About

Our Mission

Meet the team committed to compassionate action on behalf of those suffering with disabling neuropsychiatric conditions.

Our Team Board of Directors Scientific Advisory Board

Our mission is to develop novel therapies to dramatically improve the lives of people with psychiatric and neurological disorders.

Our Team

Karuna Therapeutics is bringing together a community of scientists, clinicians, and leaders with deep expertise in neuroscience and drug development.

Steve Paul, M.D.

Chairman of the Board, President and Chief Executive Officer

Steve Paul, M.D.

Chairman of the Board, President and Chief Executive Officer

Steve Paul, M.D., is an expert in central nervous system (CNS) drug discovery and development. He spent 17 years at Eli Lilly and Company (NYSE: LLY), during which time he held several key leadership roles, including Executive Vice President for Science and Technology and President of the Lilly Research Laboratories. At Lilly he was responsible for the company’s overall research and development efforts and helped to oversee the development of CNS drugs such as Zyprexa® and Cymbalta® as well as the development of xanomeline where its antipsychotic and procognitive properties were initially demonstrated. Prior to Lilly, Steve spent 18 years at the National Institute of Health (NIH) and served as the Scientific Director of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH). Dr. Paul is a co-founder and board member of Sage Therapeutics (NASDAQ: SAGE), a co-founder of Voyager Therapeutics (NASDAQ: VYGR) where he served as President, Chief Executive Officer, and member of the board of directors, and a member of the board of directors at Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: ALNY). Dr. Paul is the former director of the Appel Alzheimer Disease Research Institute at Weill Cornell Medical College and is currently a Professor of Psychiatry at Washington University of St. Louis School of Medicine.

Dr. Paul has authored or co-authored more than 550 papers and book chapters. He is an elected fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and a member of the National Academy of Medicine (NAM) of the National Academy of Sciences (NAS). He is also an elected Fellow Emeritus of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ACNP) and served as ACNP President (1999). Dr. Paul is the Chairman of the Board of the Foundation for the NIH (FNIH) and previously served on the Science Board of the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) in addition to serving on many other advisory committees and receiving many awards and honors for his scientific research.

Stephen Brannan, M.D.

Chief Medical Officer

Stephen Brannan, M.D.

Chief Medical Officer

Dr. Brannan is a neuroscience drug development expert who has held senior positions overseeing both clinical development and medical affairs with more than 15 years of industry experience. Previously, Dr. Brannan was the Therapeutic Head of Neuroscience at Takeda and Vice President for Clinical Research and Medical Affairs at Forum Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Brannan has been active in the development of multiple important central nervous system treatments including Cymbalta®, Exelon Patch®, Trintellix®, and Vagal Nerve Stimulation for Treatment Resistant Depression while holding various senior roles at Forum, Takeda, Novartis, Cyberonics, and Eli Lilly. His experience includes drug development, registration, medical affairs, launch and lifecycle management across psychiatry and neurology programs. Dr. Brannan is a member of several scientific societies and groups, including ACNP, ISCTM (member of the Executive and Scientific Program Committees), ISCDD, AARR, IOM Neuroforum, and CNS Summit (founding member and member of the Leadership Council).

Prior to joining the pharmaceutical industry, Dr. Brannan worked on the faculty at the University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio (UTHSCSA) where he specialized in seeing mood and anxiety disorder patients, ran a clinical research unit, and did neuroimaging research at the Research Imaging Center.

Dr. Brannan trained in psychiatry at UTHSCSA and holds an M.D. from the University of Texas Health Science Center at Dallas (Southwestern Medical School). He has over 40 publications and routinely gives invited talks and presentations at industry conferences.

Andrew Miller, Ph.D.

Founder and Chief Operating Officer

Andrew Miller, Ph.D.

Founder and Chief Operating Officer

Dr. Miller is a Founder and the Chief Operating Officer of Karuna Therapeutics. Dr. Miller is the lead inventor of Karuna’s KarXT platform and served as CEO of Karuna from 2016-2018. He served as a member of our board of directors from April 2012 to March 2019. From August 2008 to July 2016, Dr. Miller held several positions at PureTech Health plc, last serving as a Vice President, Venture Partner, in such capacity served as Chief Operating Officer of Tal Medical and the acting Chief Operating Officer of Entrega, Inc. He is currently a member of the board of directors of Entrega, Inc.

