Leadership, collaboration and experience
accelerate success

AC Immune’s leadership team combines a proven track record in entrepreneurial management and world-class scientific thought leadership. The team is committed to excellence and is passionate about delivering breakthrough therapies for neurodegenerative diseases.

Executive Officers

Andrea Pfeifer

Prof. Andrea Pfeifer co-founded AC Immune SA in 2003, successfully leading it to an IPO in 2016, since when she has served as a Director on the Board. Under her leadership, multiple transformative partnerships have been established with leading pharmaceutical companies, yielding a potential value of up to CHF 3.3 billion plus additional royalties.

 

Before founding the Company, she was the Head of Nestlé Research Centre in Lausanne, Switzerland where she played a major role in connecting science and business. Whilst at Nestlé she led the scientific development of a number of highly innovative, critically acclaimed products from laboratory to market, established the microbiome as a major cross-category product development platform and co-founded the Life Science focused Nestlé Venture Capital Fund.

 

Prior to this she was a Visiting Fellow at the Human Carcinogenesis Branch of The National Institute of Health, Bethesda, USA. She currently serves as the Chair of Investment Fund BioMedInvest, Basel and AB2 Bio SA, Lausanne, and is a member of the Supervisory Board of Symrise AG, Holzminden, Germany. She is also a key member of the CEOi initiative on Alzheimer’s Disease and the Davos Alzheimer’s Collaborative (DAC). In 2021, she was awarded the first SEF.WomenAward for CEO of the Year by the Swiss Economic Forum.

 

Prof. Pfeifer holds a Ph.D. in Toxicology (Cancer Research) from the University of Würzburg, Germany and is a registered Toxicologist and Pharmacist. She received her Habilitation from the University of Lausanne, Switzerland and is an Honorary Professor at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL).

+ Biography

Madiha Derouazi

Dr. Madiha Derouazi, an accomplished immunologist, joined AC Immune in January 2024 from Speransa Therapeutics where she had been CEO since inception in 2021, leading development of a novel platform of prophylactic vaccines. Previously, she founded AMAL Therapeutics in 2012, an immuno-oncology company developing a new generation of therapeutic cancer vaccines and served as CEO and CSO of the company until 2022. Dr. Derouazi led AMAL’s acquisition by Boehringer Ingelheim for EUR 425 million in 2019. During her career, she has taken numerous biologicals and advanced therapy medicinal products from research through pre-clinical development and first-in-human clinical trials.

 

She holds a PhD in Cellular Biotechnology from the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (EPFL) in Lausanne, which was followed by postdoctoral work concentrating on tumor immunology and vaccine development.

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Nuno Mendonça

Prior to joining AC Immune, Dr Mendonça was the Senior Vice-President, Chief Medical Officer of Bial (Portugal) where he led early and late-stage development programs across neuroscience and Orphan diseases. He has further managed medical affairs and clinical operations in North America and Europe.

 

Dr Mendonça’s work in industry began with roles specializing in Neuroscience at AbbVie in Germany. With increasingly senior roles he led the Clinical Strategy Team focusing on early and late-stage Alzheimer’s disease programs. He continued this work as Medical Director and Chair of the Clinical Strategy Team in Neuroscience at AbbVie based in the USA where he was responsible for overall tau antibody development in Alzheimer’s and Progressive Supranuclear Palsy. Following this he also led the late-stage clinical development in the EMEA of Zolgensma for spinal muscular atrophy with Novartis Gene Therapies as Senior Medical Director.

 

Dr Mendonça, a certified Neurologist, obtained his MD from the University of Coimbra in Portugal. His medical residency at the University Hospital of Coimbra led to an appointment as Neurology Consultant at the Centro Hospitalar de Lisboa Central in Lisbon (Portugal). He also completed a Clinical Scholars Research Training program at Harvard Medical School (USA).

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Christopher Roberts

Christopher Roberts joined AC Immune in September 2019 as the Associate Vice President of Finance. As a member of AC Immune’s finance leadership team, he led the financial operations, financial planning and analysis (FP&A), treasury, and tax functions, as well as key transformation initiatives around R&D budgeting and automation.

