The Myelin Repair Foundation (MRF) Board of Directors brings together a group established business leaders dedicated to the MRF mission. The board provides management oversight for the MRF staff and is the final authority with regard to the annual budget. The Board is also responsible for assisting the staff in fundraising activities.

The Scientific Advisory Board (SAB) evaluates the research plans and investigations proposed by the Principal Investigators (PIs). SAB members were carefully chosen from related fields. Each is well regarded in his respective area of expertise. The Drug Discovery Advisory Group was formed in January 2008 to assist MRF management and Principal Investigators in prioritizing MRF's drug targets and developing indsutraty standard data packages for presentation to commercial partners for further drug development and clinical trials.

Board of Directors

Andrew Cates, Managing Member, Value Acquisition Fund

Value Acquisition Fund is a Delaware Limited Liability Company based in Memphis, TN. Value Acquisition Fund acquires and manages assets or businesses that are in need of capital, repositioning and/or redevelopment. It is focused primarily on commercial real estate assets in the Southern and Southwestern United States. Prior to creating Value Acquisition Fund, Cates was a founding partner of Viceroy Investments based in Dallas, TX. Cates continues to be affiliated with Viceroy and is a partner in three existing Viceroy partnerships. In 1999, Cates relocated to his hometown of Memphis to develop the Soulsville Revitalization Project. This $20 million non-profit project, which includes The Stax Museum of American Soul Music and The Stax Music Academy, serves as an anchor for what is now one of the largest inner-city revitalization projects in the United States. A native Memphian, Cates earned a Bachelor of Business Administration (Finance) degree at the University of Texas. He and his wife Allison have two children. Cates serves on the boards of Soulsville, Grizzlies Academy and Calvary Street Ministries, and is President of Hope & Healing Housing.

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James Gidwitz, Chairman of the Board and Chief Executive Officer, Continental Materials Corporation

Jim Gidwitz has held various positions at Continental Materials Corporation since 1978. Prior to his experience in business, Gidwitz served in the U.S. Air Force where his final rank was Sergeant. Co-founder and Director of the Jamestown Foundation, Gidwitz continues to be an active board member. Additionally, Gidwitz is a member of the Board of Trustees of the Hotchkiss School and a member of the Board of Overseers of the Hoover Institution. Gidwitz attended the Hotchkiss School and received a B.A. in Political Science from Stanford University.

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Scott Johnson, President and Founder, Myelin Repair Foundation

See bio under MRF Management

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Casey McGlynn, Partner, Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati

Casey McGlynn is an attorney who specializes in the fields of corporate law, securities, and mergers and acquisitions. McGlynn has spent his career assisting entrepreneurs in organizing, building and financing their businesses. He received a B.S. in Economics in 1975 and a J.D. in 1978 from Santa Clara University. He was admitted to the Bar in California in 1978. McGlynn joined the law firm of Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati upon his graduation from law school when the firm had only 14 attorneys. Today the firm has more than 550 attorneys. McGlynn is a member of the Executive Committee and has served on the Compensation and Nomination Committees of the firm. He is a frequent lecturer and writer, focusing on financing issues facing young companies. He is also a founding member of the American Heart Association Roundtable and the American Diabetes Association Leaders Forum, and assists these organizations in their fund-raising activities.

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Siddharth N. "Bobby" Mehta, Chief Executive Officer, TranUnion

Bobby Mehta is the CEO of TransUnion, a global leader in credit and information management. Prior to joining TransUnion, Mehta served as a Chairman and CEO of HSBC Finance Corporation. He has also held positions as Senior Vice President at The Boston Consulting Group (BCG) and Vice President of Citicorp’s information business division. Mehta received a B.A. in Economics from the London School of Economics, and an M.B.A. from the University of Chicago.

