Speakers

Daniel O’Connell

Daniel O’Connell

Chief Executive Officer

Daniel O’Connell has over 20 years of venture creation, venture investment and start-up operations experience with a focus on neurosciences companies. He has served as president and chief executive officer of Acumen Pharmaceuticals, Inc., since December 2014. Under his leadership, Acumen has successfully transitioned from a privately held, pre-clinical biotech company to a publicly traded clinical-stage company developing a potential best-in-class treatment for early Alzheimer’s disease. O’Connell previously cofounded and served as president and chief executive officer of Functional NeuroModulation Ltd., a clinical-stage company developing deep brain stimulation therapies for Alzheimer’s disease. O’Connell is a founding member and former managing partner of NeuroVentures Capital, LLC, a firm he helped to invest in emerging neurosciences companies. He earned a Bachelor of Arts from Brown University and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Virginia.

Jim Doherty, PhD

Jim Doherty, PhD

President & Chief Development Officer

Dr. Doherty (Jim) is President and Chief Development Officer at Acumen Pharmaceuticals and brings over two decades of leadership experience in CNS R&D, including the development of novel medicines, such as Zulresso and Zurzuvae. Before joining Acumen, he was Chief Development Officer at Sage Therapeutics, where he led the development of novel medicines to treat CNS disorders. Dr Doherty held multiple roles during his tenure at Sage, leading efforts at various times in Preclinical Research, Experimental Medicine, and Clinical Development. Jim has led multiple program teams to progress candidate molecules through the stages of drug discovery and development. His experience with company-building, collaboration management, investor relations, and regulatory interactions has helped to build significant value to CNS pipelines. Before Sage, Dr. Doherty was head of the preclinical Neuroscience department for the CNS and Pain Innovative Medicine unit of AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals, where he was responsible for leading preclinical neuroscience research and advanced over 20 programs into clinical development. He has extensive experience leading programs in neurology, psychiatry, analgesia, seizure control, and cognition.

Dr. Doherty has published over 250 peer-reviewed scientific papers, abstracts, and conference presentations, and holds multiple patents. He received his B.A. from the University of Delaware, Ph.D. from Georgetown University and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Emory University School of Medicine.

Eric Siemers, MD

Eric Siemers, MD

Chief Medical Officer

Eric Siemers, MD, has more than 25 years experience overseeing clinical trials of neurodegenerative disease and joined Acumen as Chief Medical Officer in 2018. He joined Eli Lilly and Company in 1998 and was responsible for several clinical trials for Alzheimer’s compounds, including five phase III studies as well as phase I and II studies. Prior to Lilly, Dr. Siemers founded the Indiana University Movement Disorder Clinic, where his research included Parkinson’s and Huntington’s disease. Dr. Siemers served on the NIA/Alzheimer’s Association working group that proposed new research nomenclature for Alzheimer’s disease utilizing biomarkers and clinical symptoms. He was a founding member of the Alzheimer’s Association Research Roundtable and was on the steering committee for the Alzheimer’s Disease Neuroimaging Initiative. Dr. Siemers earned his MD from the Indiana University School of Medicine.

Dr. Paul Solomon

Dr. Paul Solomon

Founder and Clinical Director of the Boston Center for Memory

Dr. Paul Solomon is a founder and Clinical Director of the Boston Center for Memory specializing in Clinical Neuropsychology and neuroscience. He is a professor in the Department of Neurology at Boston University School of Medicine and an investigator at Boston University Alzheimer's Disease Center. Dr. Solomon is Professor Emeritus at Williams College in Williamstown, MA. He founded the neuroscience program at Williams College.

He is the founder and former Clinical Director of the Memory Clinic in Bennington, Vermont, and President of Clinical Neuroscience Research Associates. He has served as the first Director of Training for the Southwestern Vermont Psychology Consortium. He is currently Professor of Psychology and founding Chairman of the Neuroscience Program at Williams College.

Dr. Solomon was a lead investigator on the clinical trials for Cognex, the first drug approved for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease in 1994. He was an author on the paper published in the Journal of the American Medical Association that served as the basis for the FDA approval of the drug. Since that time he has served as a principle investigator on more than 200 clinical trials in Mild Cognitive Impairment, Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias and served as an investigator of trials that led to the FDA approval of the 4 approved medications available to treat Alzheimer's disease. He also was an investigator of the trials that led to the approval of the PET amyloid scan.

Dr. Solomon has received a numerous awards including a Distinguished Teaching Award from the University of Massachusetts, a National Research Service Award from the National Institutes of Health, and a National Needs Postdoctoral Fellowship from the National Science Foundation, and a clinical research award from the American Association of Family Physicians. He has been elected as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Psychological Association and the American Psychological Society. He is listed in Who’s Who in America, American Men and Women of Science, Who’s Who in Education, and Who’s Who in Frontier Science and Technology. Dr. Solomon has served on the Editorial Board of several journals and serves as an external reviewer for numerous journals and granting agencies. He has lectured widely at colleges and universities on age-related memory disorders and at medical centers and hospitals on the diagnosis and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. Dr. Solomon has also appeared frequently to discuss pharmacotherapy for Alzheimer’s disease on national television including The Today Show, Good Morning America, The CBS Morning Show, and CBS, ABC, and NBC Evening News. His work on screening for Alzheimer ’s disease has been featured on Dateline NBC.

