Harshini Neelakantan
Executive Director, R&D Ridgeline Therapeutics
Harshini Neelakantan is the Executive Director of Research and Development at Ridgeline Therapeutics, a Houston-based biotech company focused on developing safe and effective drugs to address age-related muscle weakness, Type 2 diabetes, obesity, muscular dystrophies, and kidney disease. She has a strong background in pharmacology, having completed her Bachelor of Pharmacy degree at BITS Pilani and a PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences at Temple University School of Pharmacy. Dr. Neelakantan has been an active member of the ASPET Council and has held various leadership roles throughout her career, including co-founding the Postdoctoral Association at the University of Texas Medical Branch. Her research areas include in vivo pharmacology, translational preclinical disease models, and preclinical drug development across therapeutic areas.
Seminars
- Standardizing tissue-specific permeability and “molecular-reach” as a core regulatory endpoint to move beyond systemic bioavailability as the “gold standard” for pediatric and geriatric success, leading to a more nuanced and accurate reflection of metabolic health across all ages
- Evaluating the ethics and logistics of long-term “follow-on” studies to track the 10-year impact of incretins on muscle progenitor cell health and mitochondrial function, building the robust safety database required for universal pediatric approval
- Integrating objective metabolic-reserve metrics regarding “muscular-force” and “mitochondrial-efficiency” to capture the human impact of treatment, ensuring that drug development remains focused on functional longevity rather than just cosmetic weight loss
