Alex Marson Appointed IGI Scientific Director of Biomedicine 

The IGI is pleased to announce Alex Marson as the new Scientific Director of Biomedicine. Marson is an Associate Professor at the University of California, San Francisco as well as a Biohub Investigator, a member of the UCSF Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, and a project member at the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy. Marson will fill the role previously held by Jacob Corn, who will relocate to the ETH in Zurich, Switzerland this fall as a Professor of Biology.

Since 2014, Corn has been instrumental in creating and directing the IGI’s biomedical program. His leadership in research, outreach, and entrepreneurship has uncovered fundamental mechanisms of human genome editing, initiated a pre-clinical program in sickle cell disease, and established the Entrepreneurial Fellows Program to support early-career scientists. Marson will build on Corn’s contributions by expanding clinical projects and establishing additional connections within UCSF’s medical community.

Over the past five years as a UCSF faculty member, Marson has made substantial advances in unraveling the genomics of human T cell function. From discoveries about how HIV infects cells to understanding the genetic pathways controlling immune cell development, his work has led to breakthroughs in the study and control of immune cells that have far-reaching implications for treating cancer, immunodeficiency, and other diseases.

In his new role at the IGI, Marson joins Brian Staskawicz and Jill Banfield, Scientific Directors for Agriculture and Microbiology, respectively. Together, the three will manage the diverse portfolio of more than 30 projects aimed at using genome editing to solve pressing problems in health, agriculture, and the environment.