Anantha Shekhar, M.D., Ph.D.

Anantha Shekhar, M.D., Ph.D.

Chief Scientific Advisor

Anantha is Chief Scientific Advisor to Syndeio Biosciences. He currently serves as the Dean of the Medical School and Senior Vice Chancellor for Health Sciences at the University of Pittsburgh. Previously, Anantha was the Associate Vice President for University Clinical Affairs & Research and Executive Dean for Research at the Indiana University School of Medicine. Anantha is also the Founding Director of the Indiana Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute (Indiana CTSI).

Anantha has conducted groundbreaking research on psychiatric therapeutics and has been recognized for his work with biotech and entrepreneurship. His innovation highlights include the following discoveries: muscarinic receptor 1/4 agonism is an effective drug target in schizophrenia (Karuna Therapeutics); the role of the neuropeptide orexin and orexin 1 receptor in human panic disorder; the role of NMDA-PSD95-nNOS pathway in regulating fear (co-founded Anagin); and the role of metabotropic glutamate 2 receptors and amygdala NMDA plasticity in anxiety and mood disorders. He is a member of the National Academies Forum on Drug Discovery and Development (2019-2023) as well as co-chair and co-author of the National Academies Workshop on Innovation in Drug Research and Development for Prevalent Chronic Diseases.

In his previous roles, Anantha was Chief Scientific Officer at Gate Neurosciences, and founder, CSO, and CMO of Anagin, Inc., a neuroscience company developing first-in-class nNOS agonists for PTSD and neuropathic pain. Anantha completed his psychiatry residency, psychopharmacology fellowship, and Ph.D. in neuroscience from Indiana University. He received an M.D. from St. John’s Medical College.