Team

Michael A. Yassa, Ph.D.

Co-Founder

Dr. Yassa is recognized for his highly cited work on memory alterations in aging and Alzheimer’s disease and as a leader in the neuroscience of learning and memory. His laboratory develops innovative high-resolution human imaging techniques and digital cognitive tests to probe brain circuits at fine levels of detail. Over the last 15 years, his work has focused on digital and neural biomarker development for age-related cognitive decline and dementia. Yassa’s work has led to over 120 peer-reviewed publications and over $50M in federal grant funding. He began his academic career at the Johns Hopkins University, then moved to the University of California Irvine, where he is now professor and James L. McGaugh Endowed Chair with appointments in Neurobiology, Neurology, and Psychiatry. He is also director of the world-renowned Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, founded in 1983. Yassa earned his BA in Neuroscience and MA in Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology from the Johns Hopkins University and his PhD in Neurobiology from the University of California, Irvine.

Adele Gilpin, Ph.D., J.D.

Co-Founder

Dr. Gilpin works at the interface of clinical trials design and conduct, and FDA regulatory requirements. As a clinical trials methodologist and a Food and Drug Regulatory attorney, she primarily works on bringing new neurological medical devices to market, with particular attention to the FDA hurdles in investigational products, and complying with FDA requirements. Her work has included designing and conducting multicenter drug and device clinical trials, and chairing or participating in multiple Institutional Review Boards and Data and Safety Monitoring Boards. Gilpin brings decades of experience both in academic medical research – at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health and the University of Maryland School of Medicine – and in FDA legal/regulatory practice – at AMLAW 100 law firm bioscience practices. Gilpin is an adjunct visiting professor at the Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory at the University of California Irvine. She has a BA in Psychology, an MA and PhD in Quantitative Psychology from Temple University, and a JD from Georgetown University Law Center.

Michael Yassa, Ph.D.

Co-Founder and Chief Scientific Advisor

Dr. Yassa is recognized as a leader in the neuroscience of memory and  memory loss in Alzheimer’s disease and chief developer of the Augnition Labs technology. 

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Adele Gilpin, Ph.D., J.D.

Co-Founder and Chief Regulatory Officer

Dr. Gilpin serves as head of regulatory affairs for Augnition and  is highly experienced in clinical trials methodology and FDA regulatory requirements. 

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Marco Peters, Ph.D.

Co-Founder and Scientific Advisor

Dr. Peters is a leader in translational research, target discovery, and small molecule discovery for CNS indications, with emphasis on memory loss and plasticity.

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Andrew Anderson, B.Sc., M.B.A.

Principal Technical Advisor

Mr. Anderson serves as Principal Technical Advisor for Augnition, managing an ecosystem of technology partners to develop and commercialize platform applications.

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Ali Kennedy Scott, B.Com., M.F.A.

Head of Corporate Development and Strategy

Ms. Kennedy Scott is a management consultant with extensive experience working with private equity firms and early-stage ventures in the health and technology space.

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Laurence Unger, M.B.A.

Head of Finance

Ms. Unger is an experienced executive and investment professional with a diverse background in hedge fund management, start-up and business development.

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Financial Compliance Information

Michael A. Yassa, Ph.D.

Co-Founder and Chief Scientific Advisor

Dr. Yassa is recognized for his highly cited work on memory alterations in aging and Alzheimer’s disease and as a leader in the neuroscience of learning and memory. His laboratory develops innovative high-resolution human imaging techniques and digital cognitive tests to probe brain circuits at fine levels of detail. Over the last 15 years, his work has focused on digital and neural biomarker development for age-related cognitive decline and dementia. Yassa’s work has led to over 120 peer-reviewed publications and over $50M in federal grant funding. He began his academic career at the Johns Hopkins University, then moved to the University of California Irvine, where he is now professor and James L. McGaugh Endowed Chair with appointments in Neurobiology, Neurology, and Psychiatry. He is also director of the world-renowned Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory, founded in 1983. Yassa earned his BA in Neuroscience and MA in Cognitive Neuroscience and Psychology from the Johns Hopkins University and his PhD in Neurobiology from the University of California, Irvine.

