Todd Sherer

Todd Sherer, PhD, is a neuroscientist who has spent his career at the intersection of Parkinson's science, drug development, and research funding. He holds a BS in Psychology from Duke University and a PhD in Neuroscience from the University of Virginia, where his work centered on cell-death pathways in neurodegenerative disease. His connection to the Michael J. Fox Foundation began in 2003 when, as a postdoctoral fellow at Emory University, he received MJFF funding to study environmental contributors to Parkinson's disease.

Sherer joined MJFF's staff full-time in April 2004 as Associate Director, Research Programs. He rose to Vice President, Research Programs (2006), Chief Program Officer (2010), and then Chief Executive Officer in May 2011 — a role he held for a decade until May 2021. As CEO he built MJFF into the world's largest nonprofit funder of Parkinson's research and championed a "venture philanthropy" model of funding high-risk, high-reward science and forming risk-sharing partnerships with industry.

Since 2021 he has served as MJFF's Chief Mission Officer, focusing on the Foundation's research strategy and its landmark initiatives — most notably the Parkinson's Progression Markers Initiative (PPMI) and the partnership with Aligning Science Across Parkinson's (ASAP). He has published more than 50 peer-reviewed articles, sits on the editorial board of the *Journal of Parkinson's Disease*, and serves on NIH-affiliated bodies including the Accelerating Medicines Partnership – Parkinson's (AMP PD) steering committee and the Morris K. Udall Centers coordinating committee. He is widely regarded as one of the foremost experts on the science and business of Parkinson's drug development.

*(Important disambiguation: a different Todd Sherer, PhD — with a Pharmacology PhD from Washington State University who runs Emory's Office of Technology Transfer and sits on the Georgia Life Sciences board — is a separate individual and is not the subject of this profile.)*

• Funds high-risk, high-reward research aimed squarely at patient impact rather than incremental science. In his own words: *"Our strategy of funding high-risk, high-reward projects with a focus on patient impact has paid off."*
• Positions MJFF as a de-risking capital source for early science that traditional investors avoid: *"We're here to take the risks, fund new ideas and help build the data to encourage vital partnerships down the road."*
• Pioneered "risk-sharing pacts" — structured deals with biopharma companies that go beyond standard grant-making venture philanthropy.
• Focus areas: Parkinson's therapeutics, disease-modifying treatments, biomarkers and diagnostics (e.g., alpha-synuclein, LRRK2), and progression-tracking data platforms.
• Says "yes" to projects that can generate the data needed to attract downstream venture capital and industry co-investment, effectively catalyzing later private funding rounds.