Kisbee’s Chief Medical Officer, Doug is a physician-scientist, with more than 25 years of experience in clinical drug development, translational medicine, and strategic, medical, and regulatory planning, primarily focused on neurology, psychiatry and neuroscience. Recently he served as Chief Medical Officer at Exicure, where he led programs testing Exicure’s spherical nucleic acid technology in rare neurologic disorders and immuno-oncology. He was previously the Vice President of Clinical Development at Avexis (now part of Novartis), focusing on developing gene therapies for neurodegenerative and neurodevelopmental disorders, including the approval of Zolgensma® for patients with Spinal Muscular Atrophy. Doug has also served as Vice President, Neuroscience Development, for AbbVie, Inc., resulting in the approval and launch of Zinbryta® (a monoclonal antibody for multiple sclerosis) and Duopa® (a drug-device combination for advanced Parkinson’s disease); and Vice President, Global Head of Translational Medicine for Pfizer, Inc., with responsibility across therapeutic areas. At Pfizer he was also the clinical lead for Chantix®/Champix® (smoking cessation) and Lyrica® anxiety disorders programs.
Doug earned his M.D., with distinction in research, from the University of Michigan Medical School, did a residency in psychiatry at George Washington University, and was a postdoctoral fellow in the Lab of Mammalian Genes and Development at The National Institute of Child Health and Human Development. He has authored over 50 peer-reviewed publications.