Sequencing the human genome was only the beginning. Today, researchers are racing to create methods to understand how our genes affect our health and unlock the genetic mysteries that can help prevent and treat disease. CRISPR, a bacterial immune system, has been repurposed and engineered to provide the tools to precisely edit genomes with unparalleled simplicity and flexibility, resulting in a research revolution. This breakthrough gene editing technology was first demonstrated in Science, on January 3, 2013 and since then it has already become a foundational tool for cancer, infectious disease and mental health research and is inspiring a multitude of promising biotech start-ups. Please join us for an informative and inspiring discussion from co-authors Dr. Le Cong and Dr. Feng Zhang and licensing and commerce professionals. 

Learn about:

• The history of the CRISPR system;
• First applications of the CRISPR system for gene editing and in human cells;
• Recent advances in CRISPR research;
• Possible therapeutic and other uses of CRISPR; and
• How local and international research and business communities are participating in the biggest biotech innovation of the decade – with the goal of moving technology from the lab to the clinic to positively impact lives and the global economy.

A reception will follow at 6:15pm at Tsinghua University Science Park Garden Lobby (清华科技园阳光厅).

Speakers Bios:

Feng Zhang: 

PhD, Stanford University

AB, Harvard University

Dr. Zhang is a bioengineer focused on developing tools to better understand brain function and treat neurological and psychiatric disorders. He played an integral role in the creation of two revolutionary tools, optogenetics and the CRISPR-Cas genome engineering system. Current research in the Zhang laboratory is centered on the development and application of the next generation of genome engineering tools to dissect the effects of genetic and epigenetic variation on the nervous system.

Dr. Zhang is an Investigator at the McGovern Institute for Brain Research, a core member of the Broad Institute, the W. M. Keck Career Development Professor in Biomedical Engineering, and an assistant professor in the MIT department of Brain and Cognitive Sciences. Dr. Zhang is a Searle Scholar, and has received both a Director’s Transformative Research Award and a Directors’ Pioneer Award from the National Institutes of Health. In 2012 he shared the UNC/Perl Prize for his role in the development of optogenetics, and he was awarded the Gabbay Prize in Biotechnology and Medicine in 2014 and the inaugural Tsuneko and Reiji Okazaki Award in 2015 in recognition of his work developing the CRISPR-Cas genome engineering system.

Le Cong

Ph.D. Harvard University

B.S. Tsinghua University

Dr. Le Cong obtained his B.S. summa cum laude from Tsinghua University, his Ph.D. from Harvard University, and is currently a Postdoctoral Associate at Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard under the leadership of Dr. Aviv Regev. He was co-advised by Dr. Feng Zhang and Dr. George Church during his graduate study. He completed his thesis work mostly in Dr. Feng Zhang’s lab, where he did pioneering studies on genetic and epigenetic engineering, focusing on developing technologies based on TALE and CRISPR-Cas9 systems and adapting related technology for potential gene therapy applications. He has since moved to Dr. Regev’s lab working on single-cell genomics and systems biology. He is interested in combining genome editing tools, single-cell analysis, and computational modeling to understand mechanisms of complex diseases and develop precision therapeutics for cancer and autoimmune diseases.

Dr. Cong has published 15 works in high-impact journals including Science, Nature, Cell, Nature Biotechnology, and Nature Methods, with more than two thousand citations including the most-cited work in the CRISPR-Cas9 field (Cong et al. Science), where he and colleagues in Dr. Zhang’s lab were first to demonstrate genome engineering using CRISPR-Cas9 systems in eukaryotic cells. He has also written for Springer’s Book Series Neuromethods and Methods in Molecular Biology. Dr. Cong is first inventor or co-inventor on more than 20 filed patent applications, with nine patents on CRISPR and TALE technology granted by USPTO and/or EPO. He was awarded the highest-honor scholarship of Tsinghua, the HHMI International Research Fellowship, the Extraordinary Excellence Award (among six awardees worldwide) of the Chinese Government Awards for Outstanding Students Abroad, and is the recipient of research awards from the American Society for Gene and Cell Therapy and Harvard Medical School CSSA. He has been invited to present keynote talks or special lectures at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, Gordon Research Conference, Japan RNAi Society Annual Meeting, and European Human Genetics conferences.

John Doll

John Doll has been an expert witness and lecturer on USPTO practice and procedure since 2009 when he retired from the USPTO.  He retired as the Commissioner for Patents, the Deputy Under Secretary and Deputy Director, and the Acting Under Secretary and Acting Director where he was responsible for advising the President, the Secretary of Commerce, and the Administration about all intellectual property matters.  John began his career as an assistant examiner at the USPTO and progressed to be a Supervisory Patent Examiner having examined and supervised the examination of patent applications encompassing pharmaceuticals, herbicides, pesticides, dyestuffs, inorganic chemistry, hydrometallurgy, zeolite catalysts, buckministerfullerenes, proteins, and peptides.  As a Director of Patent Examination his art areas encompassed designs, chemistry, chemical engineering and biotechnology.  During his time at the USPTO, John was instrumental in the implementation of the Patent Application Location and Monitoring (PALM) system, the development and implementation of the automated examiner Office Action tools, for establishing the Biotechnology Customer Partnership, and the implementation of the Image File Wrapper system.  John also serves on the Board of Directors for Cloud Pharmaceuticals which designs new drugs, drug candidates and accelerates the development process by implementing new, innovative cloud computing technology in place of traditional methods.

