2022 Award for Science Outreach Winner Angela Messmer-Blust, PhD
Angela Messmer-Blust, PhD Associate Professor, RTI, UMass Chan Medical School Biography: Dr. Angela Messmer-Blust studied cell motility during her graduate studies at the University of Toledo where she received her Ph.D. (2009). She began her postdoctoral research at the CardioVascular Institute at Beth Israel ...
2022 Award for Patient Advocacy Winner Daniel O’Reilly, PhD
Daniel O’Reilly, PhD RTI, UMass Chan Medical School Biography: Daniel O’Reilly is currently a Post-Doctoral Associate in the Lab of Professor Anastasia Khvorova in the RNA Therapeutics Institute at the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School. Dan earned his Ph.D. in Chemistry under the ...
2022 Dr. Alan M. Gewirtz Memorial Scholarship – For Graduate Students Winner Lucy F. Yang, PhD
Lucy F. Yang, PhD University of Washington Biography: Lucy F. Yang, PhD received her Bachelor's in Bioengineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in after conducting research under Prof. K. Dane Wittrup and Prof. Scott R. Manalis. She earned her PhD at the ...
2022 Dr. Alan M. Gewirtz Memorial Scholarship – Postdoctoral Fellows and Junior Industrial Professionals Winner Ronald Buijsen, PhD
Ronald Buijsen, PhD Leiden University Medical Center Biography: Dr. Buijsen has expertise in antisense oligonucleotide (AON) design and optimization in cell models and animal models using a wide variety of molecular, immunohistochemical and
2022 Mary Ann Liebert Publishers, Inc. Young Investigator Award Winner Guizhi (Julian) Zhu, PhD
Guizhi (Julian) Zhu, PhD Virginia Commonwealth University Biography: Guizhi (Julian) Zhu is currently an Assistant Professor of the Department of Pharmaceutics and Center for Pharmaceutical Engineering and Sciences at Virginia Commonwealth University (VCU). He is a co-founder and CSO of a startup company AmpedRNA ...
OTS President’s Pick Paper – September 2022
Today’s President’s pick is a bit unusual. I was watching television and noticed a new commercial. A jolly man was happily proclaiming that he had a new medication for controlling his high cholesterol. He seemed very pleased. We’ve all seen these commercials many times before, ...
The Personal Journey of Stanley Crooke, the Creation and Development of Ionis, and Beyond
More than 30 years ago, Dr. Stanley Crooke founded Ionis Pharmaceuticals — a biotech company that helped pioneer the now successful technology of antisense oligonucleotides (ASO) despite overwhelming challenges and widespread disbelief. After stepping down last year as the company's CEO, Crooke recently published ...
A Landmark Permanent Treatment for Children Born with a Deadly Immune Disorder
In June 2022, the first stem cell gene therapy of Dutch origin was successfully given to a patient by researchers at the Leiden University Medical Centre (LUMC). A baby with severe congenital immune disorder (SCID) received the complex but one-time treatment, marking the first ...
Treating Cardiovascular Disease by Changing a Single Letter of DNA
A simple spelling change in liver DNA could improve the future of cardiovascular disease treatment. On July 12, biotechnology company Verve Therapeutics announced that the first patient had received a novel gene editing medicine designed to permanently reduce "bad" LDL cholesterol — the fatty ...
Interview with Pawan Kumar, PhD
Pawan Kumar, PhD Principal Scientist, Takeda Pharmaceuticals How did you become interested in the field of oligonucleotides? I was first exposed to the field of therapeutic oligonucleotides as an exchange PhD student in the Hrdlicka’s lab at the University of Idaho, where I developed ...
