(Alphabetically)   John W. Commissiong, PhD   John Commissiong’s background is in neurophysiology and more recently molecular neuroscience.  He has held positions as Professor: Department of Physiology, McGill University (1079-89); Chief: Unit of Neural Transplantation, NINDS (1989-94); and Head: Neurotrophic Factors Group: Laboratory of Molecular Biology, NINDS (1994-97).  Since 1997, he has served in senior management positions in several CNS biotechnology companies in the United States and Canada, and is currently President and CEO of Neurotrohics Inc., a CNS biotechnology company in Toronto.  His current focus is the discovery of astrocyte-derived neurotrophic factors as drug candidates to treat neurodegenerative diseases, with Parkinson's disease as the focus.  In 2002, his Group discovered hMANF, a 20 kDa neurotrophic factor indicated for Parkinson's disease and epilepsy, and the first such molecule to be discovered since GDNF was announced in 1993.  Dr. Commissiong is convinced that the new understanding of homotypic, bidirectional, molecular communication between astrocytes and neurons will lead to the discovery of new classes of drugs to treat clinical depression, Alzheimer's disease and Parkinson’s disease.  Leptin may have a crucial part in this communication.  John is also co-founder of CNS Protein Therapeutics, a start-up company focusing on Parkinson's disease.     Peter J. Dussias, MBA Peter Dussias is Executive Director - Business Development Operations at the Commercial services division of Quintiles Corporation. He brings a 15-year record of success at top 10 pharmaceutical companies and professional services firms combining expertise in both commercialization and product development.  Prior to his current role at Quintiles, Peter led the clinical analytic services function at Dendrite International where he developed clinical trial patient recruitment as well as drug safety & risk management services.  Mr. Dussias co-authored and presented “Utilization of Diet Drugs in the U.S. Across Payer Types” for the International Society of Pharmacoepidemiology Annual Conference (2003). In the commercialization arena, he has launched several primary care and specialty contract sales teams, including the launch of two new companies and their first products. Peter worked for Bristol Myers Squibb as a new product development manager, and began his pharmaceutical acreer with Glaxo Inc., in 1992, serving ina variety of sales positions. Mr. Dussias holds a B.A. in History from the University of Michigan and M.B.A. in marketing from Rutgers University Graduate School of Management .      J. Steven Jacobsen, PhD J. Steven Jacobsen, PhD, is a seasoned pharmaceutical scientist and currently Vice President, Translational Biology at Proteostasis Therapeutics Inc. in Cambridge, MA and Adjunct Associate Professor at New York University School of Medicine in New York, NY.  He was previously Associate Director of Discovery Neuroscience at Wyeth and Senior Research Fellow at the Neuroscience Research Unit at Pfizer Global R&D. Dr Jacobsen received his PhD in molecular genetics and microbiology from NJ Medical School at the University of Medicine and Dentistry of New Jersey in Newark, NJ. He has previously represented Wyeth Pharmaceuticals and the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) at various meetings on Capitol Hill in Washington, DC. Dr Jacobsen is trained in neurobiology, cell/molecular biology, immunology, biochemistry, and pharmacology, with more than 30 years of academic and pharmaceutical experience as a scientist and manager. At Wyeth Pharmaceuticals, he led the Alzheimer’s Disease Drug Discovery group and was the Discovery Neuroscience representative for the Alzheimer’s Disease Global Development and Learn teams for clinical research and development. He was responsible for advancing 8 small-molecule, biologic, and vaccine drug candidates for Investigational New Drug submissions to the US Food and Drug Administration. Dr Jacobsen is recognized as an academic and pharmaceutical expert in Alzheimer’s disease and is frequently invited to speak at international academic conferences on various discovery, biomarker/translation, and early clinical development programs. These include gamma-secretase, BACE, and PAI-1 inhibitors; passive and active amyloid-beta immunotherapies; and anti-TNF and anti-RAGE programs in neuroinflammation. He is Associate Editor of the international journal Current Alzheimer Research. Dr Jacobsen has more than 50 peer-reviewed publications, 150 presentation abstracts for national and international meetings, and 50 US and world patents.   Nikolaos Robakis, PhD    Dr. Robakis is A.P. Slaner Professor for Neurobiology of Alzheimer's Disease Research and Director of the Center for Molecular Biology and Genetics of Neurodegeneration at Mount Sinai School of Medicine (MSSM) since 1994. He is a pioneer in Alzheimer’s Disease research, as his laboratory was among the first groups to clone the APP gene. He has been working on the molecular biology and genetics of AD for more than 20 years. Dr. Robakis joined MSSM in 1987 as an Associate Professor of Molecular Neurobiology in the Department of Psychiatry. Prior to MSSM,  Dr. Robakis worked for Hoffman-La Roche, Inc and earned his PhD degree at the New York University. Dr. Robakis received numerous awards, including the Zenith Award of the Alzheimer’s Association, the McKnight Neuroscience Development award for Alzheimer’s Disease Research, the Distinguished Scientist Award of the Helenic Medical Association of New York, the T.L.L. Temple Foundation Award of the Alzheimer’s Association and the MERIT Award of the NIH.   Mark A. Smith, PhD   Dr. Smith is a Professor of Pathology at Case Western Reserve University (CWRU). His research expertise includes: Aging, Alzheimer disease, Cell cycle control, Cytoskeletal organization, Neurodegeneration and Oxidative stress. Prior to joining CWRU in 1992, he worked for Sandoz Pharmaceutical Company, Austria and he obtained his PhD from Nottingham University, UK. Dr. Smith has authored nearly 500 peer-reviewed manuscripts and chapters over the past decade and serves on the editorial boards of numerous scientific journals. He is the recipient of several awards including the Ruth Salta Junior Investigator Achievement Award from the American Health Assistance Foundation, Young Scientist Lectureship Award from the International Society for Neurochemistry, the Nathan Shock New Investigator Award from The Gerontological Society of America, the Zenith Award from the Alzheimer's Association, the Jordi Folch-Pi Award from the American Society of Neurochemistry, and the Hermann-Esterbauer Award from the HNE Society.   Benjamin Wolozin, MD, PhD   Dr. Wolozin is Professor of Pharmacology at Boston University School of Medicine since 2004. He joined Loyola University Medical Center in 1996 as an Associate Professor and rose to the rank of tenured full professor in 2002. Prior to Loyola University he was at the National Institute of Mental Health (1989-1996) and Mt. Sinai School of Medicine (1988-1989). He earned his M.D. and Ph.D. degrees from Albert Einstein College of Medicine and his B.S. in Chemistry from Wesleyan University in Middletown, CT. Dr. Wolozin has made pioneering discoveries  in AD, including a role of cholesterol in the pathobiology of AD. He has also worked extensively in the role of proteasome in Parkinson’s Disease. His approaches to studying neurodegenerative disease encompass a wide range, from molecular biology to epidemiology and clinical studies. Dr. Wolozin has received numerous awards for his research including the Donald B. Lindsley Prize, Society for Neuroscience, the A. E. Bennett Award and a Merit Award from Alzforum . He serves on numerous editorial boards, including for the Journal of Biological Chemistry and Neurodegenerative Diseases, and is a standing member of the NIH CDIN study section.