 

Prior to joining AC Immune, Christopher worked as a Senior Manager for Ernst & Young for more than ten years and supported the AC Immune IPO. During that time, he served high-growth life science companies in Switzerland, the San Francisco Bay Area, and the UK, focusing on initial and follow-on offerings, SEC reporting, and SOX 404 implementation projects. Christopher is a Chartered Accountant with the Institute of Chartered Accountants in Scotland (ICAS) and holds a Bachelor of Science in Accounting, Auditing and Finance with first class honours from Lancaster University.

 

Outside of work, Christopher is a Trustee and Treasurer of Msizi Africa, a charity dedicated to sustainably improving the lives of children in Lesotho.

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Howard Donovan

Mr. Donovan joined AC Immune in July 2022 as Chief Human Resources Officer. Prior to joining AC Immune, Mr. Donovan served as Head of People Services with the World Economic Forum, based in Geneva from August 2015 to June 2022. Before that, he has worked in several HR leadership roles, including with SGS SA and Puma Energy. Amongst others, based in the United Kingdom, he held senior global Reward roles with Xerox Ltd, and Safeway Stores Ltd. Mr. Donovan holds a professional Human Resources qualification from Farnborough College of Technology.

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Jean-Fabien Monin

Prior to AC Immune, Mr. Monin served as CFO of bioMérieux Central Europe based in Vienna, Austria, where he was responsible for the development, the consolidation and the optimization of Finance and Administration of the fast growing local market. Prior to this assignment he was responsible for the integration of the subsidiaries of numerous countries in Europe and Brazil, into the standards of Finance, Quality Assurance and Information System of the Group. Jean-Fabien Monin holds a Master’s in Finance and International Business from the University Paris-Dauphine, France.

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Piergiorgio Donati

Mr. Donati joined AC Immune in June 2018 as Director, Global Program Management, having previously worked for AC Immune from 2011-2015 as Head of Manufacturing and Project Management. Between 2015 and 2018, Mr. Donati was Head of CMC Program Development at Glenmark Pharmaceuticals and Biotech CMC Lead at Merck Group. Prior to 2011, he held R&D positions at Abiogen, Merck Group and Serono. Mr. Donati holds a degree in Chemistry from the Technical Institute G.L. Bernini.

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Senior Management

Marie Kosco-Vilbois

Dr. Kosco-Vilbois, a US citizen, has extensive experience in the biopharmaceutical industry and served as Chief Scientific Officer for AC Immune from 2019 to 2023, following her role as Chief Scientific Officer for Novimmune from 2005. Prior to joining Novimmune in 2002, Dr. Kosco-Vilbois was Head of Immunology and Preclinical Pharmacology at the Serono Pharmaceutical Research Institute, a Senior Scientist and then Head of Immunology at the Glaxo Wellcome Research Institute in Geneva and a Scientific Member of the Basel Institute for Immunology. During her career, she has taken numerous Biologicals from Discovery into pre-clinical studies and clinical development, most notably filing market applications of a Biological for an Orphan indication.

 

Dr. Kosco-Vilbois gained her Bachelor’s Degree in Biology from Rutgers University, New Jersey, US, and a Ph.D. in Anatomy and Immunology from the Medical College of Virginia/Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine, US.

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Bojana Portmann

Dr. Portmann joined AC Immune in 2011 as Intellectual Property Manager and has held multiple roles within the IP department with increasing responsibility over the past years, during which her work was mainly focused on creating and strengthening patent portfolio for biologicals, small molecules and liposomal technology. Dr. Portmann holds a Ph.D. degree from the EPFL University in Switzerland, and a LL.M. degree, Master of Intellectual Property Law and Management (MIPLM), from the CEIPI in France. She also received a M.Sc. (Dipl.- Ing.) degree in Polymer and Chemical Engineering from the University of Belgrade in Serbia.

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Julien Rongère

Dr. Rongère joined AC Immune S.A. in July 2017 as Head of European Regulatory Affairs and Quality Assurance. Prior to AC Immune, Dr. Rongère held positions of increasing responsibility at Celgene in Switzerland. Most recently, he served as Director, Regulatory Affairs, leading the development of regulatory strategies for small molecules and CAR-T cell therapies and contributed to the development and approval of Revlimid in Multiple Myeloma and Mantle Cell Lymphoma. Prior to Celgene, he served as a Regulatory Expert at Apoxis, S.A. in Switzerland. During his career, Dr. Rongère gained specific expertise in the development of regulatory strategies for taking products from Phase 1 through to commercialization in the field of hematology/oncology and immunology/inflammation, including fast to market approaches, orphan drugs and pediatric development. Dr. Rongère gained his Masters Degree in Medical Genetics from the University of Aberdeen, UK, and holds a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from the University of Lausanne, Switzerland.

