Magali Haas, MD, PhD

Magali Haas, MD, PhD
CEO & President, Cohen Veterans Bioscience

Dr. Haas is founder of Cohen Veterans Bioscience (CVB), a global organization that leads pioneering efforts in PTSD and TBI research, including clinical trials, biotechnology, genetics, and biomarker discovery. She has more than 15 years of pharmaceutical leadership experience in neuroscience clinical development, translational medicine, and diagnostics, primarily at J&J. Dr. Haas has spearheaded the Brain Trauma Blueprint initiative to establish a national roadmap for PTSD & TBI precision therapeutics research.

Speakers:

Chantelle Ferland-Beckham, PhD
Director of Policy & Advocacy, Cohen Veterans Bioscience

Heather Lasseter, PhD
Associate Director, Scientific Programs, Cohen Veterans Bioscience

References:

  1. Atkinson, Arthur & Colburn, Wayne & Degruttola, Victor & Demets, David & Downing, Gregory & Hoth, Daniel & Oates, John & Peck, Carl & Schooley, Robert & Spilker, Bert & Woodcock, Janet & Zeger, Scott. (2001). Biomarkers and surrogate endpoints: Preferred definitions and conceptual framework*. Clin Pharmacol Ther. 69. 89-95.

Speakers: Laramie Duncan, PhD, Stanford University; Heather Lasseter, PhD, Cohen Veterans Bioscience; Lauren Chaby, PhD, Cohen Veterans Bioscience

Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) affects veterans, active military personnel, and civilians. While treatments exist, they are not effective for many people, and very little is known about genetic risk factors for PTSD. One of the key challenges in developing better treatments – and preventative measures – is that the underlying biological mechanisms are not thoroughly understood. It is now clear that PTSD is partly a genetic disorder, meaning that some people are more predisposed to develop PTSD than others. Hence, a better understanding of the genetic risk factors of PTSD will help to develop new diagnostic tests and treatments for PTSD and inform strategies for preventing PTSD following exposure to trauma.

Modern genetic studies offer unique opportunities for discoveries that will fuel future treatment and prevention efforts. This talk will cover major findings from the last 25 years of PTSD genetics. Groundbreaking discoveries in recent years have identified specific genetic risk factors for PTSD. Such discoveries include those by the Psychiatric Genomics Consortium (PGC)-PTSD Working Group, which has conducted a powerful genome-wide association study (GWAS) of PTSD. This talk will describe how massive sample sizes (of hundreds of thousands of participants) were used to make these discoveries, what they mean for research and for individuals with PTSD, and what is possible in the near future.

Webinar Agenda:

– What is Genetics?

– Accelerating Discovery of Genetic Markers

– PTSD Genetics: Heritability, and Why Genetics is Useful!

– Major Findings in PTSD Genetics

– PGC-PTSD: Landmark Study & Future Efforts

– Group Question & Answer

Webinar originally hosted November 18, 2021.

Magali Haas, MD, PhD

Magali Haas, MD, PhD
CEO & President, Cohen Veterans Bioscience

Dr. Haas is founder of Cohen Veterans Bioscience (CVB), a global organization that leads pioneering efforts in PTSD and TBI research, including clinical trials, biotechnology, genetics, and biomarker discovery. She has more than 15 years of pharmaceutical leadership experience in neuroscience clinical development, translational medicine, and diagnostics, primarily at J&J. Dr. Haas has spearheaded the Brain Trauma Blueprint initiative to establish a national roadmap for PTSD & TBI precision therapeutics research.

Jamshid Ghajar, MD, PhD, FACS
President Emeritus, Brain Trauma Foundation

Dr. Ghajar is a board-certified neurosurgeon. In 2014, he joined the neurosurgery faculty at Stanford, where he is a clinical professor of neurosurgery and the Moghadam Family Director of the Stanford Brain Performance Center, Stanford University School of Medicine. He founded the Brain Trauma Foundation to develop and implement best practice guidelines for TBI, with the goal of improving patients’ lives.

Speakers:

Jennifer A. Sumner, PhD
Assistant Professor, Department of Psychology, UCLA

Heather Lasseter, PhD
Associate Director, Scientific Programs, Cohen Veterans Bioscience

Moderator:

Andreas Jeromin, PhD
Chief Scientific Officer, Cohen Veterans Bioscience