Dr. Bumol was the Senior Vice President of the Biotechnology and Immunology Research component at Lilly Research Laboratories and the Site Head & President of Lilly’s Biotechnology Center of San Diego, which included the former Applied Molecular Evolution subsidiary of Lilly Research Laboratories and early clinical development for immunology until his retirement on December 31, 2017. Currently, Dr. Bumol is the Executive Vice President of the Allen Institute and Director of the Allen Institute for Immunology in Seattle, a position he assumed on March 1st 2018 for a new research institute focused on human immunology in both health and disease. This institute was launched on December 12, 2018 funded by a $125 million philanthropic gift from Paul G. Allen.

A native of Detroit, Michigan, he received his B.S. degree in microbiology from the University of Michigan in 1975. He subsequently completed his PhD in microbiology-immunology from the University of Minnesota in 1980. Dr. Bumol was the recipient of a Damon Runyon-Walter Winchell Cancer Research Fellowship for his postdoctoral studies in the Department of Molecular Immunology at Scripps Clinic and Research Foundation in La Jolla, California from 1980-1982. He joined Lilly Research Laboratories as a Senior Immunologist in 1982 where he remained for his career of over 35 years until his retirement. Dr. Bumol has over 50 publications and reviews and 8 issued U.S. patents. His former Lilly team and collaborators have nominated over 100 molecules into clinical development, including dulaglutide (launched as Trulicity), ixekizumab (launched as Taltz) , galcanezumab (launched as Emgality), mirikizumab (an IL23 p19 antibody in phase III development), and tirzepatide (a dual GIP GLP-1 receptor agonist in phase III development) while at Lilly. In addition, through strategic alliances, his teams helped develop and launch/support abciximab (ReoPro) with Centocor (acquired by J&J) and baricitinib (Olumiant) with Incyte.

Dr. Antel is a clinical neurologist who coordinates the multiple sclerosis research and treatment program at the Montreal Neurological Institute. He is a Professor at McGill University where he has served as Chairman of the Department of Neurology and Neurosurgery. He is President of ACTRIMS. He was the initial director of the Canadian Institute of Health Research supported training program in neuro-inflammation. Dr. Antel served as Chairman of the Medical Advisory Board of the Multiple Sclerosis Society of Canada from January 2004 to 2007. From 2004 to 2006 he served as President of the International Society of Neuroimmunology. From 2007 to 2015 he was the National Scientific Director of the End MS Research and Training Network supported by the MS Society of Canada. Prior to his work at McGill University, Dr. Antel was Professor of Neurology at the University of Chicago. His research interests include understanding the mechanisms of tissue injury and repair that account for the characteristic disease course of multiple sclerosis and how these can be therapeutically targeted. Dr. Antel was the recipient of the 2005 Dystel Award from the National Multiple Sclerosis Society and the American Academy of Neurology. He currently is the Editor for the Americas of the Multiple Sclerosis Journal.

Dr. Cudkowicz is the Julieanne Dorn Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School, Chief of Neurology Service at Massachusetts General Hospital. Dr. Cudkowicz's research and clinical activities are dedicated to the study and treatment of people with amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS).

Dr. Cudkowicz directs the Massachusetts General Hospital ALS Center and the Massachusetts General Hospital Neurological Clinical Research Institute. She is one of the founders and co-directors of the Northeast ALS Consortium (NEALS), a group of over 100 clinical sites in the United States, Canada, Europe and the Middle East dedicated to performing collaborative academic led clinical trials and research studies in ALS. In conjunction with the NEALS consortium, she planned and completed over 15 multi-center clinical research studies in ALS. She is Principal Investigator of the Clinical Coordination Center for the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke's Neurology Network of Excellence in Clinical Trials (NeuroNEXT). The NeuroNEXT network is an efficient phase II network to develop innovative and new treatments for people with neurological disorders.

Dr. Cudkowicz received the American Academy of Neurology 2009 Sheila Essey ALS award. She is a pioneer in promoting and developing more efficient methods of developing new therapies for people with ALS. A dedicated educator, Dr. Cudkowicz mentors many young neurologists in clinical investigation of ALS and related neurodegenerative disorders. Dr. Cudkowicz completed her undergraduate degree in chemical engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology and obtained a medical degree in the Health Science and Technology program of Harvard Medical School. She served her internship at Beth Israel Hospital in New York and her neurology residency and fellowship at Massachusetts General. She also obtained a master's degree in Clinical Epidemiology from the Harvard School of Public Health.

