Leadership

Dr. Matthew Might has been the Director of the Hugh Kaul Precision Medicine Institute at the University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) since 2017. At UAB, Dr. Might is the Hugh Kaul Precision Medicine Institute Endowed Chair, a Professor of Internal Medicine and a Professor of Computer Science. At UAB, Dr. Might’s research focuses on precision prevention, diagnosis and therapeutics using genomics, model systems, drug screens and artificial intelligence. A principal theme in his research is the use of computer and data science to enhance clinical and academic medicine. From 2016 to 2018, Dr. Might was a Strategist in the Executive Office of the President in The White House. At The White House, Dr. Might worked primarily on President Obama’s Precision Medicine Initiative with both the NIH and the Department of Veterans Affairs. In 2015, Dr. Might joined the faculty of the Department of Biomedical Informatics at the Harvard Medical School, first as Visiting Professor and since 2017 as Senior Lecturer. At Harvard, Dr. Might’s research focuses on rare disease discovery and diagnosis, and on the development of personalized therapeutics. Dr. Might received his B.S. (2001), M.S. (2005) and Ph.D. (2007) in computer science from Georgia Tech.

Anna Greka is a Professor of Medicine at Harvard Medical School, a physician at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, and an Institute Member of the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, where she serves on the Executive Leadership Team. Seeking to lay the foundation for molecularly targeted therapies, Anna leads a program aimed at dissecting fundamental mechanisms of cellular homeostasis and their disruption in genetically-defined kidney, metabolic and neurodegenerative diseases, with a special focus on membrane proteins. Anna has been the recipient of several honors, including the Seldin-Smith Award for Pioneering Research from the American Society of Clinical Investigation (ASCI) and a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE). Anna holds an A.B. in biology from Harvard College, an M.D. from the Harvard-MIT program in Health Sciences and Technology (HST) and a Ph.D. in neurobiology from HMS.

Holger Lerche is Professor of Neurology and Clinical Director of the Department of Neurology and Epileptology at the Hertie Institute for Clinical Brain Research, University and University Clinic of Tübingen, Germany. He studied medicine in Munich, did his MD and training in physiology and neurology in Ulm, and undertook research fellowships in London and Melbourne in the frame of his Heisenberg stipend from the German Research Foundation. His main research interest is to unravel the genetic background and the pathophysiology of epilepsies and related paroxysmal disorders, and to identify novel personalized therapeutic approaches based on disease mechanisms with a focus on ion channel disorders. He has been leading national and international research consortia, such as EuroEPINOMICS, the DFG Research Unit FOR-2715, the BMBF network for rare ion channel disorders Treat-ION, the epilepsy genetics initiative in Solve-RD, and the ILAE Genomics project to collect as many sequencing data from epilepsy patients as possible worldwide. He is former chair of the ILAE Genetics Commission (2017-2021), current Editorial Board member of Epilepsia, and a former president of the German ILAE chapter.

Ivan Soltesz, PhD, is the James R. Doty Professor of Neurosurgery and Neurosciences at Stanford University School of Medicine. Dr. Soltesz has over 30 years of research experience, with his work focusing on understanding the nature of neuronal inhibition in the brain and the mechanistic bases of circuit dysfunction in epilepsy. Dr. Soltesz received his doctorate in Budapest and conducted postdoctoral research at universities at Oxford, London, Stanford and Dallas. He first established his laboratory at the University of California, Irvine, in 1995, where he served as department Chair from 2006 to July 2015, until his return to Stanford.

Sam Berkovic is Laureate Professor in the Department of Medicine, University of Melbourne, and Director of the Epilepsy Research Centre at Austin Health, Australia. His early work was in neuroimaging where he was a pioneer in the application of MRI and single photon emission computed tomography in epilepsy. This work was rapidly applied to routine clinical use and remains so today. In the late 1980s he realized the potential for clinical genetic research in epilepsy, utilizing twins and large pedigrees. This led, together with molecular genetic collaborators in Adelaide and Germany, to the discovery of the first gene for epilepsy in 1995. Subsequently he and his group have been involved the discovery of many of the known epilepsy genes. This has changed the conceptualisation of the causes of epilepsy, is having a major impact on directions of epilepsy research, has directly translated to impacting daily clinical diagnosis and counselling, as well as refining treatment. He was elected a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science in 2005, Fellow of the Royal Society (London) in 2007, Companion of the Order of Australia in 2014 and a member of the National Academy of Medicine (USA) in 2017. Together with Ingrid Scheffer, he was awarded the Prime Minister’s Prize for Science in 2014.

