Merouane Bencherif, M.D., Ph.D. Senior Vice President, Preclinical Research

Dr. Bencherif co-founded Targacept in 1997 and serves as Senior Vice President, Preclinical Research.  Prior to founding Targacept, he held positions of increasing responsibility at R.J. Reynolds Tobacco Company (RJRT).  Dr. Bencherif has over 25 years experience in medicine, physiology and neurochemistry research focusing on the molecular mechanisms of synaptic neurotransmission and purinergic, muscarinic and nicotinic cholinergic systems.  Prior to joining RJRT, Dr. Bencherif worked as a research associate in the neurochemistry department at the Barrow Neurological Institute, St. Joseph Hospital and Medical Center in Phoenix, Arizona and completed a fellowship in the Department of Physiology at the University of Virginia in Charlottesville.  He holds an appointment as Adjunct Professor in the Physiology and Pharmacology Department of Wake Forest University School of Medicine in Winston-Salem.  Dr. Bencherif received his M.D. from the University of Algiers Medical School in Algeria, a Ph.D. in biophysics from the University of Virginia and B.S. degrees in mathematics and physics from Aix en Provence in France and Algiers.