Scientific Advisory Board
Roberta Brinton, Ph.D.
Roberta Diaz Brinton, Ph.D. is the Director of the Center for Innovation in Brain Science at the University of Arizona, where she is Professor of Pharmacology and and Neurology in the College of Medicine. She is internationally recognized as an innovative leader in Alzheimer’s research and development of therapeutics to prevent, delay and treat the disease.
Research in the Brinton laboratory focuses on discovery of mechanisms underlying development of Alzheimer’s in the aging brain and on translating those discoveries into therapeutics to prevent, delay and treat the disease. Brinton has developed therapeutics that restores energy production and neural stem cell regeneration in the brain to prevent and treat Alzheimer’s. Outcomes of her discovery and translational research have led to multiple NIH Phase 1 and 2 funded clinical trials and Foundation funded bridging trial.
Dr. Brinton’s research has been continuously funded by NIH from her pre-doctoral years to the present. Current funders of her research include the National Institute on Aging, Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation and the Alzheimer’s Association.
Dr. Brinton has over 200 publications and holds multiple patents targeting Alzheimer’s disease, age-associated neurodegenerative diseases and sustaining neurological health during aging. Her research has appeared in over 100 global media outlets including the New York Times, Wall Street Journal, ABC, CBS and NPR Science Friday.
Dr. Brinton was awarded the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation Scientist of the Year, The Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation Goodes Prize, Woman of the Year by the California State Senate, Science Educator of the Year by the Society for Neuroscience and Los Angeles Magazine Woman of the Year. She was also recognized as one of the Ten Best Minds by US News and World Report. For her decades of commitment to science education for inner city youth of Los Angeles, Dr. Brinton received the Presidential Citizens Medal in 2010 from President Obama.
Roger Bullock, MB.BS, MRCPsych
Roger Bullock has over 30 years of clinical research experience, largely in Dementia clinical trials at the Kingshill Research Center, which he founded. During that time he published over 100 peer reviewed publications and regularly presented at international conferences. Currently he is working in drug development in the biotech space and has been involved in several projects, including T3D. After many years in the clinical field, he is now devoting his energy towards tackling the mechanisms of neurodegeneration in the hope of making a major impact in this area of unmet medical need.
Michael Heneka, M.D.
Michael Heneka studied medicine in Tübingen, Lausanne and London from 1990-1996. He obtained his medical degree at the Institute of Pharmacology for which he received the 1998 Attempto Award of the University of Tübingen. He started his clinical residency in neurology at the Dept. of Neurology of the Univ. of Tübingen in 1996 and joined the Dept. of Neurology at the University of Bonn in 1999. After his clinical board examination (2002) and habilitation (2003) he took the chair as professor for molecular neurology at the University of Münster in 2004. In 2008 he was appointed professor for clinical neurosciences at the University of Bonn heading the DFG Clinical Research Unit 177. Since 2010 Prof. Heneka has served as neurological director of the joint memory clinic of the Departments of Psychiatry and Neurology. Since 2016 acts as director of the Dept. of Neurodegenerative Disease and Geriatric Psychiatry. His scientific interest is focusing on the role of innate and adaptive immune mechanisms for neurological disorders. Beyond his research, Michael Heneka serves as Associate Editor of Neurology: Neuroinflammation and Neuroimmunology and editorial board member of Molecular Neurobiology, Journal of Neurochemistry and Alzheimer Research &Therapy. He is the organizing chair of the biennial conference “Venusberg Meeting on Neuroinflammation”. In 2011 he received the Christa Lorenz Award for ALS Research and in 2013 the Hans und Ilse Breuer Award for Alzheimer Research.
Robert Alexander, M.D.
Dr. Robert Alexander is currently the Chief Scientific Officer of the Alzheimer’s Prevention Initiative at the Banner Alzheimer’s Institute and a Research Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at the University of Arizona School of Medicine – Phoenix. Previously, he held positions as VP in the neuroscience therapeutic area unit at Takeda, VP and head of clinical for the neuroscience and pain at Pfizer, VP of clinical for CNS and the pain innovative medicines unit (iMed) at AstraZeneca, as well as other positions in discovery medicine and neuroscience at GSK and Merck. Dr. Alexander received his M.D. degree from The University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine. He is certified by the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology and specializes in psychopharmacology, having conducted or supervised clinical studies in a broad range of neurologic and psychiatric indications.
Pierre Tariot, M.D.
Dr. Tariot is Board Certified in Internal Medicine and Psychiatry, with added qualifications in geriatrics. He has served as a Fellow at the NIMH Intramural Research Program and as faculty at the University of Rochester Medical Center. Since 2006, he has been at the Banner Alzheimer’s Institute in Phoenix, where he serves as Director. His career is focused on the care and study of people with and at risk for brain diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease, with special emphasis on design and implementation of clinical trials for prevention and treatment of Alzheimer’s, development of biomarkers, and demonstration of effective dementia care. His experience includes conceiving, funding, and implementing single center and multicenter trials, and serving as Principal Investigator on over 50 clinical trials related to Alzheimer’s. He has published over 350 papers on these topics and served as author on studies that have led to FDA approval of several medications. He serves as co-director of the Alzheimer’s Prevention Initiative (API). He is a Research Professor of Psychiatry at the University of Arizona and a Fellow of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology. His research affiliations include the National Institute on Aging (NIA), the NIMH, and the Alzheimer’s Association.