Together, our executive team, Board of Directors and scientific advisors are united in our shared vision to change the treatment paradigm for heart disease, and in doing so, improve and extend the lives of millions of patients.
Learn more about the extended team at Tenaya.
Mr. Ali was most recently chief business officer at REGENXBIO, where he had accountability for corporate development, commercial planning, portfolio strategy, alliance management and corporate communications. Prior to that, he was a vice president at bluebird bio, where he had accountability for new product planning, program management, patient advocacy and external affairs. Mr. Ali also had roles of increasing global commercial leadership at Genzyme Corporation, where he helped launch multiple first-in-class enzyme replacement therapies for rare diseases. He started his career at General Electric, including technical roles at GE Healthcare and business assignments at GE Corporate. Mr. Ali received his MBA from Harvard Business School and his B.S. from Stanford University. He was appointed to the Board of Directors for The Alliance for Regenerative Medicine (ARM), the leading international advocacy organization dedicated to realizing the promise of regenerative medicines and advanced therapies, in 2022.
Dr. Tingley joined Tenaya as chief medical officer in December 2018. Previously, he served at Cytokinetics as vice president of clinical development, cardiology, and at Genentech as therapeutic area lead for cardiovascular and metabolism research and early development. Between 2009 and 2017, he held medical director and group medical director roles with increasing responsibility at Genentech and Roche. Whit formerly was adjunct associate professor of medicine in the cardiology division at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) and cared for patients as an attending cardiologist in the UCSF Cardiology Faculty Practice.
Dr. Tingley earned an B.A. degree from Brown University and his M.D. and Ph.D. degrees from the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He completed internship and residency programs at the Johns Hopkins Hospital, a cardiology fellowship at UCSF and post-doctoral research at the Gladstone Institutes.
Dr. Kim joined Tenaya in 2018 to serve as Senior Vice President of Technical Operations. During his tenure, he has led the company’s effort to internalize process development, analytical development and quality control capabilities, and overseen the establishment of Tenaya’s cGMP manufacturing facility. Prior to joining Tenaya, Dr. Kim was Senior Vice President, Head of Technical Operations at Agilis Biotherapeutics, where he had accountability for manufacturing of gene therapy drug products and establishing reliable clinical and commercial supply chains.
Prior to that, he was the Head of Gene Therapy Process Development and the Global CMC Lead of Gene Therapy at Shire. Dr. Kim also ran his own biopharma consulting firm, which he started after serving as Director of Process Development at Avalanche Biotechnology (now Adverum). Dr. Kim was responsible for the process development, manufacturing science and related regulatory filings for Dendreon’s commercial product PROVENGE™. Earlier in his career, Dr. Kim had roles of increasing leadership at several technical organizations including Aeras TB Foundation and Walter Reed Army Medical Center. He completed his post-doctoral training at Cornell University and received his doctoral degree in chemical engineering from Colorado State University.
Kathy Ivey brings nearly 25 years of experience in the discovery of transformative product candidates for heart disease. For the past several years, she has overseen the discovery and preclinical testing efforts that resulted in Tenaya’s TN-201 and TN-401 gene therapy product candidates. Dr. Ivey has also led the company’s capsid engineering efforts to create novel adeno-associated capsids with greater selectivity to deliver genetic medicines with the potential to prevent or reverse specific forms of cardiac disease. In addition, she has been responsible for much of Tenaya’s most cutting-edge endeavors, including early-stage gene editing and cardiac regeneration programs. Previously, Dr. Ivey was a Staff Researcher at The Gladstone Institutes where she directed the Gladstone Stem Cell Core and worked with Tenaya’s scientific co-founder, Deepak Srivastava, MD., and aided in Tenaya’s formation. Dr. Ivey is trained in Molecular and Cell Biology and holds a B.S. from Texas A&M University and Ph.D. from UT Southwestern Medical Center where she completed her thesis work within the Molecular Biology Department chaired by Tenaya co-founder, Eric Olson, Ph.D.
