Kathleen Clarence-Smith MD, PhD
Chair (View Profile)
Thomas N. Chase, SB, MD
Member (View Profile)
Karoly Nikolich, PhD
Chief Executive Officer and Chairman of the Board of Directors of Alkahest, Inc., Member
Dr. Nikolich led Genentech’s entry into neuroscience during the 1980s and led and participated in the development of numerous protein therapeutics. He was Vice President of Research at Lynx Therapeutics, co-founder of AGY Therapeutics, Amnestix, Neurofluidics, Chase Pharmaceuticals, Circuit Therapeutics, and Alkahest. He has served on the boards and scientific advisory boards at a number of neurotherapeutics and biotech companies, as well as investment funds. Dr. Nikolich is a graduate of Eotvos University in Budapest and worked as postdoctoral fellow at Tulane University and UCSF before joining Genentech. He has been Consulting Professor in the Department of Psychiatry at Stanford University Medical School.
Karoly Nikolich has recently joined the Science Advisory Board of NeuroRepair Inc. He is past executive director of the Neuroscience Institute at Stanford University and presently a consulting professor at the Stanford Medical School. He is the founder, CEO, and chief science officer at AGY Therapeutics Inc. and CEO of Amnestix Inc., both of which are biotechnology companies specializing in neurological disorders.
Formerly, Dr. Nikolich was vice president of Research at Lynx Therapeutics Inc., a pioneering genomics technology company. From 1983 to 1995, he worked at Genentech Inc., where he built up and led Genentech’s neuroscience research.
Dr. Nikolich earned his PhD at Eotvos University in Budapest, Hungary. He holds advanced degrees in Neuroscience from the University of California, San Francisco, School of Medicine, and from the Tulane School of Medicine.
John M. Reher
Managing Director of Brain Trust Accelerator Fund, Member
John M. Reher created the Brain Trust Accelerator Fund in 2006. The goal of this venture capital fund is to earn an attractive rate of return by creating and investing in early-stage medical companies that address brain-related diseases. The general partner of the fund donates a portion of its management fee and the carried interest to brain disease charities, which provide deal flow and advisory services. investments include Amnestix (sold to Sygnis Pharma), BrainScope, Chase Pharmaceuticals (sold to Allergan) Chase Therapeutics, Neurofluidics (Minnetronix) and Satoris (sold to Myriad Genetics).
He was founding president and executive director of Accelerate Brain Cancer Cure, Inc. (ABC2) from 2001-2006. ABC2 is a non-profit organization dedicated to accelerating therapies for treatment of brain cancer by employing venture principles to this philanthropic endeavor.
Mr. Reher previously had more than 12 years of venture capital experience as a general partner and co-founder of Medicus Venture Partners, an early-stage healthcare venture partnership with investments including Biosite Diagnostics, Inhale Therapeutic Systems (now Nektar), Tularik, and other successful companies.
Before entering the venture industry in 1989, Mr. Reher held financial, marketing, licensing, acquisitions and overall team leader positions for Genentech (1982-1989) and G.D. Searle Pharmaceuticals (1974-1981).
Mr. Reher has taught college courses in Economics, Finance and Investments. He received a Masters of Management degree from Northwestern University and a BS in Mathematics and Business Economics from Illinois Benedictine University.
