Amit Etkin, MD, PhD

Dr. Amit Etkin founded Alto in 2019 and is our President and Chief Executive Officer and serves as Chair of our board of directors. Prior to founding Alto, Dr. Etkin was a tenured professor of psychiatry and behavioral sciences at Stanford University, where he held multiple leading roles. During his more than a decade on the faculty, Dr. Etkin ran a well-funded laboratory with over 30 students, postdoctoral researchers, and staff and was jointly appointed at the Palo Alto Veteran Affairs Medical Center. Dr. Etkin has authored more than 100 peer-reviewed scientific articles in leading basic science and clinical journals and ranks in the top 0.1% of researchers by citations worldwide. His exceptional research contributions during his tenure at Stanford led to Dr. Etkin being awarded the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Director’s Pioneer Award, the most competitive and prestigious NIH grant, and the first in history to be awarded in clinical psychiatry. His entrepreneurial accomplishments were also recognized when he received an EY (Entrepreneur of the Year) award.