Panel session 3

Novel Therapeutic Approaches in Neurology: Challenges & Opportunities

Industry Sector: Biotech & Pharma

Breakthroughs in drug development are reshaping the vast and complex field of neurological disease, from Alzheimer’s to neuropsychiatric disorders. This panel convenes leaders from cutting-edge biotech companies to share insights into their innovative approaches, anticipated challenges, and the opportunities shaping the future of neurology. Join us for a dynamic discussion on driving the next wave of transformative therapeutics in this critical field.

michael chen, PH.D. | co-founder & chief scientific officer, seaport therapeutics

Michael Chen, Ph.D., is Co-founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Seaport Therapeutics. In his most recent role, he was Head of Innovation at PureTech Health, where he oversaw the rapid advancement of the neuropsychiatric medicines that led to the launch of Seaport Therapeutics. While spearheading PureTech's overall efforts to generate and develop novel drug concepts, he also led the successful early development of LYT-100 (deupirfenidone) through proof-of-concept clinical studies. Dr. Chen was previously Co-founder and Head of Research and Strategy at Sonde Health, a company developing vocal biomarkers for depression and other neuropsychiatric disorders. He was a postdoctoral fellow at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and Harvard Medical School, Department of Neurology. Dr. Chen completed his Ph.D. at Stanford University, focusing on the neurobiological mechanisms of depression and sleep disorders. He received a Bachelor of Arts from Yale University.

amit rakhit, m.d., mba | Chief development officer & Chief medical officer, bluerock therapeutics

Amit Rakhit leads the Development and Medical teams at BlueRock. He is an experienced pharmaceutical and biotech executive and has led teams in developing medicines across multiple therapeutic areas including oncology, neurology, rare diseases, and cardiovascular conditions. Prior to joining BlueRock, Amit was CEO at Flare Therapeutics where he transitioned the company from research to clinical phase and helped raise a $123M Series B round. He has also served as President and Chief Medical Officer at Ovid Therapeutics and held senior-level roles at Bristol Myers Squibb and Biogen. Amit holds a BA in molecular cell biology from the University of California, Berkeley, MD from Tufts University, and MBA from the joint program between Columbia Business School and London Business School. He completed a Harvard fellowship training in Pediatric Cardiology at Boston Children’s Hospital.

stacie weninger, ph.d. | venture partner, f-prime

Stacie Weninger is the President of FBRI, and a Venture Partner with F-Prime. Prior to this position, she was the Senior Director of Science Programs for the Fidelity Foundations. In 2005, Dr. Weninger served as the Project Manager and Senior Analyst for the Task Force on Women in Science at Harvard University. From 2001-2005, Dr. Weninger was a Senior Scientist at Cell Press for the journal Neuron. Before joining Cell Press, Dr. Weninger was a postdoctoral research fellow at Children's Hospital Boston and Harvard Medical School with Dr. Bruce Yankner. She was a Howard Hughes Medical Institute predoctoral fellow in the Program in Neuroscience at Harvard University. While a graduate student and postdoctoral research fellow, Dr. Weninger was actively involved in undergraduate teaching, winning six teaching awards.

Dr. Weninger received a Ph.D. in neuroscience from Harvard University, and a B.S. degree in chemistry with highest honors from the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill. 

She is a founding member of the Board of Directors for several startups, including Denali and Neumora, and currently serves on the boards of others, such as Atalanta Therapeutics. She is the CEO and Chairman of the Board at Rugen Therapeutics. Additionally, she chairs the Collaboration for Alzheimer’s Prevention, sits on multiple External and Scientific Advisory Boards, and has served as President of Alzforum for over a decade, where she continues as a special advisor.

magdalene moran, ph.d. | chief scientific officer, caraway therapeutics

Dr. Magdalene Moran is the Chief Executive Officer of Topo Therapeutics. She received her PhD in Neurobiology from Harvard University where she was advised by ion channel expert Dr. David Clapham. For more than 20 years, Dr. Moran has led drug discovery efforts on transmembrane protein targets implicated in pain, pulmonary, CNS and renal diseases, advancing 4 programs from inception into the clinic with large pharma partners. Most recently, Dr. Moran was the President and Chief Scientific Officer of Caraway Therapeutics, where she built out operations, drove scientific strategy, and led drug discovery efforts for multiple challenging ion channel targets from the company’s inception through its acquisition by Merck in November 2023.

anusha manglik | ms/mba biotechnology class of 2026

Anusha is a first-year student in the MS/MBA Biotechnology at Harvard Business School, where she is also a member of the regional Nucleate leadership team. Prior to business school, she worked in New Product Planning & Portfolio Management roles at Merck KGaA, based in Boston and Frankfurt. She holds a bachelor’s degree in Biomedical Engineering from Yale University.