Dean Mitchell has served as chairman of our board of directors since September 2020. He served as executive chairman of the board of directors of Covis Pharma Holdings S.à.r.l., a specialty pharmaceutical company, from August 2013 until its sale in March 2020 and was chairman of PaxVax Corporation from January 2016 until its sale in October 2018. Mr. Mitchell served as President and Chief Executive Officer of Lux Biosciences, Inc., a biotechnology company focusing on the treatment of ophthalmic diseases, from July 2010 to August 2013. Prior to Lux Biosciences, he served as President and Chief Executive Officer of both Alpharma, Inc., a publicly traded specialty pharmaceutical company, from 2006 until its acquisition by King Pharmaceuticals, Inc. in 2008, and Guilford Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a publicly traded pharmaceutical company focused in oncology and acute care, from 2004 until its acquisition by MGI Pharma Inc. in 2005. From 2001 to 2004, he served in various senior executive capacities in the worldwide medicines group of Bristol-Myers Squibb Company. Prior to Bristol-Myers Squibb Company, he spent 14 years at GlaxoSmithKline plc, in assignments of increasing responsibility spanning sales, marketing, general management, commercial strategy and clinical development and product strategy. Mr. Mitchell currently serves on the board of directors of Theravance Biopharma, Inc. (NASDAQ: TBPH).  He also serves as chairman of the board of directors of Recode Therapeutics, a private company. Mr. Mitchell previously served on the boards of directors of ImmunoGen Inc., Kinnate Biopharma Inc.  and Precigen, Inc. Mr. Mitchell holds an M.B.A. from City University London and a B.Sc. in Biology from Coventry University.

Merit Cudkowicz, M.D., has served as a member of our board of directors since April 2021. Dr. Cudkowicz has served as the inaugural Executive Director of the Massachusetts General Brigham Neuroscience Institute since February 2025. She previously served as the Chair of Neurology at Massachusetts General Hospital from 2012 to January 2025. Dr. Cudkowicz is the Director of the Sean M. Healey & AMG Center for ALS and Director and the Julieanne Dorn Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School. A member of the National Academy of Medicine, she has led innovations to accelerate the development of treatments for people with neurological disorders such as ALS, including the first platform trial in ALS, and serving in a senior role in the research and development of the first antisense oligonucleotide treatment for a neurological disorder. Dr. Cudkowicz is also the principal investigator of the Clinical Coordination Center for the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke’s Neurology Network of Excellence in Clinical Trials, or NeuroNEX. Dr. Cudkowicz received a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Massachusetts Institute of Technology, an M.D. from Harvard Medical School and a MSc. in Clinical Epidemiology from Harvard School of Public Health.  

William Young has served as a member of our board of directors since December 2016. Mr. Young is an Executive Advisor with Blackstone Life Sciences, which he joined in November 2018. Prior to its acquisition by Blackstone, Mr. Young joined Clarus Ventures LLC in March 2010 and held various roles, including Venture Partner, Senior Advisor and portfolio company board member. Prior to joining Clarus, Mr. Young was chairman of the board of directors and Chief Executive Officer of Monogram Biosciences Inc. from 2000 until its acquisition by Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings in 2009. Previously, Mr. Young spent 20 years at Genentech, Inc. in roles of increasing responsibility, culminating as Chief Operating Officer from 1997 to 1999. Mr. Young currently serves as a member of the board of directors of Autolus Therapeutics plc (NASDAQ: AUTL). Mr. Young previously served as the chairman of the board of directors of Annexon, Inc., and as a member of the boards of directors of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Inc., BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc., Theravance BioPharma, Inc. and NanoString Technologies, Inc. Mr. Young founded the Young Institute for advanced manufacturing of pharmaceuticals at Purdue University and chairs its advisory counsel. Mr. Young was elected to the National Academy of Engineering in 1993 for his contributions to biotechnology. Mr. Young received a B.S. in Chemical Engineering from Purdue University and an M.B.A. from Indiana University in Marketing and Finance and holds an honorary doctorate in Engineering from Purdue University.  

