Maria Lopez-Bresnahan

Dr. Maria Lopez-Bresnahan is a senior biopharmaceutical executive with more than 20 years of industry experience developing new treatments for neurologic diseases, including rare genetic neuromuscular and neurodegenerative disorders, from early phases through post-approval lifecycle management. She is currently Head of Clinical Development for Neuroscience at Bristol Myers Squibb. Previously she served as SVP for Translational Medicine and Clinical Development at Voyager Therapeutics, VP of Clinical Research, Neuroscience at Alkermes, Inc. and VP of Neurology Clinical Development at Vertex Pharmaceuticals where she led clinical teams developing drugs across CNS indications from Phase 1 through registration. At Pfizer Inc. she was Head of Neuromuscular Clinical Research in the Rare Disease Research Unit, and Therapeutic Area Head for Neuroscience in the Medicines Development Group leading a team responsible for strategy and planning of drug development in neurology and psychiatry. Dr. Lopez-Bresnahan held leadership positions at Merck Serono, where she was responsible for late phase development of CNS drugs for immunologic and neurodegenerative disorders. She was SVP and Global Head for Medical and Scientific Affairs at inVentiv Health Clinical (now Syneos), where she led subspecialty medical teams executing drug development programs for pharmaceutical clients.

Dr. Lopez-Bresnahan received her MD degree from New York University School of Medicine, an MBA from Northeastern University, and a BA from Yale University. A Fellow of the American Academy of Neurology, she completed her neurology residency and fellowship in neuroimmunology at the Massachusetts General Hospital and the Harvard Medical School, where she served as Assistant Clinical Professor of Neurology.