Dr. Vora is senior vice president of portfolio and program management at Tenaya Therapeutics, where he is responsible for program and alliance management. Prior to joining Tenaya, Dr. Vora served in a variety of roles at companies focused on product development for orphan diseases with multiple modalities, including gene therapy, biologics and small molecules. Most recently, Dr. Vora served as head of alliance management and as program leader on one of Sangamo’s gene therapy programs. He was previously vice president of program and alliance management at REGENXBIO, where he supported multiple AAV gene therapy programs. Dr. Vora has also held roles in product development and program management at BioMarin and Chiron and has worked in management consulting at PRTM.
Dr. Vora earned his Ph.D. in pharmacokinetics and clinical pharmacology from Northeastern University, an M.S. in medicinal chemistry from the University of Cincinnati and an MBA from the Haas School of Business at the University of California, Berkeley.
As Tenaya’s General Counsel, Ms. Drimmer brings a wealth of experience in legal oversight and executive leadership in corporate governance, contracting and operations. She previously served 13 years in roles of increasing responsibility at Exelixis, Inc., a commercial stage oncology-focused biotechnology company, where she was most recently Senior Vice President of Corporate Legal Affairs and Secretary, responsible for leading the corporate governance and public company reporting functions, as well as providing legal support for all general and administrative business units.
Ms. Drimmer was also the former Director of Legal Affairs for Banks.Com and, earlier in her career, was an associate at Morrison & Foerster LLP where she worked extensively on mergers, acquisitions and venture capital financings among other functions. Ms. Drimmer received her B.A from the University of California, San Diego, and her J.D. from the University of California, Davis School of Law.
Ms. Auch is the Senior Vice President of People and Culture and is responsible for leading all HR programs that drive our “One Tenaya” team culture. Her focus is on delivering people strategies that engage, develop and grow our team members. Ms. Auch brings more than 15 years of hands-on senior leadership experience from multiple industries including pharmaceutical, healthcare and technology.
Before joining Tenaya, she was the Head of Human Resources, North America for Santen, Inc., a global pharmaceutical company focused on ophthalmology. Ms. Auch collaborated to drive organizational capabilities and scalable programs during a time of rapid growth and commercialization. Most notably, she led the human resources integration of multiple company acquisitions, driving a united team and one company culture. Prior to Santen, Ms. Auch held roles at IXIA and JumpstartMD where she built out HR operations, total rewards, performance management and leadership effectiveness tools. Joanna earned her B.A. in sociology from San Jose State University and is a member of CSHRP, Community for Strategic HR Partnerships.
A cardiologist and molecular biologist by training, Dr. Pollman most recently served as Executive Vice President for NaviGate Cardiac Structures, Inc. Prior to this appointment, he served as the Chief Medical Officer for Juventas Therapeutics and was the Founding CEO, President and Chief Scientific Officer of CV Ingenuity, a clinical stage company acquired by Covidien. Prior to founding CV Ingenuity, he served as Medical Director, Research and Development, at Abbott Vascular and was the principal medical and scientific strategist and advisor for the R&D pipeline and Business Development portfolios.
Dr. Pollman received his medical training at the University of California San Francisco, Stanford University and Brigham and Women’s Hospital. He has served as a full-time faculty member at Harvard Medical School and Morehouse School of Medicine. He is the author of numerous peer-reviewed journal articles and is the past recipient of two investigator-initiated NIH NHLBI R01 grants in basic cardiovascular research. He has served on the American Heart Association’s National Peer Review Committee in addition to serving as a reviewer for several leading journals in the cardiovascular sciences. He was a charter member of the Cleveland Clinic’s Global Cardiovascular Innovation Center’s commercial advisory board and has served on the board of directors for several Cleveland Clinic spinouts, including Perfusion Solutions (miniaturized circulatory support pump), Juventas Therapeutics (biologics-based technology for cardiovascular diseases), NaviGate Technologies (percutaneous mitral valve) and Cardionomic (neurmodulatory technology for the treatment of heart failure).
