For your viewing convenience, links to the SIVB 2021: In Vitro OnLine Final Program, Posters and Abstracts are provided. below.

Keynote Speaker

J. Keith Joung, MD, PhD, Robert B. Colvin, M.D., Endowed Chair in Pathology, Desmond and Ann Heathwood Research Scholar,Pathologist at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), and Professor of Pathology, Harvard Medical School, Charlestown, MA

J. Keith Joung is a leading innovator in the field of gene editing. He is the Robert B. Colvin, M.D. Endowed Chair in Pathology, Desmond and Ann Heathwood Research Scholar, and a Pathologist at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and Professor of Pathology at Harvard Medical School. He is also a member of the Center for Cancer Research and the Center for Computational and Integrative Biology at MGH. Dr. Joung has been a pioneer in the development of important technologies for targeted gene editing and epigenetic editing of human cells. He has received numerous awards including an NIH Director’s Pioneer Award, an NIH Director’s Transformative Research Project R01 Award, the MGH Research Scholar Award, an NIH R35 MIRA (Maximizing Investigators Research Award), election into the American Association of University Pathologists, and designation as a “Highly Cited Researcher” in 2016, 2017, 2018, and 2019 by Thomson Reuters/Clarivate Analytics. He serves on the editorial boards of Genome Biology, Human Gene Therapy, and Trends in Biotechnology. He has co-founded and advises multiple biotechnology companies including Editas Medicine, Beam Therapeutics, Pairwise, and Verve Therapeutics. Dr. Joung holds a Ph.D. in genetics from Harvard University, an M.D. from Harvard Medical School and an A.B. in biochemical sciences from Harvard College.

Optimizing CRISPR-based Technologies For Targeted Gene Editing

Abstract

RNA-guided CRISPR gene-editing nucleases have had transformative impacts on biological research and hold great promise for applications in agriculture and human therapeutics. Newer CRISPR-based editing platforms such as base editors and prime editors offer higher precision while minimizing the introduction of double-stranded DNA breaks. In my talk, I will provide an overview of my group’s recent efforts to advance and optimize these various technologies as well to develop improved methods to more comprehensively define unwanted “off-target” effects of these strategies.