Our Executive Team
Harris A. Gelbard, M.D., Ph.D.
Chief Science Officer
Dr. Harris Gelbard is the director of the Center for Neurotherapeutics Discovery (CND) and a Professor of Neurology, Pediatrics, Neuroscience and Microbiology & Immunology at the University of Rochester Medical Center.
Dr. Gelbard is the lead inventor of the patent portfolio that encompasses URMC-099. This patent portfolio includes 28 national and international composition of matter and method of use patents, licensed to Pioneura for commercial development.
Richard G. Couch
Chairman, CEO
The company, Pioneura, was established by Richard G. Couch, who serves as Director. Mr. Couch is the CEO of Diablo Management Group, with over 500 deals related to company acquisition, management and turnaround, including drug and technology ventures, maintaining active liaisons with senior leaders in VC acquisitions at Pfizer. Mr. Couch and Dr. Gelbard (who serves as the Chief Science Officer of Pioneura) have previously worked together in an academic setting at the University of Rochester.
anthony Franchini, PH.D.
Dr. Anthony Franchini is the leader of CBETHINK, a group of advisors that develop messaging strategies for start-up companies in the biotech sector. Dr. Franchini’s involvement with CBETHINK grew from his training in the the University of Rochester’s Broaden Experiences in Scientific Training (URBEST), one of seventeen NIH-funded programs to experiment with methods to enhance training opportunities for early career scientists looking to expand their horizons and entry into the workforce outside of the typical career pathway of academic scientists.
SCOTT CATLIN, J.D.
Scott Catlin brings a depth of experience and expertise to the therapeutics and medical device fields, with an extensive background in business development, regulatory, intellectual property, licensing, M&A and business and IP strategy. Mr. Catlin formerly led URVentures at the University of Rochester, and was the General Counsel and Chief IP Counsel for Abbott Medical Optics, a division of Abbott Laboratories. He has founded and supported start-up companies, and participated in their acquisition and integration. Mr. Catlin is a former Bain consultant and USAF JAG, and he is a licensed NY and CA attorney and registered patent attorney before the USPTO.
Meet Our Advisors
jesse damsker, PH.D.
KARL KIEBURTZ, md, mph
KARL KIEBURTZ, md, mph
Jesse Damsker has an extensive background in immunology and the regulation of inflammatory diseases. He earned his doctorate at the George Washington University School of Medicine and completed a post-doctoral fellowship at the National Institutes of Health. In 2010, Dr. Damsker brought his immunological expertise to ReveraGen BioPharma
Jesse Damsker has an extensive background in immunology and the regulation of inflammatory diseases. He earned his doctorate at the George Washington University School of Medicine and completed a post-doctoral fellowship at the National Institutes of Health. In 2010, Dr. Damsker brought his immunological expertise to ReveraGen BioPharma Inc. where he spearheaded studies that characterized the anti-inflammatory properties of ReveraGen’s lead compound, vamorolone. Dr. Damsker oversees ReveraGen’s day-to-day operations and in 2020 was named Chief Operating Officer -- a full-time role he still holds. Dr. Damsker is an expert on small company operations from lead compound characterization up through registration clinical trial completion. He serves as an operational and strategic advisor to Pioneura.
KARL KIEBURTZ, md, mph
KARL KIEBURTZ, md, mph
KARL KIEBURTZ, md, mph
Karl Kieburtz has been the President of CLINT REX@ since its inception in 2008. He was the initial Robert J Joynt Professor in the Department of Neurology and is currently Professor of Neurology at the University of Rochester. He attended medical school and performed a Neurology Residency at the University of Rochester and obtained an MP
Karl Kieburtz has been the President of CLINT REX@ since its inception in 2008. He was the initial Robert J Joynt Professor in the Department of Neurology and is currently Professor of Neurology at the University of Rochester. He attended medical school and performed a Neurology Residency at the University of Rochester and obtained an MPH degree from the same institution.
He was the founding Director of the Center of Human Experimental Therapeutics (CHET) and served as the Director of the Clinical and Translational Science Institute and Senior Associate Dean for Clinical Research at the University of Rochester. He was director of the clinical coordinating center for the first decade of the PPMI program sponsored by the Michael J. Fox Foundation.
Dr. Kieburtz served as the Chair of the FDA Peripheral and Central Nervous System Advisory Committee. He was the past Chair of the Parkinson Study Group Executive Committee and a past member of the Huntington Study Group Executive Committee. He served as Vice-President of the American Neurological Association, was a member of the International Executive Committee of the Movement Disorder Society,
and was associate editor of the Neurology and Movement Disorder Journals.
He has been PI for more than 50 multi-center NIH, industry, and foundation-sponsored clinical trials
including the large NIH-sponsored multi-center NET-PD study.
John McCall, Ph.D.
KARL KIEBURTZ, md, mph
FREDRIC MANFREDSSON, PH.D.
