Dr. Jonas Hannestad, M.D., Ph.D. is Chief Medical Officer of Gain Therapeutics ( www.gaintherapeutics.com/ ), a company focused on the discovery and development of groundbreaking medicines that transform lives and provide hope and improved quality of life to people suffering from debilitating neurodegenerative diseases, rare genetic disorders and cancer.
Dr. Hannestad joined the Company in March 2024 and brings 25 years of translational and early clinical development experience in CNS. His academic work focused on immuno-neurology, particularly on the effect of systemic inflammation on myeloid cells in the brain, and his drug development expertise spans multiple indications, including Parkinson’s, Alzheimer’s, and ALS.
Previously, Dr. Hannestad served as Chief Medical Officer at Tranquis Therapeutics and Capacity Bio, SVP of Clinical Development at Alkahest, Medical Director at Denali Therapeutics, and Director of Neuroscience Discovery Medicine at UCB Pharma.
Prior to his industry career, Dr. Hannestad led the Clinical Neuroscience Research Unit at the Yale School of Medicine. He did postdoctoral work and residency training at Bristol-Myers Squibb, Duke School of Medicine, and the UCLA Neuropsychiatric Institute. He received his Ph.D. in Cell Biology from the University of Messina, Italy, and his M.D. from the University of Oviedo, Spain.