Top Neuroscientist Matthew Anderson Appointed Co-Director of the Oxford-Harrington Rare Disease Centre

February 18, 2025

OXFORD, UK and CLEVELAND, Ohio, US, February 18, 2025 – The Oxford-Harrington Rare Disease Centre (‘OHC’), a partnership between the University of Oxford, UK and Harrington Discovery Institute at University Hospitals, Cleveland, Ohio, aimed at driving cutting-edge rare disease breakthroughs, announces the appointment of Matthew Anderson, MD, PhD, as co-Director. Dr. Anderson will work alongside Director and Chief Scientific Officer, Professor Matthew Wood, to drive the OHC’s mission to deliver new treatments for the nearly half a billion people affected by rare diseases worldwide, with an initial goal of advancing 40 new medicines for rare diseases into clinical development in the next decade. In addition to serving as Co-Director of the OHC, Dr. Anderson will be an Investigator in the Harrington Discovery Institute and a Professor in the Department of Pathology at University Hospitals and Case Western Reserve University.

Dr. Anderson brings a wealth of scientific and clinical research and translational medicine experience to his role at the OHC from a distinguished career in academia and industry. Prior to joining the OHC, he served as Vice President of Research and Preclinical Development, and Head of the Neuroscience Therapeutic Focus Area at Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a Fortune 500 company. Previously, Dr. Anderson served as the Chief of the Neuropathology Division at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center at Harvard Medical School (Boston, MA), running a productive research program yielding breakthroughs in neurological, neuropsychiatric, and neurodevelopmental diseases including epilepsy and autism.

Dr. Anderson received MD and PhD degrees from the University of Iowa College of Medicine. For his PhD in Physiology and Biophysics, working under the mentorship of Dr. Michael Welsh, one of the United States’ preeminent physician-scientists and member of Harrington Discovery Institute’s Scientific Advisory Board, Dr. Anderson produced seminal studies on the function of the CFTR chloride channel that is mutated in cystic fibrosis. Subsequently, he completed a postdoctoral research fellowship studying ion channels that contribute to epilepsy at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), under the mentorship of Nobel Laureate Dr. Susumu Tonegawa.

Commenting on his appointment, Dr. Anderson said: “I am both honoured and excited to join the OHC as Co-Director. Throughout my career, I have been deeply committed to advancing our understanding of neuroscience and applying this knowledge to improving patient outcomes. The OHC’s dedication to groundbreaking research and innovation aligns perfectly with my own passion for translating cutting-edge science into real-world therapeutic solutions. This is particularly relevant to rare diseases where there is an urgent need for new therapies. I look forward to working with the OHC’s talented team and its extensive networks to further our collective mission to make a significant and lasting impact to patients and their loved ones.”

Matthew Wood, OHC’s Director and Chief Scientific Officer, and Professor of Neuroscience in Oxford’s Department of Paediatrics, added: “We are absolutely thrilled to welcome Matt as Co-Director of the OHC. His exceptional expertise, spanning academia and industry, particularly in the fields of neurological diseases – a key focus area for the OHC – will be invaluable to our mission to deliver 40 new treatments for rare diseases over the next decade. This unique US-UK partnership is at the heart of what makes the OHC a leader in rare disease research, and Matt’s leadership will strengthen our ability to address the critical unmet needs of rare disease patients around the world.”

Jonathan Stamler, MD, President and Co-Founder, Harrington Discovery Institute, added: “Matt Anderson brings experience, new ideas, and leadership into the OHC. Together, the co-leadership team of Matthew Wood at Oxford and Matt Anderson at Harrington Discovery Institute will enable exciting and powerful synergies between the transatlantic partners to advance innovative approaches to deliver new treatments for rare diseases.”

About Rare Diseases

More than 400 million people worldwide are living with a rare disease, and approximately 50 percent are children. There are about 7,000 known rare diseases, with new diseases being discovered every day. A rare disease affects one in 10 Americans, or 10 percent of the US population. Similarly, Europe has approximately 30 million people who suffer from a rare disease. The majority of all rare diseases are genetic in origin, which means they are present throughout a person’s life. Only five percent of rare diseases have a treatment approved by the US Food and Drug Administration (FDA) and similar estimates have been made for treatments approved by the European Medicine Agency (EMA). Therefore, someone with a rare disease today faces a lifelong, often life-threatening, condition with little hope for a cure, or even an effective treatment option.

About Oxford-Harrington Rare Disease Centre

The Oxford-Harrington Rare Disease Centre (OHC) is a partnership between the University of Oxford, UK and Harrington Discovery Institute at University Hospitals, in Cleveland, Ohio, US. The OHC combines world-leading strengths in research and therapeutics development from across these organizations to set the science and innovation agenda and drive cutting-edge rare disease breakthroughs to address the unmet need in rare diseases across the globe to deliver major clinical impact for patients. For more information, visit: OxfordHarrington.org | X | LinkedIn

About the University of Oxford

The University of Oxford is rated the best in the world for medicine and life sciences, and it is home to the UK’s top-ranked medical school. It has one of the largest clinical trial portfolios in the UK and great expertise in taking discoveries from the lab into the clinic. Partnerships with the local NHS Trusts enable patients to benefit from close links between medical research and healthcare delivery. For more information, visit: www.ox.ac.uk

About Harrington Discovery Institute

Harrington Discovery Institute at University Hospitals in Cleveland, Ohio aims to advance academic discoveries into medicines to address unmet need. It was created in 2012 with a $50 million founding gift from the Harrington family and has supported more than 200 scientists throughout the US, UK. and Canada. Harrington Discovery Institute uses an innovation model that surrounds scientists with drug development and business expertise and employs both philanthropic funding and catalytic investment capital to advance projects into the clinic and through commercialization. For more information, visit: HarringtonDiscovery.org| LinkedIn | X

Media contacts:

UK/ EU – MEDiSTRAVA

Sylvie Berrebi / Mark Swallow OHC@medistrava.com

US – For University Hospitals

Ansley Kelm ansley.kelm@UHhospitals.org