Michael Ehlers

Michael Ehlers is chief scientific officer and a venture partner at ATP, applying expertise gained through a successful career leading research and development at major biopharmaceutical companies. As executive vice president for Research and Development at Biogen, he led discovery sciences, translational medicine, clinical development, and regulatory sciences, with a focus on neurological, immunological, and rare diseases. He significantly expanded and diversified Biogen’s clinical portfolio, transformed its R&D productivity, advanced more than 20 novel clinical candidates, and oversaw global filings and approvals of Spinraza™ (nusinersin), the first drug approved for spinal muscular atrophy. Prior to Biogen, Mike was Biotherapeutics group senior vice president and Neuroscience chief scientific officer at Pfizer, where he created and advanced the neuroscience and rare disease portfolios; directed global development activities in biologics design, synthesis, and manufacturing; steered academic collaborations focused on immunology and oncology; and successfully brought 22 compounds into the clinic. Before entering industry in 2010, Mike was a professor and investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute at Duke University Medical Center, where he pioneered studies on neuronal organelles and the trafficking of neurotransmitter receptors. He has authored more than 100 scientific papers and served on multiple editorial boards as well as advisory boards for the National Institutes of Health, private foundations and other organizations spanning industry, academia and government. In addition to chairing the Aulos Bioscience board, Mike serves on the boards of ATP portfolio companies Ascidian Therapeutics, Initial Therapeutics, Intergalactic Therapeutics, Nereid Therapeutics, and Nine Square Therapeutics.

Mike earned a B.S. in chemistry from the California Institute of Technology and holds M.D. and Ph.D. degrees from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.