Cognito Therapeutics Announces Key Medical and Technology Leadership Appointments as Late-Stage Neurotechnology Platform Advances

CAMBRIDGE, Mass.--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- Cognito Therapeutics, today announced executive leadership team appointments with Ralph Kern, M.D., as Chief Medical Officer and Kim Kwan as Chief Technology Officer who has been promoted from VP of Engineering.

“I am thrilled to welcome Ralph to the Cognito team, and the promotion of Kim to the role of Chief Technology Officer. Their collective expertise and leadership across our medical, technology and engineering divisions will be invaluable as we advance our non-invasive pivotal HOPE study evaluating our proprietary neuromodulation device in Alzheimer’s Disease,” said Brent Vaughan, CEO, Cognito Therapeutics. “With their dedication to improving patient outcomes, our shared commitment to improve patient outcomes will help us advance our proprietary technology platform and transform the treatment of neurodegenerative diseases.”

Ralph Kern, M.D., MHSc, is Chief Medical Officer at Cognito Therapeutics. He was previously President, Chief Medical Officer at BrainStorm Cell Therapeutics and SVP, Head Global Medical at Biogen, VP, Head US Neuroscience Medical Unit at Novartis and General Manager Fabrazyme Biologics franchise at Genzyme. Prior to joining the biotechnology industry, Ralph was head of the academic neurology program at the University of Toronto and led the clinical neurophysiology department at Mount Sinai Hospital in Toronto.

Ralph completed undergraduate education in neurophysiology at McGill University, received his M.D. from Queens University, post-graduate neurology training at McGill University and the University College London, and a research fellowship in pediatric epilepsy and EEG at the Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto. Ralph also received a master’s degree from the Institute of Health Policy, Management, and Evaluation at the University of Toronto.

Kim Kwan is Chief Technology Officer at Cognito Therapeutics. Kim joined Cognito in 2018 and was previously the Vice President of Engineering. Kim is leading device development and manufacturing operations to support Cognito’s clinical studies and product commercialization. His focus at Cognito is to build a system platform that can be scalable to the nearly 5 million patients living with mild-to-moderate Alzheimer’s Disease and to potentially support treatments for a broad range of neurodegenerative disorders.

Prior to Cognito, Kim was Director of R&D and Director of Program Management at Philips. He has also held various technical and senior leadership positions at Thoratec Corporation (acquired by Abbott) in which he helped build several engineering teams from the ground up. As an innovative leader in startup, midsize and Fortune 500 companies, he will apply his three decades of experience in Class III, Class II, PMA, IDE, and 510(k) medical devices to support Cognito’s growth objectives. Kim received a B.S. in Electrical Engineering from Northeastern University.

Cognito’s device is limited by United States law to investigational use only and is not available for sale. For more information on how to join the HOPE clinical study and enrollment, visit https://www.hopestudyforad.com.

About Cognito Therapeutics

Cognito Therapeutics is a clinical-stage neurotechnology company developing disease-modifying therapeutic approaches to treat neurodegenerative disorders. Its non-invasive neuromodulation platform was developed by MIT Professors and scientific founders Li-Huei Tsai and Ed Boyden. The Company’s lead therapy is currently in a pivotal study in Alzheimer’s Disease and was awarded FDA Breakthrough Device Designation. Cognito is based in Cambridge, MA. For more information, visit www.cognitotx.com. Follow us on Twitter at @cognitotx.

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