In this panel discussion session, we will talk with Dr. Ahmed Mady and Dr. Susana Correia about their experiences working in start-up companies.
Dr. Ahmed Mady received his bachelor’s degree in pharmaceutical sciences from Ain Shams University in Cairo, Egypt, then moved to Utrecht University in the Netherlands to earn his master’s in drug innovation. Afterward, he joined the Medicinal graduate program at the University of Michigan, where he worked in the lab of Dr. Zaneta Nikolovska-Coleska on the development and characterization of novel Mcl-1 inhibitors for the treatment of cancer. Ahmed was awarded his Ph.D. degree in 2016, then started his postdoctoral research fellowship where he was co-mentored by Dr. Zaneta Nikolovska-Coleska and Dr. David Lombard at the University of Michigan. The postdoctoral project was on the discovery and validation of PAPP-A inhibitors as potential anti-aging compounds. After 2 years of postdoctoral training, he moved to Ribon Therapeutics Inc. in Cambridge, Massachusetts where he is currently a senior scientist at the molecular discovery department. Ahmed works on the development of biochemical and biophysical high-throughput screening assays against various therapeutics targets to support the drug discovery programs in the company.
Dr. Susana Correia is an Associate Director of in Vivo Pharmacology at Praxis Precision Medicines since March 2021. Before Praxis, Susana worked at Ironwood Pharmaceuticals and Cyclerion Therapeutics for the past 5 years contributing to the discovery and development of new CNS therapies. There, she became increasingly inspired to leverage her academic training and turn it into new medicines for patients in need. During her postdoctoral fellowships at the University of Michigan and at MIT, Susana received training in molecular and systems neuroscience areas with relevance for cognitive, neurodegenerative and mood disorders. Susana received her PhD from the University of Coimbra in Portugal, her native country. In her spare time, Susana enjoys exercising, gardening, eating, walking on the beach with her family and loving dogs and travelling to new destinations and to visit family in Portugal.
