Neurologist and psychiatrist Michael Gold has joined PPD’s neuroscience team as vice president of global product development, the Wilmington-based company announced recently.

He will strengthen the company's ability to “help biopharmaceutical clients manage the complex world of nervous system disorders and deliver therapies more efficiently and cost-effectively,” according to a news release.

“Mike’s broad experience in the development of new medicines spans a variety of neurologic conditions, and his expertise in the field of neurodegenerative diseases, including Alzheimer’s and other forms of dementia, is of great value to our clients, as we work together to advance treatment options for these debilitating diseases,” Rob Dow, PPD’s senior vice president, global product development, said in the release.

PPD has successfully managed about 285 trials in psychiatry, neurology, pain and ophthalmology indications across all phases of development, the release stated.

Gold joined PPD after serving in leadership roles in major pharmaceutical and biotech companies, as well as in academia. Most recently, he spent two years at UCB Bioscience as vice president of global therapeutic area, central nervous system. He worked for nearly three years at Allon Therapeutics as vice president and chief medical officer.

From 2005 to 2011, Gold was with GSK, where he served as medicines development leader for Alzheimer’s disease and as vice president of neurosciences, medicines development center. Earlier in his career, he held positions of increasing responsibility within clinical research at Johnson & Johnson and Bristol-Myers Squibb.

Prior to joining the pharmaceutical industry, Gold was an assistant professor at the University of South Florida College of Medicine and director of the University of South Florida Memory Disorders Clinic. He is board certified in neurology and psychiatry and serves as an adjunct assistant professor in the department of medicine of the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.

Gold also serves on the scientific advisory boards for several biotechnology companies and as an associate editor for Alzheimer’s & Dementia: The Journal of the Alzheimer’s Association.