Q-State Biosciences Announces Key Appointments to Its Executive Leadership Team

CAMBRIDGE, Mass., April 26, 2021--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Q-State Biosciences (“Q-State”), a discovery-stage therapeutics and technology company advancing programs for the treatment of epilepsy, pain, and other disorders of the central nervous system, announced today three new appointments to its executive leadership team: Dr. Graham Dempsey, Ph.D., has been appointed to the position of Chief Scientific Officer and Head of Research and Development; Jim Jacobson has been appointed Senior Vice President and General Counsel; and Chris Watt joins the company as Chief Financial Officer. As core members of Q-State’s senior leadership, Dr. Dempsey, Mr. Jacobson and Mr. Watt will help guide the company in its technology expansion, program execution and corporate development. These colleagues will report to Q-State’s President and Chief Executive Officer, Paul Medeiros.

“We are delighted that Graham, Jim and Chris have assumed these roles on the Q-State team,” said CEO Paul Medeiros. “As deeply experienced leaders in their respective fields, they will play instrumental roles in helping Q-State achieve its mission by leveraging our advanced biologic, engineering and AI/machine learning technologies to discover important new and optimized therapeutics.”

Chief Scientific Officer Graham Dempsey, Ph.D., joined Q-State as a senior scientist at the company’s inception in 2014. Before assuming the CSO role, Dr. Dempsey successfully led the development and rapid evolution of the company’s foundational technology platforms as well as its first small molecule and antisense oligonucleotide therapeutic programs. During his academic studies, Dr. Dempsey developed novel fluorescence-based imaging platforms for investigating biological systems, and was on the team that developed the super-resolution imaging technique called stochastic optical reconstruction microscopy (STORM) that was subsequently commercialized by Nikon Instruments. In his new role at Q-State, Dr. Dempsey will direct the planning and execution of all scientific, medical, engineering and AI/machine learning activities at the company. He holds a B.A. in biochemistry and biophysics from the University of Pennsylvania and a Ph.D. in biophysics from Harvard University.

Senior Vice President and General Counsel Jim Jacobson brings over 25 years of experience in life sciences, biotechnology and health care law to his new role. Mr. Jacobson previously served as General Counsel and Chief Compliance and Privacy Officer at Aptus Health, a life sciences technology subsidiary of Merck & Co., Inc. Earlier in his career, Mr. Jacobson worked for the Clinton White House health care task force, served as counsel to numerous health care and life sciences client companies and trade associations, and was a judicial clerk on the D.C. Court of Appeals. Prior to attending law school, Mr. Jacobson managed clinical trials in psychopharmacology at Massachusetts General Hospital, and worked in the field of infectious disease in the Peace Corps. At Q-State, he will be responsible for all legal, contractual, and compliance matters. Mr. Jacobson holds a B.A. from Yale University and a J.D. from Harvard Law School. 

Chief Financial Officer Chris Watt is a seasoned finance executive with over 30 years of diverse financial and operational experience. Most recently, he served as Senior Vice President and Head of Finance at Tetraphase Pharmaceuticals, following 10 years in various finance leadership roles in U.S. and international operations at Biogen. In his earlier career, Mr. Watt held finance roles at InterSystems Corporation, Putnam Investments, Procter & Gamble, and Shawmut National Corporation. Mr. Watt will manage all of Q-State’s financial, accounting, treasury, reporting, and FP&A functions in his role as CFO. He holds a B.A. from Colby College and an MBA from the University of Michigan.  

About Q-State Biosciences

Q-State Biosciences is a technology-derived medicines company based in Cambridge, Massachusetts. We integrate advanced human neuronal models, proprietary determinative measurement engineering and powerful AI/machine learning to discover and develop novel therapeutics for epilepsy, pain and other disorders of the CNS. For more information, please visit www.qstatebio.com.

Contacts

Business Development
Chani Maher
chani.maher@qstatebio.com
+1 617-945-5433

Media
Carolyn Noyes
cnoyes@macbiocom.com
+1 781-235-3060

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