Peter Schmidt, Ph.D.

As President & Chief Scientific Officer, Dr. Schmidt provides strategic and scientific leadership across Rho, building upon Rho’s long history of pioneering research in the federal arena as well as Rho’s scientific and medical leadership in the global clinical research industry.

As a neuroscientist, Dr. Schmidt brings a wealth of experience in biomedical research having contributed as an inventor, principal investigator, and statistician across diverse domains. Since joining Rho, Dr. Schmidt has served as PI on a large NIH grant to support trials in immunology and as an advisor and consultant to commercial clients conducting clinical development in neurology. Prior to joining Rho, he oversaw basic, translational, and clinical research in his role as Vice Dean at East Carolina University’s Brody School of Medicine. During his long tenure at the National Parkinson Foundation, Dr. Schmidt designed and led the largest clinical study of Parkinson’s disease ever conducted, from its first patient enrolled to over 12,000 patients at 30 academic medical centers in five countries. His biomedical research expertise also includes cystic fibrosis and Huntington’s disease, and he served as Chairman of the non-profit Huntington’s Study Group from 2021 until 2025. Dr. Schmidt’s expertise has been widely recognized through his appointment to diverse commercial, governmental, and non-profit boards and committees with national and international scope. 

With a bachelor’s degree from Harvard University and a Ph.D. from Cornell University, Dr. Schmidt started his career as a pioneer in computer simulation of clinical trials. He completed a fellowship at the Hospital for Special Surgery in New York, holds two patents, and is the author of diverse peer-reviewed articles and book chapters.