Senior Management

Shane J. Schaffer, PharmD is a Co-Founder of Cingulate Therapeutics and has served as CEO since its inception. Dr. Schaffer is a 25-year pharmaceutical industry veteran with experience in pharmaceutical drug development, commercialization and biotech commercial operations. During his career, he has held positions at Pfizer, Novartis and Sanofi (including predecessor companies).

Dr. Schaffer has broad functional and therapeutic expertise through the development and commercialization of several billion dollar brands including the ADHD Franchise of Ritalin® & Focalin®, Lipitor®, Lyrica®, Eligard®, Arixtra®, Hyalgan® and Avapro®/Avalide®. He has led the strategic brand planning, franchise resource allocation and managed care & reimbursement strategy for numerous products.

Dr. Schaffer received his Doctor of Pharmacy degree from the University of Kansas. He served as Chief Fellow and completed a Post-Doctoral Pharmaceutical Industry Fellowship at Rutgers University, College of Pharmacy in conjunction with Warner-Lambert/Parke-Davis, now Pfizer.

Jennifer Callahan was named Cingulate’s Chief Financial Officer in January 2024. She brings decades of finance and accounting experience to the C-Suite, serving as Vice President, Corporate Controller for Cingulate from 2017 until her promotion to CFO. Prior to her role at the Company, Jennifer served as the Director of Accounting for a local Kansas City area CPA firm. Over the tenure of her career, she has provided consulting services to companies in a variety of industries and stages, publicly and privately owned. Jennifer started her career with Deloitte where she served in various roles in the audit practice. Ms. Callahan holds a CPA designation and received a BSBA in Accounting and Finance from Creighton University in Omaha, Nebraska.

Raul R. Silva, MD is a Co-Founder of Cingulate Therapeutics and serves as CSO. He is a practicing child and adolescent psychiatrist who has served as Associate Professor and Vice Chairman of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at New York University School of Medicine in New York City. Prior to that, he was the Executive Director of Rockland Children’s Psychiatric Center. He also served as the Deputy Director in the Division of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry at Bellevue Hospital Center, also in New York City.

Dr. Silva has authored/coauthored over 125 publications and presented at grand rounds and national meetings on over 120 occasions. He has been Principal Investigator and Co-Investigator for 21 research projects in his field.

Dr. Silva received his Doctor of Medicine degree from Ross University. He completed his fellowship in child and adolescent psychiatry at Columbia University’s St. Luke’s/Roosevelt Hospital Center where he became the director of service and residency training director. Dr. Silva completed a psychopharmacology research fellowship at New York University Medical Center. Dr. Silva is board certified in general, child and adolescent psychiatry.

Matthew Brams, MD is Chief Medical Officer and a Co-Founder of Cingulate Therapeutics. Dr. Brams is Medical Director and Principal of Bayou City Research, Inc. There, he has been instrumental in gaining FDA approval of over 15 Central Nervous System drugs currently in the marketplace. Dr. Brams is also a Clinical Associate Professor at the Menninger Department of Psychiatry of Baylor College of Medicine and has published over 20 peer-reviewed journal articles.

He has been lead investigator in several pivotal trials involving drugs in ADHD, autism, bipolar disorder and schizophrenia therapeutic areas. He has extensive experience in drug development and execution of Phase I-IV trials and has been involved in over 125 clinical trials in both adult and pediatric populations in all areas of psychiatry. In addition, he has over 25 years of clinical experience managing patients in the field of Adult and Child Psychiatry with particular expertise in ADHD and Autistic Spectrum Disorders (ASD).

He earned his MD from the University of Texas Health Science Center in Houston and completed his residencies at Baylor College of Medicine. He is Board certified in Adult and Child Psychiatry and is a Senior Board Examiner for the American Board of Psychiatry and Neurology.

With over 20 years of commercial leadership in the biopharmaceutical industry, Bryan Downey has led growth and transformation across global enterprises and emerging startups in complex, highly competitive markets. He has held senior executive roles—including CEO, President, and Board Member—guiding organizations through product launches, integrations, acquisitions, and strategic change.

Bryan began his career at Sanofi, where he held roles in sales, marketing, and general management, ultimately serving as Vice President and Head of the U.S. Allergy and Cardiovascular Business Unit. He later joined Jubilant Pharma as President of the Allergy/Immunology division, subsequently leading both the Generics and Radiopharmacy divisions. Most recently, he served as President and CEO of Alfasigma USA, where he played a key role in preparing the company’s pharmaceutical portfolio for acquisition and commercial launch.

Beyond operational leadership, Bryan is deeply committed to executive development. He recently served as a Managing Director in the Leadership Advisory Practice at CRA | Admired Leadership, advising senior executives through pivotal professional and organizational transitions. He also contributes to the next generation of industry leaders as a biopharmaceutical advisor at Cornell University’s Johnson Graduate School of Management.

Bryan holds an M.B.A. from Cornell University and both B.S. and M.S. degrees from Texas A&M University–Kingsville. He resides in Basking Ridge, New Jersey, with his wife and daughter.

Nilay Patel serves as Chief Legal Officer of Cingulate Inc., bringing more than 20 years of legal, compliance, and operational leadership across the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. He has deep experience supporting all stages of pharmaceutical development and commercialization, with a focus on legal strategy, healthcare compliance, intellectual property, and corporate governance.

Prior to joining Cingulate, Mr. Patel was Chief Legal Officer, Chief Compliance Officer, and Corporate Secretary at Ironshore Pharmaceuticals, where he played a key role in launching the company’s flagship ADHD therapy and led legal and compliance functions through its acquisition by Collegium Pharmaceuticals in a $550 million transaction. He also served on Ironshore’s Executive Leadership Team and oversaw all aspects of legal review, commercial contracting, and compliance infrastructure development.

Earlier in his career, Mr. Patel held senior legal positions at Grifols, where he served as Assistant General Counsel for the U.S. Bioscience division. In this role, he advised on commercial operations, product launches, market access, compliance, and clinical development across multiple therapeutic areas including hematology, neurology, and immunology. He also managed intellectual property litigation and led R&D contracting and licensing efforts.

Mr. Patel began his legal career as a patent attorney at Cooper & Dunham LLP in New York, and later practiced at Life Sciences Law PLLC, where he advised emerging biotech companies on M&A, licensing, and venture financing transactions. He holds a Juris Doctor from Columbia Law School and dual Bachelor of Science degrees in Biochemistry and Chemistry from North Carolina State University. He is licensed to practice law in New York and North Carolina and is admitted to practice before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.