Speakers

Dr. Nicholas Ashton is an Associate Professor of Neurochemistry at the Department of Psychiatry and Neurochemistry at the University Gothenburg (Sweden) in the group of Professor’s Henrik Zetterberg and Kaj Blennow. He also holds a senior researcher position at the department of Old Age Psychiatry, King’s College London, and Stavanger University in Norway.

Dr. Ashton received his PhD in 2017 from King’s College London in the group of Sir Professor Simon Lovestone.

Dr. Ashton has more than a decade of experience in biofluid analysis and assay development for Alzheimer’s disease, which ranges from discovery mass spectrometry methods to ultra-sensitive immunoassays. Recently, this has produced ultra-sensitive single molecular array (Simoa) assays for phosphorylated tau in blood, which are now widely used in research settings, therapeutics trials and being validated for clinical use. His current research now focuses on understanding different tau and synaptic forms in biofluids and how they may contribute to the knowledge of disease pathogenesis and ultimately clinical use.

Dr. Ashton has published >150 original research articles in field of fluid biomarkers. In 2021, he received the Queen of Sweden Prize to a Young Alzheimer Researcher for his contribution dementia research and in 2022, the Viola Bergqvist award for mentorship.

Dr. Rhoda Au is Professor of Anatomy & Neurobiology, Neurology and Epidemiology at Boston University, and is a Senior Fellow at the Institute for Health Systems Innovation and Policy at the Questrom School of Business. She also serves as Director of Neuropsychology at the Framingham Heart Study.

Dr. Au has been developing a multi-sensory brain health monitoring platform that is customizable, technology agnostic, and scalable. Her objectives include transitioning the platform from reliance on high friction technologies to low friction ones and developing broad based data sharing resources to accelerate data science/AI driven discovery of digital biomarkers. Her research seeks to move the primary focus of health technologies from precision Alzheimer’s medicine to a broader emphasis on precision brain health.

Dr. Marta Barrachina has a PhD in Biochemistry (University of Barcelona) and an Executive MBA (La Salle-Ramon Llull University). She was a principal investigator at the Bellvitge Biomedical Research Institute for 17 years. She is the author of several scientific articles published in international journals related to neurodegenerative diseases, and inventor of 9 patents. She has been a member of the Scientific Review Board at Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation (ADDF) since January 2021 and CEO of ADmit Therapeutics since its inception at the end of 2017.

Dr. Kaj Blennow is Professor and Academic Chair in Clinical Neurochemistry at the University of Gothenburg, and Head of the Clinical Neurochemistry Lab at Sahlgrenska University Hospital in Gothenburg, Sweden. He holds a Specialist Competence in Psychiatry and in Clinical Chemsitry.

His main research interest is the development of new analytical methods for CSF and blood biomarkers for Alzheimer’s and other brain disorders, and the application of these to increase the understanding of Alzheimer’s pathophysiology, as well as for screening, diagnostics and in therapy monitoring in clinical trials.

Dr. Blennow has published more than 2000 original research papers and review articles in peer-reviewed journals, with more than 145,000 citations, and he has an H-index of 175.

He is President of the Society for CSF Analysis and Clinical Neurochemistry and Head of the Alzheimer’s Association QC Program for CSF and Blood Biomarkers. He has received a series of research prizes, such as the Alois Alzheimer Research Award (Germany, 2001), the Henry Wisniewski Lifetime Achievement Award (2011), the Söderberg Price in Medicine (2016), and the Nordic Price in Medicine (2018).

Dr. Niranjan Bose is currently the Managing Director (Health & Life Sciences Strategy) at Gates Ventures LLC, where he serves as the Science Advisor to Mr. Bill Gates. Prior to joining Gates Ventures in August 2014, he was the Chief of Staff to the President of the Global Health Program at the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation.