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Julian Gray

Dr. Gray has served as Clinical Advisor to our programs in neurodegenerative diseases since January 2007 and works in this function exclusively for AC Immune. He has previously held the position of Head of CNS Therapeutics at Eisai Ltd in London leading the global development of early and late-stage CNS projects in Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease and other CNS areas. Prior to this he served as Head of Alzheimer Clinical Research at Hoffmann-La Roche in Basel where he conducted large scale clinical trials in the US and Europe. After his studies he was Medical Expert at Sandoz Pharmaceuticals in Basel undertaking clinical studies of different compounds in dementia and Parkinson’s disease. Dr. Gray holds the title of a Specialist in Pharmaceutical Medicine (Switzerland). He received his medical degree (M.B.B.S.) from the University of London, a B.A. and Ph.D. from the University of Oxford and an M.B.A. from the Oxford Brookes University.

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Olivier Sol

Prior to joining AC Immune, Dr. Olivier Sol was Clinical Director of Exonhit (Paris) and therafter Medical & Regulatory Affairs Director for Diaxonhit, where he was responsible for the development and medical validation of in-vitro diagnostic products in cancer, infectious diseases and Alzheimer’s disease. Dr. Sol spent his over 20-year career as a Medical Expert in several therapeutic areas with a strong focus on central nervous system diseases, within pharmaceutical companies as Janssen, UCB-Pharma, GlaxoSmithKline and Sanofi. He contributed to the clinical development of currently marketed drugs in epilepsy (topiramate and levetiracetam) and galantamine in Alzheimer’s. He has also gained significant experience in the field of biological biomarkers. Dr. Sol holds an M.D. from the Paris-Sud University (Paris-Saclay) with a specialization in Medical Biology.

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Alexandre Caratsch

Alexandre Caratsch is a Swiss qualified attorney with 30 years’ experience in private practice, multinational companies and in ventures. He initially worked as an in-house lawyer for E&Y and the SGS Group before specializing in healthcare, holding senior legal positions at Novartis and Medtronic. Before joining AC Immune, he led the Corporate Legal Affairs and Intellectual Property group for Medtronic’s EMEA region. Mr. Caratsch has also co-founded two start-up companies in the field of IT and medical technology, respectively, and has supported other start-up companies with strategic, transactional and general counsel.

 

Mr. Caratsch holds a Master’s in Law from the University of Neuchâtel, Switzerland and is admitted to the Bar of Geneva, Switzerland.

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Mark Danton

Mr. Mark Danton is a globally recognized and experienced executive in Information Systems / Information Technology (IS/IT) with extensive experience in developing, launching and managing business-relevant IS, cybersecurity and digital technology solutions and services.

 

Prior to joining AC Immune, Mr. Danton served as IS/IT Global Manager at Nestlé and held a number of global roles at BT Global Services and in Dimension Data PLC. Mr. Danton holds an Executive M.B.A. from the Business School Lausanne, graduating cum laude and as the Executive M.B.A. Student of the Year.

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AC Immune’s Board of Directors combines deep knowledge in life sciences across entrepreneurship, industry, academia and the investment community and shares our mission to make a difference in the lives of patients.

Board of directors

Douglas E. Williams

Douglas E. Williams, Ph.D., is currently the President of Research and Development at Sana Biotechnology. He was previously CEO of Codiak BioSciences, prior to which he was Biogen’s Executive Vice President, Research and Development, serving in this role from January 2011 to July 2015. He joined Biogen from ZymoGenetics, where he was most recently CEO and member of the Board of Directors. ZymoGenetics was purchased for $985 million by Bristol Myers Squibb during Dr. Williams’ tenure.