Dr. Miller received a B.S. in chemical engineering from the University of Illinois with highest honors. He completed his doctoral work in chemical engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and received the MIT Presidential fellow and National Defense Science and Engineering Graduate fellowship awards. In 2016, Dr. Miller was named one of the top 40 innovators under 40 by MedTech Boston.

Troy A. Ignelzi

Chief Financial Officer

Troy A. Ignelzi

Chief Financial Officer

Troy A. Ignelzi has served as Karuna’s Chief Financial Officer since March 2019. He has spent 25 years supporting companies in finance, business development and operations. He joins Karuna from scPharmaceuticals, where in his role as Chief Financial Officer, he helped oversee development from a privately-held clinical-stage company to a publicly-traded biopharma preparing for commercial launch. Prior to scPharmaceuticals, Mr. Ignelzi was a senior executive at Juventas Therapeutics, Esperion Therapeutics, and Insys Therapeutics, helping raise public/private capital, expand development pipelines through licensing/acquisition and advancing critical therapies, several of which are currently approved by the FDA. He also brings relevant commercial experience, having launched and promoted CNS therapies while at Eli Lilly.

Mr. Ignelzi holds a bachelor’s degree in Accounting from Ferris State University.

Giorgio Attardo, Ph.D.

Vice President, CMC and Preclinical Development

Giorgio Attardo, Ph.D.

Vice President, CMC and Preclinical Development

Prior to joining Karuna, Dr. Attardo was Vice President at Avid Radiopharmaceuticals, a subsidiary of Eli Lilly & Co., where he delivered several CNS imaging agents for exploratory clinical trials and completed the non-clinical development of Flortaucipir, a first in class PET imaging agent for tau. Before joining Eli Lilly & Co., Dr. Attardo held positions of increasing responsibility in CNS and oncology as Senior Director at both Chlorion Pharma and Gemin X Pharmaceuticals. His R&D efforts at Gemin X provided two oncology drug candidates, Obatoclax and Teglarinad, which were pivotal assets in the acquisition of Gemin X by Cephalon. Prior to Gemin X, Dr. Attardo was associate director of chemistry at BioChem Pharma and Shire Pharmaceuticals.

Dr. Attardo received his Ph.D. from McGill University in 1991. His doctorate and industrial postdoctoral research at BioChem Pharma focused on the design, synthesis and preclinical development of novel oncolytics. He is an inventor on more than 65 patents and patent applications and has co-authored over 45 publications and 80 conference presentations.

Jim Audia, Ph.D.

Head of Medicinal Chemistry and Senior Adviser

Jim Audia, Ph.D.

Head of Medicinal Chemistry and Senior Adviser

Jim received his PhD in Organic Chemistry from the University of South Carolina in 1985, working with Jim Marshall, following which he traveled to New Haven where he was an NIH and a Merck postdoctoral fellow in the laboratories of Sam Danishefsky at Yale University. He joined Eli Lilly and Company in 1987 (NYSE: LLY) where he enjoyed a long and successful career, rising to the level of distinguished Lilly scholar. While at Lilly, Jim contributed broadly to the portfolio both from his laboratory which produced numerous development candidates in neuroscience and oncology and through the important role he played in portfolio oversight. Retiring from Lilly in 2010, Jim joined Cambridge-based Constellation Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ: CNST) as Chief Scientific Officer, helping the company translate its expertise in chromatin biology into a robust portfolio of small molecule development candidates in oncology. He continues to serve as special scientific advisor to the company and is a member of its board of directors. Jim also serves on both the scientific advisory board and board of directors of Ribon Therapeutics, and the scientific advisory board for the Tau Consortium of the Rainwater Charitable Foundation. In 2016, Jim joined Northwestern University in Chicago as executive director of the Chicago Biomedical Consortium, a unique collaboration among NU, The University of Chicago and the University of Illinois at Chicago. He continues to have an ongoing scientific advisory role with the CBC. Most recently, in addition to joining Karuna, Jim has taken an entrepreneur-in-residence position with Third Rock Ventures, consults for a broad range of biotech and pharmaceutical companies and serves on a variety of Chicago-based advisory boards.

Jim is currently a visiting scholar at Northwestern University and an adjunct professor of medicinal chemistry at the University of Illinois at Chicago. His success in drug discovery has resulted in more than 100 issued US Patents and more than 120 papers, published abstracts and book chapters.

Gregory T. Brophy, Ph.D.

Head of Regulatory and Senior Adviser

Gregory T. Brophy, Ph.D.