Gregory Norden has served as a member of our board of directors since March 2019. Mr. Norden is the former Chief Financial Officer of Wyeth Pharmaceuticals Inc. and has served as the Managing Director of G9 Capital Group LLC, which invests in early stage ventures and provides corporate advisory services, since 2010. Mr. Norden currently serves on the boards of directors of Zoetis Inc. (NYSE: ZTS) and Royalty Pharma plc (NASDAQ: RPRX). Mr. Norden previously served on the boards of directors of Human Genome Sciences, Inc., Univision, Welch Allyn and NanoString Technologies, Inc. Mr. Norden received a B.S. in Management and Economics from the State University of New York at Plattsburgh and an M.S. in Accounting from LIU Post.  

Jill DeSimone has served as a member of our board of directors since May 2022. Ms. DeSimone served as President of U.S. Oncology at Merck & Co., Inc., or Merck, from 2014 to May 2022. During her time at Merck, Ms. DeSimone also temporarily served as Interim President of U.S. Pharma to help navigate the business through the COVID-19 pandemic. Prior to joining Merck, she served as Senior Vice President of Global Women’s Health at Teva Pharmaceutical Industries Ltd, or Teva, from 2012 to 2014. Prior to her time at Teva, Ms. DeSimone served in several roles of increasing responsibility at Bristol Myers-Squibb from 1980 to 2012, including Senior Vice President of Oncology and Senior Vice President of Commercial Operations. Ms. DeSimone currently serves on the boards of directors of Affini-T Therapeutics, Inc., a private company, and Indegene Limited, a digital-first life sciences commercialization company publicly listed in India. Ms. DeSimone previously served on the boards of directors of Kinnate Biopharma, Inc. (acquired by XOMA Corporation in 2024), Oncternal Therapeutics, Inc. (ceased operations following asset sale in 2025), iTeos Therapeutics, Inc. (acquired by Concentra Biosciences in 2025) and Affini-T Therapeutics, Inc. (ceased operations in 2025). Ms. DeSimone also serves as a board member for the Florida Cancer Specialists Foundation and Swim Across America, nonprofit organizations focused on cancer patient support and research. Ms. DeSimone received a B.S. in pharmacy from Northeastern University and completed a fellowship with the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

Jeffrey Chodakewitz, M.D., has served as a member of our board of directors since April 2021. Dr. Chodakewitz has served as an advisory partner for Ascenta Capital, a life sciences investment firm, since December 2022. He previously served as a senior advisor to Blackstone Life Sciences, a life sciences private equity firm from March 2019 to January 2022. From April 2018 through March 2019, he served as Executive Vice President, Clinical Medicine and External Innovation, at Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Inc., or Vertex. Prior to that role, Dr. Chodakewitz held the roles of Chief Medical Officer and Executive Vice President, Global Medicines Development and Medical Affairs at Vertex from January 2014 to April 2018 and was a member of the Vertex Executive Committee. Prior to Vertex, Dr. Chodakewitz spent over 20 years at Merck & Co. serving in several positions, including leadership roles as Head of Infectious Diseases and Vaccines Global Development, Senior Vice President of Global Scientific Strategy (infectious disease, respiratory & immunology), Vice President of Early-Stage Development and Senior Vice President of Late-Stage Development. Dr. Chodakewitz currently serves on the boards of directors of Adicet Bio, Inc. (NASDAQ: ACET) and Schrödinger, Inc. (NASDAQ:SDGR). Dr. Chodakewitz previously served on the board of directors of Freeline Therapeutics Holdings plc.. Dr. Chodakewitz received a B.S. in Biochemistry cum laude from Yale University and an M.D. from the Yale University School of Medicine.  