 

Previously, he held leadership positions within the biotechnology industry, including Chief Scientific Officer and Executive Vice President of Research and Development at Seattle Genetics, and Senior Vice President and Washington Site Leader at Amgen. Dr. Williams served in a series of scientific and senior leadership positions over a decade at Immunex, including Executive Vice President and Chief Technology Officer and a member of the Board of Directors. During his 30+ year career in the biotechnology industry he has played a role in the development of several novel drugs including Enbrel, Tecfidera, and Spinraza. He has served on the board of numerous biotechnology companies and is currently Chair of the Board of AC Immune.

 

 

 

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Andrea Pfeifer

Prof. Andrea Pfeifer co-founded AC Immune SA in 2003, successfully leading it to an IPO in 2016, since when she has served as a Director on the Board. Under her leadership, multiple transformative partnerships have been established with leading pharmaceutical companies, yielding a potential value of up to CHF 3.3 billion plus additional royalties.

 

Before founding the Company, she was the Head of Nestlé Research Centre in Lausanne, Switzerland where she played a major role in connecting science and business. Whilst at Nestlé she led the scientific development of a number of highly innovative, critically acclaimed products from laboratory to market, established the microbiome as a major cross-category product development platform and co-founded the Life Science focused Nestlé Venture Capital Fund.

 

Prior to this she was a Visiting Fellow at the Human Carcinogenesis Branch of The National Institute of Health, Bethesda, USA. She currently serves as the Chair of Investment Fund BioMedInvest, Basel and AB2 Bio SA, Lausanne, and is a member of the Supervisory Board of Symrise AG, Holzminden, Germany. She is also a key member of the CEOi initiative on Alzheimer’s Disease and the Davos Alzheimer’s Collaborative (DAC). In 2021, she was awarded the first SEF.WomenAward for CEO of the Year by the Swiss Economic Forum.

 

Prof. Pfeifer holds a Ph.D. in Toxicology (Cancer Research) from the University of Würzburg, Germany and is a registered Toxicologist and Pharmacist. She received her Habilitation from the University of Lausanne, Switzerland and is an Honorary Professor at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL).

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Carl June

Prof. June is Richard W. Vague Professor in Immunotherapy, Director of the Center for Cellular Immunotherapies and Director of the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy at the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. Due to his lifelong work on lymphocyte activation, Prof. June is considered a world authority on mechanisms related to immune tolerance and adoptive immunotherapy in the fields of chronic inflammation and cancer. He and his team pioneered the groundbreaking work in immunotherapy in which patients with refractory and relapsed chronic lymphocytic leukemia are treated with genetically engineered versions of their own T cells. This CAR-T therapy approach, which trains the immune system to attack and destroy cancer cells, has opened a new era of innovative treatments and personalized medicine for cancer patients.

 

Prof. June is a graduate of the Naval Academy in Annapolis, USA, and Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, USA, where he received his medical degree. Prof. June also completed graduate training in immunology and malaria with Dr. Paul-Henri Lambert at the World Health Organization, Geneva, Switzerland, and post-doctoral training in transplantation biology with E. Donnell Thomas and John Hansen at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center in Seattle, USA. He has published more than 500 manuscripts and is the recipient of numerous honors and prizes.

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Monica Shaw

Dr. Monica Shaw is a pharmaceutical industry expert who has held senior leadership positions and was involved in advancing more than 15 therapeutic products from first-in-human studies through regulatory approvals and commercialization across multiple geographies. She also played key business development roles in company acquisition and integration and co-development partnerships. Through her work, Dr. Shaw gained extensive specialty experience in the fields of dermatology, immuno-inflammation, HIV, neurology, and oncology.

 

Currently, Dr Shaw is Senior Vice President, Head of Major Markets at Bristol Myers Squibb. Prior to this she was CEO for Oncopeptides a Swedish listed biotech company and before that, Executive Vice President Head Region Europe, Canada, Australia, for Leo Pharma. In addition, she has previously held broad leadership roles at other leading pharmaceutical companies, including as Vice President Commercial Head Asia Pacific region at GSK/ViiV Healthcare, and Medical Director and Chief Scientific Officer UK for Novartis, in addition to previous leadership positions at Norgine, Shire and Merck KGaA.