Head of Regulatory and Senior Adviser

Dr. Brophy is an established neruropsychiatric regulatory leader with more than 39 years of experience, including central regulatory leadership roles in the development and FDA approval of some of the most important neuropsychiatric medicines, including Zyprexa®, Cymbalta®, Strattera®, and Nuplazid®, for a variety of indications.

Dr. Brophy spent the majority of his career at Eli Lilly and Company, where he was the Senior Director of Global Regulatory Affairs for Lilly’s neuroscience portfolio. He received his Ph.D. in pharmacology from the University of Minnesota – Twin Cities.

Jason Brown

Vice President of Corporate Finance

Jason Brown

Vice President of Corporate Finance

Mr. Brown leads the finance and accounting functions at Karuna. He joined Karuna from PureTech Health where he supported the financing and operational growth of PureTech Health and its affiliates as vice president of corporate finance, including supporting resTORbio’s Initial Public Offering and over $100 million of private venture financing transactions. Prior to PureTech Health, Mr. Brown spent five years at Novartis in roles of increasing responsibility within the finance department.

Mr. Brown received his MBA at Boston College and bachelor’s degree from Hamilton College.

Christian Felder, Ph.D.

Vice President, Discovery Research

Christian Felder, Ph.D.

Vice President, Discovery Research

Dr. Felder received his Ph.D. in 1987 in the Department of Biochemistry at Georgetown University School of Medicine. He joined NIMH in Bethesda, MD as a staff fellow in 1987 and completed his postdoctoral training in neuroscience in the laboratory of Nobel Laureate, Dr. Julius Axelrod. He remained at the NIMH as head of the Unit on Cell and Molecular Signaling where his lab focused on the molecular mechanisms of neurotransmitter action and their role in neuropsychiatric diseases. In 1997, he joined the Neuroscience Division at Eli Lilly & Co. in Indianapolis, IN were he led multiple drug discovery efforts from inception through to early clinical development. His many roles included leading discovery research teams, Director of Neuroscience in US and UK sites, strategic and technical committee oversight, external search and evaluate roles and Director of the Lilly Post Doc Program. After 21 years at Lilly he retired as a Director and Research Fellow and joined Karuna Therapeutics in 2018.

Dr. Felder is currently an Adjunct Professor at Monash University, in Melbourne, Australia and a visiting Lecturer at the University of Virginia School of Medicine. He has co-authored over 160 original publications, invited reviews and book chapters, organized 21 scientific symposia, mentored over 60 students and post docs, and has been invited to speak at numerous international symposiums and universities.

David Hewitt, M.D.

Senior Vice President, Medical

David Hewitt, M.D.

Senior Vice President, Medical

Before joining Karuna, Dr. Hewitt was the Chief Medical Officer and Executive Vice President of the contract research organization (CRO) Syneos Health, overseeing a large group of physicians and scientists who worked with biopharmaceutical companies to accelerate drug development. Dr. Hewitt was previously the Chief Medical Officer of inVentiv Health. Before joining the CRO industry Dr. Hewitt was an Executive Director at Merck & Co. conducting clinical trials in the area of Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer disease, pain and migraine. He previously worked at Johnson & Johnson conducting multiple studies in pain and migraine.

Dr. Hewitt graduated from Amherst College, received his M.D. from the University of Rochester, completed his residency in Neurology at New York Hospital Medical Center and a fellowship in pain research at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center before joining Emory University as an Assistant Professor of Neurology running a large Pain and Headache clinic.

Jim Monn, Ph.D.

Vice President, Medicinal Chemistry

Jim Monn, Ph.D.

Vice President, Medicinal Chemistry

James Monn, PhD, obtained his bachelor of science degree in Chemistry from St. John’s University (MN), his doctorate degree in Medicinal Chemistry at the University of Kansas and his postdoctoral training at the National Institutes of Health. Jim took a position as a senior organic chemist at Eli Lilly and Company in 1989, focusing on the discovery of novel agents for the treatment of CNS disorders and has continued to work on CNS-associated targets since that time. Following 28 years of service, Jim retired from Lilly in December of 2017. Since then, he has worked as an independent scientific consultant and as the head of chemistry at Anagin, Inc. He has recently been named adjunct senior research professor in the department of clinical pharmacology at the Indiana University School of Medicine.

