Looking. Seeing.

Using what the brain is telling us (via NETSseq) to identify the next generation of therapeutic approaches for patients

Cerevance is focused on the development of cell-type specific treatments for neurodegenerative, psychiatric, and CNS-controlled metabolic disorders. Leveraging a vast and expanding collection of over 16,000 human brain tissue samples, Cerevance is uncovering subtle molecular changes that contribute to disease progression, providing a potentially transformative tool to identify novel drug targets for CNS disorders.

A team of world-leading scientists and drug developers are utilizing the company’s proprietary NETSseq platform and advanced machine learning techniques to identify previously undiscovered gene expression profiles in cell types that have been carefully selected for their relevance to the neurological disorders being investigated, including rare and difficult to capture cell populations.

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Thomas Yonker

VP, Project/Quality Management

Thomas has been managing complex biopharmaceutical projects for over 30 years.  He has experience in big and small pharma, including tenure at The Upjohn Company, Synergen, Abgenix, and PaxVax.  Prior to joining Cerevance, he was the head of Project Management at Neurana Pharmaceuticals.

Brett Truitt

VP, Technical Operations

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Ottavio V. Vitolo, MD

Cheif medical Officer

Ottavio is a neuropsychiatrist with more than 20 years of experience in translational research and clinical development in common and rare neurological and psychiatric conditions.He served in roles of increasing responsibility in pharma and biotech companies including Shire, Pfizer, Homology Medicines, and Relmada Therapeutics and Alcyone Therapeutics, where he was head of R&D; and CMO. Ottavio also maintains a clinical practice at MGH in Boston and a teaching position at Harvard Medical School.

Johnna Simões

VP, Marketing

Johnna has multi-disciplinary experience in biotech corporate strategy, business development, and investor relations. Prior to Cerevance, Johnna served as Head of Corporate Development at Neurana Pharmaceuticals. She has held a number of positions of increasing responsibility at various biopharma companies including Anthera Pharmaceuticals and Trius Therapeutics.

Mark Carlton, PhD

Cheif Scientific Officer

Mark has over 25 years of experience in academia, biotech and the pharmaceutical industry. He was a co-founder of Paradigm Therapeutics and most recently served as President and CSO of Takeda Pharmaceutical's Cambridge UK site.

Craig Thompson

Cheif Executive Officer

Craig has over 25 years of experience in biotech and the pharmaceutical industry. He has experience at Merck, Pfizer and several biotech companies including Trius. Prior to joining Cerevance, he was President and CEO of Neurana Pharmaceuticals.

Robert Middlebrook

Cheif Financial Officer

Rob previously served as CFO of Envoy Therapeutics and as Chief Corporate Development Officer of Perlegen Sciences. Earlier, Rob held a number of senior leadership roles with Fidelity Investments including Chief Investment Officer of the $28 billion Managed Income Group and Head Trader of the $26 billion Municipal Money Market Group.

Lee Dawson, PhD

VP, Neuroscience

Lee has over 25 years of experience in biotech and the pharmaceutical industry. He has held positions of increasing responsibility within the various neuroscience research functions at Wyeth Research, GlaxoSmithKline, and Eisai. Prior to joining Cerevance, he was VP of CNS at Astex / Otsuka Pharmaceuticals in Cambridge UK.

Roland Bürli, PhD

VP, Drug Discovery

Roland brings more than 20 years of drug discovery experience, having worked in large pharma, biotech and the CRO sectors. Prior to joining Cerevance, he was Senior Director and Head of Medicinal Chemistry of the Neuroscience group at AstraZeneca.

CEREVANCE
TEAM

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Michelle Charles

VP, Regulatory Affairs

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Thomas Yonker

VP, Project/Quality Management

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Brett Truitt

VP, Technical Operations

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Johnna Simões

VP, Corporate Development

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Lee Dawson, PhD

SVP, Neuroscience

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Rob Middlebrook

Chief Financial Officer

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Mark Carlton, PhD

Chief Scientific Officer

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Craig Thompson

Chief Executive Officer

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Xiao Xu, PhD

Director, Computational Discovery

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Nicola Brice, PhD

VP, Neuroscience

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Justin Powell, PhD

Senior Director, Bioinformatics

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Keith Page, PhD

Director, Neuroanatomy

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Nigel Ramsden, PhD

VP, Drug Discovery

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Sagar Vaidya, MD, PhD

Chief Medical Officer

Cerevance Team

Craig Thompson

Chief Executive Officer

Craig Thompson

Chief Executive Officer

Craig has over 25 years of experience in biotech and the pharmaceutical industry. He has experience at Merck, Pfizer and several biotech companies including Trius. Prior to joining Cerevance, he was President and CEO of Neurana Pharmaceuticals.

Mark Carlton, PhD

Chief Scientific Officer

Mark Carlton, PhD

Chief Scientific Officer

Mark has over 25 years of experience in academia, biotech and the pharmaceutical industry. He was a co-founder of Paradigm Therapeutics and most recently served as President and CSO of Takeda Pharmaceutical's Cambridge UK site.

Sagar Vaidya, MD, PhD

Chief Medical Officer

Sagar Vaidya, MD, PhD

Chief Medical Officer

Dr. Vaidya is a physician-scientist and drug developer with over 20 years of experience in academia, biotech and the pharmaceutical industry. Prior to Cerevance, Dr. Sagar served as Vice President of Clinical Development at Travere Therapeutics where he led the clinical development of the company’s metabolic and neurology pipeline.  Other leadership roles include Sangamo Therapeutics and BioMarin Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Vaidya received his M.D./Ph.D. from David Geffen School of Medicine at UCLA.