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Monika Bütler

Prof. Monika Bütler is a leading Swiss economist and former Vice President of the independent Swiss Covid-19 Science Taskforce. She is a member of the Board of Directors and the audit committees of both Schindler Holding AG and Swiss Life Holding AG. Prof. Bütler is also a member of the Board of Directors of Huber & Suhner AG, where she chairs the nomination and remuneration committee. Her international economic expertise is in public policy and managerial economics, including an advisory role to the World Bank and work in the U.S. and Europe. Prof. Bütler is a Vice President of the Foundation Board of the Gebert Rüf Foundation, a science and innovation foundation that supports entrepreneurial projects which are committed to achieving an impact.

 

Prof. Bütler holds a Doctorate in Economics from the University of St. Gallen, a Doctorate Honoris Causa from the University of Lucerne, and a Diploma in Mathematics/Physics from the University of Zurich.

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Roy E. Twyman

Dr. Twyman is a neurologist and currently CEO and founder, Amron Neuroscience, LLC, a private consulting company focused on neuroscience drug development. Prior to this, Dr. Twyman spent almost 20 years at Janssen Research & Development, LLC (a Johnson & Johnson company) and was a member of the Neuroscience Therapeutic Area Leadership team responsible for clinical R&D and strategic planning of CNS neurology and psychiatry pipeline products. From 2012 to March 2018, he was a Senior Vice President in the Neuroscience Therapeutic Area overseeing the Alzheimer’s Disease Area. He currently participates as an independent board member or as a scientific advisory board member for a number of small biotech or pharmaceutical companies.

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Werner Lanthaler

Dr. Werner Lanthaler is the managing director of W.Lan Holding GmbH, an advisory and investment firm. Up to January 2024, he was the CEO of Evotec AG, a drug discovery alliance and development partnership company focused on rapidly progressing innovative product approaches with leading pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies, academics, patient advocacy groups and venture capitalists. Dr. Lanthaler focused the company on collaborating with biotech and pharma companies and academia, supporting biotech innovation. He previously served as Chief Financial Officer at Intercell AG where he played a key role in many of that company’s major milestones. During his tenure, Intercell undertook an IPO and developed from a venture-backed biotechnology company into a global vaccine player. Dr. Lanthaler has also served as Director of the Federation of Austrian Industry, and from 1995 to 1998 was a Senior Management Consultant at McKinsey & Company. Dr. Lanthaler is a Non-Executive Member of the Board of Directors of arGEN-X and is a member of the Supervisory Board of Topas Therapeutics GmbH. He holds a Doctorate in Economics from Vienna University, a Master’s degree in Business Administration from Harvard University, and a degree in Psychology.

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World renowned scientists support and advise the Company to ensure we maintain our thought-leadership.

Scientific Advisory Board

Jean-Marie Lehn

Dr. Lehn is Professor of Molecular Chemistry at the Collège de France in Paris, and the author of more than 700 scientific publications. He is a specialist of “Supra-Molecular-Chemistry”. In 1968 he gained international recognition for the Synthesis of Cryptands, molecules that “capture” ions to create new chemical compounds. Prof. Lehn received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry in 1987.

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Emmanuelle M. Voisin Lestringant

Dr. Voisin started Voisin Consulting active in integrated drug development and strategic planning in both Europe and the USA in 1997. Her background in academic research was acquired in the U.S. at the NIH, in the Neuroscience Branch, and in France with national research units, CNRS and INSERM. Dr. Voisin obtained her Ph.D. in Pharmacology at Institut Gustave Roussy, France. Dr. Voisin is a member of Regulatory Affairs Professionals Society (RAPS).

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Irwin Rosenberg

Dr. Rosenberg is Dean of Tufts’ University Gerald J. and Dorothy R. Friedman School of Nutrition Science and Policy and the Jean Mayer Professor of Nutrition. Dr. Rosenberg’s research focuses on the investigation of folate metabolism, with a special emphasis on nutritional factors involved in maintenance of cognitive function and the brain. He has recently been awarded a Commissioner’s Special Citation by the FDA for his career-long advocacy for accurate nutrition and health information.

