Dr. Marco Pravetoni is the Founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Counter X Therapeutics. Since 2022, Dr. Pravetoni holds the Rick L. Seaver Endowed Professorship in Brain Wellness, and he is a Professor of Psychiatry and Behavioral Sciences, Professor of Pharmacology, and Director of the Center for Medication Development for Substance Use Disorders and Overdose at the University of Washington School of Medicine, Seattle, WA. Prior to moving to Seattle, Marco held Assistant and Associate Professor (with tenure) appointments in the Department of Medicine and the Department of Pharmacology at the University of Minnesota and at the Hennepin Healthcare Research Institute (2011-2022). In 2008, Dr. Pravetoni earned a PhD in Pharmacology at the University of Minnesota Medical School in Minneapolis, MN, where he also completed his post-doctoral training in the Department of Medicine (2008-2011).

During his career, Dr. Pravetoni published more than 80 peer-reviewed papers, was an inventor on eleven pending and one issued US patents and was the recipient of numerous NIH grant awards. He has been recognized with the 2025 Innovator Award from the College on Problems on Drug Dependence. He is ranked as the fifth most funded NIH investigator in psychiatry according to the Blue Ridge Rankings (2022). His work has also been supported by the Washington Research Foundation, other institutions/agencies, and collaborations with industry.

His research program focuses on the advancement of vaccines, antibody-based strategies, and pharmacotherapies to treat substance use disorders and reduce fatal overdoses. The Pravetoni group leverages rational vaccine and antibody design, studies mechanisms and biomarkers of treatment efficacy, employs new technologies to enhance treatment efficacy, and applies these concepts to other biological or chemical threats of public health interest. His team is leading IND-enabling studies and clinical trials of vaccines and monoclonal antibodies against a variety of opioids. He is an ad hoc reviewer for funding agencies in the USA, Canada, and Europe, and he is an advisor to the U.S. Congress and the National Academy of Sciences in matters related to drug use and regulation of controlled substances.