Dr. John Krystal is best known for the discovery of the rapid antidepressant effects of ketamine in patients (2000) and the invention of Esketamine, which directly led to FDA approval of Jannsen’s Spravato Esketamine spray, the first novel antidepressant in 50 years (Esketamine, 2019). John is also one of the top experts in the neurobiology and treatment of alcoholism and PTSD. Most recently, he co-founded the National PTSD Brain Bank and co-led the first transcriptomic studies of PTSD.

Dina Burkitbayeva is a serial entrepreneur and a co-founder at PsyMed Ventures, venture fund focused on cutting edge mental health treatments including psychedelic therapeutic, neurotechnology, precision psychiatry and digital therapeutics. Dina holds an MBA from Harvard Business School and is working towards her PhD in East West Psychology with a focus on psychedelic therapy at California Institute of Integral Studies.

Dr. Robert Berman first discovered the antidepressant effects of ketamine in humans alongside Dr John Krystal in 1990s at Yale. For over 20 years he has worked within the industry, first at Pfizer and then Bristol-Myers Squibb in clinical development roles, including leading the program for aripiprazole in depression, for which he developed novel clinical trial design that achieved three out of three highly statistically significant trials. In 2013, Rob co-founded Biohaven Pharmaceuticals (NYSE:BHVN) and was Chief Medical Officer until 2019.

Dr. Alex Kwan is a neuroscientist whose work is focused on the neurobiology of antidepressants. He is known for using sophisticated optical imaging methods to show how drugs such as ketamine and psilocybin modify the structure and function of brain circuitry. His research has been published in top peer-reviewed journals including Nature Neuroscience, Neuron, and Biological Psychiatry. He has a Ph.D. in Applied Physics from Cornell University and is currently an Associate Professor in the Meinig School of Biomedical Engineering at Cornell University.

David Hough, MD is the Chief Medical Officer at Freedom Biosciences. Prior to joining Freedom, Dr. Hough spent 17 years  in various leadership roles at Janssen Research and Development, LLC (a Johnson & Johnson company). Most recently, he was the leader of the compound development team working on Spravato (esketamine).

Dr. Janice Lansita is a board-certified toxicologist with over 17 years of experience, both in the biopharmaceutical industry and with the Food and Drug Administration (FDA). As a regulatory toxicologist, she has developed small molecule (NME and 505(b)(2)) and biologic therapies for a broad range of indications (e.g., rare disease, oncology, neurology, pain, ophthalmology, and immunology).

Dr. Gerard Sanacora is the George D. Gross and Esther S. Gross Professor of Psychiatry at the Yale University School of Medicine, Director of the Yale Depression Research Program, and Co-Director of the Interventional Psychiatry Program at Yale-New Haven Hospital. For the past 25 years his research has focused using both preclinical and clinical studies in attempts to expand our understanding of the pathophysiology of mood disorders and to use this information in developing new approaches in treating mood and other neuropsychiatric disorders.

Lizzy Sands is an experienced leader in both health and wellness operations. Her work in clinical practice as a nutritionist evolved into that of operator, and she has worked in a range of settings spanning the healthcare and wellness spaces. From functional medicine, concierge medicine and wellness, to chronic care management and beyond, her focus is on developing sustainable solutions that drive patient care forward.

Dr Julie Straub directs Freedom Bio’s nonclinical development and chemistry, manufacturing and controls (CMC) and formulation efforts on a consulting basis. She is an experienced pharmaceutical development consultant working with a range of development stage pharmaceutical and biotech companies from concept through FDA marketing approval for a variety of products.