Dr. Maurizio Fava is acknowledged as a world-renowned expert in depressive disorders and psychopharmacology. Dr. Fava is currently Director of the Division of Clinical Research of the Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) Research Institute, Executive Vice Chair, Department of Psychiatry at MGH, and Executive Director of the MGH Clinical Trials Network and Institute (CTNI), as well as Slater Family Professor of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School. He has authored or co-authored more than 600 original articles published in medical journals with international circulation. The citation impact of his work is extremely high, as his articles have been cited more than 40,000 times in the literature. He has edited eight books, published more than 50 chapters and 600 abstracts, and has given more than 350 presentations at national and international meetings. Dr. Fava is the recipient of several awards and is on the editorial board of five international medical journals.

Dr. Keller co-founded Vistagen with Dr. Ralph Snodgrass and serves as Chairman of our Scientific Advisory Board. Dr. Keller is the Director of UHN’s McEwen Centre, and Professor, Department of Medical Biophysics, University of Toronto, Ontario. He is a world leader in the field of hematopoietic development with more than 100 publications relating to blood development and stem cells. Previously, he held an endowed Chair at the Carl C. Icahn Institute for Gene Therapy and Molecular Medicine, MSSM, was a Member of the NJH, Denver, Colorado, Associate Professor, Department of Immunology, University Health Sciences Center, Denver, Colorado, a Member, Basel Institute for Immunology, Basel, Switzerland, and a Visiting Scientist at the Research Institute of Molecular Pathology, Vienna, Austria. Dr. Keller has served on several NIH study sections and is invited throughout the world to talk about his research on stem cells and blood development. Dr. Keller and Dr. Snodgrass are long-time collaborators who helped pioneer the use of stem cell systems for understanding hematopoietic development and cell biology, and as better biological systems for pharmaceutical discovery, drug rescue and drug development.

Dr. Thomas Laughren, currently a consultant in psychiatric drug development, is retired as Division Director for the Division of Psychiatry Products, Center for Drug Evaluation and Research (CDER) at the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA). Prior to joining the FDA in September 1983, he was affiliated with the VA Medical Center in Providence, RI, and was on the faculty of the Brown University Program in Medicine. He received his medical degree from the University of Wisconsin in Madison, Wisconsin, and also completed residency training in psychiatry at the University of Wisconsin. He is board certified in general psychiatry. As Division Director for the Division of Psychiatry Products, he oversaw the review of all psychiatric drug development activities conducted under Investigation New Drug (IND) and New Drug Applications (NDA) and supplements for new psychiatric drug claims. He has authored and co-authored many papers and book chapters on regulatory and methodological issues pertaining to the development of psychiatric drugs, and is a frequent speaker at professional meetings on these same topics. Dr. Laughren has received numerous awards for his regulatory accomplishments.

Dr. Liebowitz is a Columbia University psychiatrist and former director and founder of the Anxiety Disorders Clinic at the New York State Psychiatric Institute. He retired in 2006 as Director of the Anxiety Disorder Clinic, a position that he held since 1982, and is a member of the American Society of Clinical Psychopharmacology, Anxiety Disorder Association of America Scientific Advisory Board, American College of Neuropsychopharmacology and American Psychiatric Association. He is also Managing Director of The Medical Research Network LLC and serves on the editorial board of Depression and Anxiety. Dr. Liebowitz has published numerous journal articles, books and chapters about psychiatry.

Dr. Sanjay Mathew is a leading expert in the psychopharmacological management of adult patients with difficult-to-treat depressive and anxiety disorders and is currently an Associate Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas. Dr. Mathew is the Johnson Family Chair for Research in Psychiatry, Associate Professor with Tenure in the Menninger Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, and director of the Mood & Anxiety Disorders Research Program. His research program is the recipient of federal grants and contracts from the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and the Department of Veterans Affairs to develop novel therapies for patients with treatment-resistant depression and post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD). His translational research program focuses on testing of experimental therapies for depression and anxiety, and discovering illness and treatment-related biomarkers. Dr. Mathew’s group has overseen and collaborated in numerous early phase investigations of glutamate-modulating agents which act as rapidly-acting antidepressants.

Dr. Mark Smith is a research psychiatrist with more than 20 years of experience in basic research and CNS drug development from the lab bench through clinical proof of concept studies. He has been a successful project leader in both discovery and development resulting in approximately 20 investigational new drugs (INDs). Dr. Smith has directed clinical trials aimed at depression, bipolar disorder, anxiety, schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s, ADHD and agitation in Phase 1 through Phase 2b and has vast knowledge and expertise in drug discovery and development, translational neuroscience, clinical trial design and regulatory interactions. Prior to Dr. Smith serving as Chief Medical Officer of Vistagen, he was the Clinical Lead for Neuropsychiatry at Teva Pharmaceuticals, where he was accountable for the strategy and clinical development of neuropsychiatric drugs through all phases of development with a focus on schizophrenia, sleep disorders and agitation. Dr. Smith also held a range of director positions including Executive Director of Clinical Development at AstraZeneca Pharmaceutical Company where he led the early development of several novel chemical entities targeting treatment-resistant depression, anxiety and schizophrenia Dr. Smith received his Bachelor’s degree and Master of Science from Yale University, his Doctor of Medicine and Doctor of Philosophy in Physiology and Pharmacology from the University of California, San Diego and completed his residency in the Department of Psychiatry at Duke University Medical Center.

Dr. Gerard Sanacora is a Professor of Psychiatry at Yale University, the Director of the Yale Depression Research Program, and the Scientific Director of the Yale-New Haven Hospital Interventional Psychiatry Service. Dr. Sanacora is recognized as a leading translational neuroscientist in the area of mood disorders research. His work is concentrated largely on elucidating the pathophysiological mechanisms associated with mood and other neuropsychiatric disorders. Much of his recent research has focused on studies of the amino acid neurotransmitter systems (GABA and Glutamate) and their contributions to the neurobiology of mood disorders and the mechanism of rapid antidepressant action. His basic science laboratory employs a variety of rodent models to explore the effects of chronic stress on cellular and molecular biology, and to study the mechanisms of drug action. His clinical laboratory employs novel magnetic resonance spectroscopy methodologies and pharmacological challenge paradigms to study the amino acid neurotransmitter systems in individuals suffering from various neuropsychiatric disorders. In addition, Dr. Sanacora has recently led several clinical trials studying novel antidepressant drugs.

Mark Wallace, M.D., has over 30 years of professional experience in neuropathic disease and currently is the Professor of Clinical Anesthesiology, Chair of the Division of Pain Medicine, Medical Director and Director at the University of California, San Diego. Dr. Wallace is Board Certified by the Diplomate of the National Board of Medical Examiners, Diplomate of the American Board of Anesthesiology, ABA Added Qualifications in Pain Management and Diplomate of the American Board of Pain Medicine. In 2010 and 2014, Dr. Wallace received the award for American Pain Society Centers of Excellence, in 2012 received the Leonard Tow Humanism in Medicine Award, and in 2012 San Diego's Top Doctors award by the San Diego Magazine. Dr. Wallace is currently part of the 2018 World Congress of Pain Scientific Program Committee and IASP Neuropathic Pain Special Interest Group Planning Committee. Dr. Wallace has 130 peer reviewed original articles, 14 non-peer reviewed original articles, 84 abstracts, 27 scientific posters, exhibits and pictorial essays, 7 books, 2 journals, and 40 chapters.