About CavGene

Fredric Manfredsson, PhD, is a CavGene Co-founder and serves as President. He is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Translational Neuroscience at Barrow Neurological Institute. Dr. Manfredsson’s expertise includes gene therapy for Parkinson’s disease and other neurodegenerative diseases. Dr. Manfredsson’s research has focused on understanding the role of the protein alpha-synuclein in both healthy cells and those affected by Parkinson’s disease. His research also emphasizes understanding the symptomology of the disease, with a focus on the treatment of levodopa-induced dyskinesia and nonmotor symptoms experienced by nearly all patients with Parkinson’s disease.

Dr. Manfredsson’s is a former Chair of the American Society for Gene & Cell Therapy Neurological & Ophthalmological Committee, and Past President of The American Society for Neural Therapy and Repair, and the Society for Neuroscience. Dr. Manfredsson earned his doctorate degree in neuroscience from the University of Florida in Gainesville, where he also completed a postdoctoral fellowship in neuroscience.

Dr. Kathy Steece-Collier is CavGene co-founder and serves as Chief Scientific Officer. She is currently also a Professor in the department of Translational Neuroscience in the College of Human Medicine at Michigan State University (MSU). Over the past 30 years, Dr. Steece-Collier has maintained dedication to the development of improved therapeutics for individuals with Parkinson disease (PD). Her research over the past 15 years has focused on understanding the role of CaV1.3 channels in therapy dysfunction, with the goal of understanding the clinical utility of this novel target to improve quality of life for individuals with PD. Dr. Steece-Collier has served as the Project Director for NIH funded awards investigating CaV1.3 silencing gene therapy for preventing the medication induced side effect known as levodopa-induced dyskinesias and was project leader for the MSU Udall Parkinson Disease Research Center of Excellence. Dr. Steece-Collier holds dual B.S. degrees in Biology and Chemistry and a Doctorate in Physiology and Biophysics from the University of Illinois (Chicago). She did a post-doctoral fellowship in the department of Neuroanatomy at the University of Rochester.

Link to my research: https://translationalscience.msu.edu/research-groups/steece-collier-lab.html

Jim oversees day-to-day operations and works with the executive team to execute the company’s long-term goals. Most recently, Dr. Hamby worked as an entrepreneur-in-residence for Spartan Innovations at Michigan State University to facilitate the development and launch of early-stage biotech companies. Previously, Dr. Hamby served as Vice President of Business Development for the CDMO Ash Stevens Inc., where he was involved in many drug development projects and played a key role in growing the company’s business. Dr. Hamby is a medicinal chemist by training and served as Director of Inflammation Medicinal Chemistry at Parke-Davis/Pfizer, where he led early-stage discovery teams to deliver multiple preclinical drug candidates into clinical development. Dr. Hamby holds a B.S. degree in Pharmacy and a Doctorate degree in Medicinal Chemistry from the University of Illinois (Chicago) and was a NIH postdoctoral fellow in the Chemistry Department at Princeton University.