While at Lilly, Jim was regarded as an accomplished scientific team leader, guiding several multidisciplinary teams toward the delivery of clinical candidates. He is internationally recognized as a pioneer in the discovery of novel therapeutic agents targeting metabotropic glutamate receptors including Eglumegad and Talaglumetad-HCl (Anxiety Disorders), Pomaglumetad Methionil (Schizophrenia) and LY2979165 (Psychosis and Agitation in Dementia). Jim also held roles as a scientific group leader, advisor to numerous drug discovery teams, mentor to less experienced scientists and was a member of various discovery oversight groups. While the majority of his research has centered on glutamatergic mechanisms for the treatment of psychiatric and neurologic disorders, Jim has had leadership responsibilities for discovery teams focused on other target classes including voltage gated ion channels, enzymes, and protein-protein interactions. Jim has authored or co-authored over 100 peer-reviewed publications, 18 reviews and book chapters, 200 abstracts and is recognized as an inventor on 40 patents.

Advised by world experts in schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s disease, and neuroscience, we are positioned to meaningfully improve the lives of patients by delivering more effective and better tolerated treatments using a completely new mechanism of action (MOA).

Board of Directors

Steve Paul, M.D.

Chairman of the Board, President and Chief Executive Officer

Steve Paul, M.D.

Chairman of the Board, President and Chief Executive Officer

Bharatt Chowrira, J.D., Ph.D.

President and Chief of Business and Strategy, PureTech Health

Bharatt Chowrira, J.D., Ph.D.

President and Chief of Business and Strategy, PureTech Health

Bharatt Chowrira, JD, PhD, has been the President and Chief of Business and Strategy at PureTech Health since March 2017. Prior to joining PureTech Health, Dr. Chowrira was the President of Synlogic, a biopharmaceutical company focused on developing synthetic microbiome-based therapeutics, from September 2015 to February 2017, where he oversaw and managed corporate and business development, alliance management, financial, human resources, intellectual property and legal operations. Prior to joining Synlogic, Dr. Chowrira was the Chief Operating Officer of Auspex Pharmaceuticals from 2013 to 2015, which was acquired by Teva Pharmaceuticals in the Spring of 2015. Previously, he was President and Chief Executive Officer of Addex Therapeutics from 2011 to 2013, a biotechnology company publicly-traded on the SIX Swiss Exchange. Prior to that Dr. Chowrira held various leadership and management positions at Nektar Therapeutics (COO), Merck & Co (VP), Sirna Therapeutics (GC; acquired by Merck &Co) and Ribozyme Pharmaceuticals (Chief Patent Counsel). Dr. Chowrira is currently a member of the board of directors of Akili Interactive and Karuna Therapeutics, Inc.

Dr. Chowrira received a JD from the University of Denver’s Sturm College of Law, a PhD in Molecular Biology from the University of Vermont College of Medicine, an MS in Molecular Biology from Illinois State University and a BS in Microbiology from the UAS, Bangalore, India.

Edmund Harrigan, M.D.

Former SVP, Worldwide Safety & Regulatory, Pfizer, Inc.

Edmund Harrigan, M.D.

Former SVP, Worldwide Safety & Regulatory, Pfizer, Inc.

Dr. Harrigan is a non-executive director of the Karuna Therapeutics Board. He previously served as Senior Vice President of Worldwide Safety and Regulatory for Pfizer Inc. from 2012 to 2015, where he led a 3,500-person team in 80 countries that was responsible for collecting, interpreting and reporting clinical safety data for more than 600 marketed products, and managing regulatory interactions with global health agencies. Dr. Harrigan’s previous executive leadership roles at Pfizer include serving as Senior Vice President, Head of Worldwide Business Development, Senior Vice President, Head of Worldwide Regulatory Affairs and Quality Assurance, and Vice President, Head of Neuroscience and Ophthalmology. Earlier in his career at Pfizer, Dr. Harrigan served as Vice President of Clinical Development, Therapeutic Area Head, CNS and Pain.

Before entering the pharmaceutical industry in 1990, Dr. Harrigan was a practicing neurologist for seven years. He currently serves on the boards of directors of Acadia, Bellicum and PhaseBIO Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Dr. Harrigan earned a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from St. Anselm College and holds an M.D. from the University of Massachusetts.

Jim Healy, M.D., Ph.D.

General Partner, Sofinnova Investments

Jim Healy, M.D., Ph.D.

General Partner, Sofinnova Investments

Jim joined Sofinnova in 2000 as a General Partner. Dr. Healy finances companies that are developing potentially important therapies that could be transformative for patients. He has funded companies where eleven products were approved by the FDA or EMA. Eighteen of his investments have gone public and ten have been acquired as private or public companies. He is a member of the board of directors of Ascendis (ASND), CinCor Pharma, Coherus (CHRS), Iterum (ITRM), Karuna (KRTX), Natera (NTRA), Nucana (NCNA), Obseva (OBSV) and Y-Mabs (YMAB).