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Fred Van Leuven

Dr. van Leuven is Professor at the Catholic University of Leuven, faculty of medicine. He received his Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of Ghent. Prof. van Leuven is well-known for his work on neurodegenerative diseases and transgenic animals, in particular for developing several transgenic mice that are models for the amyloid plaques and neurofibrillary tangles of Alzheimer’s disease. He is co-founder of the KULeuven spin-off reMYND nv, a privately owned biotech company dedicated to the development and exploitation of pre-clinical mouse and yeast models for Alzheimer’s and Parkinson’s disease.

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Alf Lindberg

Dr. Lindberg was a member of the Board of Directors of the Nobel Foundation. He was secretary of the Medical Nobel Assembly at the Karoliska Institute. His career encompasses academic appointments at prestigious institutions like Karoliska Institute and Stanford University School of Medicine. He also held executive positions as Head of R&D, Chief Scientific Officer and Vice President in vaccine companies. He is a board member of several private and public biopharmaceutical companies.

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Michel Monsigny

Dr. Monsigny is Professor of Biochemistry at the University of Orléans, France. He is author or co-author of over 200 papers and of several patents. Prof. Monsigny’s area of research and expertise comprises the biochemistry of glycoconjugates and endogenous lectins including their chemical and cellular aspects. More recently, Prof. Monsigny has focused on gene therapy using synthetic carriers such as glycosylated cationic polypeptides and glycosylated polyethylenimines.

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Claude Nicolau

Dr. Nicolau is a Professor of Medicine at the Tufts University in Boston, U.S.A. Prof. Nicolau’s main area of work is the study of membrane involvement in pharmacological processes at the molecular level. For several years, Dr. Nicolau is working on an Immunotherapy for Alzheimer’s disease and other “conformational” disease. He has published more than 210 scientific papers and has been awarded 30 patents todate. Prof. Nicolau is one of the Founders of Alantos AG, Heidelberg and has been for two years CSO of that company.

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Detlev Riesner

Prof. Riesner has held the Chair of Biophysics at the Heinrich-Heine-University in Düsseldorf, Germany since 1980 and is Director of Technology at the University of Düsseldorf. He received his Ph.D. from the University of Braunschweig, Germany. Prof. Riesner is also a member of the Supervisory Board and a Director of Qiagen N.V., Netherlands.

 

Prof. Riesner is an honorary member of the Scientific Advisory Board.

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Clinical expertise and patient centricity promote safety and appropriate study design. Recognized leaders in neurodegenerative diseases support the Company in strategic clinical development and provide regulatory advice.

Clinical Advisory Board

Andreas U. Monsch

Prof. Andreas U. Monsch studied clinical psychology, psychopathology, and neurophysiology at the University of Zurich (Switzerland) and received his doctorate in 1991. From 1991–1994, he worked at the University of California, San Diego (US), one of the best Alzheimer’ disease research centers in the world at the time. From 1994–2002, he was head of research at the Memory Clinic of the Geriatric University Hospital in Basel (Switzerland). In 2001 he received his habilitation and was promoted to Professor of Psychology at the University of Basel in 2003. Since 2002, he has been in charge of one of the largest memory clinics in Switzerland, which has relocated to the Felix Platter Hospital in 2016, Basel, and which is now called University Department of Geriatric Medicine Felix Platter. Prof. Monsch’s research and teaching focuses on “Early diagnosis of dementia” and “Rare causes of dementia”. He has published over 170 papers and book chapters.

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Pierre N. Tariot

Prof. Tariot is Board Certified in Internal Medicine and Psychiatry with added qualifications in geriatrics. He was a Fellow at the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH, US) Intramural Research Program, then served as a faculty member at the University of Rochester Medical Center and, since 2006, he has served as Director of the Banner Alzheimer’s Institute in Phoenix. He is also a Research Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Arizona College of Medicine. His work has focused on the care and study of people with, and at risk, of Alzheimer’s, with special emphasis on the design and implementation of clinical trials for prevention and treatment, development of biomarkers, and demonstration of effective dementia care. He has published over 350 papers on these topics including articles regarding studies that have led to FDA approval of new medications. He serves as co-director of the Alzheimer’s Prevention Initiative (API). His research affiliations include the National Institute on Aging (NIA), the NIMH, and the Alzheimer’s Association.

