Gopi Shanker is the Chief Scientific Officer of Tevard Biosciences. He has over two decades of broad drug discovery experience ranging from developing target concepts to advancing molecules through clinical development. He has a strong background across multiple drug modalities including small molecules, biologics and gene therapies for various CNS indications including schizophrenia, depression, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, chronic pain and migraine as well as several rare neurodevelopmental and neurodegenerative diseases. Prior to joining Tevard, Gopi was at the Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research (NIBR), where he most recently served in the capacity of Head of Neuroscience with responsibility for strategic oversight of the entire neuroscience portfolio, encompassing psychiatric, neurodevelopmental and neurological disorders, and as a member of the neuroscience clinical development and commercial franchise leadership team. During his tenure at Novartis, Gopi advanced multiple new therapeutic programs through late preclinical and clinical development, including the global regulatory approval of Aimovig®. With a leadership role in drug discovery and early-stage clinical development, he was responsible for expanding Novartis’ portfolio in psychiatry, and developing a portfolio of gene therapy programs targeting neurodevelopmental disorders. He was also instrumental in several key partnerships including with the Stanley Center (Broad Institute), Amgen, Pear Therapeutics as well as the acquisition of Cadent Therapeutics. Prior to joining Novartis, Gopi led several drug discovery programs at Amgen and Regeneron. Gopi completed a Howard Hughes Medical Institute postdoctoral fellowship at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai in New York. He earned his Ph.D. from the Indian Institute of Science in Bangalore.