Researchers have spent more than $30 billion on failed clinical trials for medicines to treat Alzheimer’s disease. We are committed to curing it. Our approach has attracted the attention of thought leaders and trailblazers in medicine and business.
Together, we are focused on developing the tools that enable medicine to diagnose the disease before symptoms begin to erode a person’s quality of life and deploying a solution that can prevent the disease and, ultimately, cure it.
OUR TEAM
Doug Ethell, MSc, PhD
FOUNDER, CHAIRMAN, CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER
Dr. Ethell’s groundbreaking research serves as the foundation for Leucadia Therapeutics’ work. A PhD in Neuroscience, he has studied Alzheimer’s disease for 20 years. He was a Human Frontiers of Science Long-term Fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Psychiatry in Germany and a Research Associate at the Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, California. Dr. Ethell ran Alzheimer’s disease research at the La Jolla Institute for Immunology, served on the faculty at the University of California Riverside, and later founded the Molecular Neurobiology Group at the Western University of Health Sciences in Pomona, California, where he also chaired the Department of Neuroscience. He has authored more than 85 papers and presentations.
Javed Siddiqi, PhD, MD, FACS
BOARD OF DIRECTORS, CHIEF MEDICAL OFFICER
A board-certified neurosurgeon who specializes in skull base surgery, vascular neurosurgery and spinal cord surgery. Dr. Siddiqi is widely recognized as a leader in his field. He is president of the California Association of Neurological Surgeons, vice president of the Western Neurological Society and an advisor and specialty expert for the Medical Board of California. Dr. Siddiqi completed his doctorate at Oxford University on a Rhodes Scholarship, his neurosurgery residency at the University of Western Ontario, and a fellowship in skull base and vascular surgery at the University of Arkansas Center for Medical Sciences, Little Rock, AK. He is chair of Neurosurgery/Surgery at the California University of Sciences and Medicine Medical School.
Edward (Ned) T. Shadek, Jr., MBA, CPA
CHIEF FINANCIAL OFFICER
Mr. Shadek brings 35 years of experience in investment management and hedge funds – both large and small. He spent nearly 20 years at Putnam Investments, where he rose to chief investment officer for small and mid-cap equities, overseeing $15 billion in assets and serving on the firm's Executive Committee. He also was a partner in the $10 billion Newbold’s Asset Management, a large cap value shop. In addition, he was a founder of Shaylor Capital, a $20 million boutique small cap value hedge fund; head of Amundi Pioneer’s Small/Mid Cap Value effort and lead manager of its Pioneer Value Fund, and principal of Sagehen Investments. He earned an MBA from Harvard and is a certified public accountant.
Sergio Ruiz
BOARD OF DIRECTORS
Co-founder and managing director of Methuselah Funds and chief operating officer of Methuselah Foundation, Mr. Ruiz has dedicated himself to lengthening the human healthspan. Methuselah Funds invests in and incubates early-stage companies, operating as the investment mechanism for the Methuselah Foundation, the original medical charity focused on extending the healthy human lifespan. Mr. Ruiz identifies promising young companies, provides them with seed funds to underwrite their work and supports them with ongoing business counsel. He brings an economist’s focus to the work, looking for opportunities to leverage investments into breakthrough scientific achievements. In his work with the Foundation, he helped to establish Turn Biotechnologies, a cell rejuvenation company. Mr. Ruiz studied economics and engineering at the University of Maryland and has a Genetics and Genomics Certificate from Stanford University.
David Gobel
SENIOR ADVISOR
Mr. Gobel is a serial entrepreneur and co-founder and chief executive officer of Methuselah Foundation, the original medical charity focused on extending the healthy human lifespan. In that role, he provided seed funding to found Leucadia Therapeutics. Additionally, Mr. Gobal provides business counsel to companies in which Methuselah Foundation has invested. His counsel is based on years as a serial entrepreneur who established several companies. He also served as chief venture strategist in the Office of Security Operations at the Transportation Security Administration. During his time there, Mr. Gobel proposed, designed, and administered the TSA’s venture capital efforts, and then helped launch a similar program for the Department of Homeland Security.
Marco Lee, MD, DPhil
MEDICAL ADVISORY BOARD
Dr. Lee is a board certified neurosurgeon, professor of Neurosurgery at Stanford University and former chief of Neurosurgery at Santa Clara Valley Medical Center. He serves on the board of the California Association of Neurological Surgeons and the Western Neurosurgical Society. Dr. Lee completed his Neurosurgery residency at the University of Oxford and Edinburgh, UK. He completed further advanced training in Skull Base-Cerebrovascular surgery and Radiosurgery through fellowships at Stanford University.
