Consultant

Kristin DeSouza, PhD

Dr. Kristin DeSouza is a toxicologist with over 10 years of nonclinical drug development experience, working with both small and large molecule programs. She has specific expertise in antisense oligonucleotides (ASOs), rare disease and orphan designations in neurology, carcinogenicity studies, and unique dosing routes, including intrathecal and nasal administration.

Kristin served as a toxicology Study Director for eight years at CRL (Ashland) and LabCorp (Madison), gaining extensive expertise in the design, conduct, interpretation, and reporting of nonclinical toxicology studies. She then continued her career as the lead project team nonclinical representative at two biotechnology companies, Praxis Precision Medicines and HotSpot Therapeutics, where she was responsible for the design and oversight of nonclinical programs, as well as the strategy and preparation of nonclinical sections for IND/CTA submissions. Additionally, Kristin participated in regulatory agency interactions and responses, carcinogenicity waivers, impurity assessments, and target safety assessment profiles.

In her current role as a consultant at Akkeri, she provides scientific strategy and operational support for a variety of client drug development programs.

Kristin earned her PhD in Molecular Genetics at Ohio State University, followed by a postdoctoral fellowship at the Nationwide Children’s Hospital Research Institute. In these roles, she focused on organ development, emphasizing the role of transcription factor regulation and its disruption in normal developmental processes.

She is an active member of the American College of Toxicology (ACT) and the Society of Toxicology (SOT).