Fyodor Urnov

Fyodor Urnov is a Professor of Molecular Therapeutics at UC Berkeley and Director of Therapeutic R&D at the Innovative Genomics Institute (IGI). He co-developed the toolbox of human genome and epigenome editing, co-named genome editing, and was on the team that advanced all of its first-in-human applications to the clinic. He also led the effort that identified the genome editing target for an approved medicine to treat sickle cell disease and beta-thalassemia.

A major goal for the field of genome editing and a key focus of Fyodor’s work is expanding access to CRISPR therapies for genetic disease. As part of that effort Fyodor directs the Danaher-IGI Beacon for CRISPR Cures — a first-in-class academia-industry partnership developing and advancing to the clinic CRISPR-based platform approaches to treat severe Mendelian diseases of infancy — as well as the Center for Pediatric CRISPR Cures supported by the CZI. Both aim to increase the number of children treated with “CRISPR on-demand” as exemplified by the clinical trial described in May 2025 in the New England Journal of Medicine for a newborn with a severe metabolic disorder. Fyodor was the IGI lead in this collaboration between CHOP, Penn Medicine, Danaher, and the IGI, and his work with Danaher, UCSF, and the CZI aims to establish a platform for developing and delivering such therapies scalably and affordably.