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James O. McNamara, M.D.
James O. McNamara, M.D., (chairman) has been a faculty member for over 25 years at Duke University Medical Center where he holds the positions of Carl R. Deane professor and chairman of the department of neurobiology, professor of medicine (neurology), and director of the Center for Translational Neuroscience. Dr. McNamara is a highly regarded leader in the fields of neurology and neurobiology and is one of the scientific founders of NeurOp. His research focuses on the process by which a normal brain becomes epileptic. Dr. McNamara is a past president of the American Epilepsy Society, and he is the recipient of numerous honors and awards. He was elected to the Institute of Medicine in 2005, a component of the National Academy of Sciences, and has received two Javits Neuroscience Investigator Awards from the NIH. He serves on the editorial board of Molecular Pharmacology and Neuron. He is the author of some 300 publications and abstracts and co-edited Neuroscience, the leading textbook in the field. He is also a contributor to Goodman & Gilman's Pharmacological Basis of Therapeutics. Dr. McNamara received his M.D. degree from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor.
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Robert R. Bonczek, J.D.
Robert R. Bonczek is president, CFO, and general counsel at b3bio, Inc., a biotechnology company, and founding partner and president of AspenTree Capital, a boutique investment company. His past experience includes being CFO and general counsel at Trimeris, Inc., where he helped the biotechnology company through an IPO, secondary equity offerings, additional private placements, and a major collaboration agreement with Roche, as well as other collaborations. He has also served as a full-time legal consultant to Wilmer Hale and worked with Donaldson, Lufkin & Jenrette in their merchant banking area. Prior to that, Mr. Bonczek held various executive-level roles, including chief counsel and worldwide director of safety, health and environmental affairs at DuPont/Conoco. Mr. Bonczek serves on a number of boards including b3 bio, AspenTree Capital, ELS Services, and K2 Pure; he is also on the advisory boards of Caxton Advantage Healthcare Fund and Centre Partners. He earned degrees in chemistry and law from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and an MBA from the Wharton School at the University of Pennsylvania.
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Raymond J. Dingledine, Ph.D.
Raymond J. Dingledine, Ph.D., is professor and chair of the department of pharmacology at Emory University School of Medicine and one of NeurOp’s founders. Prior to joining Emory in 1992, Dr. Dingledine was a professor in the department of pharmacology at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. Dr. Dingledine is widely recognized as one of the foremost experts in the field of neuropharmacology. His research primarily focuses on the role of glutamate systems and associated receptors and their role in disease indications involving seizures. In addition to publishing more than 150 research papers during his career, he is the past editor of Molecular Pharmacology and presently serves on four editorial boards. Dr. Dingledine was elected to the Institute of Medicine in 2010 and is the recipient of numerous other scientific honors and awards, including a Javits Neuroscience Investigator Award from the NIH, the Epilepsy Research Award from the American Epilepsy Society, two Bristol-Myers Squibb Neuroscience Awards, and the PhRMA Career Excellence Award. He is past treasurer of the Society for Neuroscience and serves on the scientific council of NINDS. Dr. Dingledine received his Ph.D. degree in pharmacology from Stanford University.
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George (Barney) Koszalka, Ph.D.
George (Barney) Koszalka, Ph.D., joined NeurOp in 2010 as president and CEO to lead the company in a new growth phase to advance its novel and proprietary small molecules. Dr. Koszalka is a senior executive with more than 35 years of leadership experience in global pharmaceutical drug development at Burroughs Wellcome, Glaxo Wellcome, GlaxoSmithKline, Trimeris, Inc., and Argolyn Biosciences. He has extensive knowledge of pharmaceutical R&D, joint ventures, business development, product development and medical marketing. Dr. Koszalka has initiated and advanced numerous preclinical and clinical projects and has contributed in a significant manner to the discovery, development and/or lifecycle management of 12 marketed drugs. He serves as an editor for Current Opinion in Investigational Drugs and chairs the scientific advisory board for the Consortium for Parasitic Drug Development, funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. He received his Ph.D. in biochemistry from North Carolina State University.
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Dennis C. Liotta, Ph.D
Dennis C. Liotta, Ph.D., is the Samuel Candler Dobbs professor of chemistry at Emory University where he has been a faculty member for more than 25 years. He is a renowned organic and medicinal chemist and the author of approximately 200 publications and patents. Dr. Liotta's research during the past 15 years has focused on the discovery and development of novel antiviral and anticancer agents. Dr. Liotta is also a co-founder of Pharmasset, Inc. As vice president for research at Emory, Dr. Liotta oversaw all of Emory's technology development initiatives, a part of which included creation of the biotechnology incubator, EmTech Bio. Dr. Liotta received his Ph.D. degree from the City University of New York.
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Harold H. Shlevin, Ph.D.
Harold H. Shlevin, Ph.D., is a bioscience-industry executive with more than 30 years’ experience in medical devices, pharmaceuticals, diagnostics and vaccines. He currently leads Georgia Tech’s Advanced Technology Development Center (ATDC) as general manager of bioscience commercialization efforts. He has a particularly strong background in product and business development, strategic planning, licensing and academic-industrial relationships. Dr. Shlevin’s industry experience includes CEO of Solvay Pharmaceuticals, Inc. and leadership roles at G.D. Searle and Co., Ciba-Geigy Corporation and Altea Therapeutics; he was also a founder of Ciba Vision Ophthalmics and Tikvah Therapeutics. He earned a bachelor’s degree in biology from Boston University and a master’s and doctorate in physiology from University of Rochester Medical School. He holds a post-doctoral certificate in pharmacology and physiology from the Mayo Graduate School of Medicine where he was an assistant professor. Dr. Shlevin currently serves on the boards of Cardiome Pharma Corporation, Georgia Bio and several non-profit organizations.
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