Target ALS Team

We have built a team that brings together a unique mix of clinical, scientific, business, and philanthropic expertise.

Who are the people behind Target ALS?

At Target ALS, we’re defined by impatient optimism, driven by the urgency of a disease that leaves little time to wait. We believe breakthroughs are possible and we pursue them with purpose and persistence.

Our work embodies deliberate disruption, challenging the status quo through open science, bold partnerships, and global access to shared resources that remove barriers and accelerate discovery.

Above all, we believe in radical collaboration; uniting scientists, clinicians, industry leaders, and advocates in a transparent, inclusive ecosystem that turns collective knowledge into real progress for people living with ALS.

Learn more about our work

Our Mission

Jessica Chapman, MBA, CAP

Chief Development Officer

Courtney Christa

Accounts Payable Specialist

Michael DeChellis-Marks, Ph.D.

Manager, Scientific Programs

Kenneth Devaney

Chief Operations Officer

Laura Dugom, MPH

Associate Director, Clinical Research

Amy Easton, Ph.D.

Vice President, Scientific Programs

Aiden Hipwell, MBA

Manager, Digital Marketing

Ruby Hoglund

Administrative Assistant

Stephanie Ishoo

Director, Marketing and Communications

Ariella Leicht

Manager, Development Operations

Christine Aranyos Prouty

Director, Philanthropy

Manish Raisinghani, M.B.B.S., Ph.D.

Chief Executive Officer

Clint Ramnarine

Manager, Grants and Database

Yuliya Rzad, MPA

Chief Grants Officer

Burhan Siddiqui

Director, Financial Reporting and Accounting

Marina Selenica

Core Project Manager

Daniel Weatherill, Ph.D.

Data Scientist

The Target ALS Board of Directors

The Target ALS Board of Directors sets overall policy and guides the Foundation’s executive leadership team. To ensure we craft truly groundbreaking strategies to foster collaboration and accelerate drug discovery and development, we have recruited a renowned, passionate group of pioneering academic leaders, pharmaceutical and biotech executives, people with ALS and their family members, visionary philanthropists, and seasoned leaders from technology, law, venture capital, and other critical industries.

Dan Doctoroff

Founder & Board Chair, Target ALS

Alisa Doctoroff

Philanthropist

Andy Berndt

Ex-Google, Founder, Google Creative Lab

John Dunlop, Ph.D.

Former Chief Scientific Officer, Aliada Therapeutics

Steven Gruber

Investor

Joe Lewcock, Ph.D.

Chief Scientific Officer, Denali Therapeutics

Richard Hargreaves, Ph.D.

Corporate Vice President, Bristol-Myers Squibb

Chris Henderson, Ph.D.

Former Chief Scientific Officer, Alltrna

Toby Ferguson, M.D., Ph.D.

Senior Vice President; Head Neuroscience Therapeutic Area Alnylam Pharmaceuticals

Allison Jaffin

Chief Operating Officer, Bloomberg Philanthropies

Sarah I. Sheikh, BM BCh, MSc, MRCP

Senior Vice President, Neuroscience Takeda

Stacie Weninger, Ph.D.

President and Venture Partner, F-Prime Biomedical Research Initiative

The Target ALS Independent Review Committee

The Target ALS Independent Review Committee (IRC) evaluates and makes all research funding decisions. The IRC is comprised of experts across scientific disciplines from both industry and academia, reflecting the evolving nature of ALS research. To avoid any possible conflicts of interest, no member of the IRC can apply for or receive Target ALS funding for their own research. The committee is chaired by Robert Miller, Ph.D., George Washington University.

Michael Ahlijanian, Ph.D.

President, Ani Consulting

Eva-Maria Albers, Ph.D.

Professor & Group Leader, Institute for Developmental Biology & Neurobiology, Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz

Sophia Bardehle, Ph.D.

Senior Principal Scientist, In Vivo Pharmacology, Abbvie

Manzoor Bhat, Ph.D.

Vice Dean of Research, Professor and Chair, University of Texas Health Science Center at San Antonio

Martha Bhattacharya, Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Neuroscience and BI05 Institute, University of Arizona

Dean Brown, Ph.D.

SVP and Head of Discovery Sciences, Jnana Therapeutics

Elizabeth Buttermore, Ph.D.

Director of Translational In Vitro Models, Boston Children’s Hospital

Moses Chao, Ph.D.

Professor, Department of Neuroscience and Physiology, NYU Langone Medical Center

Sarah Cohen, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor, UNC Chapel Hill

Merit Cudkowicz, MD, MSC

Director, Sean M. Healey & AMG Center for ALS; Director & Professor of Neurology, The Massachusetts General Hospital

Vardhan Dani, Ph.D.

Michela Deleidi, Ph.D.

Helmholtz Group Leader, DZNE German Center for Neurodegenerative Diseases, University of Tübingen

Nino Devidze, Ph.D.

Senior Vice President, Medical, SSI Strategy

Biljana Djukic, Ph.D.

Head of Biomarkers and Precision Medicine, Neurology and Rare Diseases, Sanofi

Fanny Elahi, M.D., Ph.D.

