Embera Scientific Advisory Board is Formed with Distinguished Professors Renowned in Addiction Research

Charles O'Brien, MD, Phd; Kathleen Brady, MD, PhD and Rajita Sinha, PhD have joined Embera's newly formed Scientific Advisory Board and will lend their expertise to the company as they begin the drug development process for a novel product to treat addiction.

Shreveport, LA (PRWEB) May 18, 2007 -- Embera NeuroTherapeutics, Inc. announced today that Charles O'Brien, MD, Phd, Kathleen Brady, MD, PhD and Rajita Sinha, PhD have joined the company's Scientific Advisory Board. Dr. Nicholas E. Goeders, Embera Chief Scientific Officer, said "It is exciting to have these three experts in the field of addiction research as members of our Scientific Advisory Board. Their vast knowledge and experience will be invaluable in the design and execution of our clinical trials on addiction."

Dr. Charles O'Brien has been a distinguished member of the University of Pennsylvania's faculty since 1971 and currently serves as a Professor, Vice-Chairman of Psychiatry, and Director of the Center for Studies of Addiction. He also founded the Drug Dependence Treatment Service at the Philadelphia Veterans Affairs Medical Center where he served as Chief of Psychiatry responsible for over 9,000 psychiatric patients. He is board certified in both neurology and psychiatry with added qualifications in addiction psychiatry. Dr. O'Brien's research group has been responsible for numerous discoveries described in over 450 publications that have elucidated information on the nature of addiction and improved the results of treatment for addictive disorders. His work involves discovery of central nervous system changes involved in relapse, new medications, behavioral treatments and instruments for measuring the severity of addictive disorders. Dr. O'Brien was elected to the Institute of Medicine of the National Academy of Sciences in 1991 and has won numerous research and teaching awards throughout his career. He is a former president of the Association for Research in Nervous and Mental Disease and the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology.

The willingness of well-known researchers in the field of addiction to support Embera validates the credibility of the research performed by Dr. Goeders, which forms the basis for Embera's technology. Embera is fortunate to have attracted such valuable expertise to help us move forward into the clinic.

Dr. Kathleen T. Brady is a board-certified psychiatrist specializing in addiction psychiatry. As a Professor of Psychiatry at the Medical University of South Carolina, Dr. Brady is Director of the Clinical Neuroscience Division, Director of the Women's Research Center, Associate Director of the General Clinical Research Center (GCRC), Director of the Southern Consortium of NIDA's Clinical Trials Network, Director of MUSC's application for the Clinical and Translational Science Award, and Associate Dean for Clinical Research. Her research interests are in the areas of drug and alcohol abuse/addiction and comorbid conditions such as posttraumatic stress disorder and other anxiety disorders. She has served as Principal Investigator, Co-Principal Investigator, and Mentor on numerous research projects. Dr. Brady has been very active in organizations addressing the concerns of psychiatry and addictions. She is Past President of the Association for Medical Education and Research in Substance Abuse and Past President of the American Academy of Addiction Psychiatry. She has served on the Scientific Advisory Council of the National Institute of Drug Abuse and the Committee on Community Based Treatment of the Institute of Medicine, the National Academy of Science, as well as the Board of Directors of the College of Problems of Drug Dependence.

Rajita Sinha, Ph.D. is a Professor in the Department of Psychiatry and Director of the Yale Research Program on Stress, Addiction and Psychopathology. She has been the Director of Addiction Services at the Connecticut Mental Health Center where she oversaw the treatment of addictive disorders inpatients with varied psychiatric illnesses. Dr. Sinha is a leading expert in translational clinical neuroscience where she has pioneered the research linking stress to drug craving, compulsive drug seeking and relapse in humans. She has served as Principal Investigator of many independent research grants and is also Principal Investigator of a NIH funded Center on gender differences in stress and substance use disorders. She has been active in local and national organizations that address the prevention and treatment issues relating to mental health and addiction. Dr. Sinha has published extensively in this area and has made numerous presentations at scientific conferences across the world. She has also served on several panels for the NIH to review scientific research in the areas of stress, neuroscience of addiction and treatment development.

Dr. Marie Lindner, Embera President, stated "The willingness of well-known researchers in the field of addiction to support Embera validates the credibility of the research performed by Dr. Goeders, which forms the basis for Embera's technology. Embera is fortunate to have attracted such valuable expertise to help us move forward into the clinic."

About Embera NeuroTherapeutics, Inc.:
Embera NeuroTherapeutics, Inc. (http://www.emberaneuro.com) is a specialty pharmaceutical company dedicated to developing novel treatments for neuropsychiatric diseases such as addiction, depression, anxiety, and compulsive behavioral disorders. Their lead product, EMB-001, was discovered by Dr. Nicholas Goeders at the Louisiana State University Health Sciences Center in Shreveport, LA and is currently in preparation for clinical testing. EMB-001 is a patent-pending drug combination of two previously FDA-approved drugs with a long history of use and established safety profile. Embera plans to submit an Investigational New Drug (IND) application to the FDA in the summer of 2007 for approval to conduct clinical trials of EMB-001 in humans. EMB-001 will initially be tested as a potential treatment for cocaine addiction, but is expected to be effective in treating a wide array of addictive disorders.

Forward Looking Statement Disclaimer: The information stated in this press release is for information only and is not meant to be taken as a promise or guarantee of any financial, medical or any other future outcome. Embera believes this information to be accurate at this time.

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