Ms. Patel is Senior Vice President of Quality at Tenaya Therapeutics, leading quality strategy and quality programs for the company’s GXP operations. Ms. Patel has over 25 years of industry experience in quality and compliance, with a focus on building quality functions from the ground up for diverse therapeutics, including some cell and gene therapies. Most recently, Ms. Patel served as Vice President, Quality, for Evolus Inc., where she strengthened quality systems in support of global commercialization of medical aesthetic products. Previously, she has held positions of increasing leadership at Ocular Therapeutics, Prothena, StemCells, Geron and Nektar Therapeutics.
Ms. Patel earned her B.S. from Maharaja Sayajirao (MS) University, India, her B.A. from California State University, and her MBA from Northcentral University.
Mr. Higa serves as Tenaya’s Senior Vice President, Finance and interim principal accounting officer. Mr. Higa joined Tenaya in 2020 as Vice President and the head of the Finance department, bringing more than 20 years of experience in finance-focused roles for biopharmaceutical companies. While at Tenaya, he led the establishment of key financial systems and processes, including the company’s transition from private to public, and he directed the company’s short and long-term financial planning activities.
Prior to Tenaya, Mr. Higa served as Senior Director, Finance at CytomX Therapeutics, Inc. and Senior Director, Finance at OncoMed Pharmaceuticals, Inc. From 2006 to 2014, he held various finance roles at the corporate headquarters and two site operations of Amgen Inc. Prior to Amgen, he served in financial planning and analysis (FP&A) focused roles at Abgenix, Inc. and Ventro Corporation (formerly Chemdex Corporation). Mr. Higa received his B.A. in economics from the University of Chicago and an M.B. A. from the University of Chicago Booth School of Business.
Mr. Ali was most recently chief business officer at REGENXBIO, where he had accountability for corporate development, commercial planning, portfolio strategy, alliance management and corporate communications. Prior to that, he was a vice president at bluebird bio, where he had accountability for new product planning, program management, patient advocacy and external affairs. Mr. Ali also had roles of increasing global commercial leadership at Genzyme Corporation, where he helped launch multiple first-in-class enzyme replacement therapies for rare diseases. He started his career at General Electric, including technical roles at GE Healthcare and business assignments at GE Corporate. Mr. Ali received his MBA. from Harvard Business School and his B.S. from Stanford University.
Ms. Burroughs joined the Tenaya Board of Directors in 2022 bringing more than 25 years of experience in the healthcare and life science industries. She currently serves as Chief Executive Officer and Board Member of Terns Pharmaceuticals, Inc. (Nasdaq: TERN), a clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company developing small-molecule product candidates for serious diseases including oncology and obesity. She previously served as CEO at Cleave Therapeutics, an executive in residence at 5AM Ventures and, in parallel, as senior advisor to one of its portfolio companies, Crinetics Pharmaceuticals. Earlier in her career, Ms. Burroughs held roles of increasing responsibility in commercial and strategy at Genentech, commercial and business development at other high growth therapeutics companies, talent and governance at Egon Zehnder International, and brand management at Procter & Gamble.
She earned her M.B.A. from Harvard Business School, where she graduated as a Baker Scholar, and her B.A. in computer science with a minor in economics from Dartmouth College.
Dr. Goeddel was the first scientist hired by Genentech and from 1978 to 1993 served in various positions, including staff scientist, director of molecular biology and Genentech Fellow. His pioneering work in the fields of gene cloning and expression of human proteins was the basis for five marketed therapeutics developed by Genentech, including human insulin, human growth hormone, interferon-alpha, interferon-gamma and tissue plasminogen activator.
Dr. Goeddel co-founded Tularik in November 1991, was vice president of research until 1996, and served as chief executive officer from 1996 until 2004, when Tularik was acquired by Amgen. Dr. Goeddel has received numerous scientific awards including the Scheele Medal, the Eli Lilly Award in Biological Chemistry, the Inventor of the Year Award, the Jacob Heskel Gabbay Award, the Howley Prize for Arthritis Research and the Warren Alpert Foundation Prize. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He holds a B.A. in chemistry from the University of California, San Diego and a Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of Colorado.
