Ekemini Riley

Dr. Ekemini Riley serves as the Managing Director of Aligning Science Across Parkinson's (ASAP), a role in which she is tasked with accelerating the pace of discovery for Parkinson’s disease. Educated in Natural Sciences at Johns Hopkins University, and with a PhD in Molecular Medicine from the University of Maryland School of Medicine, Riley's background as a molecular biologist equips her with the knowledge and skills to tackle scientific challenges and facilitate productive collaborations.

Throughout her career, Riley has demonstrated a talent for strategic thinking and collaboration. She has designed and facilitated numerous multi-sector think tanks, which have informed the strategic deployment of philanthropic capital, helped to shape research programs, and fostered collaboration among multiple funders. Prior to her role at ASAP, Riley served as a Director at the Milken Institute Center for Strategic Philanthropy, where she helped to co-direct the center’s medical research practice.

In 2020, Riley founded the Coalition for Aligning Science (CAS), an organization designed to centralize efforts to design and implement research programs across multiple disease areas. Under her leadership, CAS now serves as the managing entity for ASAP. In addition to her professional roles, Riley is a sought-after speaker on topics related to open science, research transparency, and collaboration.