Appointment of UCL Neurologist will accelerate the delivery of novel gene therapies for refractory epilepsy
EpilepsyGTx, a biotechnology company focused on research and development of cutting-edge gene therapies to treat refractory epilepsy, today announced the appointment of Professor Dimitri Kullmann as Chief Scientific Officer (CSO). As a co-founder of EpilepsyGTx, Professor Kullmann’s role as CSO will shape and execute the Company’s scientific strategy, setting research priorities and overseeing the delivery of its pipeline programmes.
Professor Kullmann is an internationally recognised leader in neuroscience with more than three decades of pioneering research in synaptic function, work that directly underpinned the creation of EpilepsyGTx in 2021. He is Professor of Neurology in the Department of Epilepsy at the University College London (UCL) Institute of Neurology, where he leads the Experimental Epilepsy group. He also brings 27 years of experience as a consultant neurologist at the National Hospital for Neurology and Neurosurgery.
Educated at the University of Oxford, where he completed both his undergraduate degree in medicine and a DPhil in neuroscience, Professor Kullmann undertook his clinical studies at St Thomas’ Hospital London and carried out research in synaptic transmission at the University of California, San Francisco. In 1992, he established his own laboratory at the Institute of Neurology, Queen Square, building a research programme that delivered fundamental insights into synapse function and neurological disease mechanisms. This work, alongside that of the other scientific co-founders of EpilepsyGTx, laid the groundwork for the discovery of novel treatment strategies for epilepsy. Professor Kullmann served as the Editor-in-Chief of the neurology journal Brain from 2014 to 2020, and is a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences and of the Royal Society.
Professor Dimitri Kullmann, Chief Scientific Officer and Co-Founder of EpilepsyGTx, said “Having been a part of EpilepsyGTx’s team since its founding, I am immensely proud of the significant progress we have made in developing novel gene therapies for refractory epilepsy over the last few years. The Company is poised to transform the treatment of common forms of drug-resistant epilepsy with its novel gene therapies including EPY201.”
Nicolas Koebel, Chief Executive Officer of EpilepsyGTx, added: “Dimitri’s transition to CSO marks an important milestone for EpilepsyGTx as we take our lead programme EPY201 through the clinical development process. His synaptic research and extensive clinical experience were critical to the founding of EpilepsyGTx and will continue to be invaluable as we deliver on our mission of eradicating seizures in patients with focal refractory epilepsy.”
