QurAlis Corporation, a US-based clinical-stage biotechnology company focused on amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), frontotemporal dementia (FTD) and other neurodegenerative diseases, announced on Tuesday that it has appointed Douglas (Doug) Williamson, MD, as chief medical officer (CMO) and Jason Brown, MBA, as chief financial officer (CFO), as well as the appointment of Shafique (Shaf) Virani, MD, to its board of directors.

Dr Williamson succeeds Angela Genge, MD, who continues in a consulting role for QurAlis. The company also announced the appointment of Shafique Virani, MD, to its board of directors.

Dr Williamson has almost thirty years of leadership experience in all phases of neuroscience clinical drug development and has led several successful investigational new drug (IND) applications, global new drug applications (NDAs), and commercial launches in a broad range of psychiatry and neurology indications. He spent many years in senior leadership positions at large biopharma organizations including Eli Lilly and Company, Parexel International, and Lundbeck, where he led research and development (R&D) in the U.S. More recently, Dr Williamson has gained experience at smaller biotechnology companies including as CMO at Avadel Pharmaceuticals, and head of R&D at Acadia Pharmaceuticals. He graduated in medicine from Edinburgh University in Scotland and held a full-time academic appointment at Oxford University prior to joining the industry. Dr Williamson is a member of the Royal College of Psychiatrists and the National Academy of Medicine's Neuroscience Forum.

Before joining QurAlis, Jason Brown was the CFO of Karuna Therapeutics. He joined Karuna in 2018 as vice president (VP) of corporate finance and its first finance employee. Previously, he worked at PureTech Health as VP of corporate finance where he was responsible for the financing and operational growth of the company. He also spent five years at Novartis in roles of increasing responsibility within the finance department. He holds an MBA from Boston College and BA from Hamilton College.

Dr Virani currently serves as chief business officer at Noetik, Inc., an AI-native biotechnology company focused on discovering and developing cancer therapies. Before joining Noetik in March 2024, he served as Recursion's chief business officer for four years, as well as interim chief medical officer for half that time. Dr Virani trained as a neurosurgeon in Cambridge, UK and Boston and received his MD from the University of Nottingham, UK.