Michael Ehlers, MD, PhD is Chief Executive Officer of Limelight Bio. Prior to joining Limelight and Apple Tree Partners, Dr. Ehlers was Executive Vice President and Head of Research & Development at Biogen, where he served on the executive committee and was responsible for setting a vision and overseeing more than $2 billion annually in R&D investment. During his time at Biogen, Dr. Ehlers significantly expanded and diversified Biogen’s clinical portfolio and boosted R&D productivity across the value chain. Previously, Dr. Ehlers was Senior Vice President & Head, BioTherapeutics R&D and the Chief Scientific Officer for Neuroscience & Pain at Pfizer. Prior to joining industry in 2010, Dr. Ehlers was the George Barth Geller Professor of Neurobiology and an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute at Duke University Medical Center. Dr. Ehlers is the recipient of numerous awards and has authored more than 100 scientific papers. He earned his bachelor’s degree in chemistry from the California Institute of Technology and holds M.D. and Ph.D. degrees from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.

Dr. Ehlers grew up in rural Nebraska and earned his bachelor’s degree in chemistry from the California Institute of Technology. He holds MD and PhD degrees from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.