NeuroCog Trials Appoints Industry Executive Michael Hufford, Ph.D. to Chief Operating Officer

DURHAM, N.C., Nov. 4, 2011 /PRNewswire/ -- NeuroCog Trials, Inc. today announced the appointment of Michael R. Hufford, Ph.D. to the position of Chief Operating Officer.  In this newly created position, Dr. Hufford will assume responsibility for the continued growth and expansion of NeuroCog Trials' business, research and development, and operations.

"The investment in research and development for pro-cognitive therapies across a wide variety of therapeutic areas has never been stronger.  As NeuroCog Trials continues to grow to meet these needs, we decided that it was time to bring someone on board with a proven track record of success on both the vendor and sponsor side of clinical research," said Richard Keefe, Ph.D., Founder and Chief Executive Officer at NeuroCog Trials. "We are delighted to have Dr. Hufford bring the wealth of his experience in industry, academia and entrepreneurship to NeuroCog Trials.  His role at NeuroCog represents a real advance for us in our ability to provide key services for increasingly larger trials across a broad range of CNS and other therapeutic areas."

Dr. Hufford brings to the company more than 14 years of experience in clinical research and drug development.  Prior to joining NeuroCog Trials, he was Vice President of Clinical Development at Cypress Bioscience, where he was responsible for drug and medical device development for multiple CNS programs.  Before joining Cypress, he worked at Amylin Pharmaceuticals, leading drug development teams focused on orphan drug development for rare metabolic diseases, combination peptide and protein therapies for obesity, and helped to spinout and was on the board of Psylin Neurosciences.  Between 2000 and 2005, Dr. Hufford was Vice President of Scientific Affairs at invivodata, inc., an electronic patient-reported outcomes company.  Prior to that, he was an Assistant Professor of Clinical Psychology at the University of Montana.  Dr. Hufford received his B.A. with Distinction in psychology from Purdue University, and his M.S. and Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the University of Pittsburgh.  Subsequently, he was a Clinical and Research Fellow in Department of Psychiatry at Harvard Medical School at the McLean Hospital.  Dr. Hufford has more than 90 scientific publications and presentations, with multiple issued and pending patents.

About NeuroCog Trials

NeuroCog Trials Inc. is the leading cognition services company for the pharmaceutical industry.  For more than 10 years, NeuroCog Trials has provided consulting, site screening, rater training and certification, and data review services to more than 50 clinical trials in over 25 countries.  NeuroCog Trials has certified more than 4,000 neurocognitive testers and assured data quality for over 50,000 assessments across a variety of therapeutic areas, including schizophrenia, Alzheimer's disease, major depressive disorder, bipolar disorder and brain cancer.  Our mission is to facilitate the development of novel therapies to enhance cognition.  We bring to all of our work deep expertise, strategic innovation, and an unwavering commitment to research excellence.

For more information on NeuroCog Trials, its services, and licensing inquiries for its exclusive neuropsychological and functional capacity assessment batteries, please see www.neurocogtrials.com. 

CONTACT
Richard Keefe, Ph.D.
Founder & CEO
NeuroCog Trials
(919) 401-4642

SOURCE NeuroCog Trials, Inc.