Rob Middlebrook

Chief Financial Officer

Rob Middlebrook

Chief Financial Officer

Rob previously served as CFO of Envoy Therapeutics and as Chief Corporate Development Officer of Perlegen Sciences. Earlier, Rob held a number of senior leadership roles with Fidelity Investments including Chief Investment Officer of the $28 billion Managed Income Group and Head Trader of the $26 billion Municipal Money Market Group.

Lee Dawson, PhD

SVP, Neuroscience

Lee Dawson, PhD

SVP, Neuroscience

Lee has over 25 years of experience in biotech and the pharmaceutical industry. He has held positions of increasing responsibility within the various neuroscience research functions at Wyeth Research, GlaxoSmithKline, and Eisai. Prior to joining Cerevance, he was VP of CNS at Astex / Otsuka Pharmaceuticals in Cambridge UK.

Johnna Simões

VP, Corporate Development

Johnna Simões

VP, Corporate Development

Johnna has multi-disciplinary experience in biotech corporate strategy, business development, and investor relations. Prior to Cerevance, Johnna served as Head of Corporate Development at Neurana Pharmaceuticals. She has held a number of positions of increasing responsibility at various biopharma companies including Anthera Pharmaceuticals and Trius Therapeutics.

Nigel Ramsden, PhD

VP, Drug Discovery

Nigel Ramsden, PhD

VP, Drug Discovery

Nigel brings over 30 years of experience in drug discovery within the pharmaceutical, biotech, and contract research sectors. He has held roles of increasing responsibility at GSK, Cellzome, and RxCelerate. Throughout his career, he has worked on a diverse array of disease areas and therapeutic modalities, successfully advancing compounds to and through clinical trials. Additionally, he is a named inventor on more than 80 patent families.

Nicola Brice, PhD

VP, Neuroscience

Nicola Brice, PhD

VP, Neuroscience

Nicola is a highly experienced neuroscientist having worked both in biotech and large pharmaceutical companies. She has successfully led teams from target selection through to clinical development in various therapeutic areas such as neurodegeneration, psychiatry, and pain. Prior to industry, Nicola completed her academic training at UCL and University of Oxford.

Brett Truitt

VP, Technical Operations

Brett Truitt

VP, Technical Operations

Brett has over 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry. He began his pharmaceutical career with Pfizer and has spent more than 15 years in drug product outsourcing, working with or for CDMOs such as Patheon / ThermoFisher.

Thomas Yonker

VP, Project/Quality Management

Thomas Yonker

VP, Project/Quality Management

Thomas has been managing complex biopharmaceutical projects for over 30 years. He has experience in big and small pharma, including tenure at The Upjohn Company, Synergen, Abgenix, and PaxVax. Prior to joining Cerevance, he was the head of Project Management at Neurana Pharmaceuticals.

Michelle Charles

VP, Regulatory Affairs

Michelle Charles

VP, Regulatory Affairs

Michelle has over 20 years of industry and regulatory experience. Prior to joining Cerevance, she held positions of increasing responsibility at Merck, several biotech companies and academia. Throughout her career she has successfully led regulatory teams and implemented global regulatory strategy, planning and submission support. Michelle holds a Master of Public Health from Johns Hopkins University.

Justin Powell, PhD

Senior Director, Bioinformatics

Justin Powell, PhD

Senior Director, Bioinformatics

Justin has over 18 years of experience leading bioinformatics and IT in both biotech and large pharma. Prior to joining Cerevance he was Head of Bioinformatics and IT at Takeda Cambridge.

Keith Page, PhD

Director, Neuroanatomy

Keith Page, PhD

Director, Neuroanatomy

Keith is a neuroanatomist with over 25 years CNS research, human tissue and tissue banking experience in industry. He has held doctoral positions in Massachusetts General Hospital and University of Cambridge MRC Centre for Brain Repair.

Xiao Xu, PhD

Director, Computational Discovery

Xiao Xu, PhD

Director, Computational Discovery

Xiao is a co-founder of Cerevance. In her postdoctoral work with Nathaniel Heintz at The Rockefeller University, she developed the NETSseq technology platform, which Cerevance is using to comprehensively profile specific brain cell types in post-mortem human brain tissue. Before Rockefeller, she worked on gene expression networks in aging during her PhD at Stanford University.

Board Members

Laurence Barker, PhD

Partner

Partner

Dementia Discovery Fund

Aoife Brennan, MB, BCh, BAO, MRCPI

President & Chief Executive Officer

President & Chief Executive Officer

Climb Bio

Jean George

General Partner

General Partner

Lightstone Ventures

Kouki Harasaki, PhD, MBA

FOUNDER & MANAGING PARTNER

FOUNDER & MANAGING PARTNER

Bioluminescence Ventures

Matthias Kleinz, DVM, PhD

Executive VP, Translational Sciences

Executive VP, Translational Sciences

UPMC Enterprises

David Lubner

Independent Director

Independent Director

Brad Margus

Chair

Chair

Campbell Murray, MD, MPP, MBA

Senior Partner

Senior Partner

Bioluminescence Ventures

Sarah Isabel Sheikh, BM, BCh, MSc, MRCP

Head, Global Development

Head, Neurology Therapeutic Area

Head, Global Development Head, Neurology Therapeutic Area

Takeda

Craig Thompson

Chief Executive Officer

Chief Executive Officer

Cerevance