Staff

Jane McIntosh is the Chief Philanthropy and External Affairs Officer at the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation (ADDF). In this role, she leads the Foundation’s global fundraising, communications, and external engagement strategy, advancing its mission to accelerate the discovery of drugs to prevent, treat, and cure Alzheimer’s disease.

With more than two decades of experience in nonprofit leadership, Jane has built and led teams that drive strategic growth, deepen stakeholder engagement, and ensure sound governance and fiscal stewardship. Her background spans major cultural and scientific organizations, where she has guided complex development programs, advanced institutional priorities, and fostered lasting philanthropic partnerships.

Jane holds a master's in arts management from Teachers College, Columbia University, and a bachelor’s in English from Binghamton University. She is on the Board of the Riverside Park Conservancy and the Association of Fundraising Professionals, New York City Chapter, and spent more than a decade as an adjunct lecturer at Columbia University and Marymount Manhattan College, teaching courses in nonprofit management.

Laura Nisenbaum, PhD, is the Executive Director of Drug Development at the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation (ADDF), where she leads a team of scientists driving the organization’s mission to transform the future of diagnosis, treatment, and prevention for Alzheimer’s and other dementias. She oversees ADDF’s three interdependent scientific pillars: Therapeutics, advancing innovative, biomarker-driven strategies beyond amyloid to target novel mechanisms; Biomarkers, accelerating discovery and validation to enable earlier, more precise detection and guide therapeutic and prevention efforts; and Prevention, supporting precision approaches to delay or avert disease progression. In collaboration with Gates Ventures, she also directs the Diagnostics Accelerator, advancing cutting-edge tools and biomarkers to reshape dementia care. Under her leadership, ADDF leverages venture philanthropy, global collaboration, and scientific rigor to catalyze breakthroughs and drive the next era of precision medicine for Alzheimer’s and related dementias.

Dr. Nisenbaum brings over 30 years of experience spanning biotechnology, industry, and academia. Prior to ADDF, she was the Senior Director of Aducanumab Biomarkers and Diagnostic Pathways at Biogen and spent 20 years at Eli Lilly, where she held leadership roles in translational medicine, preclinical discovery, and early clinical development. Earlier in her career, Dr. Nisenbaum received a Fulbright Scholarship to study in Cologne, Germany. She then completed her PhD in neuroscience at the University of Pittsburgh and transitioned to industry after completing postdoctoral training at NIH and the University of Tennessee, and a faculty position at the University of Connecticut. She has contributed to the development of more than 15 novel therapeutics, including three FDA-approved drugs.

Karen Harris is a member of the ADDF’s executive team and serves as its Chief Financial Officer and Head of Mission Related Investments.

With a CFO background that spans both non-profits and investment banking, Ms. Harris is committed to increasing transparency and accessibility of complex financial information and heightening organizational effectiveness with robust financial governance, strategic planning, policies, controls, and training. She regularly presents to the ADDF’s Boards of Governors and Overseers, launched a board-level Finance and Audit Committee, and oversees the organization’s banking relationships. As Head of Mission Related Investments, Ms. Harris has also structured and stewarded dozens of venture-based investments for the ADDF, and she manages and monitors its extensive portfolio of securities and royalty arrangements with universities and biotech companies.

Previously, Ms. Harris served as Chief Financial Officer for the East Harlem Tutorial Program and Director of Development at Mount Sinai Adolescent Health Center. She also led a career in the financial sector for 20+ years prior to her transition to non-profit leadership. Among other roles, Ms. Harris served as Global COO for global equity capital markets, a $1 billion dollar division with 190 bankers at UBS, and as a Director and investment banker at Merrill Lynch. She earned an MBA in Finance from Stanford Graduate School of Business, graduating first in her class, and a BA in Economics from Columbia University.

Dr. Aaron Burstein serves as Head of Search and Evaluation at the Alzheimer’s Drug Discovery Foundation, managing a team of scientists responsible for the Therapeutics Portfolio (i.e., Drug Development, Neuroimaging, and CSF Biomarkers).  

