Scientific Advisory Board

Lorenz Studer, MD

Lorenz Studer, MD, is the founder and director of the Center for Stem Cell Biology at Memorial-Sloan Kettering in New York. He is also a scientific co-founder of BlueRock Therapeutics. Dr. Studer was named a recipient of the MacArthur Fellowship for his work on stem cell-derived treatments for Parkinson’s disease. He received his MD from the University of Bern, Switzerland.

Sally Temple, PhD

Sally Temple, PhD, is the co-founder and scientific director of the Neural Stem Cell Institute and a professor of neuroscience and neuropharmacology at Albany Medical College. Dr. Temple is the principal investigator in her lab focused on studying neural stem cells and using this knowledge to develop therapies for central nervous system (CNS) disorders. She received her PhD from the University College London and competed her postdoctoral fellowship at Columbia University.

Mahendra Rao, MD, PhD

Mahendra Rao, MD, PhD, is a scientific co-founder of Q Therapeutics. Dr. Rao is internationally known for his research involving human embryonic stem cells (hESCs) and other somatic stem cells. He has worked in the stem cell field for more than 20 years with stints in academia, government and regulatory affairs, and industry. Dr. Rao received his MD (MBBS) from Bombay University in India and his PhD in developmental neurobiology from the California Institute of Technology.

Stephen Chang, PhD

Stephen Chang, PhD, has served as an executive or director for several biotechnology companies including Histogen, Stemgent, MultiCell Technologies. Dr. Chang was formerly a senior vice president of strategic initiatives and research for the New York Stem Cell Foundation. He Chang received his PhD in biological chemistry, molecular biology, and biochemistry from the University of California, Irvine.

Clifford Bechtold, MS

Clifford Bechtold, MS, is currently the chief operating officer of Biohaven, Ltd. Mr. Bechtold has more than 27 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, including leading neuromuscular and neurodegenerative programs at Bristol Myers Squibb. He earned his MS degree in medical microbiology from Creighton University School of Medicine and a BS from South Dakota State University.

Paul Tesar, PhD

Paul Tesar, PhD, is currently a professor at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine in the Department of Genetics and Genome Sciences and head of the Tesar lab. Dr. Tesar was a co-founder of Convelo Therapeutics. He received his PhD from the University of Oxford.

Deok-Ho Kim, PhD

Deok-Ho Kim, PhD, is an associate professor at Johns Hopkins University Department of Biomedical Engineering. Dr. Kim's current work focuses on the development of human induced pluripotent stem cells (iPSC) based microphysiological systems for disease modeling, drug screening, and precision medicine. He received his PhD in biomedical engineering from Johns Hopkins University.

David Sassoon, PhD

David Sassoon, PhD, is a research team director at Paris Sorbonne. His long-standing interest has been in developmental and stem cell biology in a number of tissues including skeletal muscle, skin, central nervous system (CNS) and heart. A major focus of Dr. Sassoon's research is on adult progenitor/stem cell biology and how these cells respond to stress. He received his PhD from Columbia University in the biological sciences and performed his postdoctoral studies at the Pasteur Institute in Paris, France, before directing his research group at Boston University Medical School.

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