Leadership Team
Elena Molokanova, PhD
Chief Executive Officer
Alex Savtchenko, PhD
Chief Science Officer
Lily Lamboy, PhD
Head of Business Development
Dr. Molokanova is a biophysicist and neuroscientist whose drug discovery research spans the biophysics of ion channels (UC Berkeley), clinical neurology studies with Parkinson's patients and Mir Space Station astronauts (Institute of Space Neurology, Austria), neuroscience drug discovery (Amgen), high-content imaging (Life Technologies), and neurodegenerative disorders (Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute).
Dr. Savtchenko is a biophysicist and chemist with extensive academic and industry experience. Across institutions including Stanford University, Amgen, Affymax, Axon Instruments, and Molecular Probes, he has pioneered technologies at the intersection of physics, chemistry, and biology, including automated electrophysiology platforms, nanotechnology-based live-cell sensors, and graphene-mediated optical stimulation systems.
Dr. Lamboy is an executive with 15 years of leadership in business development, strategic partnerships, and academic translation. An expert in bridging scientific and commercial worlds to scale impact and grow mission-driven ventures, she has held academic positions at Stanford University and executive roles at Blue Shield of California, Stripe, Panasonic, and the Modern Family Institute.
Academic Collaborations
Alysson Muotri, PhD
Dr. Muotri, PhD is a pioneering leader in stem cell neuroscience and brain organoid technology.
His work has produced major advances in autism, Alzheimer’s disease, and other brain disorders and has even extended to space biology experiments conducted aboard the International Space Station in collaboration with NASA. Importantly, discoveries from his organoid research have already helped identify drug candidates that advanced toward clinical testing for neurodevelopmental disorders.
Dr. Muotri’s pioneering work has been recognized with numerous honors, including the NIH Director’s New Innovator Award, the NIH EUREKA Award, the Brain & Behavior Research Foundation NARSAD Young Investigator Award, and the BrightFocus Foundation Award.
Albert La Spada, MD, PhD, FACMGG
Distinguished Professor, UC Irvine
Departments of Pathology & Laboratory Medicine, Neurology, and Chemistry
Kevin Beier, PhD
Associate Professor, UC Irvine
Department of Physiology & Biophysics
Dr. La Spada is Associate Dean for Research Development and Director, UCI Institute for Neurotherapeutics.
Dr. La Spada is a physician-scientist and has worked on neurodegenerative disease more than 30 years. La Spada has applied emerging genomics, proteomics, and metabolic techniques to the study of neurobiology and neuropathology. His research program has a significant translational and therapeutic portfolio, based upon mechanistic insights and target pathways that he identified.
Dr. La Spada has been named a Paul Beeson Physici-an-Faculty Scholar, inducted into the American Society for Clinical Investigation and the Association of American Physi-cians, bestowed with a Gund-Harrington Scholar award, and was selected for the Chan-Zuckerberg Initiative’s Neurodegeneration Challenge Network.
Dr. Beier is a leading expert in neural circuit mapping and the development of advanced viral-genetic tools for studying brain connectivity. His research focuses on how neural circuits underlying pain, addiction, and neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer’s disease are organized and remodeled by experience.
Dr. Beier’s innovative work has been recognized with major honors, including the NIH Director’s New Innovator Award and funding from the BrightFocus Foundation, and has produced influential publications advancing our understanding of brain circuit function. His pioneering approaches to dissecting complex neural networks bring powerful capabilities to the study of disease mechanisms and the development of new therapeutic strategies.
Professor, UC San Diego
Departments of Pediatrics and Cellular and Molecular Medicine