Dr. Jim Ray is head of research for the Neurodegeneration Consortium. NDC is an initiative uniting MD Anderson, Baylor College of Medicine and MIT to overcome Alzheimer's and other neurodegenerative diseases of the brain. He collaborates with drug discovery scientists within MD Anderson's Institute for Applied Cancer Science to work on new, more effective therapies.

He earned a master's degree in biochemistry from the University of Alabama and a Ph.D. in neuroscience from Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri.

Dr. Ray has a wealth of experience in the pharmaceutical and biotech industries where he led drug discovery programs in the field of neuropsychiatric disorders, such as Alzheimer's, schizophrenia, autism and Parkinson's.

Prior to his appointment at MD Anderson, he served as director of central nervous system research at Takeda Pharmaceuticals. He also worked at Merck as a senior research biochemist and director of the Alzheimer's research unit and led multiple drug discovery projects. He was also senior director of neurobiology at Envoy Therapeutics.

He has authored numerous papers published in leading academic journals and holds several patents. Please join me in welcoming Dr. Ray.