alpha-synuclein
(3)
Russ Lebovitz
Russ Lebovitz is the co-founder and CEO of Amprion, a precision brain diagnostics company that built the first commercial seed amplification assay for detecting misfolded alpha-synuclein - the protein at the root of Parkinson's disease and other synucleinopathies. An MD/PhD trained at Washington University in St. Louis and a former research physician at Baylor and Fox Chase Cancer Center, Lebovitz spent years chasing prions after the mad cow scare, then pivoted the same detection science toward common neurodegenerative diseases. His SYNTap test won an FDA Breakthrough Device Designation and is now used in clinical trials and patient care to spot brain disease years before symptoms appear.
Illimis Therapeutics
Illimis Therapeutics is a Seoul-based biotechnology company developing protein-based medicines for central nervous system and immune diseases. Its proprietary GAIA (Gas6-mediated Anti-Inflammatory Adaptor) platform builds bispecific fusion proteins that engage the body's TAM receptors to clear misfolded proteins such as amyloid-beta through phagocytosis without triggering the inflammation and ARIA side effects associated with existing antibody drugs. Founded in 2021, the company raised a $42 million Series B in July 2025 and is advancing a lead Alzheimer's candidate, ILM01, toward an IND by the end of 2027.
Amprion
Amprion is a precision-diagnostics company using Seed Amplification Assay (SAA) technology to detect misfolded proteins - alpha-synuclein, amyloid-beta and tau - in cerebrospinal fluid, giving physicians and drug developers a biological readout of neurodegenerative disease years before symptoms fully emerge. Its flagship SAAmplify-aSYN test (formerly SYNTap) is the first commercially available validated alpha-synuclein SAA, carries an FDA Breakthrough Device Designation, and aims to replace symptom-based guesswork for Parkinson's, Lewy body dementia, Alzheimer's and multiple system atrophy with autopsy-grade certainty.