Jim received a B.A. in Molecular Biology and B.A. Scandinavian Studies from UC Berkeley where he graduated with Honors and received the Departmental Citation. He subsequently completed the NIH sponsored Medical Scientist Training Program and received his MD and PhD in Immunology from Stanford University where he received the Novartis Foundation Bursary Award and was a Beckman Scholar. He authored or co-authored thirteen scientific articles and reviews, including three papers published in Nature.

Prior to Sofinnova Jim worked at Bayer and Sanderling. In 2011 Dr. Healy received the IBF Innovator Award for his investment in Amarin (AMRN). In 2012 Xconomy named him one the leading “Young and Proven Biotech VC’s”. In 2013, Fortune selected him as one of the top life science investors and in 2015 he received a Healthcare and Lifesciences 50 award from Irish America. He has lectured on entrepreneurship at Stanford University and served on the boards of the Executive Committee at UC Berkeley, the National Venture Capital Association (NVCA) and the Biotechnology Innovation Organization (BIO).

Jeff Jonas, M.D.

Chief Executive Officer, Sage Therapeutics

Jeff Jonas, M.D.

Chief Executive Officer, Sage Therapeutics

Jeff Jonas joined Sage as CEO in 2013, bringing with him more than 20 years of experience on both the scientific and business sides of the pharmaceutical and healthcare industries, with a focus on central nervous system disorders. At Sage, he’s created an engine of innovation that encourages creating new opportunities by taking smart risks and challenging conventional wisdom. Jeff’s approach is shaped by a career that encompasses one-on-one patient care, rapid advancement through corporate structures, academic accomplishments, and entrepreneurial endeavors. Before joining the Sage team, Jeff served as president of the Regenerative Medicine Division of Shire plc and previously as Senior Vice President of Research and Development, Pharmaceuticals at Shire. Prior to Shire, he served as the Executive Vice President of ISIS Pharmaceuticals, as the Chief Medical Officer and Executive Vice President of Forest Laboratories, Inc. and in senior-level positions at Upjohn Laboratories. Jeff is a member of the board for Decibel Therapeutics, Generation Bio and Karuna Therapeutics. He has published more than 70 scientific papers and chapters, authored more than 100 books, scientific articles and abstracts and has received numerous awards.

Jeff received his B.A. from Amherst College and M.D. from Harvard Medical School. He completed a residency in psychiatry at Harvard and then served as Chief Resident in psychopharmacology at McLean Hospital, Harvard Medical School.

Atul Pande, M.D.

Former Senior Vice President, Head of Neuroscience and Senior Advisor, Pharmaceutical R&D at GlaxoSmithKline; Member, Karuna Therapeutics Scientific Advisory Board

Atul Pande, M.D.

Former Senior Vice President, Head of Neuroscience and Senior Advisor, Pharmaceutical R&D at GlaxoSmithKline; Member, Karuna Therapeutics Scientific Advisory Board

Dr. Pande is a physician who qualified in medicine, and specialized in psychiatry, at the University of Lucknow in India. He obtained additional specialty training at Western University in Canada, and subsequently served on the faculty of the University of Michigan Medical School. Over nearly thirty years of his academic and industry career, Dr. Pande has been involved in the development of important central nervous system drugs while holding various senior roles in GlaxoSmithKline, Pfizer, Parke-Davis/Warner-Lambert, and Lilly Research Laboratories. His experience includes drug development, registration, launch and lifecycle management in the areas of anxiety, depression, epilepsy, neuropathic pain, schizophrenia, traumatic brain injury, and Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s diseases, and others.

Dr. Pande currently serves as Senior Advisor to PureTech Health; non-executive director of Autifony Therapeutics; lead independent director of Axovant Gene Therapies (NASDAQ:AXGT); scientific advisory to Cennerv Pharma; development consultant to various companies; and as President and CEO of Verity BioConsulting. Dr. Pande is a fellow of several professional societies, including the American Psychiatric Association. He has published over 50 peer-reviewed scientific papers and over 100 abstracts, book chapters, and book reviews.

