Derek is the Founder and Executive Chairman of Gate Neurosciences, a Luson Bioventures portfolio company. He is also the Founding Managing Director of Luson Bioventures, a venture creation firm founded in 2007, and has been launching new biotech companies and developing innovative drugs for more than 20 years. Derek was the Co-Founder and CEO of Assembly Biosciences, Founder and GM of Assembly China, Founding CEO of Naurex (acquired by Allergan in 2015 leading to the spin out of Aptinyx) and numerous other Luson Bioventures portfolio companies. In these roles he has overseen the development of more than 10 novel and innovative drug candidates to address the unmet needs of patients living with diseases of the central nervous system (CNS). Derek has helped to raise upwards of $1 billion from top-tier life science investors, established global and regional partnerships totaling more than $3 billion, and, to date, three of the companies have achieved greater than $1 billion in market value.

Derek received his BS in Business and Marketing at Franklin College and studied Global Business and International Marketing in England at Harlaxton College.

Mike is the President and CEO of Gate Neurosciences. An experienced biopharma executive, investor, and entrepreneur, Mike has spent the past 20 years contributing to the development of dozens of successful biotech companies. Mike established his career in the biotech industry in the early 2000s at Recombinant Capital, Inc, a boutique strategic advisory firm, where he served as an advisor to over 100 companies, including emerging and established biopharma, and had a role in more than $4 billion in partnering transactions. In 2008, Recombinant Capital was acquired by Deloitte and Mike became a leader in the Deloitte Life Sciences Practice based in San Francisco.

Since his time at Deloitte, Mike has held operating roles at several emerging and established biopharma companies, notably serving as Head of Business Development, BioNeurology at Elan Pharmaceuticals, Head of Financial Strategy at Coherus Biosciences (CHRS), and Chief Business Officer of the pain-focused specialty pharma Charleston Laboratories where he led the $650M US partnership with Daiichi Sankyo. Most recently, Mike was the Chief Executive Officer of Anagin, Inc., an emerging biotech developing first-in-class novel targeted therapies for addressing pathologies associated with disrupted synaptic plasticity in the central nervous system.

Mike received his BS from Purdue University and a hybrid Masters from Northwestern University.

Ronald Burch is the Chief Medical Officer of Gate Neurosciences. With more than 30 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, Dr. Burch’s expertise spans discovery research, preclinical safety, clinical research, regulatory affairs, and company formation. He has participated in more than 20 IND submissions from which 7 investigational products have become marketed products and 2 are currently in phase 3 clinical trials.

Previously, Dr. Burch served as the Director of Pain & Inflammation at Nova Pharmaceutical Corporation where he led programs from lead identification into clinical trials for a range of indications including pain and asthma. He was also Head of US Biosciences at Zeneca Pharmaceuticals Group where he led the CNS Therapeutic Area team that developed the antipsychotic agent Seroquel. And at Purdue Pharma LP, Dr. Burch was Vice President, Scientific Evaluations and a member of development teams that introduced Tramadol CR, Norspan, and hydromorphone ER, and headed the discovery teams that identified and took V11294 (PDE4 inhibitor) into phase 2 for asthma as well as LABD (long-acting bupivacaine injectable) into phase 2 for pain.

Dr. Burch then founded and was CEO of AlgoRx until its reverse merger with Corgentech, developing Zingo (nanoparticle lidocaine transdermal) to NDA for procedural pain in children and ALGX-4975 (capsaicin injection) to phase 2 for analgesia in total knee replacement, Morton’s neuroma, and bunionectomy (currently in Phase 3 fast track development as CTNX-4975 by Centrexion). Following AlgoRx, Dr. Burch oversaw the phase 2 and phase 3 of long-acting bupivacaine injection at Pacira, now approved as Exparel. Dr. Burch then left Pacira to join the founding team of Naurex where he oversaw the regulatory strategy and clinical trials programs for the NMDA receptor modulators GLYX-13 (through phase 2b) and NRX-1074 (through phase 2a) for depression prior to being acquired by Allergan.

Dr. Burch obtained his Ph.D. in Pharmacology and M.D. from the Medical University of South Carolina and BS in chemistry and marine biology from the College of Charleston. Dr. Burch was a researcher at the National Institutes of Health, performing research involving neuroreceptor regulation with Nobel Laureate Dr. Julius Axelrod.