Dr. June Lee was most recently Founder and CEO of Esker Therapeutics. Previously, she served as Chief Development Officer and Chief Operating Officer of MyoKardia, Inc., where she built and led a world-class development organization culminating in the company’s $13.1 billion acquisition by Bristol Myers Squibb. Prior to MyoKardia, Dr. Lee was Professor of Medicine at UCSF School of Medicine, where she served as Director of Translational Research and built the Catalyst Program, an internal accelerator at UCSF for early-stage technologies in therapeutics, devices, diagnostics, and digital health. Previously, she was therapeutic area head in early clinical development in cardiovascular, metabolism, respiratory, and infectious diseases at Genentech.
She currently serves on Johns Hopkins University Center for Therapeutic Translation’s Advisory Board, is a member of the Board of Directors for Eledon Pharmaceuticals Inc., GenEdit and Abivax, and is a member of the Scientific Advisory Board for Foresite Labs.
Dr. Lee completed a Bachelor of Science in chemistry at Johns Hopkins University, an M.D. at the School of Medicine at the University of California, Davis, and her clinical training in internal medicine and pulmonary & critical care at UCLA and UCSF.
Ms. Parschauer currently serves as the Chief Legal Officer and Executive Vice President of Ultragenyx Pharmaceutical Inc., a public biopharmaceutical company developing treatments for rare and ultra-rare genetic diseases, following five years as the company’s General Counsel and Corporate Secretary beginning in June 2016. From June 2005 to June 2016, Ms. Parschauer served in various executive capacities, most recently as Vice President, Associate General Counsel, at Allergan plc, a pharmaceutical company. Before Allergan, Ms. Parschauer was an attorney at Latham & Watkins LLP, where she practiced in the areas of mergers and acquisitions, securities offerings and corporate governance.
Ms. Parschauer is a member of the board of directors for Evolus, Inc., a publicly traded performance beauty company. She is also a member of the board of directors for Anebulo Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a publicly traded clinical-stage biopharmaceutical company. From June 2019 to August 2021, she was a member of the board of directors of Arcturus Therapeutics Holdings Inc., a publicly traded RNA medicines company. Ms. Parschauer holds a B.A. from Miami University and a J.D. from Harvard Law School.
Dr. Srivastava’s laboratory discovered genetic bases for cardiac septal and valve defects and revealed complex signaling, transcriptional and translational networks that regulate progenitor cells to adopt a cardiac cell fate and subsequently fashion a functioning heart. He has leveraged this knowledge to reprogram fibroblasts directly into cardiomyocyte-like cells for regenerative purposes. Dr. Srivastava is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the National Academy of Medicine.
Dr. Srivastava received his B.S. from Rice University and his M.D. from the University of Texas. He trained in pediatrics at the University of California, San Francisco, and in pediatric cardiology at Harvard Medical School.
Catherine Stehman-Breen, M.D., has served as a member of our board of directors since June 2020. From December 2020 to January 2025, Dr. Stehman-Breen served as the Chief Executive Officer and a member of the board of directors of Chroma Medicine until its merger with Nvelop Therapeutics in January 2025. Previously, she served as the Chief Research and Development Officer of Obsidian Therapeutics, Inc., a private biotechnology company, from July 2019 to December 2020, and as an entrepreneur-in-residence at Atlas Ventures, serving as Chief Medical Officer of both Dyne Therapeutics, Inc., a biotechnology company, from March 2018 to July 2019 and Disarm Therapeutics, Inc., a biotechnology company, from April 2018 to July 2019. Dr. Stehman-Breen also served as Chief Medical Officer of Sarepta Therapeutics, Inc., a publicly traded biopharmaceutical company, from March 2017 to December 2017. Prior to that, she served as Vice President, Clinical Development and Regulatory Affairs at Regeneron Pharmaceuticals, Inc., a publicly traded biotechnology company, from January 2015 to March 2017. From 2003 to 2015, Dr. Stehman-Breen held senior leadership roles at Amgen, Inc. including Vice President, Global Development, leading the neuroscience, nephrology and bone therapeutic areas. She has also served on the boards of directors of Dyne Therapeutics, Inc. since June 2019 and Generation Bio Co., a publicly traded biotechnology company, since December 2017. Dr. Stehman-Breen earned a B.A. in biology and psychology from Colby College, an M.S. in epidemiology from the University of Washington, where she also completed her residency and fellowship training, and an M.D. from the University of Chicago.
