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

Marketing Coordinator

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

Chief Grants Officer

Burhan Siddiqui

Director, Financial Reporting and Accounting

Tammy Sutherns, MPH

Manager, Mission Communications

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

Andy Berndt

Ex-Google, Founder, Google Creative Lab

Eric Dane

Actor

Alisa Doctoroff

Philanthropist

John Dunlop, Ph.D.

Former Chief Scientific Officer, Aliada Therapeutics

Steven Gruber

Investor

Zach Hall, Ph.D.

Former Director, NIH NINDS

Richard Hargreaves, Ph.D.

Corporate Vice President, Bristol-Myers Squibb

Chris Henderson, Ph.D.

Former Chief Scientific Officer, Alltrna

Carole Ho, M.D.

Executive vice president of Eli Lilly and Company and president of Lilly Neuroscience

Allison Jaffin

Chief Operating Officer, Bloomberg Philanthropies

Brad S. Karp

Chairman, Paul, Weiss, Rifkind, Wharton & Garrison LLP

Story Landis, Ph.D.

Former Director, NIH NINDS; Board Liaison, Independent Review Committee

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

Chief Scientific Officer, Pinteon Therapeutics

Eva-maria Albers, Ph.D.

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

Sophia Bardehle, Ph.D.

Senior Principal Scientist, In Vivo Pharmacology, Abbvie

Manzoor Bhat, Ph.D., M.S.

Vice Dean for Research (Interim), Professor and Chair, UT Health Science Center, San Antonio

Martha Bhattacharya, Ph.D.

Associate Professor of Neuroscience and BIO5 Institute, University of Arizona

Dean Brown, Ph.D.

SVP and Head of Discovery Sciences, Jnana Therapeutics

Elizabeth D. Buttermore, Ph.D.

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

Moses Chao, Ph.D.

Professor, Department of Neuroscience and Physiology, New York University

Merit Cudkowicz, M.D., MSC

Director, Sean M. Healey & AMG Center for ALS; Director & Professor of Neurology, Harvard Medical School

Vardhan Dani, Ph.D.

Michela Deleidi, M.D., Ph.D.

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

Nino Devidze, Ph.D.

Vice President, Medical, SSI Strategy

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

Chief Medical Officer, Voyager Therapeutics

Ana Fiszbein, Ph.D.

Assistant Professor of Biology, Boston University

Brad Friedman, Ph.D.

Senior Principal Scientist, Department of OMNI Bioinformatics, Genentech, Inc.

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

Professor of Neurology, UCL and The Francis Crick Institute

Volkan Granit, M.D., MSc

Medical Director, Clinical Development, Biohaven Pharmaceuticals

Orla Hardiman, M.D., FRCPI

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

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

Edward Mallinckrodt Professor & Chair, Department of Pathology and Immunology, Washington University School of Medicine

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.

Chief Scientific Officer, Remix Therapeutics

Sarah Kucenas, Ph.D

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

Jim Kupiec, M.D.

Chief Clinical Development Officer, Cassava Sciences

Pamela Maher, Ph.D.

Research Professor, Cellular Neurobiology Laboratory, Salk Institute

Robert Mays, Ph.D.

Alexander McCampbell, Ph.D.

Global Head of Neuroscience & Rare Diseases Research, Roche

Jere Meredith, Jr., Ph.D.

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

Axel Methner, M.D.

Professor of Neurology, University Medical Center 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

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

Eric Schaeffer, Ph.D.

President, Schaeffer Biopharma Consulting

Kimberly Scearce-Levie, Ph.D.

Chief Scientific Officer, Manifold Bio

Michael Sendtner, M.D.

Professor, Institute of Clinical Neurobiology, University of Wuerzburg

Abdoulaye Sene, Ph.D.

Principal Scientist, Discovery, Merck

Holly Soares, Ph.D.

Global Head Neuroscience and Rare Disease Biomarkers, VP Roche

Ajay Verma, M.D., Ph.D.

Ottavio Vitolo, M.D.

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

Frank Walsh, Ph.D.

Founder and Chief Executive Officer, Ossianix

Nicholas Wood, Ph.Dd, 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 & Co.

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.