Adele Gilpin, Ph.D., J.D.

Co-Founder and Chief Regulatory Officer

Dr. Gilpin works at the interface of clinical trials design and conduct, and FDA regulatory requirements. As a clinical trials methodologist and a Food and Drug Regulatory attorney, she primarily works on bringing new neurological medical devices to market, with particular attention to the FDA hurdles in investigational products, and complying with FDA requirements. Her work has included designing and conducting multicenter drug and device clinical trials, and chairing or participating in multiple Institutional Review Boards and Data and Safety Monitoring Boards. Gilpin brings decades of experience both in academic medical research – at the Johns Hopkins School of Public Health and the University of Maryland School of Medicine – and in FDA legal/regulatory practice – at AMLAW 100 law firm bioscience practices. Gilpin is an adjunct visiting professor at the Center for the Neurobiology of Learning and Memory at the University of California Irvine. She has a BA in Psychology, an MA and PhD in Quantitative Psychology from Temple University, and a JD from Georgetown University Law Center.

Marco Peters, Ph.D.

Co-Founder and Scientific Advisor

Dr. Peters has over 20 years of experience in translational research, target discovery, and small molecule discovery for CNS indications. He built and managed small and large research teams, and his work has contributed to the discovery, progression, and clinical development of small molecule therapeutics for the treatment of multiple neurological indications including stroke, Alzheimer’s Disease, Parkinson’s disease, pain, and schizophrenia. He currently serves as vice president and head of translational science at Longboard Pharmaceuticals. Peters built the departments of Neurobiology and Behavioral Pharmacology, and managed target identification, in vivo pharmacology, and lead optimization at Dart Neuroscience. His work contributed to the advancement of multiple compounds into clinical development, and led to a broad intellectual property portfolio focused on enhancement of brain plasticity and cognitive function. Peters has a M.Sc. in Biochemistry from the Freie Universität Berlin, Germany and a PhD in Neuroscience from the University of London, UK. He conducted postdoctoral work on Alzheimer’s disease with Tetsuyuki Maruyama at Merck Sharp & Dohme (UK).

Andrew Anderson, B.Sc., M.B.A.

Principal Technical Advisor

Mr. Anderson serves as Principal Technical Advisor for Augnition—managing an ecosystem of technology partners to develop and commercialize platform applications.  His focus is to deliver applications that meet the scientific, technical, and user-experience expectations of end-users, influencers, and beneficiaries. Mr. Anderson began his career as an analytical chemist and regulatory CMC specialist at Pfizer before moving into various business development and strategic partnership roles at scientific software and automation services organizations. More recently, he was responsible for technology scouting and alliance management at PepsiCo. In addition to his role with Augnition, Anderson is also a part of the Executive Leadership Team at Advanced Chemistry Development, Inc., serving as Vice President of Innovation.  He earned a B.Sc. in Chemistry and an MBA from San Diego State University.

Ali Kennedy Scott, B.Com, M.A.

Head of Corporate Development and Strategy

Ms. Kennedy Scott is a management consultant with 18 years’ experience, Ali commenced her career at Bain & Co, and has advised numerous Fortune 500 and ASX 200 companies on M&A, growth strategy and organizational effectiveness. She has extensive experience working with both private equity firms and early-stage ventures in the health and technology space, conducting due diligence on potential acquisition and building roadmaps for value creation and impact. In addition, she serves on multiple non-profit boards. She holds a first-class honors degree in economics from the University of Sydney and a Masters in Cultural Leadership from the National Institute of Dramatic Art in Australia.

Laurence Unger, M.B.A.

Director of Finance

Ms. Unger is an experienced executive and investment professional with a diverse background in hedge fund management, start-up and business development, and not-for-profit management. She draws on eight years of experience as an investment manager at a global long-short hedge fund where she covered many industries including large cap pharma and biotech. She has extensive experience advising on a wide array of investment classes and strategies for family offices. She holds an M.B.A from Columbia Business School and a B.A. from Oxford University.