Dr. Kraus serves as Vice President, Clinical Development Therapeutic Head, Central Nervous System, at Otsuka. In his role, he is responsible for the design and oversight of all clinical research programs and protocols, and he participates in due diligence of potential acquisitions, in-licensing or joint-development programs for clinical viability and the potential for commercial success. Dr. Kraus has over 25 years of experience in clinical, academic, and pharmaceutical medicine and drug development. He has worked in multiple settings within the pharmaceutical industry, including large Pharma (GSK), clinical research organizations (ICON, Parexel) and biotech (Brii Biosciences).
Throughout his career, Dr. Kraus has led, contributed to, or managed drug development programs across several psychiatric, neurological, and rare diseases, including schizophrenia, major depressive disorder, anxiety disorders, bipolar disorder, Duchene muscular dystrophy, amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, myasthenia gravis, multiple sclerosis, epilepsy, Parkinson’s disease, Alzheimer’s disease, neuropathic pain and neuroinjury. He has substantial regulatory engagement experience, including with Food and Drug Administration, Pharmaceutical and Medical Device Agency, European Medicines Agency, and Paediatric Committee.
Dr. Kraus received his MD and PhD (neurobiology) from Duke University in Durham, NC. He completed his psychiatry residency training at the University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC, where he was also Chief Resident. Following residency training, he joined the faculty of UNC where he was an Associate Professor, Associate Director of Residency Training and Associate Director/Director of the Psychiatry Clinical Research Unit. He also served as Chief, Adult Psychiatry, of Dorothea Dix Hospital in Raleigh, NC, at the time the largest public hospital in the state. He is a Diplomate, American Board of Psychiatry & Neurology, and a Distinguished Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association.