Dr Ruth McKernan CBE FMedSci
Founder
Dr Ruth McKernan CBE FMedSci
Founder
Ruth has spent 27 years in the Pharmaceutical industry and was head of the Merck Neuroscience Research Centre in Harlow, the Pfizer Discovery Technology Centre in Cambridge Mass and the Pfizer site in Sandwich. As a neuroscientist she has over 120 publications in the areas of ion channels and regenerative medicine.
She has spanned the academic, business and government worlds with aplomb. Ruth was the CEO of InnovateUK, supporting the growth of SMEs in the UK and helping to develop the Government’s Industrial Strategy Challenge Fund.
Ruth is now a Venture Partner with SV Health Investors. She works particularly on companies that create new medicines for dementia and has been involved in founding 4 companies including Cumulus Neuroscience, a digital health company whose technology accelerates clinical trials in neurodegeneration, which she chairs. Ruth also sits on the Board for Cerevel and is a trustee of Alzheimer’s Research UK and a member of Cancer Research UK.
Ruth received a BSc in Biochemistry and Pharmacology and PhD in Molecular Neuroscience from Kings College, London.
Dr David Reynolds
Founder
Dr David Reynolds
Founder
David is a highly experienced pharmaceutical research and development leader having worked for nearly 20 years at Merck Sharp & Dohme, Lundbeck and latterly Pfizer, where he was the Cambridge Neuroscience & Pain research site head.
David has held a variety of R&D leadership roles with responsibilities ranging from exploratory biology, through drug discovery, early clinical development and in-licensing in multiple disease areas, with a focus on neuroscience and pain.
Before joining the Dementia Discovery Fund and founding AstronauTx he spent three years as the Chief Scientific Officer of Alzheimer’s Research UK, Europe’s largest dementia research charity supporting academic research, translational drug discovery and providing information to patients and their families about their disease.
David holds a PhD from the University of Cambridge, UK. He is also a Visiting Professor at the Institute of Neurology, University College London, UK.
Dr Jamie Bilsland
Chief Scientific Officer
Dr Jamie Bilsland
Chief Scientific Officer
Jamie is a highly experienced neuroscience drug discovery scientist, with a focus on the neurodegeneration and pain therapeutic areas. He has expertise spanning basic biology, target identification and validation through to early clinical development.
Jamie has worked in the field for 30 years, and his career spans large pharma companies (Merck, Pfizer), academic drug discovery (Alzheimer’s Research UK Drug Discovery Institute, UCL) and biotech (C4X Discovery). He has been CSO of AstronauTx since 2019.
Jamie holds a PhD from the School of Pharmacy, University of London. He is an honorary Professor at the Institute of Neurology, University College London, UK.
Dr Hannah Pearce MRPharmS
Vice President of Operations
Dr Hannah Pearce MRPharmS
Vice President of Operations
Hannah has more than 15 years’ experience in leading portfolios from early concepts through to launch and post marketing commitments.
Hannah joined AstronauTx at the early stages of the Company creation, prior to this she worked for Pfizer initially as a project lead guiding the pharmaceutical sciences strategy before transitioning into a portfolio and project management role as one of the global Development Directors.
She is a registered pharmacist with a clinical diploma and a PhD in Pharmaceutical Microbiology from Brighton School of Pharmacy.
Professor James Rowe
Medical Adviser
Professor James Rowe
Medical Adviser
James is a clinical academic neurologist, with internationally recognised expertise in experimental medicine and translational neuroscience for dementia and parkinsonian disorders. He remains clinically active, in addition to over 450 peer-reviewed academic publications.
He is Professor of Cognitive Neurology at Cambridge University, with Wellcome, MRC and NIHR funding for his innovative research program that integrates cognition, structural and functional neuroimaging, neuropathology and pharmacology in Alzheimer and non-Alzheimer dementias.
Beyond his professorship in Cambridge, he is honorary Professor of Clinical Neurology at Copenhagen University, Associate Director of the Dementias Platform UK, and Chief Scientific Adviser to Alzheimer’s Research UK, Europe’s largest dementia research charity. He is a Trustee of the Guarantors of Brain and Darwin College. James has been an advisor to AstronauTx for 3 years prior to his current role.
Dr Keith Wafford
Head of Biology
Dr Keith Wafford
Head of Biology
Keith has over 30 years’ experience in drug discovery with expertise in neuropharmacology and sleep mechanisms.
Keith has worked in preclinical research across many areas of neuroscience including pain, psychiatry and neurodegeneration while at both Merck and Eli Lilly, leading discovery programs from preclinical to clinical stages. He has extensive experience in academic partnerships with over 200 publications.
Keith has a BSc. in Neuroscience from the University of Sussex and a PhD in pharmacology from the University of Cambridge.
Dr Daniel Hothersall
Senior Principal Scientist
Dr Daniel Hothersall
Senior Principal Scientist
Daniel has more than ten years’ experience as a pharmacologist in drug discovery research.
Daniel joined AstronauTx in 2021, coming from a role as Team Leader at Domainex, a UK-based drug discovery CRO. Prior to this he held positions as industrial and academic postdocs at Pfizer, AstraZeneca and the University of Dundee, focusing on receptor pharmacology.
Daniel holds a PhD in GPCR pharmacology from University College London
