from the interactions of the environment with human gene variants.

He has been nominated as one of the 30 most innovative researchers in autism. He has also recently engineered the first almost complete human brain organoid using stem cells; considered a major breakthrough and a "quantum jump" in the field of human organogenesis.

Dr. Anand earned his BS (Chemistry) from Loyola College, India, M.S. (Chemistry/Chemical Physics) from the Indian Institute of Technology, Chennai, India, and his Ph.D. at The Ohio State University. He did his postdoctoral training at the Salk Institute, San Diego and University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia.

He held faculty positions at the University of Pennsylvania and Louisiana State University Neuroscience Center and is currently Professor in the Department of Biological Chemistry and Pharmacology at The Ohio State University College of Medicine and Wexner Medical Center. He has served on the grant review panel for Brain Canada, Alzheimer’s Association, NIH, Autism Speaks, California Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program (TRDRP), Hong Kong Research Grants Council, Israel Science Foundation, and American Association for Advancement of Science.

He has served on the External Advisory Board Member, NERT program, Louisiana Tech, External Advisory Board Member for NINDS Human DNA Repository, and Autism Speaks.

Dr. Anand has earned the Lieber Independent Investigator Award from NARSAD as well as the Exceptional, Unconventional Research Enabling Knowledge Accesleration (EUREKA) award from the National Institutes of Health for his research. .

His research has been funded by NIH, Autism Speaks, the Bill and Marci Ingram Family Fund, and the Brain and Behavior Foundation (NARSAD)

Warren Hirst, PhD, is an Associate Research Fellow in the Pfizer Neuroscience Research Unit and leads a group focusing on novel therapeutic strategies for Parkinson’s disease. His research is currently focused on 1) Determining the mechanisms underlying the mutations in LRRK2 and GBA to the pathophysiology of disease, 2) Evaluating whether these enzymes are also affected in PD patients who don’t carry these specific mutations, 3) Developing novel therapeutics: Leading the GBA program and a key member of the LRRK2 kinase inhibitor program. He was previously in the Wyeth Neurodegeneration Research Department, where he led the molecular pharmacology group and worked for GlaxoSmithKline, UK, before this. Dr. Hirst received his B.Sc. and Ph.D from Imperial College, London. He has published over 50 peer-reviewed articles.

Dr Gabathuler obtained his PhD in Plant Biochemistry at the Université de Lausanne, Switzerland, in 1982, and completed postdoctoral studies at the University of Washington, Seattle. Over the years, he has held various research positions at the Swiss Institute for Experimental Cancer Research, Lausanne; the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research at the Karolinska Institutet, Stockholm, Sweden; and the Biotechnology Laboratory of the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada. His research on new vector for delivery of therapeutics to the brain led to the creation of Synapse Technologies Inc., where he become the Vice President of Research. The company was later acquired by BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc., where Dr Gabathuler assumed the position of Vice President of Brain Research.

Dr Gabathuler joined AngioChem Inc. in 2004 as its Chief Scientific Officer and has applied his extensive knowledge in biochemistry, cell biology, and immunology to directing the R&D; programs, advancing the company’s product ANG1005 to IND application and clinic.

Dr Gabathuler is now involved as Chief Scientist at biOasis Technologies Inc. in the development of new peptide vector, Transcend. He is also the President and CEO of bioMmune Technologies Inc., concerned with the discovery and development of new therapeutics to restore immuno-recognition of tumor cells and to modulation of the activity of the immune system.

Dr. Medicetty is the President and CEO of Renovo Neural Inc. and has built a strong team with efficient operational structure that has contributed to Renovo’s accomplishments to date. Prior to Renovo, Dr. Medicetty was the Director of Stem Cell Research and Lab Operations at NeoStem Inc, where he was instrumental in establishing company’s global R&D; headquarters in Cambridge, MA, and initiating international R&D; operations in China. At NeoStem, he established and managed academic and industry collaborations, and developed protocols to pursue preclinical development of peripheral blood derived adult stem cells. He also worked at Athersys Inc as a Senior Scientist in the division of Regenerative Medicine, where he was actively involved in the development of adult stem cell-based therapies for cardiovascular and neurological diseases. He received a degree (BVSc – equivalent to DVM) in Veterinary Medicine from A.N.G.R.A.University, India. He received a PhD from Kansas State University, where he was part of a stem cell research team that has conducted and published seminal work on characterization of stem cells from umbilical cord matrix and their potential therapeutic applications for Parkinson’s disease. Later, he received his MBA from Weatherhead School of Management, where he specialized in strategic management.

Gabriel Vargas, MD, PhD is a board certified psychiatrist and basic scientist with clinical experience in the treatment and management of schizophrenic patients. Gabriel obtained his undergraduate degree cum laude from the University of California at Berkeley where he majored in anthropology & genetics. He received his MD and PhD degrees from the University of California at Irvine and went on to complete a basic science research track residency in Psychiatry at the University of California at San Francisco (UCSF). After both a clinical and research fellowship he was appointed an assistant professor in the Psychiatry Department at UCSF where he spent 3 years leading a research group studying G-protein coupled receptor (GPCR) signaling and trafficking. He has published in the areas of GPCR signaling, membrane trafficking and biomarkers for CNS disorders. After leaving academia in 2006 he spent five years at Roche the last 3 in Basel, Switzerland as head of the CNS Biomarker Group. He is currently at Amgen as Executive Medical Director and Neuroscience Therapeutic Area Head for Early Development.

John Beaver has been with Abbvie since 2012, leading translational imaging across AbbVie’s neuroscience, oncology, immunology and aging-related drug discovery programs. Dr. Beaver has influenced many programs, notably developing translational strategies for early-stage Alzheimer’s disease and multiple sclerosis projects. Prior to joining Abbvie, he was Director of Imaging Technologies at Maccine, Singapore, and a Senior Imaging Scientist at GlaxoSmithKline’s Clinical Imaging Centre, embedded in the Hammersmith Hospital campus of Imperial College, London. Dr. Beaver was an MRC postdoctoral Fellow and earned his doctorate in cognitive and brain sciences at the University of Cambridge, England. He has authored over 31 papers in peer-reviewed journals and has been an invited presenter at many conferences.

As Vice Chancellor for Health Affairs and Dean of the School of Medicine at the University of California at Irvine, Dr. Federoff has oversight for the clinical, medical educational, and research missions. His research interests include gene therapy and neurodegenerative diseases. Dr. Federoff has published greater than 250 peer review and invited articles, serves as a reviewer for many journals, and currently serves on the editorial boards of five journals. He has served as Chair of the NIH Recombinant DNA Advisory Committee from 2007-2010.and currently Chairs the Gene Therapy Resource Program for NHLBI.  Previous President of the American Society for Neural Therapy and Repair (2012-2013) and current President of the American Society for Experimental Neurotherapeutics. Dr. Federoff received his MS, PhD, and MD degrees from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, did his internship, residency, and clinical and research fellowships at Massachusetts General Hospital/Harvard Medical School, practiced medicine at MGH, Albert Einstein and Strong Memorial Hospital at the University of Rochester. He is a Fellow of the AAAS and National Academy of Inventors.