RespireRx Pharmaceuticals Inc. Announces Appointment of Dr. James Cook and Dr. Jeffrey Witkin as Research Fellows

Glen Rock, N.J., Oct. 27, 2020 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- RespireRx Pharmaceuticals Inc. (OTCQB: RSPI) (“RespireRx” or the “Company”), a leader in the discovery and development of innovative and revolutionary treatments to combat diseases caused by disruption of neuronal signaling, is pleased to announce the appointment on October 16, 2020, of Dr. James Cook and Dr. Jeffrey Witkin as Research Fellows.

Tim Jones, President and Chief Executive Officer said, ‘‘We are thrilled to formally welcome Dr. Cook and Dr. Witkin to the RespireRx team. In their capacities as Research Fellows, they will immediately assume roles as integral core members of our research team, reporting to Dr. Arnold Lippa, and participate as members of our Scientific Advisory Board. Their intrinsic depth of knowledge, collective academic and industry achievements in the field of neuroscience is unrivaled. Their expertise in the development of novel and innovative glutamate and GABA-A receptor neuromodulators, across a broad scope of patient -critical disorders will prove extremely valuable as we continue to grow the business; in parallel, we are actively expanding our portfolio of products, broadening our technical and regulatory asset base and in turn strengthening our already longstanding collaboration with the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee Research Foundation ‘UWMRF’.’

Dr. James Cook is a Distinguished Professor of Chemistry at the University Wisconsin-Milwaukee where he co-leads a group of scientists who have synthesized and tested a broad series of novel drugs that display GABA-A receptor subtype selectivity and pharmacological specificity. He is a leading expert in GABA-A receptor drug targeting with more than 40 years’ experience in organic and medicinal chemistry and more than 500 scientific publications and 60 patents.

Dr. Jeffrey Witkin, is a senior investigator in the Laboratory of Antiepileptic Drug Discovery that he founded with neurosurgeon Jodi L. Smith at Ascension, St. Vincent in Indianapolis, Indiana. He is also associated with the University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee where he co-led the team with Dr. Cook. He previously spent 17 years directing Neuroscience Discovery Laboratory at Lilly Research Labs where he headed biological efforts to discover multiple antidepressants and novel glutamate and GABA-A receptor neuromodulators. Several of these compounds are in clinical development for depression and epilepsy. Prior to working at the Lilly Research Labs, he headed the Drug Development Group for the intramural research program of the NIH for 14 years. He is a world class scientist with over 220 peer-reviewed publications and multiple scientific awards and honors.