Dr. Jacqueline French is a professor of Neurology in the Comprehensive Epilepsy Center at NYU Grossman School of Medicine and Founder/Director of the Epilepsy Study Consortium, an academic group that has performed a number of early phase clinical trials in epilepsy and has developed new methodologies for epilepsy trials. Dr. French trained in Neurology at Mount Sinai Hospital in New York and did her fellowship training in EEG and epilepsy at Mount Sinai hospital and Yale University. 

Dr. French has focused her research efforts on development of new therapeutics for epilepsy, and new methodologies for clinical trials. Over the past 20 years she has served as the Principle investigator on a number of trials for new epilepsy drugs. She is responsible for creation of a number of new trial designs that have been accepted by regulatory authorities for  new drug approval.  Dr. French has been active in creating guidelines for the American Academy of Neurology and the International League Against Epilepsy. She chaired an AAN/AES committee that produced two widely quoted guidelines on the use of new antiepileptic drugs. She has served as chair of the International League Against Epilepsy North American Regional Commission, and Commission on Therapeutic strategies. Dr. French serves as the Chief Medical/Innovation Officer of the Epilepsy Foundation. She is the past president of the American Epilepsy Society. She is the past Secretary of the American Society of Experimental Neurotherapeutics. She  is the recipient of the American Epilepsy Society Lennox Award (2017) and Service Award (2005), the Epilepsy Foundation Hero award (2013), and is an ILAE Ambassador for Epilepsy. She has authored over 300 articles and chapters, is the editor of three books, and lectures internationally on clinical trials and use of antiepileptic drugs.

 

Michael G. Kaplitt, M.D., Ph.D. is Professor of Neurological Surgery with tenure, Residency Program Director and Vice-Chairman for Research in the Department of Neurological Surgery at Weill Cornell Medical College-New York Presbyterian Hospital. He received a Ph.D. in Molecular Neurobiology at The Rockefeller University an M.D. from Cornell University Medical College followed by a neurosurgery residency at the New York Presbyterian Hospital and fellowship in Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery at the University of Toronto. He has been a leader in gene therapy for CNS disease, and has also has led the development of focused ultrasound for both lesioning and non-invasive delivery of biologicals to the brain. As the Director of Stereotactic and Functional Neurosurgery, his clinical focus is the surgical treatment of patients with movement disorders, including tremor and spasticity, as well pain and epilepsy. He is a member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation among other honors. His commercial experience includes serving as Chief Scientific Officer for Circuit Therapeutics and he has been a founder of several previous companies including Merlin, Neurologix, Vector Neurosciences and Emrys.

Matthew During is a MIT, Harvard and Yale trained M.D., Ph.D. neuroscientist and serial biotechnology entrepreneur originally from New Zealand. He served 9 years on faculty of Yale as Professor of Neurosurgery.  Subsequently Dr. During served as a Professor at Thomas Jefferson, Cornell and Ohio State Universities and a senior manager at Bridgewater Associates,  and over the past 10 years he continues as a visiting Professor of Translational Neuroscience at the University of Oxford. He was a pioneer in the use of viral vectors for neurological disorders, and was the first to carry out gene transfer into the brain of a human child. Dr. During was the Principal Investigator and the FDA sponsor for two pioneering gene therapy studies on neurodevelopmental and movement disorders. He has published over 250 scientific articles, with many in the world’s most prestigious journals including Nature, Science, Cell, Nature Medicine, Nature Genetics, the Lancet and Science Translational Medicine. He is the inventor on 52 issued US patents. In addition, he has won several awards including the American Epilepsy Society Young Investigator of the Year, Roche Translational Neuroscience Award, Johnson and Johnson Focused Giving Award, BMS Neuroscience Award, the Nancy Sirrett and Keith Harrison Awards. He is a Fellow of the American College of Physicians, the Royal Australasian College of Physicians, and a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He was a co-founder of Merlin Pharmaceuticals, Neurologix, Vector Neurosciences, Emrys Bio and Nightstar Therapeutics, and founder of Ovid Therapeutics where he previously served as President, Chief Scientific Officer and chair of the Scientific Advisory Board.

Dr. Theodore Tyberg is a board certified cardiologist and internist.  An Alpha Omega Alpha (the Phi Beta Kappa of medical schools) graduate from Rush University Medical University in Chicago, he completed his internship and residency at Cornell University Medical Center. His cardiology training was done at the Yale School of Medicine at Yale University.

Dr. Tyberg has been on the staff at Weill Cornell Medical Center since 1980. During those years, he has been president of the attending staff, the staff representative to the General Faculty Council, secretary treasurer of the NY State chapter of the American College of Cardiology and treasurer of the Center Alumni Council. Dr. Tyberg is a Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine at Weill Cornell Medical College of Cornell University and an Associate Attending Physician at New York Presbyterian Hospital and the Hospital for Special Surgery.

Dr. Tyberg serves as the cardiology consultant to the The Rogosin Institute Comprehensive Lipid Control Center and was on the Medical Advisory Board for Kadmon Holdings, Inc.  He is coauthor of Hospital Smarts: The Insider's Survival Guide to Your Hospital, Your Doctor, the Nursing Staff and Your Bill!, and a contributor to the companion website, hospitalsmarts.com.