Aspen Neuroscience Announces Board of Directors and Scientific Advisory Board

World-renowned leaders will guide Aspen’s efforts to develop the first personalized cell therapy for Parkinson disease

SAN DIEGO, Jan. 9, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Aspen Neuroscience, Inc., a private biotechnology company developing the first autologous neuron replacement therapy to treat Parkinson disease, has announced the members of its Board of Directors and Scientific Advisory Board. These boards bring together many of the world’s most distinguished industry and academic minds to deliver Aspen’s personalized cell therapy to persons suffering with Parkinson disease.

“We are proud of the talented groups we have assembled,” said Aspen CEO Howard Federoff, MD, PhD. “They bring a wealth of insights and experience in biomedical research and therapeutic development that will be essential for our success. Together, we are motivated to bring best-in-class treatments to Parkinson patients as rapidly as possible. They have waited long enough.”

Last month, Aspen announced it has raised $6.5 million in seed funding and unveiled its plans to use neurons derived from induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSCs) to combat the debilitating motor symptoms of Parkinson disease. These iPSCs will be created from each patient’s own cells and then differentiated into dopamine-producing neurons, replacing the critical cells lost in Parkinson disease. Because the therapy is created from each patient’s own tissue, no immunosuppression will be necessary.

“The creation of our esteemed Board of Directors and Scientific Advisory Board is an important step for Aspen’s future development as it will help guide the company’s progress toward regulatory approval,” said Kim P. Kamdar, PhD, Aspen Board Chair and Partner at Domain Associates. “The members of each board bring significant expertise, complementary skills and an external perspective, which will be very valuable in informing Aspen’s strategy.”

Aspen’s Board of Directors includes well-known industry veterans and financial minds from leading venture capital firms that are poised to direct the growth of Aspen through clinical trials and regulatory approval.

Aspen Neuroscience Board of Directors

• Kim P. Kamdar, PhD – Aspen Board Chair and Partner at Domain Associates
• David L. Barker, PhD – Former Chief Scientific Officer at Illumina, Inc.
• Howard J. Federoff, MD, PhD – Chief Executive Officer at Aspen Neuroscience, Inc.
• Erich Mohr, PhD – Chairman and Chief Executive Officer at MedGenesis Therapeutix, Inc.
• Stephen Squinto, PhD – Executive Partner at OrbiMed

The Scientific Advisory Board consists of leaders in the fields of bioethics, regenerative medicine clinical trials, autologous iPSC-based therapy, and Parkinson disease neuron replacement and neuroimaging.

Aspen Neuroscience Scientific Advisory Board

• Roger Barker, MBBS, MRCP, PhD – Professor of Clinical Neuroscience at the University of Cambridge – A well-known expert in cell therapies for Parkinson disease, Dr. Barker is the Principal Investigator of the TRANSEURO study looking at fetal tissue grafting in patients with Parkinson disease; a part of the GFORCE PD initiative; and a Director of the International Society for Stem Cell Research.
• Kapil Bharti, PhD – Senior Investigator at the National Eye Institute at the National Institutes of Health – A world renowned expert in regenerative medicine, stem cell biology, and developmental biology of the eye, Dr. Bharti is leading the first Phase 1 clinical trial in the U.S. using autologous iPSCs to treat the retinal pigment epithelium in age-related macular degeneration.
• David Eidelberg, MD – Susan and Leonard Feinstein Professor of Neurology and Neuroscience and Director of the Center for Neurosciences at The Feinstein Institutes for Medical Research – Widely regarded for his pioneering work on network dysfunction in brain disease, Dr. Eidelberg was first to identify metabolic networks as systems-level disease biomarkers in patients and has described previously unrecognized network pathologies. His approach is currently being used worldwide for the assessment of disease progression and treatment responses, and as an adjunct to clinical diagnosis.
• Jane S. Lebkowski, PhD – President of Regenerative Patch Technologies, LLC. – Known worldwide for the development of cell and gene-based therapies, Dr. Lebkowski has successfully advanced three human pluripotent stem cell products into clinical trials and led the development of the first human embryonic stem cell-based therapeutic cleared for human clinical testing.
• Jeremy Sugarman, MD, MPH, MA – Harvey M. Meyerhoff Professor of Bioethics and Medicine at Johns Hopkins University – An internationally recognized leader in the field of biomedical ethics with a focus on applying evidence-based standards for evaluating and analyzing bioethical issues, Dr. Sugarman has served as a Senior Advisor to the Presidential Commission for the Study of Bioethical Issues and currently serves on the Ethics and Public Policy Committees of the International Society for Stem Cell Research where he has helped develop policies on clinical trials involving stem cells.

The newly established boards will join Aspen’s impressive leadership team: Howard J. Federoff, MD, PhD, Chief Executive Officer; Jeanne Loring, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer; Edward Wirth, MD, PhD, Chief Medical Officer; Jay Sial, Chief Financial Officer; Andres Bratt-Leal, PhD, Vice President of Research and Development; Thorsten Gorba, PhD, Senior Director of Manufacturing; and Naveen M. Krishnan, MD, MPhil, Senior Director of Corporate Development.

About Aspen Neuroscience
Aspen Neuroscience, Inc., is a development stage, private biotechnology company that uses innovative genomic approaches combined with stem cell biology to deliver patient-specific, restorative cell therapies that modify the course of Parkinson disease. Aspen’s therapies are based upon the scientific work of world-renowned stem cell scientist, Dr. Jeanne Loring, who has developed a novel method for autologous neuron replacement. For more information and important updates, please visit http://www.aspenneuroscience.com.

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SOURCE Aspen Neuroscience