Anantha Shekhar is the Chief Scientific Officer of Gate Neurosciences, a nationally recognized leader in neuropsychiatry, and currently serves as the Dean of the Medical School and Senior Vice Chancellor for Health Sciences at the University of Pittsburgh. Previously, Dr. Shekhar was the Associate Vice President for University Clinical Affairs & Research and Executive Dean for Research at the Indiana University School of Medicine.  Dr. Shekhar is also the Founding Director of the Indiana Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute (Indiana CTSI), a statewide institute within the Indiana University School of Medicine supported by a grant from the US National Institutes of Health and established in 2008 as a joint partnership between Indiana University, Purdue University, the University of Notre Dame, life sciences businesses and community organizations.

Dr. Shekhar has conducted groundbreaking research in the innovative psychiatric therapeutics, bench to bedside neuroscience discovery and translation, and recognized for his work with biotech and entrepreneurship. Currently, he provides visionary leadership to Pitt’s large academic medical center, encompassing six health sciences schools: medicine, dentistry, nursing, public health, pharmacy and rehabilitation sciences.  His innovation highlights include first to demonstrate the following: that Muscarinic receptor 1/4 agonist is effective in schizophrenia (Karuna Therapeutics); Role of the neuropeptide orexin and orexin 1 receptor in human panic disorder; Role of NMDA-PSD95-nNOS pathway in regulating fear (co-founded Anagin); Role of Metabotropic glutamate 2 receptors and amygdala NMDA plasticity in anxiety and mood disorders. He is a member of the National Academies Forum on Drug Discovery and Development (2019-2023); Co-Chair, and co-author National Academies Workshop on Innovation in Drug Research and Development for Prevalent Chronic Diseases.

Prior to Gate Neurosciences, Dr. Shekhar was the founder, CSO and CMO of Anagin, Inc., a neuroscience company developing first-in-class nNOS agonists for PTSD and neuropathic pain. Dr. Shekhar completed his psychiatry residency, psychopharmacology fellowship, and obtained his Ph.D. in Neuroscience from Indiana University.  He received an M.D. from St. John’s Medical College.

Joseph Moskal serves as an Advisor of Research at Gate Neurosciences, is a pioneer in neuroscience discovery, and is the originator behind Gate Neuro’s NMDAR and IGFBP2 therapeutic platforms. He currently serves as the Director of the Falk Center for Molecular Therapeutics at Northwestern University and is a Distinguished Research Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Northwestern University. Dr. Moskal is renowned in neuroscience bioengineering and therapeutic discovery for his work in the NMDA receptor field, where he discovered and developed an NMDAR molecular platform resulting in multiple clinical-stage development programs across several companies. He has an extensive resume of peer-reviewed publications (100+) and patents across early and translational biopharma R&D. He was the original founder and former Chief Scientific Officer of Naurex (acquired by Allergan), Aptinyx (NAS: APTX), and Nyxis NeuroTherapeutics. Early in his career, Dr. Moskal also served as Director of Laboratories of Neurosurgery and Professor of Neuroscience at Albert Einstein College and Medicine, as well as research work at the NIMH and NIH.

Dr. Moskal received his PhD in Biochemistry at University of Notre Dame and BS in Chemistry at University of Notre Dame.

John Donello, Ph.D. serves as an Advisor of Translation at Gate Neurosciences. Dr. Donello was most recently Vice President, External Science & Innovation at Allergan/AbbVie and led R&D innovation efforts to develop strategic collaborations, in-license clinical stage assets, and evaluate M&A opportunities. Previously, he was Vice President of various research functions responsible for identifying new targets, technologies, and program development through Phase II.

Dr. Donello has over 25 years of pharmaceutical industry experience in drug discovery and drug development. John is an inventor of over 130 granted US patents and has overseen the discovery, IND filing, and clinical development of  more than 12 clinical candidates in pain, cognition, depression, and a range of ophthalmic and dermatologic diseases. John has led multiple international scientific collaborations, acquisition integrations, and in-licensed and out-licensed numerous drug programs. John led global development of zelquisitinel and, working in concert with industry and academic partners, his research group demonstrated rapastinel and zelquistinel act through a novel NMDAR modulatory site to enhance synaptic plasticity and symptoms of depression. He sits on University of California, Irvine Director’s Advisory Committee for the Center of Translational Vision Research.

Dr. Donello performed his thesis work at The Salk Institute and received his PhD in Biology from the University of California, San Diego.  He earned a Bachelor of Science, Honors in Biology degree from Indiana University.

