Board of Directors
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Adam Sachs is a 30+-year veteran of the life science industry, having held senior and executive-level positions in start-up biotechs, CDMO (Catalent) and large pharma (AstraZeneca). His expertise lies primarily in Operations Management with scope including manufacturing and quality control, supply chain/logistics, program and alliance management, technical operations, IT and facilities/engineering. Mr. Sachs is consistently recognized for his expertise in leading cross-functionally and guiding organizations through dramatic change and rapid growth, while creating and expanding capability and driving continuous process improvement. He also serves on the scientific advisory board of the Familial Dysautonomia Foundation.
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Frances Lefcort is a neuroscientist who recently retired from her position as Professor of Cell Biology and Neuroscience in Montana State University’s Department of Microbiology and Cell Biology. A researcher of national and international stature due to her seminal contributions in the field of nervous system development, Lefcort’s lab studied the cellular and moelcular mechanisms underlying normal nervous system development, and how these steps can go awry to cause neurodevelopmental disease. For the past 15 years, her work has specifically focused on familial dysautonomia, and her lab successfully created several animal models of this disease, providing powerful systems for testing therapeutics for translation to the clinic. She has published 55 articles in some of the most prestigious peer-reviewed journals in her field, and her work has been continually funded by the National Institutes of Health since 1995. She obtained her Ph.D in Neurobiology at the University of California, Berkeley and was a post-doctoral fellow in Neuroscience at UCSF. Dr. Lefcort also co-chairs the scientific advisory board of the Familial Dysautonomia Foundation.
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Allan Cohen is the Chief Financial Officer of The Sudler Companies overseeing all financial operations. Allan has over 30 years of experience as a Chief Financial Officer, Chief Accounting Officer, Controller / Assistant Controller, Securities and Exchange Commission Fellow and Auditor. Allan also serves as Treasurer of the Familial Dysautonomia Foundation.
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Laurent Landau graduated from Tufts University with a Bachelors of Science in Biology. He then served as the Vice President of Landau Consolidated Corp. for nine years. Afterwards, Laurent became the owner of Diamond Ideals, a private jewelry retail primarily through the internet and in New York City. Laurent also serves as Vice President of the Familial Dysautonomia Foundation.
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Mr. Gilbert joined NeuroDerm in 2018 to lead the newly-formed Pharmaceutical Development function. Bringing more than 26 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, he was previously VP CMC in Discovery & Product Development at Teva’s Global R&D. Prior to that he held roles of increasing responsibility at Teva, including VP Quality for Global R&D, contributing to the development of new therapies such as Copaxone® and Azilect®. Mr. Gilbert gained a BSc in Chemistry from the University of Manchester and holds an MSc and PhD in Materials from Cranfield University. He conducted post-doctoral research in Applied Chemistry at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and is co-chair of the scientific advisory board of the Familial Dysautonomia Foundation.
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Gerald Adler is a highly accomplished executive from New York City, with a Juris Doctor from Columbia University. He is known for his contributions as a Chief Operating Officer, General Counsel, and Compliance Officer. Gerry also has extensive experience in complex negotiations, operational transformations, and regulatory compliance. He is a lecturer in Securities Law and a dedicated philanthropist, and is also a director of the board of trustees of the Familial Dysautonomia Foundation.
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Faye Ginsburg is the David B. Kriser Professor of Anthropology at New York University, where she is founding Co-Chair of the NYU Center for Disability Studies. An award-winning anthropologist and recipient of many grants and awards including a Guggenheim Fellowship, a MacArthur "Genius" Grant and the NYU Martin Luther King Faculty Jr. Faculty Award among others. She is author/editor of six books, most recently Disability Worlds (Duke University Press, 2024), with Rayna Rapp, and in 2025, the co-edited collection How to be Disabled in a Pandemic (NYU Press). Faye has been President of the Familial Dysautonomia Foundation since 2012.