Vincent P. Mauro, Ph.D.
Senior Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer
Dr. Mauro received his Ph.D. from McGill University in Montreal, Canada, and received his post-doctoral training with Drs. Bruce Cunningham and Gerald Edelman at the Rockefeller University. In addition to his position of Senior Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer at Promosome, he also holds the position of Associate Professor at the Scripps Research Institute. Over the last two decades his studies have focused on understanding the fundamental mechanisms of translation initiation. These studies provided the first demonstration of mRNA-rRNA basepairing as a translation initiation mechanism in eukaryotes, and the identification of cis-regulatory elements in mRNAs, including TEEs. He and his colleagues demonstrated that powerful synthetic translational enhancers can be generated by linking individual TEEs together and developed selection methodologies to identify such elements in mammalian cells and in yeast. His subsequent studies have led to the development of other technologies including site specific integration approaches, a synthetic ribosome system, and Promosome's RESCUE technology.
Luke Burman
Scientific Director
Mr. Burman received his B.S. from UCSD after which he joined The Scripps Research Institute, where he trained under the direction of Dr. Vincent Mauro. In 2012, he moved to Promosome in the position of Staff Scientist. Mr. Burman was involved in early work involving translational enhancers with both Dr. Wei Zhou and Dr. Steven Chappell. He later worked to develop a mammalian expression system for ribosomal RNA, in which the sequence of the small ribosomal subunit could be manipulated. The ability to perturb both rRNA and mRNA sequences allowed an analysis of ribosome-mRNA interactions and helped to clarify the role of these interactions in translational enhancement.
Stephen A. Chappell, Ph.D.
Scientific Director
Dr. Chappell received his Ph.D. at the University of Leicester Medical School, England, and his postdoctoral training in the Department of Biochemistry at the same University. Dr. Chappell completed his postdoctoral training at the Scripps Research Institute under the direction of Dr. Mauro. Dr. Chappell's initial work led to the finding that some mRNA 5' leaders are composed of modular regulatory elements, leading to the identification of the first TEE and to the generation of synthetic translational enhancers based on these elements. His subsequent studies led to the identification of additional translational regulatory elements and the mechanisms by which they function. His later work along with Drs. Edelman and Mauro led to the proposal of the Tethering and Clustering model of translation initiation which has formed the basis for his development of Promosome's RESCUE technology.
Wei Zhou, Ph.D.
Scientific Director
Dr. Zhou received his Ph.D. from Department of Cell and Molecular Biology at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas and his postdoctoral training in the Department of Neurobiology at the Scripps Research Institute under the direction of Dr. Mauro. Dr. Zhou's early work led to the finding that some natural yeast mRNA 5' leaders contain Internal Ribosome Entry Sites (IRESes). His subsequent studies focused on the development of a mammalian feedback system, which led to the identification of many translation enhancers that are functional in Chinese Hamster Ovary (CHO) cells. Dr. Zhou currently works on site-specific integration in mammalian cells and the development of chromosomal landing pads for optimal transgene expression.
Daiki Matsuda, Ph.D.
Scientist
Dr. Matsuda received his Ph.D. from Department of Microbiology at Oregon State University and conducted his postdoctoral training in Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics at University of Rochester, New York. Dr. Matsuda completed his postdoctoral training at The Scripps Research Institute under the direction of Dr. Mauro. Dr. Matsuda's work enhanced the understanding of how the authentic translational start codon can be selected among the multiple possible alternative start sites during translation in mammalian cells. He is also continuing work on the mechanisms of mRNA-rRNA base pairing during translation initiation
Dora Koh, Ph.D.
Staff Scientist and Director of Lab Operations
Dr. Koh received her Ph.D. from The National University of Singapore, where she investigated viral gene expression and identified elements implicated in translational control. Dr. Koh was awarded a Gold Medal from the International Society of Plant Molecular Biology (ISPMB) for an outstanding PhD thesis and was the valedictorian representing the Faculty of Science. Dr. Koh pursued her postdoctoral training in translation initiation mechanisms in the laboratory of Dr. Vincent Mauro at The Scripps Research Institute. She evaluated the role of nucleotide accessibility on translation efficiency of BACE1 mRNA (an RNA involved in Alzheimer's disease) by adapting and optimizing a methodology to probe RNA conformation in living mammalian cells. Dr. Koh joined Promosome in July 2010. In addition to scientific involvement in studies concerning chromosome integration sites for transgene expression, Dr. Koh is also responsible for directing and coordinating laboratory operations.
Kathryn L. Crossin, Ph.D.
Scientific Liaison
Dr. Crossin received a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of Texas Medical Branch in Galveston, Texas and did postdoctoral work with Dr. Gerald Edelman at the Rockefeller University. Prior to joining Promosome, she was Associate Professor of Neurobiology and of Cell and Molecular Biology at The Scripps Research Institute, where she was a long-time collaborator of Drs. Edelman and Mauro. She recently worked with them to identify effective combinations of individual TEEs in CHO cells. Dr. Crossin's earlier scientific work involved signaling pathways stimulated by cell-to-cell and cell-to-substrate interactions and the influence of oxygen tension on these processes, particularly in cells of the mature nervous system and in neural stem cells. At Promosome, she functions as liaison between the scientific team, management, and the patent group.