about rapport
A scientific partnership focused on precision neuromedicines
Revolutionary.
Relentless.
Precise.
What rapport means to us
As a word, Rapport describes relationships characterized by understanding, communication, teamwork, and trust. We reflect those qualities in our daily work, where we operate as one committed team that captures the collective knowledge and experience of all our members to maximally improve patients’ lives. And at a higher level we share an ambition and a passion to create impactful neuromedicines, with fewer side effects, that allow patients and their families to live healthier and more fulfilling lives.
On a molecular scale, our deep understanding of the intricate relationships between receptors, their associated proteins, and their distributions in specific cell types and brain regions enables us to precisely direct medicines to the neural circuits underlying disease pathophysiology.
The Rapport leadership team and Board of Directors have established track records of innovation in neuroscience and drug discovery, with past experience at Cerevel Therapeutics, Zogenix, Eli Lilly, J&J, Karuna, Incyte, and Bristol Myers Squibb.
Abe brings nearly two decades of biopharmaceutical industry experience to Rapport. He served as President of Cerevel Therapeutics from May 2021 through February 2023, and was previously CEO of Tiburio Therapeutics, where he built a fully integrated company that led to the investigational new drug enablement for a rare neuroendocrine tumor. Prior to joining Tiburio, Mr. Ceesay held positions including Chief Operating Officer at scPharmaceuticals, Head of Commercial at Keryx Biopharmaceuticals, Vice President of Marketing at Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, and roles of increasing responsibility at Sanofi, formerly Genzyme. Mr. Ceesay serves as Chairman of the Board for Life Science Cares and on the Board of Trustees at The Museum of Science in Boston. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Ithaca College and Master of Business Administration from Suffolk University’s Sawyer School of Management.
David brings over 20 years of neuroscience drug discovery experience to Rapport. He led groundbreaking research in receptor-associated protein biology at Janssen, where he served as Global Head of Neuroscience Discovery from 2011 through 2021. Prior to joining Janssen he was Vice President of Neuroscience at Eli Lilly and Company from 2004 to 2011. He was professor of physiology at the University of California, San Francisco for ten years. David received his A.B. in Chemistry from Princeton University, and his M.D. and Ph.D. from the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. He worked as a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Neuroscience at Johns Hopkins. He was elected to the Johns Hopkins University Society of Scholars in 2005.
Brad has over 20 years of experience leading and building global drug development and medical affairs teams focused in pain and epilepsy, including as Executive Vice President and Chief Medical Officer at Zogenix, President of the Pain Group at Nuvo Research, and Senior Medical Officer for Endo Pharmaceuticals. He and his teams provided clinical and scientific leadership for the development and marketing of rare epilepsy and analgesic medications, including Fintepla®, Lidoderm®, Pennsaid®, and Frova®. Prior to joining industry, Dr. Galer held numerous academic and clinical appointments. He has over 150 publications in epilepsy and pain management. Dr. Galer completed his medical doctorate and a neurology residency at Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, and two pain fellowships at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center in New York and the University of California San Francisco and was on faculty at the University of Washington School of Medicine.
Prior to joining Rapport, Swamy was a founding scientist at Incyte, where he held positions of increasing responsibility for 20 years. He was most recently Group Vice President of Drug Metabolism, Pharmacokinetics, and Clinical Pharmacology. Swamy was a key contributor to the discovery and development of Jakafi®, Pemazyre® & Opzelura®. He is a co-inventor on multiple patents and has published extensively on Incyte pipeline products. Prior to Incyte, Swamy held positions at DuPont Pharmaceuticals and at Bristol-Myers Squibb. Swamy received his bachelor’s degree in Pharmacy from Madras Medical College and his master’s degree in Pharmaceutical Sciences from Banaras Hindu University. He received his Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Sciences from the University of British Columbia.
Abe brings nearly two decades of biopharmaceutical industry experience to Rapport. He served as President of Cerevel Therapeutics from May 2021 through February 2023, and was previously CEO of Tiburio Therapeutics, where he built a fully integrated company that led to the investigational new drug enablement for a rare neuroendocrine tumor. Prior to joining Tiburio, Mr. Ceesay held positions including Chief Operating Officer at scPharmaceuticals, Head of Commercial at Keryx Biopharmaceuticals, Vice President of Marketing at Ironwood Pharmaceuticals, and roles of increasing responsibility at Sanofi, formerly Genzyme. Mr. Ceesay serves as Chairman of the Board for Life Science Cares and on the Board of Trustees at The Museum of Science in Boston. He earned his bachelor’s degree from Ithaca College and Master of Business Administration from Suffolk University’s Sawyer School of Management.