Asst. Professor of Neurology & Neuroscience; Asst. Professor of Pathology, Molecular and Cell-Based Medicine, Icahn Scho…

Lisa Ellerby, Ph.D.

Professor, The Buck Institute for Research on Aging

Ana Fiszbein

Assistant Professor of Biology, Boston University

Brad Friedman, Ph.D.

Senior Principal Scientist, Department of OMNI Bioinformatics, Genentech

Sonia Gandhi, M.D., Ph.D.

Professor of Neurology, The Francis Crick Institute

Danielle Graham, Ph.D.

Head of Biomarkers and Systems Biology, Biogen

Volkan Granit, M.D., MSc

Medical Director, Clinical Development, BioHaven, LTD.

Angelika Harbauer, Ph.D.

Max Planck Research Group Leader, Max Planck Institute

Orla Hardiman, M.D., FRCPI

Professor of Neurology/Head of Academic, Clinical Medicine, Trinity College Dublin

Soyon Hong, Ph.D.

Group Leader/Associate Professor, UK Dementia Research Institute, UCL

Eric Huang, M.D., Ph.D.

Mallinckrodt Professor and Chair, Department of Pathology and Immunology, UCSF

Aimee Kao, M.D., Ph.D.

John Douglas French Fdn Endowed Professor; Director, Medical Scientist Training Program, Memory & Aging Center, UCSF

Zaven Kaprielian, Ph.D.

Former Chief Scientific Officer, Remix Therapeutics

Sarah Kucenas, Ph.D.

Professor of Biology, Cell Biology and Neuroscience, University of Virginia

James Kupiec, M.D.

President, Kupiec Neuroscience LLC

Pamela Maher, Ph.D

Research Professor, Cellular Neurobiology Laboratory, Salk Institute for Biological Studies

Robert Mays, Ph.D.

Senior Director of Regenerative Medicine, Athersys

Alexander McCampbell, Ph.D.

Global Head of Neuroscience and Rare Diseases Research, F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd (Roche)

Jere Meredith, Ph.D.

Senior Director, Head of Neurology Discovery, Eisai Co, Ltd

Axel Methner, M.D.

Professor of Neurology, Institute for Molecular Medicine Mainz

Robert Miller, Ph.D.

Chair, Target ALS IRC, Vice Dean for Research & Academic Affairs, George Washington University

Kelly Monk, Ph.D.

Co-Director, Vollum Institute

Ralda Nehme, Ph.D.

PI & Director of Stem Cell Program, Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research, Broad Institute of MIT & Harvard, Broad Ins…

Richard Olson, Ph.D.

Director, Small Molecule Drug Discovery, Bristol Myers Squibb

Manuela Polydoro, Ph.D.

VP, Head of Translational Medicine, Muna Therapeutics

Mahendra Rao, M.D., Ph.D.

Chief Executive Officer, Implant Therapeutics

Ian Reynolds, Ph.D.

President, YaghPenn Consulting

Frédéric Saudou, Ph.D.

Professor & Hospital Practitioner, Univ Grenoble Alpes & Grenoble Hospital, Co-Founder & CSO, HuntX Pharma

Tracy Saxton, Ph.D.

Managing Director, Saxton Biopharma Consulting, LLC

Rob Scannevin, Ph.D.

Chief Scientific Officer, Verge Genomics

Kimberly Scearce-Levie, Ph.D.

Chief Scientific Officer, Manifold BioSciences

Eric Schaeffer, Ph.D.

President, Schaeffer Biopharma Consulting

Michael Sendtner, M.D.

Professor, Institute of Clinical Neurobiology, University of Würzburg

Abdoulaye Sene, Ph.D.

Principal Scientist, Discovery, Merck

Holly Soares, Ph.D.

Global Head Neuroscience and Rare Disease Biomarkers, F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd (Roche)

Ajay Verma, Ph.D.

Chief Executive Officer, Twilight Bioscience

Ottavio Vitolo, M.D.

Lecturer on Psychology, Harvard; Co-Founder, President & CEO, Vitam Therapeutics, Inc.; Neuropsychiatrist, MGH The Massa…

Annette Vogl, Ph.D.

Vice President, Biology and Translational Research, Tubulis GmbH

Frank Walsh, Ph.D.

Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Ossianix Inc.

Nicholas Wood, MbChB, Ph.D., FRCP, FMedSci

UCL Professor of Genetics and Neurology, University College London, Institute of Neurology

Choya Yoon, Ph.D.

Associate Principal Scientist, Merck

Stephen Zicha, Ph.D.

Neuroscience Search & Evaluation, Eli Lilly

Conflict of Interest Committee

To avoid Conflicts of Interest (COI), all board and committee members, as well as staff, abide by a comprehensive COI policy and are neither allowed to apply for, nor receive funding from, Target ALS.

Chris Henderson, Ph.D.

Former Chief Scientific Officer, Alltrna

Robert Miller, Ph.D.

Chair, Target ALS IRC Vice Dean for Research & Academic Affairs, George Washington University

Legacy Leadership

We honor the individuals whose leadership and service helped shape Target ALS. Their contributions continue to influence our work to accelerate ALS research and drive progress for the ALS community.

This recognition includes former leaders who served Target ALS with distinction, including those who have completed their service and those whose legacy continues to inspire our mission.