He was with the Gates Foundation from 2007 through 2014, which included a few years with their Enterics and Diarrheal Diseases (EDD) program strategy team, where he was responsible for managing a portfolio of investments, which included clinical development of enteric vaccines (rotavirus, cholera, enterotoxigenic E coli and shigella).

Prior to joining the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, he was with Strategic Decisions Group (and SDG Life Sciences), where he was a Senior Consultant and assisted clients in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries with strategy development, company valuations, portfolio management frameworks, revenue forecasting, and competitive assessments.

Niranjan holds a PhD in biochemistry from Dartmouth College and an MS in biological sciences and BS in pharmaceutical sciences from Birla Institute of Technology and Science, Pilani, India. He also received the Business Bridge Diploma from the Tuck School of Business at Dartmouth.

Dr. Joel Braunstein is Co-Founder and CEO of C₂N Diagnostics and has led the company's growth and commercial efforts since its inception. Dr. Braunstein has played a senior executive role in numerous emerging life sciences companies since 2004. He received his M.D. with Highest Distinction from Northwestern University Medical School in 1996. Subsequently, he trained in internal medicine at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School, and was a Fellow in Cardiovascular Medicine and Robert Wood Johnson National Clinical Scholar at the Johns Hopkins Medical Institutions. Additionally, he completed an MBA with management and health policy focus and maintained an Assistant Professorship in Cardiology at Johns Hopkins University. In 2010, he was named a Distinguished Alumnus of Johns Hopkins University.

Dr. Mylea Charvat is the Chief Medical Officer at Altoida. A clinician with a business background, she was an early employee with Travelocity in the 1990’s and a primary architect of the company’s award-winning customer success strategy. She left Travelocity after their 2001 IPO to pursue graduate work in clinical neuropsychology and neuroscience. She completed her PhD Fellowship at Stanford University School of Medicine and later founded the digital cognitive assessment company Savonix in 2014. As the Founder and CEO of Savonix, Mylea steered the company through multiple rounds of venture funding, obtained FDA and PMDA clearance for their products and led her team in generating multimillion dollar revenue growth with customers such as MetLife, Bayer and Danone. Mylea has authored several peer review publications in mental health & neuroimaging. She has taught courses in medical ethics, biostatistics and research methods at Stanford School of Medicine, The University of San Francisco, and San Francisco State University. She is a frequent contributor with Psychology Today, has written for TechCrunch and STAT News, and appeared as a subject matter expert at many conferences including AAIC, The Atlantic Council, the NIH and NIA, as well as with the Duke Leadership Program.

Dr. Jeffrey Dage is a Senior Research Professor of Neurology at Indiana University School of Medicine and primary member of the Stark Neurosciences Research Institute. He received his PhD from the University of Cincinnati in Ohio where he worked in the area of protein characterization using mass spectrometry. He has been in the pharmaceutical industry for the last 28 years and has contributed to many therapeutic discovery programs through analytical measurement of biologically relevant molecules in cell culture, preclinical models, and human clinical samples. His research at Indiana University is focused on the discovery and development of biomarkers for Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias. Over the last several years he led the discovery and development of ultrasensitive immunoassays to measure phosphorylated tau in blood for use in Alzheimer’s disease diagnosis, prognosis, and clinical trials. These blood-based biomarker assays have led to dramatic change in Alzheimer’s research and clinical development.

