People
We are scientists, educators, project managers, industry experts, and business and nonprofit leaders working together to more effectively advance academic discoveries from the lab to the clinic.
Our Team

Stephen Kargotich, PhD, MBA, LLB
Executive Director

Daria Mochly-Rosen, PhD
Chief Science and Education Advisor

Kevin Grimes, MD, MBA
Chief Clinical and Education Advisor

Opher Kornfeld, PhD
Director of Translational Research and Development























Industry Advisors
Our 75+ industry expert advisors have experience in every aspect of the drug discovery and development process and long track records of success advancing academic discoveries from lab to clinic. Academic researchers in our program benefit from cohort-wide project and progress meetings attended by panels of advisors at the same time as well as one-on-one or small group mentoring in areas of need.
Clinical Operations
Venture Capital
Diagnostics & Biomarkers
Pharmacology
Legal & Licensing
Medical Affairs
Pharma Business Development
Medicinal Chemistry
Clinical Trial Design
Regulatory
Formulation
Entrepreneurship
Antibody Engineering
The SPARK NS Translational Research Program
Our program provides selected Parkinson's disease or autism projects with $2,000,0001 in funding, education, mentoring, and networking opportunities over two years. The deadline for applying to the 2026 Cohort has passed. Sign up for updates regarding future cohorts and the next release of an Open Call for Proposals.
Sign up for updates