Fyodor Urnov, PhD UC Berkeley
Fyodor Urnov, PhD UC Berkeley Director of Technology & Translation at the Innovative Genomics Institute, Professor of Molecular Therapeutics
Dr. Urnov is renowned for co-developing the foundational toolbox of human genome and epigenome editing, contributing significantly to the advancement of “genome editing” as a clinical modality. In his work at Sangamo Therapeutics (2000–16), Fyodor and colleagues demonstrated the first use of zinc-finger nucleases to edit DNA in human cell and co-coined the term “genome editing.”
Fyodor was a key member of the team that developed the first-in- human application of genome editing (2009), and then led a cross-functional team from basic discovery to IND of first-in-human clinical trials for the hemoglobinopathies beta-thalassemia and sickle cell disease (trials currently ongoing in partnership with UCSF Benioff Children’s Hospital and UCLA Broad Stem Cell Research Center). At the IGI, Fyodor works in collaborative teams to develop first-in-human applications of experimental CRISPR-based therapeutics for sickle cell disease (with Mark Walters, UCSF), genetic disorders of the immune system (with Alexander Marson, UCSF/IGI), radiation injury (with Jonathan Weissman, MIT/Whitehead Institute), cystic fibrosis (with Ross Wilson, IGI), and neurological disorders (with Weill Neurohub and Roche/Genentech). Currently, he directs the Danaher-IGI Beacon for CRISPR Cures - a first-in-class academia-industry partnership developing and advancing to the clinic scalable CRISPR-based approaches to treat diseases of the immune system. His current projects focus on advancing CRISPR-Cas-based therapeutics for a wide range of genetic, neurodegenerative, and infectious diseases.