Robert Nelsen, MBA

Co-Founder and Managing Director, Arch Venture Partners

Robert Nelsen, MBA

Co-Founder and Managing Director, Arch Venture Partners

Robert Nelsen is a co-founder and a Managing Director of ARCH Venture Partners. He joined ARCH at its founding and played a significant role in the early sourcing, financing and development of more than 100 companies, including nineteen which have reached valuations exceeding $1 billion. His seed and early-stage investments include Illumina (ILMN); Alnylam Pharmaceuticals (ALNY); Juno Therapeutics (JUNO); Unity Biotechnology (UBX); Sienna Biopharmaceuticals (SNNA); Vir Biotechnology, Agios Pharmaceuticals (AGIO); Sage Therapeutics (SAGE); GRAIL, Ikaria; Kythera Biopharmaceuticals (KYTH), Receptos (RCPT); Aviron (AVIR); Denali Therapeutics (DNLI); Rubius Therapeutics, KSQ Therapeutics, Beam Therapeutics, NetBot; Bluebird Bio (BLUE); R2 Technology; XenoPort (XNPT); Caliper Life Sciences (CALP); Trubion Pharmaceuticals (TRBN); Adolor (ADLR); deCODE Genetics; Array BioPharma (ARRY); Editas (EDIT), IDUN Pharmaceuticals; Classmates.com; Hua Medicine; Fate Therapeutics (FATE); WuxiNextCODE; and Everyday Learning Corporation.

Mr. Nelsen is a director of Vir Bio, GRAIL, Sana Biotechnology, Beam Therapeutics, Karuna Therapeutics, Unity Biotechnology, Denali Therapeutics, insitro, Maze Therapeutics, Inc., Encoded Therapeutics and serves as Chairman of Hua Medicine, among others. He previously served as a Trustee of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Institute, the Institute for Systems Biology, and was a director of the National Venture Capital Association. Mr. Nelsen holds an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago and a B.S. from the University of Puget Sound with majors in Economics and Biology.

Heather Preston, M.D.

Managing Partner, Pivotal bioVenture Partners

Heather Preston, M.D.

Managing Partner, Pivotal bioVenture Partners

Heather Preston, M.D. joined Pivotal bioVentures in 2018 and brings 30 years of healthcare experience. Most recently she was a Firm Partner and Managing Director at TPG Biotech and she is currently a Senior Advisor to TPG. Prior to joining TPG in 2005, Dr. Preston spent two years investing with JP Morgan Partners and she was also an Entrepreneur-in-Residence with New Enterprise Associates. Prior to becoming a venture capital investor, she spent five years at McKinsey & Co. in New York, where she was a leader of their pharmaceutical and medical products consulting practice. She advised large pharmaceutical companies and biotechnology companies on critical strategic issues such as R&D portfolio prioritization, M&A opportunities, new technology acquisitions, new product launches and product growth strategies.

Dr. Preston has an undergraduate degree in biochemistry from the University of London and a medical degree from the University of Oxford. She completed a post-doctoral fellowship in molecular biology at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard University and trained in Internal Medicine at the Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard and sub-specialized in Gastroenterology and Hepatology at UCSF. During her academic medical career, she was the recipient of a Fulbright Scholarship, a Fulbright Cancer Research Scholarship, a Harlech Scholarship and a Science and Engineering Research Council Post-doctoral Fellowship Award. Dr. Preston also serves on the Board of Trustees for the Harvard Discovery Council, the Fine Arts Museums of San Francisco, Saint Luke’s School and the Harlech Scholarship Foundation.

Scientific Advisory Board

Alan Breier, M.D.

Chief Clinical Advisor & Chair, Karuna Scientific Advisory Board; Senior Professor of Psychiatry, Indiana University Mental Health Research and Education; Vice-Chair for Clinical Research; Chief, IU Psychotic Disorders Program; Director, Prevention and Recovery Center (PARC), Indiana University School of Medicine

Alan Breier, M.D.

Dr. Alan Breier is Karuna’s Chief Clinical Advisor and Chair of it’s Scientific Advisory Board. Dr. Breier previously was the Chief Medical Officer at Eli Lilly and is currently Professor of Psychiatry and Vice Chair for Clinical Research at Indiana University School of Medicine and Chief of the Psychotic Disorders Program. He was a member of Lilly Research Laboratories’ policy committee and the company’s senior management council. Previously, Dr. Breier was a clinical research fellow at Eli Lilly, product team leader for the antipsychotic drug Zyprexa and Vice President of Pharmaceutical Products at Eli Lilly. Prior to joining Eli Lilly, Dr. Breier was Chief of the Section of Clinical Studies at the NIMH Intramural Research Program and prior to that the Chief of the Outpatient Research Program at the Maryland Psychiatric Research Center.

