Derek Brand

Have spent 15+ yrs fostering a better ecosystem for life science entrepreneurship in NYC. Now Dir. Strategic Partnerships @Columbia. Tweets and opinions my own

[Derek Brand @echo_nyc]

Almost as good as Taco Town

[Evan Kirstel #B2B #TechFluencer @EvanKirstel]

AMERICA

[Raq @raqisright]

I’m convinced New York is a social experiment.

New bread store just opened (not a bakery, but a bread store): Rye

I went in to grab a loaf, my friend and I took guesses on how much a loaf would cost

I guessed $25
She guessed $80 based on the interior of the store

$60 for a loaf of bread.

There’s no way people with a fully developed frontal cortex are buying $60 loafs of bread

[Derek Brand @echo_nyc]

It's possible for you to disagree with stuff someone says on twitter and for that same person to be genuinely good at their job.

[Keith Rabois @rabois]

@LeveredLong_ becuase the best founders select to work w me.

[Derek Brand @echo_nyc]

Agreed. Double the NSF as well.

Our strength in basic research is one of our greatest assets and is the foundation for our innovation engine.

[Damian Garde @damiangarde]

Reed Jobs: The NIH budget should be $100 billion per year https://t.co/aZNIfvlUqt

[Shai Goldman @shaig]

Hosting a dinner for founders who are primarily leveraging open weight models , it's on Sept 30 in nyc, email or dm for details, will be a fun conversation

[St. Jude Research @StJudeResearch]

At #SIOP2026, Caitlyn Duffy, MD, MPH, shared how the ARIA Guide is helping expand access to evidence-based childhood cancer care worldwide. Developed through worldwide collaboration, ARIA provides resource-stratified clinical guidance designed for a wide range of care settings.

Congratulations to Duffy on receiving both the Young @WorldSIOP Leadership Assembly Award and the Young Investigator Award!

[Derek Brand @echo_nyc]

@VCBrags Well it is NOW, since Guy Fieri's closed in 2017. IYKYK

[Derek Brand @echo_nyc]

@Sanctuary_Bio @rbellini LOVE IT

[Derek Brand @echo_nyc]

@ThenIf_ I have been searching for the phrase that captures the feeling of my perhaps not that smart dog enthusiastically sprints towards me with "so happy to see you" energy.

I believe "Doofus Launch" fits the bill in every way imaginable

#doofuslaunch

[Bass Pro Shops @BassProShops]

@FreddyLA7 Check your DMs! 🤠

[Derek Brand @echo_nyc]

@MattBMartin @FreddyLA7 I didn't want to name names and point fingers but yes :)

[St. Jude Research @StJudeResearch]

Emily Tonorezos, MD, MPH, incoming director of the Division of Cancer Survivorship, is motivated to help shape the future of survivorship science at St. Jude.

“This work should always be guided by the people we are trying to help — survivors and their families,” Tonorezos said.

[Bill Ackman @BillAckman]

Chief Scientific Officer Search at the AOI

The Ackman Oxman Institute (AOI) is a new translational neuroscience, rehabilitation, and brain health institute in New York City founded to accelerate the translation of promising science to treating and curing patients.

We are seeking a Chief Scientific Officer (CSO) who shares our ambition and recognizes that transformative advances depend on creative, independent scientists pursuing fundamental questions relevant to brain injury, degeneration, recovery, and rehabilitation.

The CSO will help shape AOI's scientific identity, organization, and culture. We welcome the candidate's ideas about how best to organize the science and create an environment in which outstanding investigators can do their best work.

Mandate
Lead AOI's discovery science enterprise. Working with the Chief Translational Officer (CTO) and institute leadership, the CSO will define the research agenda, recruit and develop exceptional scientists, and determine the mix of investigator-led laboratories, collaborative teams, shared resources, and external partnerships best suited to the mission. The portfolio will support two complementary kinds of work:

Patient-Anchored Translational Programs
Research developed in anticipation of, as well as in response to, clinical observations. For example, a mechanistic program on mitochondrial delivery and bioenergetic rescue could inform a parallel clinical study of mitochondrial transplantation. Programs pursuing a defined path to patients will have clear milestones and criteria for advancement, redirection, or stopping, appropriate to their stage of development.

Mission-Relevant Discovery Science
Protected support for fundamental research on brain injury, repair, plasticity, and aging, led by investigators with intellectual independence. Major continuation or stop decisions will use a five-to-seven-year horizon, with ongoing scientific exchange and peer review to maintain rigor. This work can generate new therapeutic ideas and give AOI the depth to recognize and pursue discoveries arising from patient studies.

The CSO will shape the balance between these forms of research and how they interact, with resources and review practices suited to each. Scientists will have the freedom to pursue original ideas within AOI's mission and contribute to a collaborative scientific community.

Scope and Responsibilities

Scientific Portfolio
Define the research agenda with the CTO across acquired brain injury (stroke, TBI), and neurodegenerative and neuropsychiatric diagnoses as well brain health in aging. Build on AOI's initial priorities in bioenergetics/mitochondria, neuroinflammation, and neuroplastogens (devices or biologics that increase neuroplasticity), helping refine their scope, sequence, and organization. Identify promising mechanistic programs early so AOI is prepared to act on clinical discoveries, and welcome new ideas through a transparent scientific review process.

Independent Discovery
Recruit exceptional investigators and give them the resources and latitude to pursue fundamental questions relevant to AOI's mission. Develop peer review that evaluates scientific quality, originality, and contribution over an appropriate time horizon, recognizes the value of well-reasoned negative results, and protects intellectual independence.