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Murat Emre

Prof. Murat Emre was born in 1956, in Eregli, Turkey. After studying medicine at the Istanbul Faculty of Medicine, which he graduated from in 1980, he was trained in neuroscience and clinical neurology at the University of Zürich 1981–1985. He then worked in the fields of neurorehabilitation and clinical research in Switzerland until 1996. During this time, he had two sabbaticals: he was trained in movement disorders with Prof. David Marsden at the Queen Square National Hospital for Nervous Diseases, London (UK) and in behavioral neurology with Prof. Marsel Mesulam at the Beth Israel Hospital and Harvard Medical School (US). In 1996 he was assigned as Professor of Neurology at the İstanbul Faculty of Medicine (Turkey) where he started the Behavioral Neurology and Movement Disorders Unit, which he chaired until 2011. He acted as Chairman of the Neurology Department in 2002–2003. In 2011 he retired from his position as full professor and was assigned as Adjunct Professor for Research. He was founding President of the Brain Research Society, the Alzheimer Society of Turkey and the Alzheimer Foundation and a past president of the Parkinson Society of Turkey. His areas of interest include movement disorders, in particular Parkinson’s disease and related disorders, especially cognitive aspects of the disease, as well as Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias.

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Juan Fortea

Dr. Fortea is a behavioral neurologist and a dementia expert. He combines his research and clinical activities at the Hospital of Sant Pau in Barcelona (Spain) and the Catalan Foundation for Down Syndrome, where he is the director of the Alzheimer Down Unit. He leads the Down Alzheimer Barcelona Neuroimaging Initiative (DABNI), the largest single center cohort with multimodal biomarker studies to study Alzheimer´s disease pathophysiology in Down syndrome. He has extensive experience in clinical practice and in medical research, with a focus on the early diagnosis of neurodegenerative diseases, Alzheimer’s disease and Down syndrome-related Alzheimer’s disease. His expertise is recognized internationally, as an active participant of the NIA-N Study section, National Institutes of Health (US), the International Scientific Committee of the Jerome Lejeune Foundation (France) as well as at the Clinical Research Committee from the Trisomy 21 Research Society and the Down Syndrome Professional Interest Area, Alzheimer’s Association (US). He is also the current Chair of the Behavioral Neurology and Dementia Study Group at the Spanish Neurological Society.

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Reisa Sperling

Dr. Reisa Sperling is a neurologist focused on the detection and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease at the pre-symptomatic or “preclinical” stage. Dr. Sperling is a Professor in Neurology at Harvard Medical School (US), and Director of the Center for Alzheimer Research and Treatment at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Massachusetts General Hospital. Dr. Sperling is the co-Principal Investigator of the Harvard Aging Brain Study, and the NIH funded Alzheimer Clinical Trial Consortium (ACTC). Dr. Sperling chaired the 2011 NIA-Alzheimer’s Association workgroup to develop guidelines for the study of “Preclinical Alzheimer’s disease”. She co-leads the Anti-Amyloid Treatment in Asymptomatic Alzheimer’s disease (A4) Study and is launching two new AD prevention trials (A3-45) with the ACTC in 2020. Dr. Sperling received the 2011 Derek Denny-Brown Award, the 2015 American Academy of Neurology Potamkin Prize, and was named one of the 2017 Most Disruptive Women to Watch in Healthcare.

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Lon S. Schneider

Dr. Schneider is Professor of Psychiatry, Neurology, and Gerontology at the Keck School of Medicine and Leonard Davis School of Gerontology of the University of Southern California (US). He directs the USC State of California Alzheimer’s Disease Center, the clinical core of the USC National Institute on Aging Alzheimer’s Disease Research Center, and the Geriatric Studies Center. He holds a Master’s degree in Biometry and Epidemiology and has expertise in clinical trials methods and drug development. His work involves treatment development with novel metabolic and neuroregenerative compounds, outcomes assessment, and approaches to modelling, clinical trials simulations, and, recently, in silico screening of medications for slowing Alzheimer’s disease. He is a Fellow of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology, and Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association.

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AC Immune | Pioneering Precision Medicine for neurodegenerative diseases

Pioneering Precision Medicine

AC Immune develops the tools to enable detection and clearance of pathological proteins underlying neurodegenerative diseases. Identifying and targeting these misfolded proteins and related pathways in each patient will be key to achieving best possible efficacy.