Dr. Breier received a bachelor’s degree from University of Toledo and an M.D. from the University of Cincinatti. He has published over 250 scientific articles and is the recipient of several awards.

Richard Keefe, Ph.D.

Professor of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neurosciences, Duke University Medical Center

Richard Keefe, Ph.D.

Professor of Psychiatry, Psychology, and Neurosciences, Duke University Medical Center

Dr. Keefe’s research is primarily devoted to understanding cognitive dysfunction and its treatment in patients with psychiatric and neurological conditions. He has had a leadership role for cognitive methods in several large National Institute of Mental Health studies, including the CATIE, MATRICS, TURNS, CRSTN and TENETS projects. He has published more than 250 scientific papers and two books. Dr. Keefe is on the editorial boards of Psychological Medicine, Schizophrenia Research, Psychiatry and Clinical Neurosciences, and Innovations in Clinical Neuroscience. He was the 2012-2014 President of the International Society for CNS Clinical Trials and Methodology. He is on the Board of Directors for the Schizophrenia International Research Society (SIRS) and the Scientific Board of the Brain and Behavioral Research Foundation. He is the CEO and co-Founder of VeraSci.

Allan Levey, M.D., Ph.D.

Professor & Chair, Department of Neurology at Emory University; Director, Goizueta Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center

Allan Levey, M.D., Ph.D.

Professor & Chair, Department of Neurology at Emory University; Director, Goizueta Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center

Dr. Levey is Professor and Chairman of the Department of Neurology at Emory University. Dr. Levey has secondary faculty appointments in the Departments of Pharmacology and Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences. He is also Executive Associate Dean for Research at the School of Medicine and Director of the Goizueta Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center at Emory.

Dr. Levey is a neurologist and neuroscientist internationally recognized for his work in neurodegenerative disease, with more than 400 research publications. His work in Alzheimer’s disease and related neurodegenerative disorders has contributed to understanding mechanisms involved in these conditions and translation to new therapeutic strategies and biomarkers. He also made pioneering discoveries of the anatomy and molecular pharmacology of cholinergic systems in brain. He has received numerous awards and is a member of the National Academy of Medicine.

Dr. Levey received a bachelor’s degree from University of Michigan and an M.D. and Ph.D. (Immunology) from the University of Chicago. He then trained in Neurology at Johns Hopkins University, and joined their faculty prior to moving to Emory in 1991.

Jeffrey Lieberman, M.D.

Lawrence C. Kolb Professor and Chairman, Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons; Director, New York State Psychiatric Institute; Psychiatrist-in-Chief of the New York-Presbyterian Hospital – Columbia University Medical Center.

Jeffrey Lieberman, M.D.

Jeffrey A. Lieberman, M.D., is the Lawrence C. Kolb Professor and Chairman, Department of Psychiatry, Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons; Director, New York State Psychiatric Institute; and Psychiatrist-in-Chief of the New York-Presbyterian Hospital – Columbia University Medical Center. Dr. Lieberman’s work has advanced the understanding of the pathophysiology and treatment of schizophrenia.

He is the recipient of many national and international honors and awards, including the Lieber Prize for Schizophrenia Research from the National Association for Research in Schizophrenia and Affective Disorders, the Adolph Meyer Award from the American Psychiatric Association, the Research Award from the National Alliance on Mental Illness, and the Neuroscience Award from the International College of Neuropsychopharmacology.

He is a member of numerous scientific organizations, including the National Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine and served as President of the American Psychiatric Association from 2012 to May 2014. He has authored more than 600 papers and articles published in the scientific literature and written and/or edited ten books on mental illness, psychopharmacology and psychiatry including the critically acclaimed Shrinks: The Untold Story of Psychiatry (Little Brown 2015).

Atul Pande, M.D.

Former Senior Vice President, Head of Neuroscience and Senior Advisor, Pharmaceutical R&D at GlaxoSmithKline; Board Member, Karuna Therapeutics

Atul Pande, M.D.

Former Senior Vice President, Head of Neuroscience and Senior Advisor, Pharmaceutical R&D at GlaxoSmithKline; Board Member, Karuna Therapeutics

William Z. Potter, M.D., Ph.D.

Former VP, Translational Neuroscience, Merck; Former Head of Early Clinical Development, Eli Lilly

William Z. Potter, M.D., Ph.D.

