Moderator: Roger Gunn, Ph.D. | Chief Scientific Officer, Neuroscience, Invicro
Panelists: John Beaver, Ph.D. | Vice President & Head of Biomarkers, Imaging, Bioanalytical Sciences, Translational Pathology and Diagnostic Pathways, Biogen
Susan De Santi, Ph.D. | Executive Director, Global Medical Affairs, Patient Journey, Neurology Business Group, Eisai, Inc.
Gregory Klein, Ph.D. | Senior Principal Scientist & Head of Clinical Imaging Biomarkers & Translational Technology, Neuroscience & Rare Diseases, Roche
Kenneth Marek, M.D. | Distinguished Scientist, Invicro
Invicro is honored to host a panel of industry experts who will discuss the state of biomarkers in Alzheimer's Disease (AD) clinical trials. During this roundtable discussion, the panelists will review:
Dr. Roger Gunn is an international expert on imaging for disease understanding and drug development. He has a Ph.D. in Applied Mathematics from Warwick University and has worked across Academia (Imperial College London, Oxford University & McGill University), Industry (GSK & Imanova) and Government Labs (MRC Cyclotron Unit). He has made significant contributions to the development of novel imaging biomarkers, quantitative algorithms and software for a wide range of imaging applications with a focus on the neurosciences. Dr. Gunn currently holds professorships at Imperial College London and Oxford University and has 200 publications in the field of imaging.
Dr. Beaver is a pioneer in the use of imaging to assess CNS drug target engagement and pharmacodynamics. Dr. Beaver is currently VP, Head of Biomarkers, at Biogen, where he leads a team of ~80 scientists utilizing biomarker and bioanalytical measurements in the development of pharmaceuticals to select patients and assess drug safety, target engagement, immunogenicity, pharmacodynamic effects and disease progression. Dr. Beaver has previously held positions at Abbvie, Maccine and GSK. He received his undergraduate degree from Rutgers University and completed a Ph.D. and postdoctoral research fellowship at the University of Cambridge.
Dr. Susan De Santi has recently joined Eisai Inc. as the Executive Director, Global Medical Affairs, Patient Journey in the Neurology Business Group. Previously, Dr. De Santi has spent ten years in diagnostic molecular imaging in both clinical development and medical affairs. She was the VP of Medical Affairs, North America and APAC for Life Molecular Imaging (LMI) and a member of the executive team contributing to the strategic plan for LMI. Before LMI, Dr. De Santis was at GE Healthcare as the Global Medical Director, PET Neurology, Life Sciences and previously the Director of Global Clinical Development in Diagnostic Imaging at Bayer Healthcare Pharmaceuticals. Prior to joining industry, Dr. De Santi was an Associate Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at New York University Langone Medical Center and the Administrative Director at the Center for Brain Health.
Dr. De Santi received her Ph.D. from The Graduate School and University Center of CUNY with an emphasis in Neurolinguistics. Her research focused on early diagnostic markers of mild cognitive impairment and Alzheimer’s Disease using brain imaging, biological markers and cognition. Dr. De Santi has been the industry representative leading the Biofluids Biomarker Working Group of Private Partner Scientific Board of Alzheimer's Disease Neuroimaging Initiative. In addition, she is a member of the Board of Directors of Heluna Health, a non-profit focused on program services and fiscal sponsorship for population health projects.
Dr. Klein is a Senior Principal Scientist and Head of Clinical Imaging in the biomarkers group of Neuroscience and Rare Diseases at Roche, Basel. Dr. Klein currently leads the biomarker effort for the Gantenerumab and Brain Shuttle Gantenerumab programs at Roche and is a key driver of the RO-948 tau PET imaging program. Before joining Roche, Dr. Klein was Director of Neuroscience Molecular Imaging at Bioclinica, Newark, CA, where he developed a PET program that has supported over 30 phase I-IV neuroscience clinical trials, at over 300 PET imaging sites worldwide.
Dr. Klein obtained his Ph.D. in Vision Science from University of California, Berkeley and held academic positions at the University of Washington, Seattle, WA and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, Berkeley, CA. His research interests focus on amyloid, tau and FDG quantitative methods and their application in Alzheimer’s Disease and optimal use of these imaging biomarkers with other fluid, genetic and digital biomarkers in late-stage clinical trials.
Dr. Marek is a neurologist with widespread expertise in neurodegenerative disorders. He is internationally recognized as an expert in imaging of neurodegenerative disorders and has made significant contributions to early detection and diagnostic use of radiotracers, particularly for Parkinson's Disease, Alzheimer's Disease, Huntington's Disease and other disorders. Dr. Marek has developed novel clinical design for brain imaging studies and has been the principal investigator in several multicenter trials, including PPMI and PARS.