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Sharon Wienbar, Managing Director, Scale Venture Partners

Sharon Wienbar invests in mobile, internet and enterprise software companies at Scale Venture Partners, which she joined in 2001. She sits on the boards of Bellamax, Biz360, Facetime Communications, Glue Mobile, Merchant Circle and Reply.com. Sharon holds a B.A. and M.A. in Engineering from Harvard University, and an M.B.A. from the Stanford Graduate School of Business.

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Scientific Advisory Board (SAB)

Joe Davie, M.D., Ph.D.

Dr. Joe Davie was employed by Biogen, Inc., a leading biopharmaceutical company in the treatment of multiple sclerosis, from 1993 to 2000, most recently serving as senior vice president of research. From 1987 to 1993, Dr. Davie held several positions at G.D. Searle & Co., including president of research and development and senior vice president of science and technology. Prior to joining G.D. Searle & Co., Dr. Davie was Chairman of the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at Washington University School of Medicine from 1975 to 1987.

He currently serves as a director of Curis, Inc., Inflazyme Pharmaceuticals, Ltd., Targeted Genetics and several private companies. Dr. Davie received his A.B., M.A. and Ph.D. in Bacteriology from Indiana University and his M.D. from Washington University School of Medicine.

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Stephen Freedman, Ph.D.

Dr. Stephen Freedman has more than 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry including senior positions at Merck and Co. where he was a senior member of their CNS research group, and Sr. Vice President, Head of Global Research for Elan Pharmaceuticals. He has interests in a number of therpaeutic areas including neurology, psychiatry, pain, inflammation and a number of associated autoimmune diseases including MS, asthma, RA and IBD. During his association with Merck and Elan, Dr. Freedman worked on more than a dozen small molecules and biologics entering clinical development. He is an author on nearly 100 research publications and is an inventor on a number of patents in these therapeutic areas.

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John W. Griffin, M.D.

Dr. John Griffin is Director of the Johns Hopkins Brain Science Institute (BSI), University Distinguished Service Professor of the Department of Neurology, and Professor of the Departments of Neuroscience and Pathology in the School of Medicine.

His research career has been devoted to the neurobiology and neuropathology of the peripheral nervous system, and to studies of peripheral neuropathies. Dr. Griffin was brought up in Nebraska and attended Grinnell College, Grinnell, Iowa, and Stanford University School of Medicine. He was a medical intern and resident at Stanford, and did his neurology residency at Johns Hopkins, before going to the NIH as a clinical associate. He has been on the faculty at Johns Hopkins since 1976, and has been a professor of neurology and neuroscience since 1986.

In 1998, he was named Director of the Department of Neurology and Neurologist-in-Chief at Johns Hopkins. His honors include the Jacob Javits Award from the NIH, and multiple teaching awards, including the Professor's Award of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He has given many named lectures, including the Robert Wartenberg Lecture of the American Academy of Neurology and the Soriano Lecture of the American Neurological Association. He is a member of the National Advisory Council to the National Institute of Neurologic Disease and Stroke. He is Chair of the Burroughs Welcome Fund Program in Translational Research, Past President of the Peripheral Nerve Society and the Society for Experimental Neuropathology, and President of the American Neurological Association.

For more information on Dr. John W. Griffin click here.

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Stephen L. Hauser, M.D.

Dr. Stephen Hauser is the Robert A. Fishman Professor and Chair of the Department of Neurology at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF).

Dr. Hauser is a graduate of Massachusetts Institute of Technology and the Harvard Medical School. He trained in internal medicine at the New York Hospital - Cornell Medical Center, in neurology at the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), and in immunology at Harvard Medical School and the Institut Pasteur in Paris, France. He was a faculty member at the MGH before moving to UCSF in 1992. A neuroimmunologist, Dr. Hauser's research has focused on the biology of multiple sclerosis (MS). His laboratory described a disease model in which synergistic actions of T-cells and autoantibodies mediate an MS-like disease. He also leads a consortium to identify the genes that confer susceptibility to MS. Dr. Hauser is a fellow of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Association of Physicians, is a member of the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences, and serves as an editor of the medical textbook Harrison's Principles of Internal Medicine.