Scientific Infrastructure
Determine which laboratory and measurement capabilities will best support the science, and which to build internally, share, or access through partnerships. Guide scientific use of shared resources, including GLP vivarium and GMP capabilities, in coordination with the CTO and Chief Regulatory Officer.

Scientific Recruitment and Community
Shape a recruitment and support model that attracts outstanding scientists with diverse approaches to discovery and collaboration. Explore joint or affiliated academic appointments and shared recruitment with New York City and regional universities and medical centers, where these strengthen recruitment, mentorship, and scientific exchange. Appointment arrangements will be developed with partner institutions and individual recruits.

External Scientific Network
Build a network of well-funded collaborations with academic laboratories in New York City and the region whose fundamental work is relevant to AOI's mission, so that AOI's discovery capacity extends well beyond its own walls. The Pershing Square MIND Prize community is a natural springboard for this network, though collaboration is not limited to prize recipients. Work with the founders on how the MIND Prize and AOI's basic research program should relate to each other over time.

Scientific Quality
Lead a collegial, rigorous scientific review process. For translational and later-stage preclinical programs, agree on clear milestones and advancement or stop criteria with program leaders and the CTO. For fundamental discovery, combine ongoing scientific dialogue with substantive peer review and five-to-seven-year continuation decisions. Uphold research integrity and reproducibility across all programs.

External Standing
Represent AOI's science to the field, to funders (NIH, ARPA-H, DoD, philanthropy), to scientific advisors, and to academic and industry partners.

Relationship to the Chief Translational Officer
The CSO and CTO are peers who connect discovery with development and clinical investigation. The CSO leads fundamental and exploratory preclinical research; the CTO leads regulated preclinical development, manufacturing, engineering, and trial readiness, and clinical studies. They jointly define the evidence needed to advance a program into development and review the portfolio together. Scientific collaboration continues as programs advance and clinical observations raise new research questions.

First 6 Months
•Develop a scientific strategy with the CEO, CTO, and board, including the proposed research organization, the balance of discovery and translation, initial priorities and resources, and a first set of anticipatory mechanistic programs. Agree on review practices that protect independent discovery and support timely development decisions.

•Begin recruiting priority scientific leaders and independent investigators, with the mix and sequence of appointments shaped by the scientific strategy. Develop the support and affiliation arrangements needed to attract exceptional candidates.

•Establish an agreed plan for laboratory capabilities and launch initial research using in-house resources or external partnerships as appropriate. Work with the CTO and clinical leadership to align research with patient studies and their readiness requirements.

•Co-define the criteria for entering development with the CTO and begin well-funded collaborations with regional academic laboratories. Set the subsequent launch timetable around scientific priorities, recruitment, and facility readiness.

Who We Are Looking For
Essential
•MD/PhD or PhD with a first-rank research record in neuroscience, immunology/neuroinflammation, bioenergetics, or a convergent field.

•Experience building and leading a research organization (institute, department, biotech R&D unit, or focused research organization).

•A track record of attracting outstanding scientists.

•Enthusiasm for a patient-centered research model and for leading a team whose work spans the continuum from discovery to therapy development.

Valued
•Experience supporting independent investigators and collaborative research in academia, research institutes, or industry.

•Scientific credibility in at least one of AOI's initial priority areas.

•Comfort spanning biologics and device/neurotechnology science.

•A demonstrated ability to protect creative discovery while guiding translational programs toward clear milestones.

Practical
AOI welcomes candidates from academia and industry who are excited to build the institute over the coming decade and beyond. The position is full-time in New York City. Candidates should be eager to focus their research leadership on the brain, recovery, and rehabilitation; any continuing research commitments should support that mission. Compensation will be competitive and will include the opportunity to participate in the value created through company formation at AOI.

Leadership Team Engagement
Works closely with the CTO as described above and with clinical leadership to connect research and patient studies. Engages the legal/regulatory team early on regulatory strategy, quality systems, and evidence requirements. Collaborates with the Chief AI Officer on data-rich study design and computational modeling, the COO on laboratory development and recruitment operations, and the CFO on scientific resource planning.

Interested candidates should send their CV and a brief cover note to:

[email protected]

[Derek Brand @echo_nyc]

@drrichjlaw I apologized - I felt like a moron - but he was unphased; genuinely had a really nice conv with him afterwards. Liked him immediately.

[Derek Brand @echo_nyc]

Fun story: I met Dave at JPM while fundraising for a mobile dx platform - I was meeting an investor at the Lilly reception early and Dave was the only other person there.

I wasn't paying much attention to pharma at the time

Opening question: "So what do you do at Lilly?"

[Dave A Ricks @DaveARicks]

@AppleHelix Nah.. its me

[Derek Brand @echo_nyc]

@djwhelan You introduced me to the glorious innovation that is the sushi burrito. My life improved immeasurably :)

[Derek Brand @echo_nyc]

NAILED IT.

(I bashfully apologized)

He had just become CEO a few weeks earlier. We talked for ~15 mins over a beer (mostly about how hard late stage Alzheimer's trials are...)

He was great - unphased by my faux pas - and I have been rooting for him ever since. :)

[Derek Brand @echo_nyc]

@PutrinoLab Have you tried using AI?

[Camila dos Santos @caoresco]

We are hiring a postdoctoral fellow to study cellular and molecular mechanisms of cancer initiation, with a specific focus on breast cancer, at St. Jude - please apply or share! https://t.co/8F8VbVXUUp