Jack Szostak Ph.d.

Biography

Dr. Jack W. Szostak, Ph.D., serves as the Chairman of Scientific Advisory Board at Ra Pharmaceuticals, Inc. Dr. Szostak is an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Professor of Genetics at Harvard Medical School, Professor of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Harvard University and the Alex Rich Distinguished Investigator in the Department Molecular Biology and the Center for Computational and Integrative Biology at Massachusetts General Hospital. He served as Scientific Advisory Board Chairman at Moderna Therapeutics, Inc. since August 2011. He serves as a Member of Medical Advisory Board at Gairdner Foundation. He serves as a Member of Scientific Advisory Board at Nucorion Pharmaceuticals, Inc. He has been a Member of Technology Advisory Board at Moderna Therapeutics, Inc. since May 21, 2014. He served as a Member of Scientific Advisory Board at Moderna Therapeutics, Inc. Dr. Szostak’s early research on the genetics and biochemistry of DNA recombination led to the double-strand-break repair model for meiotic recombination. His early research was on telomere structure and function and the role of telomere maintenance in preventing cellular senescence. Dr. Szostak shared the 2006 Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award and the 2009 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. In the 1990s, Dr. Szostak developed in vitro selection as a tool for the isolation of functional RNA, DNA and protein molecules from large pools of random sequences. His laboratory has used in vitro selection and directed evolution to isolate and characterize numerous nucleic acid sequences with specific ligand binding and catalytic properties. For this work, Dr. Szostak was awarded, along with Dr. Gerald Joyce, the 1994 National Academy of Sciences Award in Molecular Biology and the 1997 Sigrist Prize from the University of Bern. In 2000, Dr. Szostak was awarded the Medal of the Genetics Society of America and in 2008 Dr. Szostak received the H.P. Heineken Prize in Biophysics and Biochemistry. Dr. Szostak has published over 200 scientific papers and has been awarded 15 US patents. Dr. Szostak is a Member of the National Academy of Sciences and a Fellow of the New York Academy of Sciences, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Research Interest

Medical Safety & Global Health