Kinney, who holds a B.A. from Bloomsburg University and an M.A. and Ph.D. from Florida Atlantic University, was a founding member of Prothena’s leadership team. He was Head of R&D and Chief Scientific Officer since 2012. Recently, Kinney was also named Chief Operating Officer. Prior to Prothena, he worked at Elan Pharmaceuticals Inc., Janssen Alzheimer Immunotherapy R&D, Merck Research Laboratories and Bristol-Myers Squibb. 

Kinney replaces Dale Schenk, who co-founded Prothena and most recently served as it’s CEO. Schenk passed away at the end of September. He had been suffering from pancreatic cancer. Schenk and Kinney had worked together since 2009.