Dr. Robert Dean completed a toxicology/pharmacology doctorate and medical training at Indiana University, an internship and residency in anatomic and clinical pathology at Medical Center Hospital of Vermont, and a medical fellowship in chemical pathology at the Mayo Clinic. He served as Director of Chemical Pathology at Indiana University School of Medicine providing laboratory services related to adult and pediatric clinical chemistry, specialty endocrinology, neonatal screening, clinical toxicology, metals and vital function laboratories. His academic research focused on drugs-of-abuse (alcohol, cocaine, and heroin) metabolism and toxicity. Dr. Dean subsequently served for 21 years as a clinical research pathologist and Director of Diagnostics & Experimental Medicine at Eli Lilly & Company. His industry research focused on biomarker discovery and development with application to translational research and diagnostics development. In this capacity, he broadly supported phase I through IV clinical drug development in the use of biomarkers in clinical safety assessment and to explore target engagement, target-related pharmacology, impact on pathophysiology and therapeutic tailoring. This work supported drug development for multiple cardiovascular and endocrine disorders, selected infectious and oncological diseases, and numerous pain, psychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders with special emphasis on Alzheimer’s disease. Dr. Dean currently provides clinical pathology-related consulting services through Robert A. Dean Consulting, LLC and is an adjunct associate professor at Indiana University School of Medicine in the Department of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine.

Dr. Erez Eitan, the Chief Scientific Officer and founding scientist at NeuroDex, is a molecular neuroscientist and method developer with expertise in neuron-derived extracellular vesicles. With over 30 publications in peer-reviewed journals, Dr. Eitan has made significant contributions, including groundbreaking discoveries in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Parkinson's disease (PD), and Alzheimer’s disease (AD). During his postdoc fellowship at the National Institute of Aging (NIA), he pioneered research on extracellular vesicles (EV) in neurological diseases. This work significantly contributed to the initiation of a blood-based biomarker study with over 1,000 samples from the Baltimore Longitudinal Study on Aging (BLSA). Now, as the Chief Scientific Officer at NeuroDex, Dr. Eitan is dedicated to validating EV-based blood biomarkers for neurological diseases. The work is mostly focused on biomarkers for Lewy body pathology and TDP43-associated pathologies. This work advances Dr. Eitan's dream of precision neurology treatment one step closer.

Dr. Howard Fillit is a geriatrician, neuroscientist, and innovative philanthropy executive, who has led the ADDF since its founding. Dr. Fillit has held faculty positions at The Rockefeller University, the SUNY-Stony Brook School of Medicine and the Cornell University School of Medicine. In 1987, he joined the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, where he is a clinical professor of geriatric medicine and palliative care, medicine and neuroscience. Dr. Fillit also maintains a limited private practice in consultative geriatric medicine with a focus on Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias.

He has authored or co-authored more than 300 publications and is the senior editor of Brocklehurst’s Textbook of Geriatric Medicine and Gerontology. Dr. Fillit is the recipient of many awards and honors including the Rita Hayworth Award from the Alzheimer’s Association. He is a fellow of the American Geriatrics Society, the American College of Physicians, the Gerontological Society of America and the New York Academy of Medicine. Dr. Fillit earned his bachelor of arts in neurobiology cum laude from Cornell University and his medical degree from the SUNY-Upstate Medical University.

Dr. Dilraj Grewal is a tenured Associate Professor of Ophthalmology at the Duke Eye Center. He specializes in the medical and surgical management of patients with complex Vitreoretinal pathology and Uveitis. He joined the Duke Eye Center following completion of his Vitreoretinal Surgery fellowship at Duke and Uveitis fellowship training at Moorfields Eye Hospital in London.  

He has been the recipient of numerous prestigious awards including the Ronald G. Michels Foundation Fellowship Award, the Heed Ophthalmic Foundation Fellowship Award, Senior Achievement Award from the American Academy of Ophthalmology, and the Rhett Buckler and Senior Honor Awards from the American Society of Retina Specialists. Dr. Grewal has authored over 175 publications in peer-reviewed medical journals and over 250 presentations at national and international meetings. His research interests span assessment of retinal changes in neurodegenerative diseases, clinical research activities in advanced ocular imaging, and clinical trials for both Retina and Uveitis. As Associate Director of the Eye Multimodal Imaging in Neurodegenerative Disease (iMIND) research group, along with Director Dr. Sharon Fekrat, they have published extensively on using commercially available tools to assess retinal changes in neurodegenerative diseases. Dr. Grewal also serves as the Associate Director of the Duke Reading Center, a comprehensive image reading center that specializes in systematic analysis of ophthalmic images in multicenter clinical trials. In addition, he participates in national and international clinical trials in retina and uveitis.

