COPATHOS Leadership
A founding team spanning discovery, validation, and deployment
Four founding members lead the consortium's Steering Committee, covering gene discovery and multi-omics, fluid biomarker innovation, neuropathological ground truth, and regulatory-ready diagnostic development.
- RR
Robert A. Rissman, PhD
Co-Director · Biomarker Validation & Translational Pathology
Keck School of Medicine of USC
Robert A. Rissman, PhD, is a Professor of Physiology and Neuroscience and the W.M. Keck Endowed Chair in Medicine at the Keck School of Medicine of USC. He is the Founding Director of the Neuroscience Translational Research Division (NTRD) at the Alzheimer's Therapeutic Research Institute (ATRI), where he leads a major biorepository supporting national Alzheimer's and neurology clinical trials.
- ACTC
- Biomarker Unit Lead
- NTRD
- Founding Director, USC ATRI
- CC
Carlos Cruchaga, PhD
Co-Director · Neurogenomics & Multi-Omic Integration
Washington University School of Medicine · Knight-ADRC · Andia Health
Carlos Cruchaga, PhD, is an internationally recognized human genomicist whose work has reshaped the fields of neurogenomics, proteomics, and multi-omics biomarker discovery in Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, frontotemporal dementia, and related neurodegenerative disorders. He is the Barbara Burton & Reuben Morriss III Professor of Psychiatry with joint appointments in Genetics and Neurology at Washington University School of Medicine.
- 100
- h-index
- 62K+
- citations
- TK
Thomas K. Karikari, PhD
Director · Fluid Biomarker Innovation
University of Pittsburgh · UPMC ADRC · University of Gothenburg
Thomas K. Karikari, PhD, is an internationally recognized neuroscientist whose work has transformed the development, validation, and clinical implementation of blood-based and CSF biomarkers for Alzheimer's disease and related neurodegenerative disorders. He is a leading figure in proteomics, mass spectrometry, and molecular biomarker discovery, with a particular focus on tau phosphorylation, amyloid processing, and brain-derived tau assays.
- 66
- h-index
- 2025
- Clarivate Highly Cited
- TV
Timothy E. Van Meter, PhD
Director · Diagnostic Technology & Consortium Operations
BRAINBox Solutions, Inc. · Biotesora Public Benefit Corporation
Timothy E. Van Meter, PhD, holds a PhD in Neuropathology from King's College London and serves as Chief Scientific Officer of BRAINBox Solutions, Inc., alongside his role as Director of Operations at Biotesora, a public benefit corporation supporting COPATHOS Project infrastructure and administration.
- 20+
- years in assay development
- PhD
- Neuropathology, King's College London
Complementary Expertise
How these leaders complement one another
- CC
Cruchaga identifies molecular drivers and multi-omic signatures of overlapping diseases.
- TK
Karikari converts these signatures into clinically deployable fluid biomarkers and high-sensitivity assays.
- RR
Rissman integrates these biomarkers into clinical-trial pipelines, diagnostic workflows, and translational platforms.
- TV
Van Meter carries validated panels through assay standardization, regulatory strategy, and consortium operations.
This complementary expertise enables COPATHOS to deliver a comprehensive, mechanistically grounded, clinically actionable framework for diagnosing and treating patients with coexisting Alzheimer's, Parkinson's, frontotemporal, vascular, TBI, and cardiometabolic disease.