Suresh Poda, PhD

Vice President, Neuroscience and Preclinical Research
Encoded Therapeutics

Suresh Poda, PhD, is Vice President of Neuroscience and Preclinical Research at Encoded Therapeutics, a company focused on the development of genetic medicines to address the root cause of neurological disorders. He holds a PhD degree in Biochemistry which facilitated his discovery of biomarkers and identification of dysregulated lipid pathways in metabolic disorders. Dr. Suresh began his industry career at AstraZeneca following a decade of academic research at the University of Michigan and the University of Montreal. Before joining Encoded, he held senior research positions at Eisai (Head of Immunodementia Biology), Denali Therapeutics (Senior Director), and Lundbeck (Associate Director). During his 20+ years in the pharmaceutical and biotech industries, Dr. Suresh led numerous drug development programs from discovery through the early clinical development stage, focusing on therapies for psychiatry, neurology, and inflammatory diseases. He and his team at Denali Therapeutics delivered three candidate drugs to development. During his time at Lundbeck, Dr. Suresh led a team for the early development of tetrabenazine (Xenazine), the first FDA-approved medication for Huntington’s disease. His work has been presented at international meetings and published in leading medical journals such as Nature Immunology, Neuron, and Science Translational Medicine. Dr. Suresh is also a reviewer for various neuroscience journals, a scientific advisor for the Wyss Brain Targeting Program (Wyss Institute at Harvard University), and a Scientific Advisory Board member at 1910 Genetics, a Microsoft-funded biotech company.