John McCall began his career as a medicinal chemist with Upjohn. He has subsequently held positions with Pharmacia & Upjohn, Pharmacia, and Pfizer. He was Director of CNS Research with Upjohn, Vice President and Global Head of Chemistry for both Pharmacia and Pharmacia & Upjohn and Vice President Research with Pfize
John McCall began his career as a medicinal chemist with Upjohn. He has subsequently held positions with Pharmacia & Upjohn, Pharmacia, and Pfizer. He was Director of CNS Research with Upjohn, Vice President and Global Head of Chemistry for both Pharmacia and Pharmacia & Upjohn and Vice President Research with Pfizer. During those years, he focused on more prevalent diseases. Since starting his own consulting and research company in 2004, he has have been spending significant time on smaller diseases, particularly Duchenne, SMA, Rett, and PKD. He is currently a member of the NIH Blueprint and the NIH NeuroNEXT Steering Committees. He serves on nine administrative and scientific advisory boards, consults, have co-founded Reveragen (a company that is targeting new therapies for muscular dystrophy). John holds over 70 US patents and has authored or co-authored over 81 refereed publications.
FREDRIC MANFREDSSON, PH.D.
FREDRIC MANFREDSSON, PH.D.
FREDRIC MANFREDSSON, PH.D.
Fredric Manfredsson, PhD, is an associate professor in the Department of Translational Neuroscience at Barrow Neurological Institute.
Dr. Manfredsson’s expertise includes microbiology and virology, with a special interest in gene therapy for Parkinson’s disease and other neurodegenerative diseases. He is a member of the American Society fo
Fredric Manfredsson, PhD, is an associate professor in the Department of Translational Neuroscience at Barrow Neurological Institute.
Dr. Manfredsson’s expertise includes microbiology and virology, with a special interest in gene therapy for Parkinson’s disease and other neurodegenerative diseases. He is a member of the American Society for Gene & Cell Therapy, The American Society for Neural Therapy and Repair, and the Society for Neuroscience.
Dr. Manfredsson earned his doctorate degree in neuroscience from the University of Florida in Gainesville, where he also completed a postdoctoral fellowship in neuroscience.
Dr. Manfredsson’s research has multiple focuses. One aspect is to better understand the role of the protein alpha-synuclein in both healthy cells and those affected by Parkinson’s disease. His research also emphasizes understanding the symptomology of the disease, with a focus on the treatment of levodopa-induced dyskinesia and nonmotor symptoms experienced by nearly all patients with Parkinson’s disease.
NICCOLò TERRANDO, PH.D.
FREDRIC MANFREDSSON, PH.D.
Malú Gámez Tansey , PH.D.
Niccolo Terrando read for a dual honors degree in neuroscience and biochemistry (B.S. with honors) at Keele University in the United Kingdom. He received his Ph.D. from Imperial College London (D.I.C.) working at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital and the Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology under the mentorship of professors Mervyn Maze, Sir
Niccolo Terrando read for a dual honors degree in neuroscience and biochemistry (B.S. with honors) at Keele University in the United Kingdom. He received his Ph.D. from Imperial College London (D.I.C.) working at Chelsea and Westminster Hospital and the Kennedy Institute of Rheumatology under the mentorship of professors Mervyn Maze, Sir Marc Feldmann and Claudia Monaco. He undertook his postdoctoral training at the University of California, San Francisco where he described with colleagues at the Gladstone Institute of Neurology a key role of macrophages and blood-brain barrier disruption in mediating neuroinflammation and cognitive decline after surgery.
In 2012 Dr. Terrando moved to the Karolinska Institute as Assistant Professor and worked together with the European Society of Anesthesiology serving as preclinical coordinator for the EuroSTAR taskforce regarding anesthesia safety on the developing brain. He returned to the US joining the faculty and establishing his laboratory at Duke University in 2015, where is currently Associate Professor of Anesthesiology, Cell Biology, and Immunology. His laboratory is funded by National Institute of Aging.
He serves on the scientific advisory board of the Association of University Anesthesiologists and the executive committee of the Perioperative Interest Area of the Alzheimer's Association. Dr. Terrando’s research focuses on perioperative neurocognitive disorders, such as delirium, and how these common postoperative complications intersect with aging and neurodegeneration (including Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease). He holds over 67 peer reviewed publications, 2 issued patents on neuro-immuno strategies for cognitive decline, and edited the first book on perioperative neurocognitive disorders published by Cambridge University Press.
Malú Gámez Tansey , PH.D.
FREDRIC MANFREDSSON, PH.D.
Malú Gámez Tansey , PH.D.
Malú Gámez Tansey, PhD, earned her BS/MS from Stanford University and her PhD from University of Texas Southwestern and did postdoctoral work at Washington University on GDNF/Ret signaling. She spent two years at Xencor, where she co-invented dominant-negative soluble TNF inhibitors currently in clinical trials for Alzheimer’s disease and
Malú Gámez Tansey, PhD, earned her BS/MS from Stanford University and her PhD from University of Texas Southwestern and did postdoctoral work at Washington University on GDNF/Ret signaling. She spent two years at Xencor, where she co-invented dominant-negative soluble TNF inhibitors currently in clinical trials for Alzheimer’s disease and COVID-19. Today, she is the Norman and Susan Fixel Chair in Neuroscience and Neurology and Co-Director of the Center for Translational Research in Neurodegenerative Disease at the University of Florida College of Medicine in Gainesville. Her lab focuses on the role of inflammation and immune system responses in brain health and mechanisms underlying development of neurodegenerative diseases. The long-term goal of her laboratory is to enable earlier diagnoses and better therapies to prevent and/or delay these diseases. Dr. Tansey is a fierce advocate for women and other under-represented groups in STEM and has earned several mentoring awards from students and faculty for these efforts.