For more information on Dr. Stephen L. Hauser click here.

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Henry F. McFarland M.D.

Dr. Henry F. McFarland M.D. is Chief of the Neuroimmunology Branch of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.

Dr. McFarland received his B.A. degree from the University of Arizona and his M.D. in 1966 from the University of Colorado. Following a residency in neurology at Thomas Jefferson University, Dr. McFarland did postdoctoral research in neurovirology at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and in immunology at University College London, before returning to Hopkins as a neurologist.  In 1994, Dr. McFarland became Chief of the Neuroimmunology Branch where he remains at present.

In 1975, Dr. McFarland came to NIH as deputy chief of the Neuroimmunology Branch of NINDS, where he has served as chief since 1993. In 1998 he was awarded the Dystal Prize for outstanding research in multiple sclerosis (MS). Dr. McFarland's laboratory studies the cellular immune response to autoantigens of the CNS and examines therapeutic strategies targeting this response. Additional research includes studies of the natural history of MS using MRI and identifying effective designs for clinical trials of new therapies for MS.

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William C. Mobley, M.D., Ph.D.

Dr. William Mobley is the John E. Cahill Family Professor, and Director, Neuroscience Institute at Stanford.

After completing undergraduate training in Chemistry and Zoology at the University of Nebraska at Lincoln, William C. Mobley received the M.D. and a PhD. in Neuroscience from Stanford University.  Dr. Mobley trained in Pathology and Pediatrics at the Stanford University Hospital and completed a residency and fellowship in Neurology at Johns Hopkins University Hospital, where he also was Chief Resident in Pediatric Neurology.  In 1985, he joined the faculty of the University of California, San Francisco School of Medicine where he rose to the rank of Professor of Neurology, Pediatrics and the Neuroscience Program and served as the Director of Child Neurology.  In 1991, he was named Derek Denny Brown Scholar of the American Neurological Association.  From 1997 – 2005, he served as the Chair of the Department of Neurology and Neurological Sciences at Stanford University, and he holds the John E. Cahill Family Endowed Chair.  He is also a member of the Department of Pediatrics and Neurosurgery.  He is Director of the Center for Down Syndrome Research and Treatment at Stanford and was appointed Founding Director of the Neuroscience Institute at Stanford in 2004.  His laboratory studies the signaling biology of neurotrophic factors in the normal nervous system and animal models of neurological disorders, including Alzheimer’s disease and Down syndrome.  He is the recipient of both the Zenith Award and the Temple Award from the Alzheimer’s Association and received the Christian Pueschel Memorial Research Award from the National Down Syndrome Congress.  He was chosen to receive the Cotzias Award of the American Academy of Neurology for 2004.  Dr. Mobley is Past President of the Association of University Professors of Neurology and of The Professors of Child Neurology.  He is a Fellow of the Royal College of Physicians and was elected to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences in 2004.  In 2006 was named a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science. 

For more information on Dr. William C. Mobley click here.

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Martin Raff, M.D.

Dr. Martin Raff is a Professor Emeritus of Biology at the University College London.

Dr. Raff was born and educated in Montreal. He received his B.S. and M.D. degrees at McGill University and did a residency in medicine at the Royal Victoria Hospital in Montreal and in neurology at the Massachusetts General Hospital in Boston. He did postdoctoral training in immunology at the National Institute for Medical Research in London, after which he moved to University College London, where he has been a Professor of Biology since 1979. He is currently at the Medical Research Council Laboratory for Molecular Cell Biology and Cell Biology Unit and in the Biology Department at University College London. His research has been in immunology, cell biology and developmental neurobiology. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society and the Academia Europaea, a foreign member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the National Academy of Sciences, was president of the British Society of Cell Biology from 1991 to 1995, and chairman of the UK Life Sciences Committee from 1998-2001.

