Scientific Advisors

Richard I. Morimoto, Ph.D., Chairman of Scientific Advisory Board

Rick is the Bill and Gayle Cook Professor of Biology, Professor of Biochemistry, Molecular Biology and Cell Biology, and Director of the Rice Institute for Biomedical Research at Northwestern University.  Rick is a pioneer in understanding the role of proteostasis on stress and aging and internationally recognized for his research on regulation of the heat shock stress response, the function of molecular chaperones, and properties of the proteostasis network at the cellular organismal levels.  Rick and his team have shown the particular importance of the protein trafficking and clearance mechanisms, including specific branches of the endosomal–lysosomal and ubiquitin–proteasome systems, in maintaining the homeostasis of the metastable subproteome associated with Alzheimer’s disease.  He has published more than 250 peer-reviewed scientific articles.  He is a founder of Proteostasis Therapeutics, Inc.  He received his Ph.D. in Biology from the University of Chicago with Professor Murray Rabinowitz and trained as a postdoctoral research fellow under Professor Matthew Messelson at Harvard University.

Bradley T. Hyman, M.D., Ph.D., Scientific Advisor

Brad is John B. Penny Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School and Director of the Massachusetts Alzheimer Disease Research Center and Memory Disorder Unit at Massachusetts General Hospital. He directs the Alzheimer’s unit at MIND (Massachusetts Institute for Neurodegenerative Disease), with the goal of understanding the neuropathophysiologic and genetic factors that underlie dementia. Brad’s research program involves understanding the neural system failure that underlies cognitive loss in Alzheimer’s, and an appreciation of how genetics impacts pathophysiology. His laboratory also uses transgenic mouse models of Alzheimer’s disease and in vitro systems to examine the roles of Alzheimer’s related processes. Brad’s laboratory has developed in vivo imaging with 2-photon confocal microscopy, an approach that provides the ability to view neurons in the intact, functioning brain in mice and track the pathological changes that occur during disease processes. Using this in vivo imaging, Brad’s team has shown that plaques and tangles can be reversed. Brad received his PhD and MD from the University of Iowa. He was awarded the Potamkin Prize and Met Life Prize, and is a member of the National Academy of Medicine.

Lijun Sun, Ph.D., Scientific Advisor

Lijun is an associate professor at Harvard Medical School and the director of Center for Drug Discovery and Translational Research at the Department of Surgery, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center. He is a founder of Silicon Therapeutics.  Previously, Lijun held executive positions in a number of emerging biotech companies where he led anticancer and anti-inflammation drug discovery and development programs.  His major achievements include the creation of multiple clinical development candidates, including ganetespib, a small molecule HSP90 inhibitor that progressed to Phase 3 clinical trials for lung cancer and leukemia.  Lijun is a co-inventor of more than 100 issued or pending US patents.  He has authored more than 20 peer-reviewed publications in chemistry and biology.  He received his Ph.D. degree in chemistry from Emory University and trained as a postdoctoral research fellow at Emory Medical School.

Manfred Windisch, Ph.D., Scientific Advisor

Manfred is founder and CEO of NeuroScios, a consulting firm specializing in drug development programs in neurological indications.  Previously, he founded JSW-Lifesciences (acquired by QPS, Austria), a CRO offering in vitro studies and in vivo models of neurological diseases he created and characterized, including transgenic mouse models of Alzheimer’s disease (AD) and Parkinson’s disease (PD).  Manfred helped to evaluate 60-80 pharmacological compounds in neurodegeneration every year, and has been involved in approximately 25 international clinical trials from Phase 1 to 3 in AD, mild cognitive impairment, PD, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis and cerebrovascular diseases.  Manfred is a consultant to PsychoGenics, one of the world leading CROs in neurobiology research.  He is also a member of several scientific advisory boards.  He has published more than 100 peer-reviewed scientific articles.  Manfred obtained his Ph.D. from the University of Graz, Austria.