Chris Witowski, PhD is Co-Founder and CEO of Psilera, a Tampa-based biopharmaceutical company pioneering next-generation neuroplastogens to treat hard-to-treat neurological and psychiatric disorders. He brings over 15 years of drug discovery experience spanning natural products chemistry, medicinal chemistry, and pharmaceutical R&D.

Chris earned his PhD in Chemistry from the University of South Florida, where he specialized in natural products research, chemical ecology, and drug discovery, and holds a BS from Florida State University. He rose to Chief Scientific Officer at AltMed Enterprises (now Verano Holdings), one of the top five private medical cannabis companies in the country, where he designed labs and launched an international product line.

Motivated by personal experience with Alzheimer's disease, depression, and end-of-life cancer care, Chris co-founded Psilera to repurpose psychoactive natural products as the foundation for breakthrough mental health medicines. He is a co-inventor on multiple patents covering drug delivery systems for cannabinoids, terpenes, and the discovery of Antarctic sponge terpenoids with antibiotic and antiviral activity.

Under his leadership, Psilera has filed 13 patents covering over 1 million novel compounds, secured NIH and NIDA collaborations, and closed an $8.8M Seed extension round in 2025 to advance lead candidate PSIL-006 toward first-in-human trials. The co-founders collectively bring over $1.5B in cumulative value created from prior ventures.

Psilera has raised approximately $13.3M in combined equity and grant funding and is advancing PSIL-006, a first-in-class non-hallucinogenic neuroplastogen targeting frontotemporal dementia, toward IND submission and clinical trials planned for 2027.