Dr. Fernando G. Vieira is the CEO and Chief Scientific Officer at the ALS Therapy Development Institute – the Drug Discovery Engine for ALS.

Dr. Vieira received his medical degree from Harvard Medical School and a bachelor’s degree in Biological Engineering from the University of Florida.

As Chief Scientific Officer, he leads a multidisciplinary team of scientists and researchers in their efforts to discover and develop effective treatments and biomarkers for amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). He has been focused on ALS research since 2001. His research findings – spanning basic discovery, preclinical discovery and lead optimization, clinical development, and translational ALS research have been widely cited. Specifically, he has focused on optimizing animal models for ALS preclinical pharmacology and drug screening, led or contributed to the identification and preclinical validation of four drugs that have been advanced into human clinical assessment, and has been awarded multiple patents for those drugs. His teams have contributed important basic research findings to the study of genetic ALS, focusing on SOD1 mutation biology and C9orf72 mutation biology. Dr. Vieira also serves on the Scientific Advisory Board of the ALS Investment Fund.