Dr. McFarland received his B.A. degree from the University of Arizona and his M.D. in 1966 from the University of Colorado. Following a residency in neurology at Thomas Jefferson University, Dr. McFarland did postdoctoral research in neurovirology at Johns Hopkins School of Medicine and in immunology at University College London, before returning to Hopkins as a neurologist. In 1975, Dr. McFarland came to NIH as deputy chief of the Neuroimmunology Branch of NINDS, where he has served as chief since 1993. In 1998 he was awarded the Dystal Prize for outstanding research in multiple sclerosis (MS). Dr. McFarland's laboratory studied the cellular immune response to autoantigens of the CNS and examines therapeutic strategies targeting this response. Additional research included studies of the natural history of MS using MRI and identifying effective designs for clinical trials of new therapies for MS. Dr. McFarland's group went on to use these new designs to provide preliminary information of the effectiveness and safety of new treatments. Dr. McFarland retired from NIH in 2009. Since retirement, his interest in the design of clinical trials in testing new therapies in MS has continues. In this regard he has worked with several foundations focused on developing new approaches to the treatment of MS.

Dr. Pahan is the Floyd A. Davis, M.D., Endowed Chair in Neurology at the Rush University Medical Center (Chicago) and a Research Career Scientist at the Department of Veterans Affairs, Jesse Brown VA Medical Center (Chicago). He obtained his doctoral degree from the University Calcutta in 1992. He joined the faculty of the University of Nebraska Medical Center in January 1999 and created the Laboratory of Neuroimmunology. He was promoted to Professor of Neurological Sciences, Biochemistry and Pharmacology in July 2006. He was featured in Neuroscience (SFN 2019) Hot Topic and invited to the Neuroscience (SFN 2019) Press Conference. He is cited by Wikipedia for his famous discovery on statins. He received the outstanding teaching award in 2000, the “Chancellor’s Council Silver U Award” in 2004 and the "Reinhardt Research Scholar Award” in 2005 from the University of Nebraska Medical Center. In 2017, he received the Zenith Fellows award from the Alzheimer’s Association. Dr. Pahan has published 195 SCI papers with more than 12,000 citations and an H index of 63 and is a coordinator and a principal leader of more than 50 research and collaborative projects. Dr. Pahan’s current research fields include multiple sclerosis, Parkinson's disease, dementia, Alzheimer's disease, cancer, Batten disease, and other lysosomal storage disorders.

Dr. Roos is the Marjorie and Robert E. Straus Professor in Neurological Science in the Department of Neurology at the University of Chicago. His research program is focused on the pathogenesis of neurodegenerative diseases, especially amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, and on investigations of picornavirus central nervous system infections. He has published more than 200 papers. Dr. Roos previously served as Chair of the Department of Neurology at the University of Chicago. He has been a member of the Editorial Boards of the J. Neuroimmunology, J. Neurovirology, J. Virology, and Annals of Neurology, and presently serves on the Editorial Board of Virology and Scientific Reports. He is Associate Editor of Neurology Genetics and Editor-in-Chief of MedLink (an on-line Neurology site). He is a member of the FDA Cellular, Tissues and Gene Therapies Advisory Committee. He formerly served as Chair of the FDA Transmissible Spongiform Encephalopathies Committee as well as the Chair of the Vaccines and Related Biological Products Advisory Committee. He was a member of the National Academy of Sciences Institute of Medicine Committee to Examine Multiple Sclerosis, American Academy of Neurology Science Committee, ALS Association grant review committee, National Multiple Sclerosis Society Research Programs Advisory Committee (which he Chaired), and NIH NINDS grant review study section.

Dr. Eric Shoubridge is James McGill Professor and Chair of the Department of Human Genetics at McGill University. He also occupies the Isaac Walton Killam Chair in Neurology and Neurosurgery at the Montreal Neurological Institute (MNI) where his research laboratory is located.

Dr. Shoubridge obtained his B.Sc. and his M.Sc. from McGill University, and completed his Ph.D. at the University of British Columbia. He conducted his post-doctoral training in the Biochemistry Department of Oxford University and joined the faculty at the MNI in 1985. He was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 2004, and named a Fellow of the Canadian Institutes for Advanced Research in 2006. He was an International Research Scholar of the Howard Hughes Medical Research Institute and a Senior Investigator of the Canadian Institutes of Health Research. He was the recipient of the Jacob’s Ladder Award in 2006, the Established Investigator Award from the MNI in 2009, and the Champion of Genetics Award from the Canadian Gene Cure Foundation in 2012.

Research in his laboratory focuses on the molecular genetics of mitochondrial disease. His laboratory developed animal models to investigate the transmission and segregation of mtDNA, and pioneered functional cloning methods to identify the genetic defects in individual patients with autosomal recessive mitochondrial disease. His laboratory uses a variety of biochemical and molecular techniques to investigate mechanisms of pathogenesis, and a proximity ligation assay to interrogate the mitochondrial interactome in health and disease.