Scholars

Ten scientists have been selected for OHC’s Inaugural 2024 Rare Disease Scholar Award to advance academic discoveries into clinical practice for rare diseases.

Jacquelyn Bower, PhD – University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill

A novel adeno-associated virus (AAV) gene therapy approach for the treatment of rare Uveal Melanoma Tumors

Louis Chesler, MD, PhD – Institute of Cancer Research

Engineering chimeric antigen receptors fused to a high-efficiency lenalidomide-degradable Tag to control CAR-T cell activity - iTAG3

Charles Gersbach, PhD – Duke University

Epigenetically enhanced cell therapy for Hodgkin's Lymphoma

Xianxin Hua, MD, PhD – University of Pennsylvania

A new cellular strategy for treating acute myeloid leukaemia

Michele Jacob, PhD – Tufts University School of Medicine

A drug to treat brain abnormalities caused by CTNNB1 defects, an ultra-rare disease

Bowen Li, PhD – University of Toronto 

A nucleic acid therapy to treat cystic fibrosis, an inherited lung disease 

Michael Pacold, MD, PhD – New York University

Drugs restoring brain function in rare metabolic diseases 

Carlo Rinaldi, MA, MD, PhD – University of Oxford

Nucleic acid therapy for spinal and bulbar muscular atrophy (SBMA), a rare X-linked neuromuscular condition

Timothy Yu, MD, PhD – Boston Children’s Hospital

Custom DNA-based therapy for a rare genetic disorder (PEX1 Zellweger Syndrome)

Haiyan Zhou, MD, PhD – University College London

Nucleic acid therapy to treat loss of sensation and paralysis caused by a rare mutation