 Dr. Burstein earned his BS Pharmacy and PharmD degrees from the State University of New York at Buffalo. He subsequently completed a fellowship in Clinical Neuropharmacology focused on investigational treatments for neurological disorders, including epilepsy and stroke, as well as on pharmacokinetic/pharmacodynamic mathematical modeling techniques. He is a Fellow of the American College of Clinical Pharmacy.   

 Dr. Burstein’s career includes 28 years in clinical research and development across academia, the National Institutes of Health, and the pharmaceutical industry. He has 20+ years’ experience in the pharmaceutical industry, serving most recently as Senior Vice President of Clinical Development at vTv Therapeutics. Prior to that, Dr. Burstein served as Senior Director at Pfizer, where he served various positions of increasing responsibility within Clinical Research, Clinical Development and Developmental Operations organizations, with a focus on investigational products for CNS indications , including Alzheimer’s disease. 

Kathryn Carnazza, PhD, is a member of the ADDF's Aging and Alzheimer's Prevention program. She critically evaluates the scientific evidence regarding prospective therapies to promote brain health and/or prevent Alzheimer's disease, and contributes to CognitiveVitality.org.

Dr. Carnazza earned a doctorate in neuroscience at Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences, where she studied the molecular mechanisms of Parkinson’s disease. She also founded and organized a graduate school course on neurodegeneration at Weill Cornell. Dr. Carnazza obtained her bachelor's degree in biology from Tufts University.

Yuko Hara, PhD, is a member of the ADDF’s Aging and Alzheimer's Prevention team. In this capacity, she critically evaluates the scientific evidence behind therapies to promote brain health and/or prevent Alzheimer's disease. She also investigates potential risk factors as well as research proposals on prevention therapies.

Dr. Hara was previously an Assistant Professor in Neuroscience at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, where she remains an adjunct faculty member. Her research focused on brain aging, specifically how estrogens and reproductive aging influence the aging brain’s synapses and mitochondria. She earned a doctorate in neurology and neuroscience at Weill Graduate School of Medical Sciences of Cornell University and a bachelor's degree in biology from Cornell University, with additional study at Keio University in Japan. Dr. Hara has authored numerous peer-reviewed publications, including articles in PNAS and Journal of Neuroscience.

Dr. Melissa Lee is the Director of the Diagnostics Accelerator at the Alzheimer's Drug Discovery Foundation, where she manages the DxA's digital and ocular biomarker portfolios and leads the science for SpeechDx. Her work at the ADDF focuses on scientific strategy, partnership development, and AI and digital biomarker innovation.

Melissa has been a scientist since she was 16, when she started working in a lab at Vanderbilt University. She completed her PhD and postdoctoral research at Columbia University, where she studied glial cells in autism and brain development under Drs. Carol Mason and Mimi Shirasu-Hiza. She has co-authored 7 publications including in Neuron and the Journal of Neuroscience, as well as a chapter on the eye-to-brain connection in the 12th edition of Adler's Physiology of the Eye.  

Betsy Mills, PhD, is a member of the ADDF's Aging and Alzheimer's Prevention program. She critically evaluates the scientific evidence regarding prospective therapies to promote brain health and/or prevent Alzheimer's disease, and contributes to CognitiveVitality.org.

Dr. Mills came to the ADDF from the University of Michigan, where she served as the grant writing manager for a clinical laboratory specializing in neuroautoimmune diseases. She also completed a Postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Michigan, where she worked to uncover genes that could promote retina regeneration. She earned her doctorate in neuroscience at Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, where she studied the role of glial cells in the optic nerve, and their contribution to neurodegeneration in glaucoma. She obtained her bachelor's degree in biology from the College of the Holy Cross. Dr. Mills has a strong passion for community outreach, and has served as program presenter with the Michigan Great Lakes Chapter of the Alzheimer's Association to promote dementia awareness.