Meet the Team
The legs of Hope for Hasti … if there’s a physical challenge to be undertaken to raise awareness for the charity or to generate income, Chris will likely be the one doing it.
An officer in the British Army since 2007 and a leader of teams big and small throughout his career. But in the only team that counts, he is best known for his silly jokes, his love of books and getting lost on car journeys.
The brains and the heart of Hope for Hasti.
When the doctors said it couldn’t be done, she did it. When the teachers had no hope, her hope was a beacon.
The indefatigable advocate of a little girl that deserves every chance, even if it has to be fought for, inch by inch.
JAX researchers combine extensive experience in mammalian genetics and human genomics to shape a unique and integrated approach to personalized medicine.
Scientists work collaboratively across disciplines to interrogate disease from all angles, leveraging diverse expertise in cancer, immunology (including diabetes), neurogenetics (including Alzheimer’s disease), life-cycle biology (including development, stem cells, aging and regenerative medicine), the microbiome and computational biology.
JAX have been conducting cutting-edge research since 1929. They have more than 70 research teams and 26 Nobel Prizes are associated with their research.
Dr. Lutz is Director of the Mouse Repository and the Rare and Orphan Disease Center at The Jackson Laboratory.
As part of the Mouse Repository program, Dr. Lutz is the Principal investigator on a number of NIH sponsored resource grants, including the Mutant Mouse Regional and Research Center at JAX.
Dr. Lutz also serves as the Director of In Vivo Pharmacology and Efficacy Testing Program in Bar Harbor, which interfaces with biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies to pursue novel therapeutics across a variety of therapeutic areas.
A neuroscientist by training, Dr. Lutz conducts research in neurodegenerative diseases, including Spinal Muscular Atrophy (SMA), Friedreich’s ataxia, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) and Frontotemperal Lobe Dementia (FTD).
Dr Stuart Cobb heads a translational research laboratory at the University of Edinburgh that is focused on developing genetic therapies for severe neurodevelopmental disorders. His research aims to address the tractability of severe brain disease to genetic rescue and to develop innovative therapeutic solutions for clinical translation.
A particular focus of his work has been on Rett syndrome and closely related disorders. In addition to his academic research, Stuart Cobb is Chief Scientific Officer at Neurogene Inc, a clinical stage gene therapy company advancing a pipeline of gene therapies for severe neurological indications.
Dr Valentina Massa is an Associate Professor in Applied Biology in the University of Milan and has a PhD in Cellular and Molecular Biology.
Dr Massa’s recent research (Feb 21) explores lithium as a possible therapeutic strategy for Cornelia de Lange Syndrome and has played an important role in establishing a significant correlation between central nervous system malformations and severe cognitive impairment in CdLS patients.
Dr Massa is committed to efforts to take research from the lab to the clinic
Dr. Siddharth Srivastava is a paediatric neurologist at Boston Children’s Hospital specializing in neurogenetics. He is an Assistant Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School. His research involves studying different genetic causes of neurodevelopmental presentations with the goal of developing targeted treatments. At Boston Children’s Hospital, he provides care to children in a variety of neurodevelopmental and neurogenetics clinics. He received his B.A. degree in biochemistry from Columbia University and his M.D. degree from Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He finished a combined residency in pediatrics and neurodevelopmental disabilities at Johns Hopkins Hospital and the Kennedy Krieger Institute. He completed a fellowship in neurogenetics at Boston Children’s Hospital.
Dr. Boone is a physician-scientist with a special interest in genetic conditions affecting neurodevelopment. He is a clinical geneticist at Boston Children’s Hospital, where he co-directs the Cornelia de Lange Syndrome (CdLS) and Related Disorders Clinic. He is also a research fellow at Massachusetts General Hospital where he studies the molecular mechanisms of CdLS and related conditions. He is an author on over 25 publications about medical genetics.
Neil Hackett PhD, is an independent consultant based in Santa Monica, CA with extensive experience in pre-clinical and translational programs for gene therapy.
He currently works with research groups and foundations to navigate stem cell and gene therapy projects through pre-IND to IND. This includes project management, advising on proof-of-concept and toxicology studies, vector manufacturing and regulatory writing.
His background includes professorial appointments at Vanderbilt University and Weill-Cornell Medical College resulting in over 100 academic publications.
Previous assignments include participating in design, qualification and management of a successful GMP facility for viral vector manufacturing and as coinvestigator in multiple gene therapy clinical trials for cardiac, pulmonary and neurological indications.
Dr. Hung has over 20 years of experience in the gene therapy, synthetic biology and drug development.
He joined Vigene Biosciences in 2016 and orchestrated the acquisition of Omnia Biologics, a GMP manufacturer of viral vectors of 15 years.
He holds a Ph.D. in genetics from Cornell University, an MBA from UC Berkeley, and a B.S. in biology from Peking University.
