IFM Therapeutics LLC Appoints Dr. Michael Heneka to Clinical Advisory Board
BOSTON and BONN, Germany, Dec. 20, 2017 /PRNewswire-USNewswire/ -- IFM Therapeutics, LLC (IFM), a privately held biopharmaceutical company focused on developing therapies that modulate novel targets in the innate immune system to treat inflammatory disorders and cancer, today announced the appointment of Dr. Michael Heneka to its clinical advisory board. Heneka, who serves as Director of the Department of Neurodegenerative Diseases and Gerontopsychiatry at the University Hospital of Bonn, Germany, will join a group of seven distinguished immunotherapy pioneers on the IFM Therapeutics clinical advisory board.
"IFM Therapeutics is advancing breakthrough research to understand the roles that the innate immune system and chronic inflammation play in some of the world's most critical diseases," said Heneka. "I am pleased to join IFM's clinical advisory board and provide clinical and scientific guidance to help progress their exciting programs, which have the potential to improve the lives of millions of patients with neuroinflammatory disorders."
Heneka is one of the world's experts in neuroinflammation and his research has yielded deep insight into molecular mechanisms of innate immune activation in Alzheimer's disease, Amytrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS), Parkinson's disease and other neurodegenerative disorders. For example, Heneka together with IFM Co-founder Eicke Latz, were the first to define a critical role of NLRP3 inflammasome activation in the pathogenesis of Alzheimer's disease. Heneka has authored 150 peer-reviewed publications and held prestigious appointments worldwide throughout his career, including a fellowship at the Department of Neurosciences at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, USA, and professorships in molecular neurology at the University of Münster (WWU), and in clinical neurosciences at the Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität Bonn.
In addition to his roles as a physician, researcher, reviewer and teacher, Dr. Heneka oversees a translational research group that works to improve preventive, disease-modifying, and acute therapy for patients suffering from neurodegenerative disease. The Heneka Lab focuses on biomarkers for early disease detection, new targets for therapeutic intervention, and unique approaches to patient consultation and disease management.
"Dr. Michael Heneka has dedicated his career to addressing neurodegenerative diseases that the world has long known about, but for which few effective therapeutic interventions have been developed," said H. Martin Seidel, Executive Vice President of Research and Development at IFM. "Based on Michael's work, we have begun to understand how the innate immune system, and specifically NLRP3 inflammasome activation, drives diseases such as Alzheimer's and ALS. We are thrilled to welcome him as part of our clinical advisory board and look forward to his valuable input going forward."
Heneka completed his medical coursework at the University of Tübingen, Germany in 1996, and obtained his medical degree in 1998 at the school's Institute of Pharmacology and Toxicology. He completed a postdoc in the laboratory of Douglas L. Feinstein at the University of Illinois in Chicago, USA, achieved board certification in neurology in 2002, and received his qualification as professor of neurology in 2003.
About IFM Therapeutics, LLC
IFM Therapeutics, LLC is a privately held biopharmaceutical company based in Boston, Massachusetts. The company was founded by an international group of preeminent scientists and physicians who have spent decades understanding innate immunity and the role it plays in regulating the immune system. IFM's team has discovered and developed small molecules that modulate novel targets in the innate immune system as next-generation therapies for cancer, autoimmunity, and inflammatory disorders. For more information, please visit www.ifmthera.com.
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SOURCE IFM Therapeutics