Dr. Solomon received his Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He was a postdoctoral fellow in the Laboratory of Richard F. Thompson in Department of Psychobiology at the University of California at Irvine. He is the author of several books, has also contributed chapters to 20 edited volumes, and has co-authored and presented more than 200 research papers. His work has been published in Science, Scientific American, Journal of the American Medical Association, and Lancet. He has delivered more than 500 invited colloquia, symposia, grand rounds, lectures, and presentations. He has been the recipient of research grants from the National Science Foundation, The National Institute on Aging, The National Institute of Mental Health, The United States Environmental Protection Agency, as well as private foundations and pharmaceutical research divisions.

Dr. Paul Solomon is a founder and Clinical Director of the Boston Center for Memory specializing in Clinical Neuropsychology and neuroscience. He is a professor in the Department of Neurology at Boston University School of Medicine and an investigator at Boston University Alzheimer's Disease Center. Dr. Solomon is Professor Emeritus at Williams College in Williamstown, MA. He founded the neuroscience program at Williams College.

He is the founder and former Clinical Director of the Memory Clinic in Bennington, Vermont, and President of Clinical Neuroscience Research Associates. He has served as the first Director of Training for the Southwestern Vermont Psychology Consortium. He is currently Professor of Psychology and founding Chairman of the Neuroscience Program at Williams College.

Dr. Solomon was a lead investigator on the clinical trials for Cognex, the first drug approved for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease in 1994. He was an author on the paper published in the Journal of the American Medical Association that served as the basis for the FDA approval of the drug. Since that time he has served as a principle investigator on more than 200 clinical trials in Mild Cognitive Impairment, Alzheimer’s disease and related dementias and served as an investigator of trials that led to the FDA approval of the 4 approved medications available to treat Alzheimer's disease. He also was an investigator of the trials that led to the approval of the PET amyloid scan.

Dr. Solomon has received a numerous awards including a Distinguished Teaching Award from the University of Massachusetts, a National Research Service Award from the National Institutes of Health, and a National Needs Postdoctoral Fellowship from the National Science Foundation, and a clinical research award from the American Association of Family Physicians. He has been elected as a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, the American Psychological Association and the American Psychological Society. He is listed in Who’s Who in America, American Men and Women of Science, Who’s Who in Education, and Who’s Who in Frontier Science and Technology. Dr. Solomon has served on the Editorial Board of several journals and serves as an external reviewer for numerous journals and granting agencies.

He has lectured widely at colleges and universities on age-related memory disorders and at medical centers and hospitals on the diagnosis and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. Dr. Solomon has also appeared frequently to discuss pharmacotherapy for Alzheimer’s disease on national television including The Today Show, Good Morning America, The CBS Morning Show, and CBS, ABC, and NBC Evening News. His work on screening for Alzheimer ’s disease has been featured on Dateline NBC.

Dr. Solomon received his Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Massachusetts Amherst. He was a postdoctoral fellow in the Laboratory of Richard F. Thompson in Department of Psychobiology at the University of California at Irvine. He is the author of several books, has also contributed chapters to 20 edited volumes, and has co-authored and presented more than 200 research papers. His work has been published in Science, Scientific American, Journal of the American Medical Association, and Lancet. He has delivered more than 500 invited colloquia, symposia, grand rounds, lectures, and presentations. He has been the recipient of research grants from the National Science Foundation, The National Institute on Aging, The National Institute of Mental Health, The United States Environmental Protection Agency, as well as private foundations and pharmaceutical research divisions.

Stephen Salloway, MD, MS

Stephen Salloway, MD, MS

Butler Hospital; Brown University

Dr. Salloway is an internationally recognized leader in clinical trials for the prevention and treatment of Alzheimer’s disease. He received his MD from Stanford Medical School and completed residencies in neurology and psychiatry at Yale University. He is the founding Director of the Memory and Aging Program at Butler Hospital, Associate Director of the Brown Center for Alzheimer’s Disease Research, and Professor of Neurology and Psychiatry at the Department of Psychiatry and Human Behavior, Warren Alpert Medical School of Brown University. He has been a lead author for key publications in Alzheimer’s biomarker and treatment research in the New England Journal of Medicine, Nature and other top-tiered journals that have helped shaped the field of Alzheimer’s research. He is an expert on amyloid-related imaging abnormalities and its management and is a member of the Alzheimer’s Disease and Related Disorders Therapeutic Work Group developing appropriate use recommendations to safely guide the clinical use of new disease-modifying treatments. He has published over 400 scientific articles and abstracts and edited 3 books and lectures widely about the early diagnosis and prevention of Alzheimer’s disease.