Neal Walker co-founded Aclaris Therapeutics and has served as President and Chief Executive Officer and a member of the board of directors since its inception in July 2012. He is a board-certified dermatologist and serial entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience in the life science industry. He began his pharmaceutical industry career at Johnson & Johnson. Dr. Walker co-founded NeXeption, LLC, a biopharmaceutical assets management company, in August 2012. Prior to Aclaris, he co-founded and served as President and Chief Executive Officer and a member of the board of directors of Vicept Therapeutics, Inc., a dermatology-focused specialty pharmaceutical company, from 2009 until its acquisition by Allergan plc in July 2011. Previously, Dr. Walker co-founded and led a number of life science companies, including Octagon Research Solutions, Inc., a software and services provider to biopharmaceutical companies (acquired by Accenture); Trigenesis Therapeutics, Inc., a specialty dermatology company, where he served as Chief Medical Officer (acquired by Dr. Reddy's Laboratories Ltd.); and Cutix Inc., a commercial dermatology company. He also co-founded and serves on the board of directors of the Dermatology Summit, Dermatology Innovation Forum, and Advancing Innovation in Dermatology. Dr. Walker is on the board of directors of Alderya Therapeutics, Inc., a publicly held biotechnology company, as well as Life Sciences Pennsylvania and several private companies. In 2016, Dr. Walker was awarded the Frank Baldino Bioscience CEO of the Year award and the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Greater Philadelphia award. He is a Fellow of the American Academy of Dermatology. He received his Master of Business Administration from The Wharton School, University of Pennsylvania, his Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine from the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine and a Bachelor of Arts in Biology from Lehigh University.

Dermatology