Amanda Ko

MBA

Data Analytics

Strategy

Mercaptor Discoveries Inc

Principal Scientist

• Developed and maintained integrated project plans for multi-year drug development process, allocating $1-5M annual budgets for R&D while managing department resources. • Led strategy for the company’s translational development path, including establishing timelines for studies, ensuring projects hit key milestones, and capturing and managing the data to drive Mercaptor’s lead advancement. • Built relationships with a cross-functional team of 10+ members, including executive and finance teams, to drive strategic research direction and meet company goals in a fast-paced environment. • Spearheaded research and development in support of Mercaptor’s multiple programs, supervising and training a team of 3-4 researchers to make discoveries in treating brain disorders such as epilepsy and TBI. • Designed, managed, and analyzed both in-house and outsourced experiments to transition captons® from the bench to appropriate disease models and further progress compounds into pre-clinical safety and efficacy studies, ensuring projects remain within scope, schedule, and budget. • Established partnering plans and acted as a liaison with leading research groups and contract research organizations such as Charles River Laboratories and the NIH Epilepsy Therapy Screening Program (ETSP) to coordinate experiments and data. • Streamlined procedures and increased department efficiency by tracking project progress and identifying opportunities for improvement