Work with thought leaders and academic experts from Massachusetts General Hospital

Dr. Shariq Usmani is scientific director at Cabaletta bio, a leader in cell therapy for autoimmune diseases (https://www.cabalettabio.com). He leads a research team in preclinical R&D organization at Cabaletta bio. He directly manage a talented group of Senior Scientists, Scientists and Research Associates to spearhead and drive innovation in cell therapies and biologics in autoimmune disease indications. <br> He is also serves as consultant at Zohdan Bio, where he provides strategic support for preclinical R&D programs focused on gene therapy, genome editing, and virology. With a deep foundation in oncology and biologics, Dr. Usmani has led groundbreaking work in both academia and industry, including his tenures at Sana Biotechnology, Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital. He's led and spearheaded the development of innovative in vivo genome editing platforms, optimized viral vectors, and engineered cutting-edge reporter assays.

Alex K. Shalek, PhD, is the J. W. Kieckhefer Professor in the Institute for Medical Engineering & Science and the Department of Chemistry, and an Extramural Member of The Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at MIT.  He is also an Institute Member of the Broad Institute, a Member of the Ragon Institute, an Assistant in Immunology at MGB, and an Instructor in Health Sciences & Technology at HMS. Dr. Shalek received his bachelor's degree *summa cum laude* from Columbia University and his Ph.D. from Harvard University in chemical physics under the guidance of Hongkun Park, and performed postdoctoral training under Hongkun Park and Aviv Regev (Broad/MIT). His lab’s research is directed towards the development and application of new approaches to elucidate cellular and molecular features that inform tissue-level function and dysfunction across the spectrum of human health and disease. Dr. Shalek and his work have received numerous honors including a NIH New Innovator Award, a Beckman Young Investigator Award, a Searle Scholar Award, a Pew-Stewart Scholar Award, the Avant-Garde (DP1 Pioneer) Award from the National Institute for Drug Abuse (NIDA), and an Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship in Chemistry, as well as the 2019-2020 Harold E. Edgerton Faculty Achievement Award at MIT and the 2020 HMS Young Mentor Award.