For more information on Dr. Martin Raff click here.

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Louis Reichardt, Ph.D.

Dr. Louis Reichardt is Professor of Physiology and of Biochemistry and Biophysics, and Director of the Herbert W. Boyer Program in Biological Sciences and the Neuroscience Graduate Program at the University of California, San Francisco.

Dr. Reichardt received his Ph.D. in biochemistry at Stanford University for work on control of gene expression by the phage l. He entered the field of neurobiology as a postdoctoral fellow at Harvard University where he studied factors that regulate the transmitter phenotype of neurons. Dr. Reichardt's honors include a McKnight Scholars Award, a Sloan Award, and a Guggenheim fellowship. He is a fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

For more information on Dr. Louis Reichardt click here.

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Gary Westbrook, M.D.

Dr. Westbrook is a Senior Scientist and Co-Director of the Vollum Institute at Oregon Health & Science University.

Dr. Westbrook also holds concurrent appointments as Professor of Neurology in the School of Medicine at Oregon Health & Sciences University. Dr. Westbrook received an M.D. from Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland in 1976 after undergraduate work in biology and graduate study in biomedical engineering. He was an intern and resident at Mt. Auburn Hospital in Boston and at the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis. After clinical training in Internal Medicine and Neurology, he spent six years at the National Institutes of Health before moving to the Vollum Institute in 1987. Dr. Westbrook has been the recipient of Javits  and MERIT awards from NIH for his research. He is a former Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Neuroscience and is a member of the Advisory Council of the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke.

For more information on Dr. Gary Westbrook click here.

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Drug Discovery Advisory Group (DDAG)

Stephen Freedman, Ph.D. - Consultant

Dr. Stephen Freedman has more than 20 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry including senior positions at Merck and Co. where he was a senior member of their CNS research group, and Sr. Vice President, Head of Global Research for Elan Pharmaceuticals. He has interests in a number of therapeutic areas including neurology, psychiatry, pain, inflammation and a number of associated autoimmune diseases including MS, asthma, RA and IBD. During his association with Merck and Elan, Dr. Freedman worked on more than a dozen small molecules and biologics entering clinical development. He is an author on nearly 100 research publications and is an inventor on a number of patents in these therapeutic areas.

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Mike Gresser, Ph.D. – Consultant

Mike Gresser received his Ph.D in Biochemistry in 1976 from Brandeis University, where his thesis research was done under the supervision of W.P. Jencks on the mechanism of ester aminolysis. He did postdoctoral studies at the Molecular Biology Institute at UCLA were on the mitochondrial and chloroplast proton translocating ATP synthases, under the supervision of Paul D. Boyer.

In 1980 Dr. Gresser joined the Department of Chemistry at Simon Fraser University in Burnaby, British Columbia, and progressed through the ranks of Assistant Professor, Associate Professor, and Professor of Chemistry. While there Dr. Gresser received the Excellence in Teaching Award, and did research on the biochemistry of Vanadium V, and on the mitochondrial ATPase.

In 1988 Dr. Gresser joined the Merck Frosst Center for Therapeutic Research in Kirkland, Quebec as Director of Biochemistry. Over the next twelve years he progressed through the ranks of Senior Director, then Executive Director of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology. His team worked on a variety of small molecule drug discovery programs, resulting in the introduction of numerous molecules into clinical trials. Two of these molecules, Singulair and Vioxx, became products.

In 2000, Dr. Gresser joined Amgen Inc. in Thousand Oaks, California, as Vice President Research for Inflammation, where he remained until April, 2006. For two years Dr. Gresser served as Head of Neuroscience Research as well as Inflammation Research. His team at Amgen worked on many molecular targets, introducing numerous small molecules, human antibodies, and other proteins into development.

Currently Dr. Gresser is a Visiting Scholar at the Molecular Biology Institute at UCLA, and works as a consultant with Clarity Therapeutics Consulting. He often consults jointly with Dr. David R. Fitzpatrick of Biotech Clarity Consulting.

