
Dr. Volker Knappertz
Chief Medical Officer
“Scientific rigor is something we pride ourselves in. We bring science to cannabinoid medicines, but more than that, we bring humanity to it — we put our patients first.”
Dr. Volker Knappertz is GW’s chief medical officer, a role he has held since joining the company in 2017. He has over 20 years of pharmaceutical drug development and leadership experience, including management of global drug development programmes as well as global medical affairs.
As CMO, Volker is responsible for the company’s research and development efforts, as well as life-cycle management of our approved medicines.
Prior to GW, Volker served as vice president of clinical development for multiple sclerosis, oncology and biosimilar products at Teva Pharmaceuticals. He previously served in clinical development roles in central nervous system, cardiovascular therapeutics and biologics at both Bayer Pharmaceuticals and AstraZeneca.
Volker is a U.S. board certified neurologist with residency training at Yale University School of Medicine, New Haven, Connecticut, where he served as chief resident, and fellowship training at Wake Forest University School of Medicine, Winston-Salem, North Carolina. He received his clinical scientist training and Doctor of Medicine from the University at Cologne, Koln, Germany. Volker has also maintained an adjunct faculty position with the department of neurology at the Heinrich-Heine University, Dusseldorf, Germany, since 2010. He has contributed to scientific and clinical research through multiple publications during his career and has served on several industry regulatory and scientific committees pertaining to his drug development work.