Speaker Profile
Ph.D., VP of Research, NERx Biosciences
Biography
Dr. Pawelczak has extensive research experience with precision genome editing technologies from her time working in Discovery at Dow AgroSciences, where she was responsible for work on the development and deployment of proprietary zinc finger nuclease genome engineering technologies. This work included developing novel molecular analytical techniques for determining efficiency of ZFN mediated genome engineering. She was also responsible for directing projects to further our understanding of basic mechanisms of ZFN technology, genome engineering and the relationship with DNA repair with the goal of improving product applications. Dr. Pawelczak’s graduate and post-doctoral experience focused on understanding molecular mechanisms of DNA repair proteins, with a particular emphasis on non-homologous end joining mediated repair of DNA double strand breaks. She has extensive experience in nucleic acid enzymology, protein-DNA interactions, biochemistry and molecular analysis. Her industry experience in precision genome engineering combined with her expertise in DNA repair mechanisms provide enormous support in the research she directs at NERx Biosciences.
Presentation Title and Company Description
Emerging Therapeutics Showcase: Chemical Enhancement of Site Specific Genome Engineering
NERx Biosciences Inc. is a startup-up biotechnology company focused on the development of novel small molecule chemical agents that inhibit DNA repair processes that limit the efficiency of genome editing systems. Our novel inhibitors significantly improve CRISPR-Cas9 based gene-targeting efficiencies.
