Scientific Advisory Board

Anders Gersel Pedersen, MD spent nineteen years at Lundbeck from 2000 to 2019, seven years of which he lead the R&D organization as Executive Vice President of Research & Development from 2013 – 2019. Anders is currently a member of the board of Hansa Biopharma, where he also is Chairman of the scientific committee. He has served since 2003 on the board of Genmab (previously as Chairman), a leading biotechnology company focused on development and specialisation of antibody products and he has served since 2009 on the board of Bavarian Nordic (currently as Deputy Chairman), a biotechnology company specialized in vaccines. In November 2020, he joined Aelis Farma as Chairman of the Board. He previously also served for more than 10 years (2000-2011) on the board of TopoTarget and for twelve years on the board of ALK-Abelio (2005-2018). Other notable positions included working for Eli Lilly for eleven years as a director overseeing worldwide clinical research in oncology. Dr. Pedersen received his medical degree and a doctoral degree in neuro-oncology from the University of Copenhagen and a B.Sc. in Business Administration from Copenhagen Business School. He is a member of the Danish Society of Internal Medicine.

Alberto Espay, M.D., MSc. is the director, professor and endowed chair of the University of Cincinnati James J. and Joan A. Gardner Family Center for Parkinson’s Disease and Movement Disorders (OH, USA). Dr. Espay has published more than 300 peer-reviewed research articles, 30 book chapters and seven books. His research efforts focus on the measurement of motor and behavioral phenomena in — and clinical trials for — Parkinson’s disease as well as in the understanding and management of functional movement disorders. Dr. Espay has served as chair of the Movement Disorders Section of the American Academy of Neurology; associate editor of Movement Disorders, the official journal of the International Parkinson and Movement Disorder Society (MDS); and in the executive committee of the Parkinson Study Group. He currently serves as chair of MDS Technology Task Force and as president-elect of the Pan-American Section of the MDS. Dr. Espay is also an honorary member of the Mexican Academy of Neurology. He trained in neurology at Indiana University as well as in clinical and electrophysiology of movement disorders at the University of Toronto, where he obtained a master’s degree in clinical epidemiology and healthcare research.

David Dexter Ph.D. is the Associate Research Director of Parkinson’s UK and visiting Professor of Neuropharmacology at Imperial College London. Over the last three years, he has helped develop the funding strategy for the largest patient-led charity for Parkinson’s in Europe, funding drug discovery to late-stage clinical trials. Professor Dexter started his professional career at Imperial College London, initially as a Lecturer, progressing to Professor in 2012 and Deputy Head of the Division of Brain Sciences in 2014. He founded the Parkinson’s UK Brain Bank in 2002, an internationally acclaimed tissue resource advancing our understanding of Parkinson’s and helping drug development. He has played a key role in drug discovery, identifying three of the six recognised processes which are thought to cause Parkinson’s, and clinically testing iron chelators to slow Parkinson’s. Since joining Parkinson’s UK, he has successfully transformed the peer review processes for grant applications, and is the biology lead for the Parkinson’s virtual biotech a unique funding model for fasttracking drug development. He received his Ph.D. in Neuropharmacology on the role of iron and oxidative stress in the aetiology of Parkinson’s disease