Our Neuroscience Leadership Team

WILLIAM (BILL) J. MARTIN, PH.D.

GLOBAL NEUROSCIENCE THERAPEUTIC AREA HEAD

Bill Martin is the Global Neuroscience Therapeutic Area Head at Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine and a member of the company’s Group Operating Committee. He leads a dedicated team focused on the discovery and development of a precision neuroscience pipeline of transformative treatments for individuals grappling with serious neuropsychiatric and neurodegenerative disorders. Building on Johnson & Johnson’s 60-year legacy in neuroscience, Bill’s team is driving a differentiated portfolio of new and innovative therapies, each targeting a subpopulation of patients.

Before joining Johnson & Johnson, Bill co-founded and served as the President and Chief Executive Officer of Blackthorn Therapeutics, acquired by Neumora Therapeutics in 2020. Blackthorn, under his leadership, blended computational and clinical neuroscience, employing a precision medicine approach to develop innovative therapeutics for central nervous system (CNS) disorders. He also held positions as Chief Scientific Officer and Head of R&D at Blackthorn.

Before Blackthorn, Bill held multiple leadership positions at Theravance Biopharma, including leading the company’s research portfolio planning initiative and serving as a member of the strategic partnership team and project team leader for an advanced clinical stage CNS program. He began his career at Merck, where he contributed to the strategic direction of the company’s Neuroscience franchise.

Bill actively engages in the academic and scientific community. He is a member of the Advisory Council for Brown University’s Carney Institute for Brain Sciences and the Forum on Neuroscience and Nervous System Disorders within the National Academies of Science, Engineering and Medicine. He was a founding Board member of The Alliance for Artificial Intelligence in Healthcare. Additionally, he has held leadership positions in prominent organizations such as the Society for Neuroscience. Bill is a prolific author, with more than 80 peer-reviewed publications and book chapters.

Bill earned his bachelor’s degree in Psychology from Swarthmore College and completed his doctorate in Experimental Psychology at Brown University. He conducted postdoctoral research at the Keck Center for Integrative Neuroscience at the University of California, San Francisco.

ALISON CHALKER, PH.D.

PORTFOLIO STRATEGY & DATA SCIENCES INTEGRATION LEADER

As Strategic Portfolio and Data Sciences Integration Leader for Neuroscience at Janssen Research & Development (R&D), Alison Chalker, Ph.D. leads a team responsible for driving Therapeutic Area operations, Neuroscience portfolio management and strategy, and integration of data science approaches in R&D programs from discovery to commercialization.

With more than three decades of experience, Alison began her career at GSK, where she led a team in exploring novel therapeutics for unusual bacterial pathogens, utilizing bioinformatic, genetic, and biochemical techniques.  During her career, Alison has led global cross-functional drug development programs for small molecules and biologics, from discovery through lifecycle management, in Anti-Infectives, Cardiovascular, Gastro-intestinal, Neurology, Psychiatry, and Oncology; and has held Department Head roles in Regulatory Affairs and Program Management.

Alison received a bachelor’s degree in Microbiology from Bristol University and a doctorate in Molecular Microbiology from the University of Edinburgh, where she also conducted postdoctoral research. She is passionate about the transformational potential of the empowered cross-functional team; conducting drug development with an unwavering sense of accountability to our patients and customers; and developing the next generation of pharma leaders.

Fiona Elwood, Ph.D.

DISEASE AREA LEADER, NEURODEGENERATION

Fiona Elwood, Ph.D., has extensive experience in neuroscience and neurodegenerative research and development, a passion for bringing relief to patients and their caregivers, and dedication to scientific excellence and exceptional teamwork. She brings deep expertise in molecular mechanisms of neurodegeneration, including in tau biology, and the use of human cell models and advanced screening approaches to support novel target identification and validation.

Fiona was most recently Interim Global Head of Neuroscience and Head of Neurodegeneration at Novartis Institute for Biomedical Research. Before moving to Novartis, she spent nearly 10 years at Merck Research Laboratories in positions of increasing responsibility.

Fiona received her doctorate in Neuroscience from the University of London, United Kingdom, and completed her postdoctoral work in Neuroscience at Stanford University.

WAYNE DREVETS, M.D.

DISEASE AREA LEADER, NEUROPSYCHIATRY

Wayne Drevets, M.D. is Stronghold Leader, Neuropsychiatry Disease Area for Neuroscience, where he leads a cross-functional team in the development of Janssen's industry-leading portfolio of novel therapeutics in mood and psychotic disorders. Wayne also oversees the strategy, conception, and execution of a program he built at Janssen for developing novel treatments for major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder, and schizophrenia from discovery through late-development phases.

Wayne has published more than 375 articles and chapters and has been cited more than 67,000 times in scientific literature. His research has focused on characterizing the neurocircuitry of mood disorders, elucidating the mechanisms underlying antidepressant and mood-stabilizing therapies, and the discovery of novel therapeutics.

Wayne's academic career spanned over two decades and involved tenures at Washington University School of Medicine (St Louis), the University of Pittsburgh, the National Institute of Mental Health, and the Laureate Institute for Brain Research/ University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center. He is also a Fellow of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology and a Member of the Society for Biological Psychiatry.

