Dr. Doherty (Jim) is President and Chief Development Officer at Acumen Pharmaceuticals and brings over two decades of leadership experience in CNS R&D, including the development of novel medicines, such as Zulresso and Zurzuvae. Before joining Acumen, he was Chief Development Officer at Sage Therapeutics, where he led the development of novel medicines to treat CNS disorders. Dr Doherty held multiple roles during his tenure at Sage, leading efforts at various times in Preclinical Research, Experimental Medicine, and Clinical Development.  Jim has led multiple program teams to progress candidate molecules through the stages of drug discovery and development. His experience with company-building, collaboration management, investor relations, and regulatory interactions has helped to build significant value to CNS pipelines.

Before Sage, Dr. Doherty was head of the preclinical Neuroscience department for the CNS and Pain Innovative Medicine unit of AstraZeneca Pharmaceuticals, where he was responsible for leading preclinical neuroscience research and advanced over 20 programs into clinical development. He has extensive experience leading programs in neurology, psychiatry, analgesia, seizure control, and cognition.

Dr. Doherty has published over 250 peer-reviewed scientific papers, abstracts, and conference presentations, and holds multiple patents. He received his B.A. from the University of Delaware, Ph.D. from Georgetown University and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Emory University School of Medicine.