Dr. Caryn Lerman, PhD, has been a clinical advisor to EpiVario since March 2021.
Dr. Lerman serves as Director of the USC Norris Comprehensive Cancer Center and the H. Leslie and Elaine S. Hoffman Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science and Department of Medicine. She has over 20 years of experience designing and managing phase II-III clinical studies of pharmacotherapies for nicotine addiction.

EpiVario’s novel epigenetic approach with a goal to attenuate smoking cravings could have tremendous benefit to smokers who have not been successful with other therapies. This is one of the most exciting and novel approaches I have seen in the last decade

• Dr.Paul Kenny, Ph.D.
• Director, Drug Discovery Institute at Mount Sinai
• Ward-Coleman Professor and Chair of the Nash Family Department of Neuroscience
• Cofounder, Eolas Therapeutics
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Dr. Kenny is the Ward-Coleman Professor and Chair of the Nash Family Department of Neuroscience at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai (ISMMS). Dr. Kenny also serves as the Director of the Drug Discovery Institute at ISMMS and is co-Founder of Eolas Therapeutics. Dr. Kenny’s research is focused on the molecular, cellular, and systems-level mechanisms of substance use disorders.

I agreed to consult and advise Epivario because of the novelty of its epigenetic target, and the outstanding team of scientists. I look forward to helping guide preclinical development of their novel compounds as they advance toward IND-enabling toxicity testing and first-in-human studies.

Development of a Smoking Cessation Drug

• Lead by Dr. Caryn Lerman, USC
• Significant reduction of nicotine craving
• Maintains abstinence and Prevents relapse

Success in Alcohol Addiction Model

• Dr. Howard Becker
• Director of the Alcohol Research Center
• Professor in the Departments of Psychiatry and Neuroscience
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Dr. Howard C. Becker serves as the Director of the ARC and Director of the Administrative Core, a position he has held since 2012. He holds the academic position of Professor in the Departments of Psychiatry and Neuroscience at MUSC, and Senior Research Career Scientist in the Department of Veterans Affairs. Dr. Becker also serves as Scientific Director of the NIAAA-supported multi-site Integrative Neuroscience Initiative on Alcoholism – Stress (INIAstress) Consortium, which is focused on elucidating mechanisms underlying alcohol-stress interactions. He has over a 30-year history of research, leadership, and service to the alcohol field.

Success in Cocaine Addiction Model

• Dr. Christopher Cowan
• Professor and Chair of the Department of Neuroscience at MUSC
• Holds the William E. Murray SmartState Endowed Chair in Neuroscience
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Dr. Christopher Cowan joined the Medical University of South Carolina as the William E. Murray SmartState Endowed Chair in Neuroscience in 2016, and he serves currently as Chair of the Department of Neuroscience at MUSC. Dr. Cowan earned his BA from Wesleyan University (CT) and his PhD in Cell and Molecular Biology from Baylor College of Medicine. He completed his postdoctoral training at Harvard Medical School and Boston Children’s Hospital in the area of molecular neurobiology. He was a faculty member at UT Southwestern Medical School and Harvard Medical School prior to moving his lab to MUSC. Dr. Cowan’s NIH-funded research lab focuses on both neurodevelopmental disorders and substance use disorder, and it utilizes an integrated approach to study these disorders – spanning from genetics and epigenetics, cell and molecular biology, biochemistry, electrophysiology to complex behavioral analyses.