Wayne received a bachelor’s degree in Biology from Wheaton College and a doctorate degree in Medicine from the University of Kansas. He completed his residency and fellowship training at Washington University School of Medicine in St Louis.

PETER FANG

WORLDWIDE VICE PRESIDENT
NEUROSCIENCE
GLOBAL COMMERCIAL STRATEGY ORGANIZATION

Peter Fang is the Worldwide Vice President, Neuroscience Global Commercial Strategy Organization for the Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson. Working closely with Janssen Research & Development, he is responsible for developing and driving commercial strategies for the Neuroscience portfolio and pipeline within neuropsychiatric, neurodegenerative and autoantibody-driven diseases of the nervous system. Peter oversees Strategic Marketing, Market Access, Medical Affairs and Strategic Analytics teams that support the Global Neuroscience business.

Prior to Janssen, Peter was Senior Vice President, Head of the U.S. Specialty Care Franchise at Boehringer Ingelheim (BI), where he was responsible for a portfolio of therapies across Interstitial Lung Diseases, Oncology, Dermatology, Biosimilars and Mental Health. Peter joined BI as Senior Vice President, Global Therapeutic Area Head Inflammation, where he led global therapeutic area strategy and developed, launched, and drove both R&D and commercial strategies for a broad portfolio of therapies in Immunology and Pulmonary Fibrosis.

Previously, Peter held multiple senior leadership positions at Baxter, Baxalta, Shire and Takeda, where he was directly responsible for businesses in the U.S., Europe, Middle East, Africa, Asia Pacific, and China. He also has been a leader in Global, Regional and International Marketing roles, where he launched and drove commercial development of products in Hematology, Immunology and Devices and Digital Therapeutics.

Peter began his career, working in venture capital, strategy, and business development roles in technology. He holds a degree in Economics from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania.

ANDREA HOUGHTON, PH.D.

GLOBAL HEAD OF BIOLOGY

Andrea Houghton, Ph.D., is Vice President, Global Head of Biology of Neuroscience at Janssen Research & Development LLC, one of the Johnson & Johnson pharmaceutical companies. Andrea has a proven track record in drug discovery.

Prior to joining Janssen R&D, she was Associate Vice President of Quantitative Biosciences at Merck and Co. Inc.  Andrea spent much of her career at Merck.  She joined the MSD Research Laboratories (formerly Organon Laboratories in Scotland) in 1999 and, during the next 10 years, held roles of increasing responsibility. She transitioned to Merck and Co. in the United States in 2010 as Executive Director of the Pain & Migraine Department before becoming Executive Director of the Discovery Pharmacology Department.

Andrea received her doctorate in Physiology from the University of Nottingham, United Kingdom (UK).  She completed two post-doctoral fellowships – one in the Department of Anatomy and Neurosciences at the University of Texas Medical Branch and a second in the Department of Physiology at the University of Bristol, UK.

SIMON LOVESTONE, B.SC., B.M., PH.D.

GLOBAL HEAD OF DISCOVERY AND TRANSLATIONAL RESEARCH

Simon Lovestone, B.SC., B.M., Ph.D., is Global Head of Discovery and Translational Research for Janssen Neuroscience, where he leads the global Johnson & Johnson teams seeking novel therapies for neurodegeneration, neurology and neuropsychiatry.

Before joining Janssen, Simon was a Professor in Translational Neuroscience at the University of Oxford where he co-founded the Oxford Dementia Drug Discovery Institute and before that in Old Age Psychiatry at King’s College London where he was also Director of the NIHR Biomedical Research Centre for Mental Health and Director of R&D at King’s Health Partners.

His research interests include the identification of new targets for therapy in Alzheimer's disease and related disorders through the understanding of basic mechanisms and clinical translation through experimental medicine and biomarkers; all this work underpinned by the use of Big Data ranging from molecular through to clinical information derived from electronic medical records.

Simon earned his bachelor’s degrees in Microbiology from Sheffield University and in Medicine from the University of Southampton, a Master of Philosophy in Clinical Research in Psychiatry and a doctorate in basic Neuroscience from the University of London and, until recently also practiced as a clinician in Old Age Psychiatry. He was Knighted for services to neuroscience in 2017 and will be awarded an honorary degree by his alma mater, the University of Sheffield, in January 2022.

GUY SEABROOK, PH.D.

HEAD OF EXTERNAL INNOVATION

As Head of External Innovation for Neuroscience, Guy Seabrook, Ph.D. creates and implements the external innovation plan to deliver the Neuroscience Therapeutic Area Research & Development strategy. Guy and his team work to identify the best opportunities for value-generating collaborations and develop an industry-leading portfolio of investment opportunities, which involves the cultivation of a strong scientific network of experts in the global innovation community.

He has over 30 years of experience in drug discovery research, which includes preclinical research on marketed products and candidates in clinical development. Formerly, Guy was part of Eli Lilly’s Global External Research & Development (GER&D) organization where he led the GER&D team for the Lilly Bio-Medicines Business Unit, and also at Merck & Co, Inc., where he was the Head of the West Point Department of Alzheimer's Disease Research.

He graduated with a Ph.D. in Zoology from the University of Nottingham in 1987 and completed his postdoctoral research at the University of Miami School of Medicine.