The NeuroCog Team
Led by Dr. Richard Keefe, recognized globally as an expert in neurocognition, the NeuroCog Trials team consists of a carefully selected group of scientists, clinicians, project managers, data monitors and certification specialists. Below are brief profiles for several key members of our leadership team.
Richard Keefe, PhD, Founder and CEO
Dr. Keefe is Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences and Psychology at Duke University Medical Center and Adjunct Professor at the Duke-University of Singapore Graduate Medical School. His work for the past 20 years has focused on applying innovative strategies in neuroscience to measure human cognition. He has published over 150 peer-reviewed scientific papers on cognition, schizophrenia, dementia, and other CNS disorders. Dr. Keefe has had a leadership role for cognitive methods and coordinating center data review for several large NIMH studies including the CATIE, MATRICS, TURNS, and TENETS projects. He is Associate Editor for Psychological Medicine, and on the Editorial Board of Schizophrenia Bulletin, Schizophrenia Research, and Innovations in Clinical Neuroscience. He is a Fellow of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology, and on the Scientific Board of NAMI and the Brain and Behavior Research Foundation. He is President-Elect of the International Society for CNS Clinical Trials and Methodology and assumes the role of President in 2012.
He graduated from Princeton University in 1980, and received his PhD in clinical psychology from NYU in 1990. He completed his clinical psychology internship at Yale University School of Medicine in 1990.
In order to bring cutting-edge innovation and academic quality standards to industry trials collecting neurocognitive data, Dr. Keefe founded NeuroCog Trials, Inc.
Caren Gadigian, President
Ms. Gadigian has partnered in the growth and development of NeuroCog Trials, Inc. since its inception. Prior to NeuroCog Trials, Inc. Ms. Gadigian worked in finance with private investment firms providing equity trading, syndicate and operational expertise. She was headquartered in New York City and had 15 years of experience in finance before relocating to North Carolina. Ms Gadigian sidelined her financial ventures to concentrate on the development and growth of NeuroCog Trials, Inc.
Ms.Gadigian has received degrees in Business and Education from Pace University in NY.
Michael Hufford, PhD, Chief Operating Officer
With 11 years of drug development experience, Dr. Hufford brings valuable expertise to NeuroCog. As Vice President of Clinical Development at Cypress Bioscience, he had responsibility for drug and medical device development in support of multiple CNS assets. Before joining Cypress, he worked at Amylin Pharmaceuticals, leading drug development teams focused on orphan drug development for rare metabolic diseases, combination peptide and protein therapies for obesity, and helped to spinout and was on the board of Psylin Neurosciences, focusing on the discovery and development of peptide therapeutics for the treatment of CNS disorders. Between 2000 and 2005, Dr. Hufford was Vice President of Scientific Affairs at Invivodata. He was responsible for research and development, as well as scientific consulting on patient reported outcome endpoints and label claim development for more than 50 drug development programs, serving on the scientific advisory boards of several biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies. From 1997-2000, he was an Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychology at the University of Montana, where he directed the Addictive Behaviors Research Laboratory. He has more than 90 scientific publications and presentations, with multiple issued and pending patents.
Dr. Hufford earned his Bachelor’s Degree with Distinction in Psychology from Purdue University, and his Master’s and Doctoral degrees in Clinical Psychology from the University of Pittsburgh. He received his clinical training at the Western Psychiatric Institute and Clinic, and completed his clinical internship at the McLean Hospital, where he was a Clinical and Research Fellow in the Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School.
Alex Atkins, Ph.D, Scientific Director
Dr. Atkins is an Experimental Psychologist with expertise in cognitive psychology, cognitive neuroscience and mental health research. Prior to attending graduate school, she worked as a Study Coordinator at Weil Medical College, Cornell University where she managed clinical trials for a wide range of CNS disorders including Alzheimer’s disease, Huntington’s disease, ALS, headache disorders and stroke.
Dr. Atkins received a B.A. in Psychology from Oberlin College and an interdisciplinary Master’s degree from the University of Chicago prior to earning her Ph.D. in Psychology from the University of Michigan in 2009. She completed post-doctoral training at the Center for Cognitive Neuroscience at Duke University.
Dr. Atkins’ past research has used cognitive testing in conjunction with functional neuroimaging techniques to examine the cognitive and neural mechanisms of memory distortion and executive functioning. She has received National Research Service Awards from both the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and the National Institute on Aging (NIA), and has authored numerous peer-reviewed publications and presentations. She brings to NeuroCog Trials expertise in neurocognitive assessment, experimental methodology and the biological basis of behavior.
Nicole M. Turcotte, Operations Director
Ms. Turcotte began her career in Clinical Research working for Dr. Keefe at his Duke University lab as a research assistant acquiring normative data for the Brief Assessment of Cognition in Schizophrenia (BACS). She joined NeuroCog Trials in 2005 where she began as a data monitor and certification specialist, progressing into a project management role and eventually becoming the Operations Director. In this position, she is responsible for managing the processes and procedures for NeuroCog Trials. She has experience managing data collection on Phases II through IV clinical trials and has managed numerous global drug development projects. Ms. Turcotte has considerable experience providing supervision, guidance, and oversight for numerous schizophrenia trials as well as weight loss and RLS.
Ms. Turcotte received her B.A. in Psychology from Saint Anselm College and is currently participating in a graduate program at Gonzaga University.
Vicki Davis, DrPh, Biostatistician
Dr. Davis serves as NCT’s chief biostatistician. She has over 20 years experience in clinical trial research, including 5 years in schizophrenia studies. Prior to joining NCT, Dr. Davis worked as a Research Investigator for the Collaborative Studies Coordinating Center in the Department of Biostatistics at UNC, Chapel Hill. She assisted investigators with data analysis and manuscript preparation for the Clinical Antipsychotic Trials of Intervention Effectiveness study (CATIE) and the Atherosclerosis Risk in Community Studies (ARIC). From 1985 to 1996, Dr. Davis was a Senior Research Statistician in the Center for Medical, Environmental and Energy Statistics at Research Triangle Institute. Her responsibilities primarily included statistical support for cardiovascular clinical trials such as the Multicenter Investigation of the Limitation of Infarct Size (MILIS), the Asymptomatic Carotid Artery Plaque Study (ACAPS), and Thrombolysis in Myocardial Infarction (TIMI 4). At NCT, Dr. Davis has developed software to perform ongoing review of tests for data entry errors, to assess inter-rater reliability during the course of the study, and to generate final reports. In addition, she is available to provide results from efficacy analyses of cognition data in the form of computer-generated tables and figures at the request of the sponsor.
Dr. Davis earned her Bachelor of Science, Master of Science, and Doctor of Public Health degrees in Biostatistics from the University of North Carolina in Chapel Hill.
Trina Walker, RN, Senior Team Leader
Ms. Walker is an experienced Project Manager with expertise in direct patient interaction and both large academic and industry trials. She has been working in the mental health field since graduation and has 15 years experience working with schizophrenia and bipolar populations. For the past 10 years, she has worked at Duke University Medical Center and John Umstead Hospital doing research on neurocognition. Mrs. Walker has extensive experience with cognitive assessment and has supervised the collection of data and data quality for several domestic and international multi-site trials, including the collection of data for over 1600 patients in the CATIE schizophrenia and dementia trials. She has also helped develop several cognitive instruments, including the Brief Assessment of Cognition in Schizophrenia (BACS), the Schizophrenia Cognition Rating Scale (SCoRS) and the Cognitive Assessment Interview (CAI).
Ms. Walker received her B.A. in Rehabilitation Therapy from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill in 1996 and received an A.D. in Nursing in 2005