Stuart Arbuckle, has served as a member of our board of directors since January 2026. Mr. Arbuckle previously served as the Executive Vice President and Chief Operating Officer of Vertex Pharmaceuticals Incorporated, or Vertex, from August 2021 to July 2025, where he was responsible for the company’s global commercial team, portfolio and program management, human resources and corporate communications. Prior to that role, he served as Executive Vice President and Chief Commercial Officer at Vertex from September 2012 to March 2021. Prior to joining Vertex, Mr. Arbuckle held several commercial leadership positions at Amgen Inc., including leading sales and marketing efforts for Amgen Inc.’s portfolio of cancer medicines and as Vice President and Regional General Manager at Amgen Inc., where he led efforts to expand the company’s presence in Asia, the Middle East, and Africa. Prior to these roles, Mr. Arbuckle spent 15 years at GlaxoSmithKline plc, where he held sales and marketing roles for medicines aimed at treating metabolic, respiratory, musculoskeletal, cardiovascular and other diseases. Mr. Arbuckle currently serves on the boards of directors of Rhythm Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: RYTM) and Alnylam Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: ALNY). Mr. Arbuckle previously served as member of the board of directors of ImmunoGen, Inc. Mr. Arbuckle holds a BSc in Pharmacology and Physiology from the University of Leeds in the United Kingdom.  

Jeffrey Kindler, J.D., has served as a member of our board of directors since January 2026. Mr. Kindler has served as Chief Executive Officer of Centrexion Therapeutics Corp., a private biopharmaceutical company, since October 2013, and as Founding Partner and Co-Chair of the Pioneer Collective, a leadership accelerator for healthcare C-suite executives, since January 2024. He previously served as Senior Advisor to Blackstone Group, an investment firm, from June 2020 to September 2025, and as Venture Partner at Artis Ventures, a venture investment firm from January 2020 to February 2024. Mr. Kindler previously served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Pfizer Inc. from 2006 to 2010. He joined Pfizer in 2002 as Executive Vice President and General Counsel and, prior to his appointment as Chief Executive Officer, served as a Vice Chairman responsible for Pfizer’s corporate affairs. Prior to Pfizer, Mr. Kindler served as Executive Vice President and General Counsel at McDonald’s Corporation, President at Partner Brands and Vice President of Litigation and Legal Policy at the General Electric Company. Mr. Kindler is a member of the boards of directors of Perrigo Company plc (NYSE: PRGO), Precigen, Inc. (NASDAQ: PGEN), Terns Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (NASDAQ: TERN) and Lupin Limited, a transnational pharmaceutical company.  Mr. Kindler previously served on the boards of directors of vTv Therapeutics Inc., PPD, Inc., and SIGA Technologies, Inc. Mr. Kindler received his undergraduate degree from Tufts University and J.D. from Harvard Law School.  

Marcio Souza has served as our President and Chief Executive Officer and a member of our board of directors since April 2020. Prior to joining us, Mr. Souza was at PTC Therapeutics, Inc. (PTC), where he served as its Chief Operating Officer from May 2017 to April 2020 and its Senior Vice President and Head of Product Strategy from July 2016 to May 2017. Prior to joining PTC, Mr. Souza served in positions of increasing responsibility at NPS Pharmaceuticals, Inc., Shire Human Genetic Therapies Inc. and Sanofi Genzyme Corporation. Mr. Souza currently serves on the board of directors of Remagine Labs, a private company. Mr. Souza previously served on the boards of directors of Spyre Therapeutics, Inc. (previously Aeglea BioTherapeutics, Inc.) and Clearpoint Neuro, Inc. (previously MRI Interventions, Inc.). Mr. Souza received a degree in pharmacy and biochemistry with a specialization in toxicology and clinical analysis from the University of São Paulo and an M.B.A. from Fundação Dom Cabral.  

Steven Petrou, Ph.D., is a co-founder of the company and has served as our President of Research & Development since January 2026. Previously, he served as our Chief Scientific Officer from January 2018 to December 2025. Dr. Petrou is currently the Head of the Ion Channels and Human Disease Laboratory at the Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health and previously served as the Director and Head of the Department. Dr. Petrou is a recognized leader in the field of ion channel neuropathies in rare pediatric epilepsies and other neurodevelopmental disorders. His published interdisciplinary research has focused on functional genetics and genomics of epilepsy, elucidation of mechanisms of disease, development of several of the first animal models of genetic epilepsy and discovery and evaluation of consequent precision medicine approaches. Dr. Petrou received a B.S. in zoology and genetics and a Ph.D. in zoophysiology from the University of Melbourne.

