Dr. Andrés Bratt-Leal, co-founder and Senior Vice President of Research and Development at Aspen Neuroscience, has been honored with the prestigious 2023 Biocom California Life Science Catalyst Award.
This accolade, presented by Biocom California, recognizes the most inspiring and driven young minds in the California life sciences industry who are making significant contributions to human health through research, discovery, and entrepreneurship.
Dr. Bratt-Leal’s work at Aspen Neuroscience is particularly noteworthy for its focus on developing the world’s first autologous induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) technology for the treatment of Parkinson’s Disease (PD). This groundbreaking approach aims to offer a disease-modifying treatment for PD, which currently affects over 10 million patients worldwide and lacks any such treatment.
His journey in this field began with his PhD in Biomedical Engineering from Georgia Tech and Emory University, followed by a postdoctoral fellowship at The Scripps Research Institute. There, he initiated his work on creating patient-specific dopamine neurons for PD treatment, which eventually led to the co-founding of Aspen Neuroscience with Dr. Jeanne Loring in 2018.
Aspen Neuroscience recently achieved a significant milestone with the U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) clearing its Investigational New Drug (IND) application for ANPD001. This clearance paves the way for clinical trials of their personalized cell therapy for PD, which involves replacing lost dopamine neurons.
The award and Dr. Bratt-Leal’s achievements highlight the potential of stem cell technology in revolutionizing treatments for neurodegenerative diseases and advancing the field of regenerative medicine.