Dr. Andreas Jeromin has successfully led biomarker discovery and validation programs in CNS disorders, with a particular focus on traumatic brain injury and neurodegeneration, and co-authored more than 200 publications. Dr. Jeromin has been a co-investigator on several large-scale diagnostic and therapeutic studies not only in TBI, but also neurodegenerative diseases. In addition, Dr Jeromin has led several commercialization efforts for different “diagnostic” CNS biomarkers and tests. Dr. Jeromin is a member of the scientific advisory board of a private-public consortia in neurodegenerative and neurological disorders with a focus on biomarker validation and development as clinical diagnostics. In addition, Dr. Jeromin also has experience in the regulatory space. Dr. Jeromin led Cohen Veterans Biosciences initiatives in biomarker discovery, validation, and development as well as all other translational research programs. He was appointed CSO of ALZpath, Inc. in 2022. 

Marc Jones is the Chief Executive Officer at Altoida. He is a healthcare technology business leader with more than 25 years of experience across both private and publicly-held companies. Prior to Altoida, Marc served as the Chief Operating Officer (COO) and Chief Financial Officer (CFO) of binx health, a digital health and molecular diagnostics company, where he co-founded binx’s digital health business. At binx, he led the company through a critical phase of expansion from early to late-stage commercial product launch, generating multi-million revenue growth under his leadership. Marc also served as the COO and CFO of Good Start Genetics, which was acquired by Invitae (NVTA). As the inaugural CFO of T2 Biosystems (NASDAQ:TTOO), he played a fundamental role in navigating the company to a successful IPO. Marc was also CFO of Crashlytics, where he oversaw the company’s acquisition by Twitter in 2013. Prior to Crashlytics, he was CFO of Ivenix (acquired by Fresenius), and also CFO of CHiL Semiconductor, which was acquired by International Rectifier (now Infineon). Prior to CHiL, Marc held roles of increasing responsibility at Picis, Inc. He has raised hundreds of millions in capital and has delivered multiple M&A transactions providing value to shareholders. Marc serves on the Board of Directors of Altoida, Progentec Diagnostics, and Pathfinder Health.

Dr. Lampros Kourtis is the Program Director at SpeechDx, a longitudinal, multi-language study to collect and harmonize speech and language for AD research. He is a Co-Founder and Chief Science Officer at Chronicles Health, on a mission to help patients manage complex autoimmune diseases. Previously, Dr. Kourtis has founded and led biomaterials companies Biomimedica and Hyalex Orthopaedics, now in clinical phase. He also worked as a Chief Engineer at Eli Lilly Cambridge Innovation Center. Moreover, he is an adjunct assistant professor at Tufts School of Medicine (CTSI). He holds a PhD in ME from Stanford University and holds over 25 patents on biomaterials, medical devices, digital biomarkers and IoT solutions.

‍Steven Krein is the CEO and Co-founder of StartUp Health, which has assembled a worldwide network of founders, funders, innovators and industry leaders to collaborate on 14 health moonshots, including Type 1 diabetes and Alzheimer’s. Since its founding in 2011, StartUp Health’s “Health Moonshot Community” platform has developed the world’s largest health innovation community, with nearly 500 companies from 30 countries collaborating on solving the world's biggest health challenges.

Steven is a serial entrepreneur, speaker, investor, advisor, and entrepreneurial coach. Prior to StartUp Health, Steven co-founded and led several technology companies including OrganizedWisdom, Promotions.com, and Webstakes, which he took public on Nasdaq before it was acquired by iVillage in the early 2000's. Steven received his JD from Delaware Law School and BA from the University of Maryland. He's an active member of YPO and lives in NYC with his wife and three daughters.