David brings over 20 years of neuroscience drug discovery experience to Rapport. He led groundbreaking research in receptor-associated protein biology at Janssen, where he served as Global Head of Neuroscience Discovery from 2011 through 2021. Prior to joining Janssen he was Vice President of Neuroscience at Eli Lilly and Company from 2004 to 2011. He was professor of physiology at the University of California, San Francisco for ten years. David received his A.B. in Chemistry from Princeton University, and his M.D. and Ph.D. from the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. He worked as a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Neuroscience at Johns Hopkins. He was elected to the Johns Hopkins University Society of Scholars in 2005.
Steve brings over 40 years of R&D leadership experience to Rapport. He has co-founded and led multiple neuroscience-focused companies, including Karuna Therapeutics, Sage Therapeutics and Voyager Therapeutics. He currently serves as Chief Scientific Officer and President of Research and Development at Karuna, and sits on the Board of Directors at Sage. He is also a Professor of Psychiatry and Neurology at Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis.
Steve was at the National Institutes of Health for 18 years, where he served as the Scientific Director for the National Institute of Mental Health. Following NIMH Steve held several R&D leadership positions over a 17-year career at Eli Lilly & Co., including Executive Vice President for Science and Technology and President of the Lilly Research Laboratories. He is also a former Director of the Weill Cornell Medicine Appel Alzheimer’s Disease Research Institute.
Steve currently serves as Chairman of the Board of the Foundation for the NIH, and has served on many other advisory committees and received many awards recognizing his contributions to neuroscience research. Steve received his bachelor’s in Biology and Psychology from Tulane University, and his M.S. and M.D. from the Tulane University School of Medicine
Reid brings to Rapport over 25 years of operating experience in the biotechnology industry. He was a member of the founding scientific team at Incyte and served there for 17 years, ending with five years as Executive Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer. Prior to Incyte, he held positions of increasing responsibility at DuPont Pharmaceuticals and Bristol-Myers Squibb. He has been a Partner at Third Rock Ventures since 2018, and holds board positions at Asher Bio, MOMA Therapeutics, Tango Therapeutics, Terremoto Biosciences, Bellicum Pharmaceuticals and insitro. Reid received his Ph.D. in Molecular Genetics and Biochemistry from the Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis and completed his post-doctoral training at the National Institutes of Health.
Jeff has served in executive roles at several biotechnology companies, including as Executive Chairman of the Board at Delinia; President, CEO, and Member of the Board of Directors at Nora Therapeutics; and Vice President, Corporate and Product Development at Infinity Pharmaceuticals. Earlier he worked at McKinsey & Company and was a founding researcher at the Harvard Bauer Center for Genomics Research. He joined Third Rock Ventures in 2016. Jeff received his A.B. from Harvard College, A.M. and Ph.D. from Harvard University and his M.M.S. from the Harvard Medical School.
Currently focused on the creation and launch of innovative startup companies that can deliver transformational healthcare solutions based on new growth platforms for Johnson & Johnson’s pharmaceutical and med-tech sectors, Sanjay has held a number of roles within J&J over a combined period of 15 years, including Head of JLABS @ San Diego, Senior Finance Director Business Operations for Janssen R&D and Janssen R&D Senior Director. He also co-founded an internal venture at J&J’s Centocor which developed a Phase 2b ready cell therapy for age related macular degeneration.
Prior to joining Janssen Sanjay was an investor with healthcare VC Quaker Partners, and led preclinical development of cell therapies for cardiovascular and neurological indications at Morphogen Pharmaceuticals. Sanjay received his Ph.D. in Pharmacology and M.Sc. In Clinical Pharmacology from The University of Aberdeen, UK and his B.Sc. in Applied Biology/Biomedical Sciences at Nottingham Trent University, UK. He completed postdoctoral fellowships at the University of Pittsburgh Medical School and at the Scripps Research Institute. He is a Life Science Kauffman Fellow of Class 14, holder of 40 U.S. and 160 foreign issued patents and has 20 peer-reviewed publications.
Our story
Rapport Therapeutics was conceived and created through a partnership between Third Rock Ventures and Janssen Neuroscience. It is based on the premise that precision neuromedicines will improve lives by overcoming the well-established limitations of today’s treatments for many neurological conditions. Our first program, currently in Phase I clinical development, is designed to treat drug-resistant seizure disorders.
Our founding scientists are trailblazers in the biologic and therapeutic applications of receptor-associated proteins (RAPs), the cornerstone of Rapport’s precision neuromedicine approach. Rapport’s co-founder and CSO, David Bredt, pioneered RAP discovery more than two decades ago. While working at Janssen Neuroscience alongside many other Rapport scientific leaders, he advanced the idea of harnessing RAPs to target specific neuron circuits. Seeing an opportunity to house this robust and ground-breaking technology in a biotech company, Janssen and Third Rock Ventures partnered to create Rapport in late 2022.
Janssen has contributed to Rapport a portfolio of neuroscience assets, along with a foundational discovery platform, associated intellectual property and a seasoned scientific team.
