Foundation
models for the
‍human cell

David is a Core Faculty Member of the Wyss Institute at Harvard University, is the Hansjörg Wyss Professor of Bioinspired Engineering at Harvard Medical School, Professor of Pathology at Harvard Medical School and Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Associate Member at the Broad Institute, and is a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Professor. David pioneered the use of microwell arrays for single-molecule detection and genetic measurements, which has revolutionized the process of genetic and proteomic analysis, enabling the cost of DNA sequencing and genotyping to plummet nearly a millionfold in the last decade. His lab is developing new diagnostics tools and new biomarker assay technologies based on single molecule detection that can address unmet clinical needs in diagnostics. He is a member of both the National Academy of Engineering and the National Academy of Medicine.

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Brenda Wong, M.D., is a Professor of Neurology and Pediatrics at the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School. Dr. Wong directs the U Mass Chan DMD program that delivers team based, collaborative, coordinated, patient and family centered care for her patients with a team of care providers from various specialties focused on the multi-systemic problems of her patients. She is also active in clinical research in Duchenne and Becker Muscular Dystrophy.

Agnete Kirkeby is an associate professor at University of Copenhagen in Denmark, where she leads a research group with unique expertise in generating subtype-specific human neurons from stem cells for regenerative therapy and disease modelling. Dr. Kirkeby has been leading the preclinical development of a stem cell-derived dopamine progenitor cell product for treatment of Parkinson’s Disease (STEM-PD), which is currently in clinical trial in Sweden, and which is the first pluripotent-derived neural cell product to achieve regulatory ATMP trial approval in Europe.

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Paul Cohen, M.D., Ph.D. is the Albert Resnick, M.D. Associate Professor, Head of the Laboratory of Molecular Metabolism, and Senior Attending Physician at the Rockefeller University and a cardiologist at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center. His work investigates the molecular links between obesity and associated diseases with a particular focus on the biology of thermogenic brown and beige fat. His group has contributed to a fundamental understanding of molecular and tissue-level regulation of thermogenic fat and has shown that brown fat is associated with significant metabolic and cardiovascular health benefits in humans.

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Jacques P. Tremblay is a professor in the department of Molecular Medicine of Laval university. He has been working on cell and gene therapies for hereditary diseases since 1987. He has worked mainly on the transplantation of myoblasts derived from a heathy donor as a treatment of Duchenne Muscular dystrophy. He is currently using the Prime editing technology (derived from the CRISPR/Cas9 technology) to correct mutations responsible for various hereditary diseases.

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Dr. Kunkel is an internationally recognized geneticist with years of experience and scientific success in the understanding of the basis for muscular dystrophies. He received a B.A. from Gettysburg College and his Ph.D. from Johns Hopkins University. Over the past four decades Dr. Kunkel has devoted his career to understanding the molecular basis, and developing therapy, for neuromuscular disorders. Dr. Kunkel is universally recognized for the discovery of the genes responsible for muscular dystrophy and other neuromuscular disorders. He has been involved in the identification and study of genes altered to cause muscular dystrophy since his 1986 identification of dystrophin as the causative gene in Duchenne muscular dystrophy. His current work centers on developing dystrophin independent therapies for Duchenne muscular dystrophy to complement existing therapies currently in development. Dr Kunkel has received numerous awards for his work including the 2009 March of Dimes Prize in Developmental Biology for this pioneering work on muscular dystrophy. Dr Kunkel is a past Howard Hughes Medical Institute investigator, a member of the National Academy of Sciences and a member of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Dr. Kunkel currently is a member of the Division of Genetics and Genomics at Boston Children’s Hospital; and Professor of Pediatrics and Genetics, Harvard Medical School, Boston.

Dr. Peter Zandstra is the Director of the University of British Columbia's (UBC) School of Biomedical Engineering. His work integrates engineering design principles, computational modeling, and stem cell biology to enhance our fundamental understanding of cell fate control mechanisms. His research focuses on developing new and accessible therapeutic approaches for disease treatment, particularly using cells from the blood-forming system to treat cancer and autoimmunity. His education includes a BEng in Chemical Engineering from McGill University, a PhD in Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology from UBC, and a Post-Doctoral Fellowship in Bioengineering from MIT. Key discoveries from his lab include scalable suspension manufacturing of pluripotent stem cells and their derivatives, engineering an artificial thymic niche for clinically relevant ex vivo T-cell development, and elucidating fundamental mechanisms in human multicellular tissue pattern formation. Dr. Zandstra has received broad recognition for his work, including being named a Member of the Order of Canada and a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in Engineering.

Kendra Harris, MD, MSc is radiation oncologist with a special interest in expediting theranostic agent deployment in clinic. As Tulane Chair of Radiation Oncology, her contributions focused on the ‘real world’ considerations relevant when bringing new therapeutic classes through FDA approval, most recently, Lutetium (177Lu) vipivotide tetraxetan. She is currently System Director for LCMC Health, a health system that now includes both Tulane School of Medicine and LSU Medical School. Graduate work at Oxford (Rhodes Scholar) was health policy focused, with all medical training including a Patient Safety Fellowship, thereafter taking place at John Hopkins Hospital.