Former VP, Translational Neuroscience, Merck; Former Head of Early Clinical Development, Eli Lilly

Bill Potter earned his B.A., M.S., M.D., and Ph.D. at Indiana University, after which he functioned in positions of increasing responsibility and seniority over the next 25 years at the National Institutes of Health with a research focus on translational neuroscience. While at the NIH, Bill was widely published and appointed to many societies, committees and boards; these roles enabled him to develop a wide reputation as an expert in psychopharmacological sciences and championing the development of novel treatments for CNS disorders.

Dr. Potter left the NIH in 1996 to accept a position as Executive Director for early clinical neuroscience at Lilly Research Labs, and in 2004 he joined Merck Research Labs (MRL) as Vice President of Clinical Neuroscience, then moved to the newly created position of Translational Neuroscience in 2006, a position from which he retired in January of 2011. His experience at Lilly and MRL in identifying, expanding and developing methods of evaluating CNS effects of compounds in human brain cover state-of-the-art approaches across multiple modalities. These include brain imaging and cerebrospinal fluid proteomics as well as development of more sensitive clinical measures. Dr. Potter continues as an Emeritus co-chair of the Neuroscience Steering Committee of the FNIH and serves in an advisory capacity to stakeholder organizations in brain diseases where he champions the position that more disciplined hypothesis testing of targets in humans through public/private partnerships is the best near-term approach to moving CNS drug development forward for important neurologic and psychiatric illnesses.

Anantha Shekhar, M.D., Ph.D.

Director, Indiana Clinical & Translational Sciences Institute; Distinguished Professor of Psychiatry, of Neurobiology and of Pharmacology & Toxicology; August M. Watanabe Professor of Medical Research, and Executive Associate Dean for Research Affairs at the Indiana University School of Medicine

Anantha Shekhar, M.D., Ph.D.

Anantha Shekhar, M.D., Ph.D., is a nationally recognized researcher who has conducted both basic and clinical research on a number of neuropsychiatric disorders such as panic, anxiety, post-traumatic stress disorder, and schizophrenia. His work has been funded by the US National Institutes of Health, Department of Defense and various Foundations. Dr. Shekhar leads the IU School of Medicine’s research enterprise and holds several leadership posts at IU and IU Health.

Dr. Shekhar is the founding director of the Indiana Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute (Indiana CTSI), a statewide institute within Indiana University School of Medicine, supported by a CTSA grant from the US National Institutes of Health and established in 2008 as a joint partnership of Indiana University, Purdue University, the University of Notre Dame and numerous life sciences businesses and community organizations. The Institute’s mission is to assist in the rapid translation of new discoveries into novel treatments.

In addition to his roles with the Indiana CTSI and IU School of Medicine, Dr. Shekhar is the Associate Vice President for University Affairs, Indiana University; Executive Vice President of Academic Affairs for Clinical Research, IU Health.

Carol A. Tamminga, M.D.

Lou and Ellen McGinley Distinguished Chair and the McKenzie Chair in Psychiatry at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School; Chairman of the Department of Psychiatry; Chief of the Translational Neuroscience Division in Schizophrenia at UT Southwestern

Carol A. Tamminga, M.D.

Dr. Tamminga holds the Lou and Ellen McGinley Distinguished Chair and the McKenzie Chair in Psychiatry at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School and is the Chairman of the Department of Psychiatry and the Chief of the Translational Neuroscience Division in Schizophrenia at UT Southwestern. She received her M.D. from Vanderbilt University and completed residency training in psychiatry at the University of Chicago. She served on the University of Chicago faculty from 1975 to 1979 and moved to the National Institute for Neurological Disorders and Stroke for training in Neurology in 1978. After joining the faculty at the University of Maryland Medical School in 1979, she practiced research, clinical care and teaching there until joining the faculty at UT Southwestern Medical School in 2003.

Dr. Tamminga has been a member of NIMH’s National Advisory Board and has served on the Board of Scientific Counselors of the National Institute of Mental Health and the National Institute of Drug Abuse, as Council member and President of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology, as a Member and Chair of the Psychopharmacological Drugs Advisory Committee of the FDA, as well as consultant for the Orphan Products Development Review Group, FDA. She is a member of the Advisory Board of the Brain and Behavioral Research Foundation (NARSAD). She has been a Deputy Editor of the American Journal of Psychiatry and on the editorial board of several other journals in the field. Dr. Tamminga was elected to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies of Sciences in 1998 and has served on several IOM committees in that capacity.

Improving life for people living with schizophrenia, Alzheimer's disease and pain, and their families.

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