Neal Walker co-founded Aclaris and has served as President and Chief Executive Officer and as a director since its inception in 2012.



Neal is a board-certified dermatologist and serial entrepreneur with over 20 years of experience in the life sciences industry. Neal’s pharmaceutical industry career began at Johnson & Johnson, from which he went on to co-found a number of companies, including NeXeption, LLC, a biopharmaceutical assets management company; Vicept Therapeutics, Inc., a dermatology-focused specialty pharmaceutical company (acquired by Allergan, Inc.); Octagon Research Solutions, Inc., a software and services provider to biopharmaceutical companies (acquired by Accenture plc); Trigenesis Therapeutics, Inc., a specialty dermatology company (acquired by Dr. Reddy's Laboratories Inc.); and Cutix Inc., a commercial dermatology company. Neal also co-founded and previously served on the boards of a number of ventures, including the Dermatology Summit, Dermatology Innovation Forum, and Advancing Innovation in Dermatology. In 2016, Dr. Walker was awarded the Frank Baldino Bioscience CEO of the Year award and the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year Greater Philadelphia award.



Currently, Neal is on the board of directors of Aldeyra Therapeutics, Inc., and he is a fellow of the American Academy of Dermatology. He received a Master of Business Administration from The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania, a Doctor of Osteopathic Medicine from the Philadelphia College of Osteopathic Medicine, and a Bachelor of Arts in biology from Lehigh University.