Independent

Franz Hefti brings 40 years of experience in academic neuroscience and industrial drug discovery and development. Early in his career, as Associate Professor at the University of Miami and tenured Professor at the University of Southern California, he published extensively on neurotrophic factors and topics in neuropharmacology. He then transitioned to industry and served as Head of Neuroscience Research at and Senior Vice President of Neuroscience Research at Merck & Co. In the last 20 years, Franz worked in the biotech industry as an executive, board member, co-founder, and scientific advisor for several early-stage neurology companies, including Rinat Neuroscience, Avid Radiopharmaceuticals, Acumen Pharmaceuticals, Covagen, Cadent Therapeutics, and Cognition Therapeutics. He joined Prevail at inception and was appointed CEO and Senior Vice President following the acquisition by Eli Lilly and Company. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Zurich and completed his postdoctoral research at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.