R. Sanders (Sandy) Williams, M.D., has served as a member of our board of directors since October 2016 and as chair of our board of directors since January 2025. Dr. Williams has served as the President Emeritus of Gladstone Institutes, a non-profit biomedical research enterprise since January 2018 and previously served as its President from November 2009 to December 2017. Dr. Williams also served as the Chief Executive Officer of Gladstone Foundation, a not-for-profit organization supporting Gladstone Institutes from January 2016 to December 2018. Since January 2018, Dr. Williams has served as Professor of Medicine and Senior Advisor for Science & Technology at Duke University and, from February 2021-January 2022 as its Interim Vice President for Research and Innovation. Dr. Williams has also served as a Professor of Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco since 2010. From 2010 to 2017, Dr. Williams was the President and the Robert W. and Linda L. Mahley Distinguished Professor of Medicine of Gladstone Institutes. Prior to this, Dr. Williams served in various roles, including as Dean and Senior Vice Chancellor of the Duke University School of Medicine, from 2001 to 2010. He was the founding Dean of the Duke-NUS Graduate Medical School, Singapore, from 2003 to 2008 and served on its Governing Board from 2003 to 2010. From 1990 to 2001, Dr. Williams was Chief of Cardiology and Director of the Ryburn Center for Molecular Cardiology at the University of Texas, Southwestern Medical Center. Dr. Williams has served as a member of the board of directors of Scion Neurotism, Inc., a private biotechnology company since October 2023. From October 2014 to May 2024, he served as a member of the board of directors of the Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings from and Amgen, both publicly-traded companies. Dr. Williams was elected to the National Academy of Medicine in 2002. Dr. Williams received an A.B. from Princeton University and an M.D. from Duke University.
Jeffrey T. Walsh, M.B.A., has served as a member of our board of directors since March 2020. In January 2025, Mr. Walsh began serving as Chief Executive Officer of nChroma Bio, Inc., a private biotechnology company focused on genetic medicines, following its merger with Nvelop Therapeutics, Inc. where he had served as Chief Executive Officer since April 2023. From January 2022 through April 2023, Mr. Walsh served as a part-time venture partner at Third Rock Ventures. Previously, between May 2011 and March 2021, he served in various roles at bluebird bio, Inc., including most recently as Strategic Advisor, and previously as Chief Operating Officer, Chief Financial Officer, and Chief Strategy Officer. From 2008 to 2011, Mr. Walsh served as Chief Business Officer of Taligen Therapeutics, Inc. until it was acquired by Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Mr. Walsh started his career at SmithKline Beecham Corporation in finance and worldwide business development roles from 1987 to 1995. He subsequently held senior business development, finance, sales and operations roles at Allscripts Healthcare Solutions Inc. from 1995 to 1998, PathoGenesis Corp. from 1998 to 2000, EXACT Sciences Corporation from 2000 to 2004, and Inotek Pharmaceuticals Corp. from 2004 to 2008. Mr. Walsh serves as a member of the Board of Tevard Biosciences, a private biotechnology company. He received a B.A. in sociology and economics from Yale University and an M.B.A. from the Kellogg Graduate School of Management at Northwestern University.
Dr. Srivastava’s laboratory discovered genetic bases for cardiac septal and valve defects and revealed complex signaling, transcriptional, and translational networks that regulate progenitor cells to adopt a cardiac cell fate and subsequently fashion a functioning heart. He has leveraged this knowledge to reprogram fibroblasts directly into cardiomyocyte-like cells for regenerative purposes. Dr. Srivastava is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the National Academy of Medicine.
