Harini Sarva

Weill Cornell Medical College, New York, USA

Dr. Harini Sarva is an Associate Professor of Clinical Neurology at Weill Cornell Medicine College.  She graduated from the CUNY Brooklyn College - SUNY Downstate combined medical program. She completed her residency at SUNY Downstate and was chief resident in her final year.  She completed two years of movement disorders fellowship training at Mt. Sinai Beth Israel.  After practicing neurology at Maimonides Medical Center in Brooklyn she moved on to join the Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorders Center at Weill Cornell in 2016 and was named its Director in July 2021.  Dr. Sarva is the lead clinical trialist for movement disorders at WCM.

Malú Gámez Tansey

University of Florida, Florida, USA

Doctor Tansey is a neuroscientist with extensive training in physiology, pharmacology, and cell signalling; and an established investigator in the area of neuroinflammation and neurodegeneration with over 100 publications in high-profile journals such as Science, Nature, PNAS, J Cell Biology, J Neuroscience, Glia, Molecular Therapy, Neurobiology of Disease, Movement Disorders, Molecular Neurodegeneration, and Brain Behavior and Immunity, with an h-index of 62 and an i-10 index of 112.

Doctor Tansey’s lab employs in vivo and in vitro models to define gene x environment interactions that protect or predispose individuals towards development of neurodegenerative diseases like Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, and other ADRDs like Frontotemporal Dementia (FTD). Because the immune system is the arbiter of this GxE interplay, Dr Tansey’s lab investigate cellular and molecular mechanisms that regulate innate and adaptive immune responses and their impact on neuro-immune signalling.

Dr Tansey’s lab have also embarked upon studies to investigate the role of chronic systemic inflammatory disease on brain health and cognition, including the role of stress, gut inflammation (dysbiosis, infections, and colitis) on central nervous system pathologies. The long-term goal of her lab research is to identify novel neuroprotective immunomodulatory therapies to delay, halt or prevent neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric disorders.

In addition to her current role as Co-Director of the Center for Translational Research in Neurodegenerative Disease at the University of Florida College of Medicine, Dr Tansey has held several other leadership and directorship positions including serving as Director of the Emory Center for Neurodysfunction and Inflammation (CNI). Dr Tansey was on the team at Xencor that invented XPro1595 and her academic team lead the way in validating soluble TNF as a potential therapeutic target in pre-clinical models of multiple neurological disorders; but its efficacy in mitigating chronic peripheral and central inflammation has now been demonstrated in dozens of laboratories and is in clinical trials in MCI/AD. 

Harris Eyere

Euro-Mediterranean Economist Association, Texas, USA

Harris Eyre MD PhD is a global physician-executive focused on optimizing brain health at scale. He does this by leveraging diverse skills, experience and networks spanning clinical care, neuroscience, health technology, policy, economics, and diplomacy. He is Fellow in Brain Health at The Baker Institute for Public Policy at Rice University, Senior Fellow for Brain Capital at the Meadows Mental Health Policy Institute, Lead of the Brain Capital Alliance, Co-Lead of the OECD Neuroscience-inspired Policy Initiative and Advisor to the Euro-Mediterranean Economist Association.

He holds adjunct professorship roles with universities in the USA and Australia. He has published over 150 scientific and policy papers in journals including Lancet Neurology, World Psychiatry and Lancet Healthy Longevity. Dr Eyre is an alumnus of the Fulbright Scholar and Forbes 30 Under 30 programs. He is lead editor of the book Convergence Mental Health (Oxford Press). He was recently awarded the EB-1A Green Card, an honor typically reserved for Nobel and Pulitzer Prize winners. 

Jeffrey L. Cummings

University of Nevada Las Vegas, Nevada Las Vegas, USA

Jeffrey Cummings, MD, ScD, is the Joy Chambers-Grundy Professor of Brain Science, Director of the Chambers-Gundy Center for Transformative Neuroscience, Co-Director of the Pam Quirk Brain Health and Biomarker Laboratory, Department of Brain Health, School of Integrated Health Sciences, University of Nevada Las Vegas (UNLV).  Dr. Cummings is globally recognized for his contributions to Alzheimer’s research, drug development, and clinical trials.  He has been recognized for his research and leadership contributions in the field of Alzheimer’s disease through the Henderson Award of the American Geriatrics Society (2006), the Ronald and Nancy Reagan Research Award of the national Alzheimer’s Association (2008), Lifetime Achievement Award of the Society for Behavioral and Cognitive Neurology (2017), Distinguished Scientist Award of the American Association of Geriatric Psychiatry (2010), Leadership and Achievement Award by the International Society of CNS Drug Development (2018), the Bengt Winblad Lifetime Achievement Award from the national Alzheimer’s Association (2019). International Psychogeriatric Association Distinguished Service Award (2019), and the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation’s Melvin R. Goodes Prize. He was featured in the Gentleman’s Quarterly (June 2009) as a “Rock Star of Science™.”  Dr. Cummings’ interests embrace clinical trials, developing new therapies for brain diseases, and the interface of neuroscience and society.

Dr. Cummings completed Neurology residency and a Fellowship in Behavioral Neurology at Boston University, Boston, Massachusetts.  US training was followed by a Research Fellowship in Neuropathology and Neuropsychiatry at the National Hospital for Nervous Diseases, Queen Square, London, England. Dr. Cummings was formerly Augustas Rose Professor of Neurology and Professor of Psychiatry at UCLA, Director of the Mary S. Easton Center for Alzheimer’s Disease Research at UCLA, Director of the Deane F. Johnson Center for Neurotherapeutics at UCLA, and Director of the Cleveland Clinic Lou Ruvo Center for Brain Health. He is past president of the Behavioral Neurology Society and of the American Neuropsychiatric Association. 

Dr. Cummings has authored or edited 43 books and published over 800 peer-reviewed papers.       

Roger Barker

University of Cambridge, Cambridge, UK

Roger Barker is the Professor of Clinical Neuroscience at the University of Cambridge and Consultant Neurologist at Addenbrooke's Hospital. He runs the regional NHS Huntington's Disease (HD) as well as clinics in Parkinson's Disease (PD). His research investigates the heterogeneity of these disorders and its basis which has informed work he has done on trialling new experimental therapeutics for these conditions including cell and gene therapies as well as drug repurposing. He is lead academic scientist of the ARUK funded Drug Discovery Institute in Cambridge as well as the John Van Geest Centre for Brain Repair. He is Co-editor in chief of the Journal of Neurology.

Sharon Cohen

Toronto Memory Program, Toronto, Canada

Dr. Sharon Cohen is a behavioural neurologist and the medical director of Toronto Memory Program, a community-based medical facility which she established in 1996 for the purpose of enhancing diagnosis and treatment for individuals with Alzheimer’s disease and related disorders. Her memory clinic and dementia research site are among the most active in Canada.

Dr. Cohen has over 30 years of experience in clinical research and has been a site PI for over 180 pharmacological trials in dementia, including phase 1 trials. She represents Canada on international advisory boards and steering committees and is a consultant to a wide range of stakeholders including government organizations and patient advocacy groups.  She is a frequent lecturer and contributes to media events including those on medical ethics. She is known for her advocacy of individuals with neurodegenerative diseases.

Despite academic and hospital appointments, Dr. Cohen chooses to practice in the community, in keeping with her belief that dementia care and clinical research are best offered in the real-world setting.