Dr. Ryan Lanier

Ryan K. Lanier, PhD is Chief Clinical Research Scientist at Rock Creek Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Dr. Lanier has been with Rock Creek since August 2009. Prior to joining the company, Dr. Lanier worked as a Clinical Research Scientist at Javelin Pharmaceuticals in Cambridge, MA, where he assisted in the development of three novel analgesic drug formulations intended to treat acute pain syndromes. In his role as Chief Clinical Scientist at Rock Creek, Dr. Lanier supervises the evaluation of non-nicotine and non-tobacco products intended to reduce tobacco craving, and consults with Star Scientific on the development of modified risk smokeless tobacco products that are targeted at reducing the harm associated with tobacco use.

Dr. Lanier has dedicated his career to understanding the impact that drugs of abuse have on personal and public health, and to developing harm reduction options for those who are unable to quit abusing these substances. He received his PhD in Biological Psychology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he investigated the effects of opioids and behavioral processes on immune status in preclinical models, and was awarded a competitive predoctoral National Research Service Award Individual Fellowship from the NIH to complete his dissertation work. Dr. Lanier subsequently completed a three-year postdoctoral fellowship within the Behavioral Pharmacology Research Unit at Johns Hopkins University.

Dr. Lanier has authored or co-authored a number of manuscripts and book chapters, and has presented his research findings at a variety of scientific conferences including those held by the Psychoneuroimmunology Research Society, the Society on Neuroimmune Pharmacology, the Society for Neuroscience, the American Psychological Association, the Society for Research on Nicotine and Tobacco, and the College on Problems of Drug Dependence.

Dr. Curtis Wright

Dr. Wright brings a wealth of research and drug development and drug-abuse experience to Rock Creek Pharmaceuticals, where he serves as the company's Senior Vice President and Medical/Clinical director. Dr. Wright received his medical degree from the George Washington University and completed his initial training at Portsmouth Naval Hospital in the United States Navy. After nine years of naval service he completed his residency in Occupational and Preventive Medicine, and a Post-doctoral Fellowship, at the Johns Hopkins Medical Center in Baltimore, MD.

Dr. Wright then worked as a medical review officer for the USPHS at the Food and Drug Administration in the areas of analgesics, anesthetics and drugs of abuse. During that tenure he was appointed Assistant Division Director and Acting Director for the Anesthetics, Analgesics and Life-Support Drugs Division.

After leaving the FDA, Dr. Wright served in senior management and research positions for a number of biotech and major pharmaceutical firms, working in the development of novel and more abuse-resistant analgesic medications.

Dr. Michael Mullan

Prior to relocating to Florida, Dr. Mullan resided in London, England, where he was a part of the team to identify the first-known genetic cause of Alzheimer's disease.

Dr. Mullan has more than 20 years of experience in the development of biotechnology and intellectual property. He is also an inventor on the patents covering the use of the original APP mutations and the co-inventor on 20 other patents.

Throughout his career, Dr. Mullan has received several major grants and contracts from both private and federal organizations to work on the causes and cures of Alzheimer's disease.

Dr. Mullan is a physician and scientist trained at the Royal Free School of Medicine and St. Mary's Hospital Medical School in London, England.

Dr. Fiona Crawford

Fiona Crawford, Ph.D. is the Associate Director of the Roskamp Institute. She was a member of the London team that identified the first genetic causes of Alzheimer's disease, which were in the "amyloid" gene, and together with her colleague Dr. Michael Mullan, went on to discover the so-called "Swedish mutation" in amyloid, which now forms the basis of most mouse models of Alzheimer's disease.