Dr. Srivastava received his B.S. from Rice University and his M.D. from the University of Texas. He trained in pediatrics at the University of California, San Francisco, and in pediatric cardiology at Harvard Medical School.
Dr. Olson is the founding chair of the Department of Molecular Biology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. He holds the Robert A. Welch Distinguished Chair and the Annie and Willie Nelson Professorship of Stem Cell Research. Dr. Olson and his trainees discovered many of the key transcription factors and mechanisms responsible for heart and muscle development and disease. Dr. Olson is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Medicine and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He has co-founded multiple biotechnology companies, including Myogen Therapeutics, Miragen Therapeutics and Exonics Therapeutics to design innovative therapies for heart and muscle disease.
Dr. Conklin’s research focuses on genome engineering to identify novel therapeutic approaches to human disease. By making precise genetic changes in induced pluripotent cells he seeks to reveal the cellular and molecular mechanisms of disease and identify new methods for therapeutic editing. He began his research career by working for two years at the National Institutes of Health with Nobel Laureate Julius Axelrod, Ph.D. He then completed his residency at Johns Hopkins Hospital and a postdoctoral fellowship in the laboratory of Henry Bourne, M.D., at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). In 1995, Dr. Conklin joined the Gladstone Institutes and the UCSF faculty where he is now a senior investigator at Gladstone and a professor at UCSF. Dr. Conklin is also the Gladstone Scientific Officer for Technology & Innovation and the deputy director of the Innovative Genomics Institute. He is the founder of BayGenomics, GenMAPP, AltAnalyze and WikiPathways. He pioneered the field of chemogenetics using designer GPCRs (RASSLs). He founded the Gladstone Genomics and Stem Cell Cores. He advises multiple organizations including the Allen Institute for Cell Science, the Chinese University of Hong Kong and the Exploratorium in San Francisco. He is a fellow in the California Academy of Sciences and a member the American Society for Clinical Investigation.
Dr. Ding is the William K. Bowes, Jr. Distinguished Investigator at the Gladstone Institute of Cardiovascular Disease, and a professor in the Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). He received his B.S. in chemistry with honors from Caltech and a Ph.D. in chemistry from The Scripps Research Institute. Before moving to Gladstone/UCSF in early 2011, Dr. Ding was an assistant professor and then associate professor of chemistry at Scripps. Dr. Ding has pioneered the development and application of innovative chemical approaches to stem cell biology and regeneration, with a focus on discovering and characterizing novel small molecules that can control various cell fate/function, including stem cell maintenance, activation, differentiation and reprogramming in various developmental stages and tissues. Dr. Ding has published over 130 research articles, reviews and book chapters, has over 30 patents and has made several seminal contributions to the stem cell field. He is a co-founder of several biotech companies.
Dr. Haldar is a scientific founder of Tenaya Therapeutics. He is currently vice president of research and head of cardiometabolic disorders at Amgen. He is also a visiting investigator at the Gladstone Institutes and professor of medicine at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). He received his B.S. from Cornell University and his M.D. from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He trained in internal medicine at Johns Hopkins followed by a fellowship in cardiovascular disease at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School. Prior to joining Gladstone, he was on the faculty at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine. Dr. Haldar is a physician-scientist who has made important discoveries in the areas of cardiac, skeletal muscle and metabolic biology. His laboratory seeks to gain a deep understanding of how cells in the cardiovascular system control gene expression and how these processes go awry in disease. He has a particular interest in discovering signaling effectors that are tractable pharmacologic targets for disease therapy. His work has elucidated therapeutically relevant insights for a broad range of conditions including heart failure, vasculopathy and muscular dystrophy. Dr. Haldar has been elected as a fellow of the American Heart Association. He is an active member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation and continues to practice general adult cardiology at UCSF.
