Dr. Sharon Hrynkow
Dr. Sharon Hrynkow, neuroscientist and entrepreneur, founded Life Science Associates LLC DBA Life Science Works, to speed the growth of early-stage life science companies. The LSW team possesses deep expertise in business, science and medicine, allowing us to tackle any challenge in partnership with our clients.
Prior to launching LSW, Dr. Hrynkow served for 20 years in the federal government, including 12 years in the Senior Executive Service at the National Institutes of Health. She was the Acting Director and Deputy Director of the Fogarty International Center, where she was responsible for all extramural funding programs and activities of the Center. For two years, she served as Associate Director of the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, and she served additionally as a Senior Advisor at the Department of State on global health and on advancing women in science. On leaving federal service, Dr. Hrynkow was the inaugural President of a non-profit organization, Global Virus Network, dedicated to building a coalition of medical virologists globally to mitigate pandemic viral threats. On joining the private sector, she helped transform a chemical distribution company into a late-stage clinical biotechnology company, Cyclo Therapeutics (Nasdaq: CYTH). She and the CEO raised over $30 million from investors to support the design and conduct of clinical trials. During her tenure as lead of the clinical program and as Chief Scientific Officer, the company completed phase 1 and phase 2 studies and launched a pivotal phase 3 trial to combat a rare and fatal disease, Niemann-Pick type C. She also led the development and conduct of a compassionate use program in Alzheimer’s Disease then with her team designed a phase 2 trial in Alzheimer’s Disease, now ongoing. Dr. Hrynkow is named on utility patents entitled “Methods for Treating Alzheimer’s Disease” in both the US and Europe (US Patent No. 11,925,659 and European Patent Application, Allowed, No. 19805439.7).
Dr. Hrynkow serves or has served on for-profit and non-profit boards, including for CTIS Inc., a privately held health informatics company and Forward Industries (Nasdaq: FORD) where she Chairs the Compensation Committee, the Nominations/Governance Committee, and the newly established S & T Committee. She also serves on the Audit Committee. She recently joined the Board of Trustees of a non-profit organization, Journey Through Hallowed Ground. Prior non-profit roles include a range of committees at the National Academy of Medicine and National Academy of Sciences, and membership in the Presidents’ Circle of the National Academies of Sciences, Engineering and Medicine. She served on the US President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology.
Dr. Hrynkow holds a B.A. in Biology from Rhode Island College and a Ph.D. in Biomedical Science/Neuroscience from the University of Connecticut. She conducted post-doctoral research at the University of Oslo. In 2023, she received a Certificate from Harvard Medical School on “Digital Transformation of Healthcare” and another Certificate from the Private Directors Association on “Private Company Governance.”
Dr. Hrynkow has received numerous awards and recognitions for her service to society, including the King of Norway’s Order of Merit, the US President’s Rank Award for Meritorious Senior Executive and the American Association for the Advancement of Science 40 by 40 recognition. She is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and an elected Member of the Council on Foreign Relations and of the Cosmos Club in Washington DC as “Distinguished in Public Service.”