Karen is the Vice President of Clinical Development Operations at Gate Neurosciences. She is an accomplished biopharma executive with more than 35 years’ experience planning, developing and leading global clinical teams and clinical programs from IND to NDA/BLA within large, mid-size, start-up pharma and biotech. Karen joined Gate most recently from ACADIA Pharmaceuticals Inc. where she was VP of Clinical Operations and grew the clinical operations function over 7 years, developing a best-in class team of clinical professionals. At ACADIA, Karen co-led the clinical delivery team for the recent DAYBUE™ (trofinetide) oral solution approval in adults and children with Rett syndrome and served as a strategic and operations leader in the clinical development of NUPLAZID™ (pimavanserin) across major depressive disorder, schizophrenia, and psychosis in Alzheimer’s, dementia, and Parkinson’s disease.

Prior to joining ACADIA, she headed clinical operations at AstraZeneca’s Neurosciences Innovative Medicines (iMED) unit, advancing programs in Tourette’s disorder, diabetic neuropathy, generalized anxiety disorder and multiple system atrophy. Karen also served as a clinical operations leader at Auxilium Pharmaceuticals, where she led the clinical operational delivery for XIAFLEX^® (collagenase clostridium histolyticum) in both Dupuytren’s contracture and Peyronie’s Disease indications and early phase trials for QWO in cellulite. Also, while at Nycomed and Nycomed Amersham Imaging, Karen contributed to the approvals of Omniscan^® (gadodiamide), Teslascan^® (mangafodipir) and MyoView™ (kit for the preparation of technetium Tc99m).

Over her more than 35-year career, she has been an inspiring coach and mentor and has helped to develop investigators and site personnel as well as the next generation of global pharmaceutical leaders. Karen is passionate about developing and adhering to robust process for good clinical practice and delivering excellence in clinical data. She has been a key contributor to successful FDA inspections and is an enthusiastic speaker on inspection and submission readiness.

Karen holds a B.S. in Biology and German from Muhlenberg College in Allentown, PA and speaks Dutch and German.

Jeff Burgdorf is the Head of Research at Gate Neurosciences. He also serves as the Associate Director of the Falk Center for Molecular Therapeutics at Northwestern University and a Research Associate Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Northwestern University. Dr. Burgdorf brings over 20 years of experience and an extensive history of publications and early research across neuroscience discovery, pharmacology, and translational biomarker work, especially in affective disorders. Alongside Dr. Joe Moskal, Jeff is known for extensive contributions in the field of NMDA receptor mechanisms and behavioral pharmacology related to multiple NMDAR modulator compounds currently in clinical development. Recently, Jeff has pioneered research in the Insulin Growth Factor field and discovery and development of the GATE-300 series at Gate Neurosciences.

Dr. Burgdorf received his PhD in Behavioral Neuroscience and BS in Psychology at Bowling Green State University.

Rob Houghtaling is the Senior Director of Corporate Development for Gate Neurosciences. Rob brings more than 10 years of commercial and portfolio strategy, business development, and transaction experience within the early-stage biopharma industry.

Rob spent his early career as a strategy consultant at Health Advances, LLC, advising >50 life sciences companies on engagements spanning commercial assessments, portfolio planning, forecasting, diligence, and competitive and market research. He then served as a deal associate at Locust Walk Partners, LLC, advising on buy- and sell-side transactions for emerging biopharma companies, which culminated in several strategic partnerships worth nearly $2B. More recently, Rob founded Morningview Life Sciences in 2018 to provide strategy and BD consulting services to Seed/Series A-stage companies, focused primarily in neuropsychiatry. His background is in biomedicine and entrepreneurship, working with several startups in connection with bioengineering laboratories in academia.

Rob received his Master of Science from Columbia University and BS in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Virginia.

Chris is the Director of Finance for Gate Neurosciences. He brings over 10 years of experience developing and leading accounting and finance functions within advisory and healthcare organizations.

Chris spent his early career in Public Accounting with BKD managing several large engagements, both public and private. He then served as Controller for Ossip Optometry, where he transformed the accounting department along with leading the sell side diligence for a successful transaction. Chris then joined Anagin, Inc. as Director of Finance, an emerging biotech developing first-in-class novel targeted therapies for addressing pathologies associated with disrupted synaptic plasticity in the central nervous system.

Chris received his BS from Purdue University and holds an active CPA license.

In memory of Dr. Jaswant Gidda, a co-founder of Gate Neurosciences, a trusted leader, and beloved friend. His contributions to our community and the biotech industry will positively affect the lives of many for years to come.