Hank Safferstein, PhD, JD, MBA

CEO • Generian

Hank Safferstein, PhD, JD, MBA, currently serves as CEO of Generian, a UPMC portfolio company. He also is a Senior Advisor to UPMC Enterprises and a Board Director of Ariel Precision Medicine. Previously, he was Senior Vice President of Cognition Therapeutics, a clinical stage, small molecule, Alzheimer’s disease company and Adjunct Professor at Carnegie Mellon University. He was Founder and CEO of Cognition Therapeutics and Complexa, Inc., a clinical stage biotechnology company focused on fibrosis and inflammation for orphan disease indications.

Dr. Safferstein served as Vice President, Business Development, for Omrix Biopharmaceuticals, a commercial-stage company that develops and markets biosurgical and passive immunotherapy products (acquired by J&J) and was Vice President, Business Development for Acorda Therapeutics, a central nervous system drug development and marketing company. Prior to joining Acorda Therapeutics, Dr. Safferstein served in various business development and marketing positions with Bristol-Myers Squibb. From 1991-1997, he was Director, Technology Transfer at the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute and Cooperative Venture Manager for the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, National Institutes of Health. Dr. Safferstein was an NIH Post-Doctoral Fellow and Fellow of the Multiple Sclerosis Society.

Dr. Safferstein received a BA in Biochemistry from Rutgers University, a PhD in Human Anatomy and Neurobiology from the University of Louisville, a JD from the American University, Washington College of Law and an MBA from Columbia University. He is an active member of the Maryland Bar.