Dr. Bruneau is associate director and senior investigator at the Gladstone Institute of Cardiovascular Disease, and professor in the Department of Pediatrics at the University of California, San Francisco. He holds the William H. Younger, Jr., endowed chair in cardiovascular disease, and is the recipient of the Lawrence J. and Florence A. DeGeorge Charitable Trust/American Heart Association Established Investigator Award. Before joining Gladstone, Dr. Bruneau was a scientist at The Hospital for Sick Children in Toronto and assistant professor in the Department of Molecular and Medical Genetics at the University of Toronto. He earned his doctorate in physiology at the University of Ottawa and completed a postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of Genetics at Harvard Medical School in the laboratory of Jonathan and Christine Seidman. Dr. Bruneau’s research is aimed at understanding the mechanisms by which gene programs are deployed during cardiac differentiation. He is interested in how all levels of transcriptional regulation coordinate this process, and how it is integrated during organogenesis. Ultimately through his lab’s efforts, he would like to uncover how these processes are dysregulated in congenital heart disease, and how they could be harnessed to regenerate diseased hearts.
The goal of Dr. Marson’s research group is to understand genetic circuits that control human immune cell function in health and disease, employing powerful new CRISPR genome engineering technologies. His lab is decoding gene programs in pro-inflammatory T cells that drive effective anti-cancer immune responses and programs in anti-inflammatory regulatory T cells (Tregs) that are critical to prevent autoimmunity. With the goal of engineering cells to create “living” medicine to treat a wide range of diseases, they are designing programs to make cells that can recognize and eliminate cancer, cells that are resistant to infections like HIV and cells that can reduce inflammation in autoimmune diseases like multiple sclerosis, type 1 diabetes and rheumatoid arthritis.
Dr. Marson received his undergraduate degree from Harvard University and his MPhil in biological sciences from the University of Cambridge. He earned his Ph.D. at the Whitehead Institute at MIT, and an M.D. at Harvard Medical School.
Dr. Seidman leads a laboratory that aims to define genetic causes, mechanisms, treatments and cures for human heart disease. She has authored over 300 peer-reviewed articles that describe notable discoveries including the first monogenic causes for hypertrophic and dilated cardiomyopathies and congenital heart malformations. Her work enabled development of the first mechanism-based treatment for hypertrophic cardiomyopathy. Through the BWH Cardiovascular Genetics Center, she has translated research discoveries into clinical care with improved diagnostic precision, management strategies and opportunities for curative interventions.
Dr. Seidman earned her B.S. in biochemistry at Harvard University and her M.D. at George Washington University. She has received research funding from the Fondation Leducq, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, British Heart Foundation and National Institutes of Health.
Dr. Weissman’s research team studies how cells ensure correct protein folding, and the role of protein misfolding in disease. The team also develops innovative tools for broadly exploring organizational principles of biological systems, including ribosome profiling in protein translation, CRIPSRi/a for controlling the expression of human genes and rewiring the epigenome, and lineage tracing tools to record the history of cells.
Dr. Weissman was a postdoctoral fellow at Yale University, where he worked with Arthur Horwich studying the mechanism of molecular chaperone protein GroEL.
Dr. Weissman has been a member of the National Academy of Sciences since 2009.
Dr. Mann is the Lewin Chair, professor of medicine, cell biology and physiology and chief of the Division of Cardiology at the Washington University School of Medicine. He also is cardiologist in chief at Barnes Jewish Hospital in St. Louis. He received his M.D. from Temple University School of Medicine in Philadelphia and completed fellowships in clinical cardiology at the University of California, San Diego, and Massachusetts General Hospital. Dr. Mann’s primary research interest is the molecular and cellular basis of heart failure, with emphasis on the role of innate immunity in disease progression and recovery of the failing heart. He has been engaged in translational research for over two decades. His awards include the Michael E. DeBakey award for excellence in research, the Alfred Soffer Award for Editorial Excellence, the Simon Dack Award from the American College of Cardiology for outstanding scholarship, the Hugh McCullough Award from the American Heart Association and the Distinguished Mentor Award from the American College of Cardiology. Dr. Mann is a member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation, the Association of American Physicians, the Association of University Cardiologists, The Association of Professors of Cardiology and the American Clinical and Climatological Association. He is a past president of the Heart Failure Society and received the Medical Alumnus of the Year award from Temple University School of Medicine.