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Christopher Lipinski, Ph.D. – Consultant

Dr. Christopher Lipinski was Adjunct Senior Research Fellow at the Pfizer Global R&D Groton CT Laboratories until his retirement in June 2002 and is now a Scientific Advisor to Melior Discovery, a drug repurposing startup. He is a member of the American Chemical Society (ACS), AAPS, Society of Biomolecular Sciences (SBS) and EUFEPS. A consultant on drug-like properties, he serves on numerous scientific advisory and journal editorial boards.

Dr. Lipinski is the author of the “rule of five” a widely-used filter to select for acceptable drug oral absorption. In 2006 he received an honorary law degree from the University of Dundee and is also the 2006 Society for Biomolecular Sciences Achievement Award winner. In 2005 he was the American Chemical Society winner of the E. B. Hershberg Award for Important Discoveries in Medicinally Active Substances and in 2004 the winner of the Division of Medicinal Chemistry Award of the ACS Division of Medicinal Chemistry. He is an adjunct faculty member at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst and has published and presented more than 225 journal articles and invited presentations and issued 17 US patents.

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Bruce McCarthy, M.D., M.B.A. – Eleio, Inc.

Bruce McCarthy, M.D., M.B.A., is Founder and President of Eleio, Inc., an early stage start-up company with a mission to discover and develop breakthrough treatments for Alzheimer’s disease and other neurological and psychiatric disorders.  Dr. McCarthy previously held various leadership roles in neuroscience drug development at Pfizer, most recently as Vice President of Neuroscience Development.  Prior to joining Pfizer, he served as Neuroscience Venture Head at Abbott Laboratories and led development teams for new drugs in pain and psychiatry indications and also for Depakote.  Dr. McCarthy obtained his M.B.A. from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University, completed his neurology residency at the University of California San Francisco and obtained his M.D. from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

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Michael A. Pleiss, Ph.D. – Consultant

Michael A. Pleiss, Ph.D. is a medicinal chemist with more than 25 years of industrial experience in pharmaceutical research and a proven track record of novel small molecule drugs in several therapeutic areas. Compounds that he has advanced into clinical trials or that are in predevelopment represent novel therapeutics for asthma, rheumatoid arthritis, multiple sclerosis, neuropathic pain and Alzheimer's disease. Dr. Pleiss is currently a private consultant with expertise in all aspects of drug design and development through Phase 1, including medicinal chemistry and outsourcing, computational chemistry, patent construction and breaking, DMPK, and CMC.  Dr. Pleiss was most recently Vice President of Chemistry and Drug Metabolism & Pharmacokinetics (DMPK) at Elan Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Pleiss has also held positions at Genentech and Syntex prior to joining Athena Neurosciences / Elan Pharmaceuticals.

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Mark Scheideler, Ph.D. - NIH/NINDS

Dr. Mark Scheideler is a Senior Scientific Officer for NIH Roadmap Initiatives, and Program Director at the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke (Bethesda, MD, USA).  Dr. Scheideler works with the Roadmap Molecular Libraries Initiative (http://mli.nih.gov/), where he has responsibility for the development and scientific direction of Assay Development Programs, and is also NIH Coordinator for the Public-Private Partnerships Steering Committee of the Clinical-Translational (CTSA) Consortium (http://www.ctsaweb.org/).  He came to the NIH in mid-2005 with twelve years of international Drug Discovery experience, including roles as VP-Discovery Research at MDS Proteomics, Head of Neurobiology Research at SmithKline Beecham (then GSK), and as Principal Scientist and Program Head at Novo Nordisk.  Dr. Scheideler has held academic posts as Research Assistant Professor of Neurological Surgery at Albert Einstein College of Medicine and Postdoctoral Fellow in Biochemistry at Duke University Medical Center.  Dr. Scheideler earned a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of Chicago, and a B.A. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from Northwestern University.

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