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Advisors
Mark F. Bear, PhD Dr. Bear is an internationally recognized expert on how experience modifies synaptic communication between neurons in the brain. Discoveries in his lab led to the key insight that multiple aspects of Fragile X Syndrome could arise from excessive activation of a biochemical pathway downstream of metabotropic glutamate receptor 5. Based upon these insights, Seaside Therapeutics licensed a novel series of compounds targeting this receptor. Dr. Bear continues to closely advise the Company. Prior to joining the Picower Institute, Dr. Bear was the Sidney A. and Dorothea Doctors Fox Professor of Neuroscience at Brown University. He was a founder of Sention and served as Chair of Sention's Scientific Advisory Board from 1999 to 2005. Among numerous honors, Bear received the Society for Neuroscience Young Investigator Award in 1993, has been an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute since 1994, was elected as a Fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences in 2004 and received the William Rosen Research Award from the National Fragile X Foundation in 2006. Dr. Bear received his PhD from Brown University and was a Fellow at the Max-Planck-Institut fur Hirnforschung, Frankfurt.
P. Jeffrey Conn, PhD Dr. Conn's groundbreaking research into the roles of G-protein coupled receptors and second messenger systems in regulating neuronal function has cemented his position as a leader in the area of neurotransmitter receptors and their regulation of brain function in circuits involved in psychiatric and neurological disorders. His current focus is on using these basic science advances to guide efforts aimed at discovery and development of new treatments for neurological and psychiatric disorders. Dr. Conn is the founding Director of Vanderbilt University's Program in Translational Neuropharmacology, an interdisciplinary effort whose goal is to quickly and efficiently translate promising scientific discoveries into novel drug therapies for brain disorders. Dr. Conn previously held the position of Senior Director and Head of the Department of Neuroscience at Merck & Co.'s West Point, PA facility. Dr. Conn has received numerous awards and honors including the NARSAD Essel Investigator Distinguished Investigator Award, the Lee University Distinguished Alumnus Award and the Eli Lilly Graduate Training Award and was named as an ISI Most-Cited Scientists in Pharmacology & Toxicology. Dr. Conn received his PhD in pharmacology in 1986 from Vanderbilt University and pursued postdoctoral studies in the Department of Pharmacology at Yale University.
Kimberly M. Huber, PhD Dr. Kimberly Huber obtained her Ph.D. in neurobiology from the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston where she worked in the laboratory of Dr. Paul Kelly studying biochemical mechanisms of synaptic plasticity. In 1995, Dr. Huber joined the laboratory of Dr. Mark Bear at Brown University as a postdoctoral researcher. Together with Dr. Bear, she discovered metabotropic glutamate receptor and protein synthesis-dependent long-term synaptic depression (LTD) as well as discovered that LTD is abnormal in the mouse model of Fragile X Syndrome neurodevelopmental disorder. Currently, Dr. Huber is an Associate Professor in the Department of Neuroscience at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas, where she has been since 2001. Dr. Huber's research is focused on understanding the cellular and molecular mechanisms of synaptic plasticity and how alterations in synaptic function and plasticity lead to intellectual disabilities and autism.
Robert C. Malenka, MD, PhD Dr. Malenka has been a world leader in elucidating the mechanisms underlying the action of neurotransmitters in the mammalian brain and the molecular mechanisms by which neural circuits are reorganized by experience. His pioneering contributions have laid the groundwork for a more sophisticated understanding of the mechanisms by which neurons communicate and the adaptations in synaptic communication which underlie all forms of normal and pathological behavior. He was trained as both a clinical psychiatrist and cellular neurobiologist and has been at the forefront of helping to apply the knowledge gained from basic neuroscience research to the treatment and prevention of major neuropsychiatric disorders. Dr. Malenka has received numerous awards for his research including the Young Investigator Award from the Society for Neuroscience, the Perl/UNC Neuroscience Prize and several career development awards from the National Institute of Health. He has served on the National Advisory Council on Drug Abuse and is a member of the Institute of Medicine and American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Dr. Malenka received his MD and a PhD in neuroscience from Stanford University and completed his residency in psychiatry at Stanford as well as further postdoctoral training at UCSF.
Dr. Ocain is currently a consultant to companies in the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries, where he has over twenty years of experience. Dr. Ocain has held several leadership positions, including Senior Vice President, Research and Development for Seaside Therapeutics from 2005 to 2009. Prior to Seaside, he served an eight-year tenure at Millennium Pharmaceuticals, most recently leading the Inflammation Disease Group, where he directed all pharmacology, cellular immunology and biochemistry efforts playing a principal role in the delivery of multiple compounds suitable for clinical development. Dr. Ocain has also held senior drug discovery positions with extensive project management responsibilities at Procept, Inc. where he served as Vice President, Chemistry and Structural Biology and at Wyeth-Ayerst Research where he engaged in cardiovascular, CNS, and immunology drug discovery. Dr. Ocain has authored more than 20 peer-reviewed publications in basic research and drug discovery and holds more than 15 patents. Dr. Ocain received his PhD in pharmaceutical chemistry from the University of Wisconsin-Madison and completed his post-doctoral research at the University of Minnesota.
Richard E. Paylor, PhD Dr. Paylor is a leader in developing and implementing behavioral test batteries for the analysis of mutant mice. In particular, he is well recognized for his research directed towards the behavioral characterization of mouse genetic models of neurodevelopmental disorders including Fragile X Syndrome. Dr. Paylor received his PhD in psychology from the University of Colorado. After receiving his degree he pursued postdoctoral training from the Institute of Behavioral Genetics at the University of Colorado.
Stephen T. Warren, PhD Dr. Warren is world-renowned for his research on the genetics of mental retardation and led the international team that identified the FMR1 (Fragile X mental retardation 1) gene, which is responsible for Fragile X Syndrome. Dr. Warren is President of the American Society of Human Genetics and was Editor-in-Chief of The American Journal of Human Genetics from 1999 to 2005. Among his awards are the William Rosen Research Award from the National Fragile X Foundation, a MERIT award from the National Institute of Health and the William Allan Award from the American Society of Human Genetics. In 2003, he was inducted into the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development's Hall of Honor and, in 2004, Dr. Warren was elected to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academies. Dr. Stephen T. Warren received his PhD in human genetics from Michigan State University. |
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