Gerd joined atai as Chief Operating Officer in 2024, bringing over 25 years of experience in leadership roles across the pharmaceutical and biotech sectors. He has a strong track record in drug development, corporate development and team leadership. Gerd leads atai’s development and business operations, and quality infrastructure.

Before atai, Gerd was COO at NFlection Therapeutics and Senior VP of Operations at PellePharm, a BridgeBio company. He also held leadership positions at Depomed, FibroGen, and Gryphon Therapeutics. Gerd holds a Ph.D. in Chemistry from UC Berkeley, is an inventor on multiple patents and has published more than 25 papers in peer-reviewed literature.