Judging panel

Ammar Al-Chalabi is Professor of Neurology and Complex Disease Genetics at King’s College London. He is an NIHR Senior Investigator, co-Director of the UK MND Research Institute and Chair of the International Symposium on ALS/MND. His work in ALS has been recognised by the award of multiple international prizes.

Ernest Fraenkel is the Grover M. Hermann Professor in Health Sciences and Technology at MIT. His lab integrates molecular, clinical, and behavioral data to discover therapies for neurodegeneration, with a focus on ALS. He is a scientific co-founder of Answer ALS where he focuses on computational analysis, helping build a multi-omic resource from ~1,000 participants. He also serves as scientific lead to Everything ALS, advancing digital biomarkers from speech and sensor data to improve clinical trials.

Prof. Fabian Theis is a leading expert in AI and biomedicine. He heads the Computational Health Center at Helmholtz Munich and holds a chair at TUM. His research focuses on multimodal data integration, single-cell and spatial omics, and AI-based modeling of cellular states. As founding director of Helmholtz.AI and contributor to the Human Cell Atlas, he has shaped biomedical AI through widely used tools. His work earned major awards, including the ERC Advanced Grant, Leibniz Prize, and ISCB Innovator Award. In 2025, he joined the Leopoldina and became Chair of the Bavarian AI Council. He also advises biotech companies.

Jackie Hunter has had an extensive career in the pharmaceutical industry (SB, GSK) and was CE of the BBSRC (2013 to 2016). She was CEO of BenevolentAI, a company using Artificial Intelligence (AI) to accelerate pharmaceutical R&D and retired from the Board of BenevolentAI in 2023.
She has had a number of NED roles in both public and private companies and currently chairs the Stevenage Bioscience Catalyst Board and is a member of the Board of A*STAR and chairs the Digital Health Accelerator Board in Singapore.

Dr. Jeffrey D. Rothstein, M.D., Ph.D. is the Director of the Brain Science Institute and Professor of Neurology and Neuroscience at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. In 2000, hefounded the Robert Packard Center for ALS Research at Johns Hopkins, the first multi-institutional, multi-national collaborative academic organization devoted to understanding the causes of ALS and translating discoveries into new therapeutic approaches and coordinates ALS researchers worldwide. He founded and directs the Answer ALS Research Program whichcombines longitudinal clinical data and induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cell technology,generating comprehensive biological analytics for over 1,000 ALS patients. His research has identified foundational defects that cause ALS, including astrocyte dysfunction, excitotoxicity, oligodendroglial injury, and nuclear pore and transport defects. His work contributed to the FDA approval of riluzole. He is a member of the National Academy of Medicine.

A physiologist/pharmacologist by training with >25 years’ experience in academia and industry. Extensive knowledge of drug discovery and development, ranging from target identification through to clinical proof of concept. Over 20 years’ experience within the Neuroscience therapeutic area, developing symptomatic and disease modifying therapies for patients with chronic pain, migraine and neurodegenerative diseases.

Marc Barlow is a healthcare industry expert with extensive experience across pharmaceuticals and MedTech, specialising in neurology. He's an expert in drug and diagnostic launches for various neurological conditions, and has led successful NICE appraisal processes. A former Board member of the European Brain Council, Marc brings a unique perspective to his work, informed by his first-hand lived experience with MND. He has significant experience chairing and contributing to high-level boards and advisory groups.

Aside from participating in the Judging Panel, Marc chairs the Patient Advocacy Committee of the Longitude Prize on ALS.

Professor Matthew Kiernan is the Chief Executive Officer and Institute Director, Neuroscience Research Australia. Professor Kiernan is Chair of the World Federation of Neurology Specialty Group in MND; Chair of the World Congress of Neurology and President of the Brain Foundation. 

Professor Kiernan previously served as Chair of MND Research Australia (2015-2019) and was appointed Editor Emeritus of the Journal of Neurology, Neurosurgery & Psychiatry (BMJ Publishers, United Kingdom). In 2019 he was appointed as Member, General Division of the Order of Australia for significant service to medicine, and to medical education, in the field of neurology. In 2024 He was elected Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science. Recent awards include Sheila Essey Award of the American Academy of Neurology.

Dr Nortina Shahrizaila is a clinician-researcher, currently serving as Professor of Neurology at Universiti Malaya, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

She established the first multidisciplinary ALS clinic in the country at University Malaya Medical Centre, and leads the ALS research group focused on elucidating the genetic and clinical landscape in an under-represented ALS community. She continues to play an integral role in the development of the Asia- Pacific ALS network including engaging under-resourced countries in the region. She currently serves as the President of the Pan-Asian Consortium for Treatment and Research in ALS (PACTALS).

Petrina Kamya, Ph.D. is Vice President and Global Head of AI Platforms at Insilico Medicine and President of Insilico Medicine Canada. She leads the company’s generative AI-driven drug discovery platform, Pharma.AI, applying advanced computational methods to accelerate the design and development of novel therapeutics.

Dr. Kamya holds a Ph.D. in Chemistry and a B.Sc. in Biochemistry from Concordia University. A frequent speaker at international conferences, she highlights how artificial intelligence is transforming drug discovery and precision medicine.

Dr. Taslimarif Saiyed is the CEO and Director of C-CAMP, where he leads initiatives to accelerate innovation, translation, and entrepreneurship in life sciences and healthcare. He earned his PhD in Neuroscience from the Max Planck Institute, Germany, followed by postdoctoral research at UCSF, USA.. To complement his scientific expertise, he trained in biotech innovation management through QB3 at UC Santa Cruz, UC Berkeley, and UCSF, and completed an executive program at the Wharton School. Previously, he consulted with QB3 New Biotech Venture Consulting and U.S. biotech firms. He also serves as Adjunct Faculty at IIT-Madras, IIT-Guwahati and Amrita School of Biotechnology in India.

Dr. Vishal Gulati is a venture capital investor and clinician scientist focused on healthcare and data. With over 20 years of experience, he has backed 30+ healthtech companies together with advising leading institutions, combining medical expertise with investment insight to advance science, AI, and healthcare innovation.