Warren D. Hirst, PhD

Warren Hirst is SVP and Head of Research at DaCapo Brainscience, a start-up that empowers its genomics, AI and stem-cell platforms with proprietary, experimentally-derived proteinopathy networks. These are maps of cellular interactions made by aggregation-prone proteins that are fundamental to the underlying pathophysiology of neurodegenerative disease progression. DaCapo begins with targets that are already validated by human clinical data, specifically focused on progression and is developing therapeutic strategies to slow Parkinson’s disease progression. Warren has over 25 years of experience in research and development of novel therapeutics for neurodegenerative disorders, targeting mechanisms strongly supported by human genetics and pathology, at SmithKline Beecham, GSK, Wyeth, Pfizer, and Biogen, prior to joining DaCapo Brainscience in January 2024. Warren has directly lead teams that have discovered and advanced 3 molecules into clinical trials and has been on teams that have made similar advances with 12 further molecules.