Dr. Kay is a leading researcher in the fields of gene therapy and adeno-associated virus (AAV) biology, including the identification of new AAV capsids. Dr. Kay is the head of the Division of Human Gene Therapy and professor in the Department of Pediatrics and Genetics at Stanford University School of Medicine. He is one of the founders of the American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy, served as its president from 2005-2006, and was the recipient of the society’s Outstanding Investigator Award in 2013. Dr. Kay received the E. Mead Johnson Award for Research in Pediatrics in 2000. He was elected to the American Society for Clinical Investigation in 1997 and the Association for American Physicians in 2010. He has organized many national and international conferences, including the first Gordon Conference related to gene therapy. Dr. Kay is respected worldwide for his work in vector development, gene therapy and non-coding RNA biology. He has published over 250 papers. He is currently the deputy editor of Human Gene Therapy and serves on the editorial boards of other peer-reviewed publications.
Dr. Kay holds a B.S. in physical sciences from Michigan State University, as well as a Ph.D. in developmental genetics and an M.D. from Case Western Reserve University.
Dr. Srivastava’s laboratory discovered genetic bases for cardiac septal and valve defects and revealed complex signaling, transcriptional, and translational networks that regulate progenitor cells to adopt a cardiac cell fate and subsequently fashion a functioning heart. He has leveraged this knowledge to reprogram fibroblasts directly into cardiomyocyte-like cells for regenerative purposes. Dr. Srivastava is a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the National Academy of Medicine.
Dr. Srivastava received his B.S. from Rice University and his M.D. from the University of Texas. He trained in pediatrics at the University of California, San Francisco, and in pediatric cardiology at Harvard Medical School.
Dr. Olson is the founding chair of the Department of Molecular Biology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center in Dallas. He holds the Robert A. Welch Distinguished Chair and the Annie and Willie Nelson Professorship of Stem Cell Research. Dr. Olson and his trainees discovered many of the key transcription factors and mechanisms responsible for heart and muscle development and disease. Dr. Olson is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Medicine and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. He has co-founded multiple biotechnology companies, including Myogen Therapeutics, Miragen Therapeutics and Exonics Therapeutics to design innovative therapies for heart and muscle disease.
Dr. Hoey was previously chief scientific officer at Tenaya Therapeutics, where he was responsible for directing research to develop novel agents for treating heart disease. Prior to Tenaya, he directed preclinical research and drug development as senior vice president and co-chief scientific officer at OncoMed Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Hoey previously served as biology director at Amgen (formerly Tularik) in San Francisco. He conducted postdoctoral training at the University of California, Berkeley under Dr. Robert Tjian and completed his graduate work at Columbia University with Dr. Michael Levine. Dr. Hoey is an inventor on numerous patents and co-author of over 70 peer-reviewed publications.
Dr. Barry Byrne is a renowned clinical scientist specializing in the development of medicines for inherited muscle diseases. Since joining the University of Florida in 1997, he has served in a variety of clinical, research and educational roles, and is now the Director of the Powell Gene Therapy Center. As a pediatric cardiologist, Dr. Byrne’s focus is on conditions that lead to skeletal muscle weakness, cardiac dysfunction and respiratory dysfunction. His research team and has contributed to the advancement of genetic therapies for Pompe, Duchenne’s Muscular Dystrophy, Friedreich’s ataxia, and other neuromuscular conditions. Dr. Byrne earned his M.D. and Ph.D. in Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Illinois after obtaining a B.S. degree in Chemistry from Denison University. He completed his pediatric residency, cardiology fellowship training and post-doctoral training in Biological Chemistry at Johns Hopkins University. He is a board-certified pediatric cardiologist with greater than 330 publications.