Julia Schaletzky trained as a biochemist at Bayreuth University in Germany and completed her studies at the Max-Planck-Institute of Biochemistry in Martinsried. She then obtained her PhD at Harvard Medical School/HHMI in 2006. After completing her PhD, Dr. Schaletzky joined Cytokinetics, a biotechnology company in South San Francisco. During her 11 years at Cytokinetics, Dr. Schaletzky and her team focused on discovering and developing novel, first-in-class medicines against heart failure and neurodegenerative disorders such as ALS, which are currently in Phase III clinical trials. In addition, she took on several pro-bono projects stemming from academic collaborations, working after-hours on successful screens against trypanosomiasis (sleeping sickness), malaria and toxoplasmosis. Dr. Schaletzky is passionate about treating neglected and emerging diseases, establishing effective collaboration between academia and industry and translating basic science into new companies and ultimately cures.