Unlocking the Full Potential of Neuroplasticity

Chief Executive Officer

Tom Wessel, M.D., Ph.D. is a board-certified neurologist with more than 25 years of drug development experience, including as medical lead for three CNS products approved in the United States: Razadyne^®, Lunesta^® and Ampyra^®.

Previously, Dr. Wessel served as Executive Vice President, Research and Development at Relmada Therapeutics where he lead all clinical development and regulatory activities. Prior to Relmada he served as Chief Medical Officer at Asceneuron, Chief Medical Officer at Flex Pharma, Chief Medical Officer at Acorda Therapeutics, Senior Vice President of Clinical Research at Sepracor and worked on several CNS projects at Janssen Pharmaceutica in Europe and the United States.

Dr. Wessel received his M.D. from the Ludwig-Maximilians-University in Munich and his Ph.D. in experimental neurobiology at the Max- Planck-Institute for Psychiatry in Martinsried, Germany. He completed his residency in neurology at New York Hospital and Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center (Cornell University Medical Center) where he remained on the faculty for several years as an Instructor and Assistant Professor before joining the industry.

Co-Founder and Chief Scientific Officer

Peter S. DiStefano, Ph.D. is Chief Scientific Officer at Cognesy Therapeutics. He has more than 35 years of experience in pharmaceutical and biotech industries, having held several positions in drug discovery and development.

Previously, Dr. DiStefano was CSO at Zebra Biologics, focused on agonist antibody engineering. Prior to that he was Senior Vice President of Research and Development at Second Genome, a microbiome company. From 2001–2012 he was Chief Scientific Officer and Senior Vice President of Research and Development at Elixir Pharmaceuticals, focused on metabolic diseases and neurology. Dr. DiStefano was Senior Director of Neurobiology at Millennium Pharmaceuticals heading up psychiatric diseases, pain and urology programs. He was also Senior Staff Scientist at Regeneron Pharmaceuticals and was instrumental in the discovery and development of neurotrophic factors. Dr. DiStefano started his career at Abbott Laboratories in the Neuroscience Department, focusing on peripheral and central neurodegenerative diseases. In 2010 he founded Acylin Therapeutics, Inc., in Seattle, WA, emphasizing epigenetic mechanisms for cancer therapy.

Dr. DiStefano received his undergraduate degree in biology from Kenyon College and his Ph.D. in pharmacology from Upstate Medical Center in Syracuse. He did his postdoctoral training in pharmacology at Washington University School of Medicine. He has co-authored more than 110 manuscripts, reviews and book chapters and is a co-inventor on 12 issued patents.

SVP, Corporate Strategy

Danny Talati, Pharm.D., MBA is Senior Vice President, Corporate Strategy at Cognesy Therapeutics. He has spent more than 20 years in the pharmaceutical industry in a variety of roles, including sales, medical and business development.

Prior to joining Cognesy, Dr. Talati was Head of Business Development at atai Life Sciences where he played a major role in building the company’s portfolio.  He held roles at a number of companies, including ten years at Eli Lilly, primarily in the Neuroscience Medical division.

Dr. Talati earned a Doctor of Pharmacy degree from Northeastern University and an M.B.A. from London Business School.

Co-Founder and VP, Research

John Byrnes, Ph.D. is a translational neuroscientist who has studied brain mechanisms of psychiatric diseases and psychotropic drugs for more than 25 years. He is also a seasoned clinician with experience that includes neuropsychological assessment, psychotherapy, and cognitive rehabilitation.

His previous work includes CNS target discovery at Millennium Pharmaceuticals, Head of In Vivo Pharmacology at Ore Pharmaceuticals, and Clinical Coordinator of inpatient Cognitive Rehabilitation at Worcester State Hospital. Most recently, Dr. Byrnes co-founded Metrowest Neuropsychology LLC., a clinical neuropsychology group practice in Central Massachusetts where he served for over 8 years as Director of Operations. He has also served on the faculty at Tufts University and maintains an adjunct appointment as Research Associate Professor at the Cummings School. 

Dr. Byrnes holds a Ph.D. in neuroscience from The Ohio State University School of Medicine, and a M.A. in counseling psychology from Framingham State University. He received postdoctoral training in neuropharmacology at Tufts University School of Medicine, and later completed a second postdoctoral residency in clinical psychology at the Massachusetts Department of Mental Health. Throughout his career, Dr. Byrnes has lectured in neuroscience and psychopharmacology at multiple colleges and universities, and he has more than 25 peer-reviewed scientific publications.

Co-Founder and Sr. Director, Chemistry

Gary Bohnert, Ph.D. brings more than 18 years of experience in medicinal chemistry, drug discovery, and project leadership to his role at Cognesy.

Previously, Dr. Bohnert served as principal investigator at EMD Serono where he initiated and managed multiple HTS and phenotypic screening programs. He also served as an Investigator at Tempero Pharmaceuticals and later at GlaxoSmithKline, where his teams progressed molecules from hit through lead optimization, including a Th17-modulating development candidate. Dr. Bohnert began his career in the medicinal chemistry group at Synta Pharmaceuticals, where he used ligand-based drug design for ion channel modulation as with the invention of RO2959.

Dr. Bohnert received a Ph.D. in organic chemistry from the University of Missouri-Columbia and a B.S. in chemistry from Southeast Missouri University. He completed his postdoctoral training at Boston University, and has more than 22 scientific patents and publications.