Alyssa Wyant has served as our Chief Regulatory and Quality Officer since December 2021. Previously, she served as Senior Vice President of Regulatory and Quality from September 2020 to November 2021. Prior to joining us, Ms. Wyant was at EryDel S.p.A, where she served as Senior Vice President, Regulatory Affairs from January 2019 to August 2020. Prior to joining EryDel, Ms. Wyant held senior leadership roles at Edge Therapeutics, Inc. PTC Therapeutics, Inc, and Shire Human Genetic Therapies. Ms. Wyant brings over 30 years of regulatory affairs and quality management experience to Praxis, including having led the creation and implementation of global strategies for the development, registration and post-approval activities for numerous approved products across both CNS and rare diseases. Ms. Wyant received a B.S. in cell and molecular biology from the University of Washington.

Tim Kelly has served as our Chief Financial Officer since May 2021. Prior to joining us, Mr. Kelly was at the Roche Group for more than 17 years serving in finance roles of increasing responsibility across product commercialization, pipeline development, manufacturing and strategic planning. His positions included chief financial officer and head of corporate management at Foundation Medicine, finance and corporate services director for Roche Pharma in the UK; and head of financial planning for the Roche Group. He has held additional roles in healthcare and consulting companies. Mr. Kelly holds a B.A. in economics from the College of William and Mary, and an M.B.A. from the Columbia Business School.

Kelly McCue has served as our Chief People Officer since December 2020. Prior joining us, Ms. McCue was at Valmet, Inc., where she served as Vice President, Human Resources Operations from July 2019 to December 2020 and as Vice President, Human Resources for their Services Business Line from 2013 to July 2019. Valmet was formed through a demerger from Metso Corporation in 2013 and Ms. McCue served in Human Resources related positions of increasing responsibility at Metso from 2006 until the demerger and transition to Valmet. Ms. McCue received her bachelor’s degree in psychology from Providence College.

Karl Hansen, Ph.D., has served as Chief Technical Operations Officer since December 2021. Previously, he served as our Senior Vice President of CMC from May 2020 to November 2021. Prior to joining us, Dr. Hansen was at Boston Pharmaceuticals, where he served as Vice President, CMC from February 2018 to May 2020. Prior to joining Boston Pharmaceuticals, Dr. Hansen served in positions of increasing responsibility across process development at Amgen and Merck. Dr. Hansen received a B.S. in chemistry from the University of Delaware and a Ph.D. in organic chemistry from Harvard University.

Megan Sniecinski has served as our Chief Operating Officer since January 2026. Previously, she served as our Chief Business Officer from December 2021 to December 2025. Prior to joining us, she served as Chief Business Officer at BioCryst Pharmaceuticals from July 2019 to August 2021, overseeing corporate development, global medical affairs, program management and global supply chain. From 2017 to 2019, she was Senior Vice President of Business Operations and Program Management at PTC Therapeutics (PTC), where she established, led and grew the program management function and led business development during the company’s transition toward becoming a fully integrated, commercial stage organization. Before joining PTC, Ms. Sniecinski spent more than a decade at Merck serving in a diverse set of operational and strategic roles supporting their manufacturing operations, commercial and G&A divisions, with increasing responsibility, culminating as director of business development and strategic partnerships at Merck Vaccines. Ms. Sniecinski received a B.S. in chemical engineering from the University of Virginia and an M.B.A. from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania. 

Alex Nemiroff, J.D., has served as our General Counsel since June 2020. Prior to his role as General Counsel, Mr. Nemiroff served as our Vice President of Legal from January 2020 to June 2020. Mr. Nemiroff was also a co-founder of RogCon, Inc. and RogCon U.R., Inc., and he has served as both entities’ Chief Executive Officer since inception in November 2015. Mr. Nemiroff has experience working in commercial and securities litigation while at Greenberg Traurig LLP, and served as law clerk to the Honorable Paul C. Huck of the United States District Court for the Southern District of Florida. Mr. Nemiroff received a B.B.A from the University of Michigan’s Ross School of Business, and a J.D. from Northwestern University School of Law.

Brian Spar has served as Chief of Staff since March 2022 and leads our rare epilepsy development teams. Prior to joining us, Mr. Spar was at BioCryst Pharmaceuticals where he served as Vice President, Head of Program Management. Prior to joining BioCryst, he held multiples positions at PTC Therapeutics including Chief of Staff to the Chief Operating Officer, Head of Program and Project Management, and Head of the Agile Center of Excellence. Mr. Spar brings more than 25 years of project management experience in pharma and biotech and has a passion for rare disease drug development.