Qinxian Jin: 

B.S., M.S., and Ph.D., Environmental Engineering, Tsinghua University

Dr. Qinxian Jin is the Dean of the Office of Technology Transfer at Tsinghua University. Dr. Jin began his career in academia and was previously an Associate Professor in the Department of Environmental Science and Engineering at Tsinghua University. Dr. Jin has held numerous senior roles at Tsinghua University and has extensive experience in technology transfer and R&D research. Since 2005, he has served as the Director of the R&D Management Department and the Director of the International Technology Transfer Center at Tsinghua University, responsible for managing relations between Tsinghua University and local governments/enterprises. In 2010, Dr. Jin served as Vice Director of the Beijing Tsinghua Industrial R&D Institute, responsible for commercialization of Tsinghua University’s scientific and technological achievements in Beijing.  In 2013, Dr. Jin served as the Vice Secretary-general of the Office of the President at Tsinghua University.

Dr. Jin also has significant experience in industry and is currently on the Board of Tsinghua Holdings Co. Ltd, the limited liability corporation which is funded by Tsinghua University and owns a wide range of subsidiaries in China’s technology industry. Dr. Jin was previously an Assistant President at Tsinghua Holdings from 2003 to 2005. Dr. Jin also currently serves as Chairman of the Board of Lotus Lake Investment Management Limited.

Thomas J. Kowalski:

A Shareholder in the New York office of Vedder Price and a member of the firm’s Intellectual Property group. He has been in practice for 30 years. Mr. Kowalski is admitted practice before and is in good standing with the Courts of New York State, the US Supreme Court, the Federal Circuit, and the US District Courts for the Southern, Eastern and Western Districts of NY, as well as pro hac vice in many other jurisdictions. In 1986 Mr. Kowalski earned his JD, cum laude, from St. John's University School of Law, 1986, with honors. During law school Mr. Kowalski participated in Moot Court, was an Author of a journal article, an Editor and co-Founder of the St. John's Journal of Legal Commentary, recipient of a Journal of Legal Commentary Scholarship, and clerked at an IP boutique firm. Mr. Kowalski was awarded an American Chemistry Society certified BS from New York University in 1982. In fulfilling the requirements for American Chemistry Society certification, Mr. Kowalski has extensively studied graduate biochemistry, graduate inorganic chemistry, genetics, computer science and conducted laboratory research. That laboratory research was a joint project amongst NYU, Columbia University and The Goddard Space Institute. During his NYU studies, Mr. Kowalski also applied for and was awarded an NIH grant, and conducted research under that grant at Hunter College, CUNY.

Mr. Kowalski’s practice includes biotech, chemical and medical apparatus litigation (including inter partes review, interferences, inter partes reexaminations, reexaminations, oppositions and nullity proceedings), patent prosecution, licensing and counseling.  Mr. Kowalski has extensive international experience and has appeared before courts and proceedings throughout the world, including various Federal Courts throughout the US, London, England; The Hague, Netherlands; Mannheim and Munich, Germany; Vienna, Austria; and Tokyo, Japan. Mr. Kowalski is also Adjunct Professor teaching Intellectual Property Law at New York University's Brooklyn Campus -- Polytechnic Institute of New York University -- as part of the Master’s Degree in Management Program for almost 4 years. Mr. Kowalski is also a member of the faculty of the Practicing Law Institute (PLI) and has been an invited speaker at numerous conferences by ACI, C5 and Informa, and author, including:  Practising Law Institute's "Fundamentals of Patent Prosecution 2015: A Boot Camp for Claim Drafting & Amendment Writing," June 2015;  American Conference Institute's Advanced Summit on Medical Device Patents, “Prosecutor and Litigator Roundtable—Adapting to the New Landscape of Patentable Subject Matter, Indefiniteness, and Willfulness,” March 2015; American Conference Institute's Advance Summit on Life Sciences Patent, “Crisis in the Industry: Protecting Life Sciences Patents in Light of Increasingly Strict §101 Patentability Standards,” January 2015 and Practising Law Institute’s “Fundamentals of Patent Prosecution 2014: A Boot Camp for Claim Drafting & Amendment Writing,” June 2014.

Mr. Kowalski was invited by the USPTO to testify at various hearings, including on September 6, 2012 regarding implementation of First Inventor to File Rules, on February 16 2012 concerning Genetic Diagnostic Testing; and on October 25, 2011 USPTO regarding Prior User Rights. Mr. Kowalski’s testimony on Prior User Rights was cited in the USPTO’s Report to Congress.

Since 2010 Mr. Kowalski has issued 485 patens (broken down as follows:  2010: 92 issued patents/2011: 101 issued patents/2012: 115 issued patents/2013: 77 issued patents/2014: 100 issued patents).  On the span of his legal career of over 30 years Mr. Kowalski has issued over 1,000 patents.

Mr. Kowalski is also recognized by his peers. He earned an “AV Preeminent” Peer Rating in Martindale-Hubbell, has been named as a “Super Lawyer” in New York Super Lawyers, and has been named in International Who’s Who of Patent Attorneys.

Hoansoo Lee: 

A.M. and Ph.D., Harvard Business School

A.B., UC-Berkeley

Hoansoo Lee is partner at TusPark Ventures, a top-tier Chinese venture firm and subsidiary of Tsinghua Holdings. He leads cross-border technology investments in biotechnology/pharmaceuticals, semiconductors, IT and mobile technologies.

He is also Assistant Dean of Office of Technology Transfer at Tsinghua University overseeing international affairs and strategic partnerships for technology commercialization in China and abroad. As part of the University faculty, he holds professorship in the Department of Finance, School of Economics and Management. His research fields are in corporate finance, venture capital and private equity, alternative investments and emerging markets. He teaches corporate finance and mergers & acquisitions to first-year MBAs.

Before Tsinghua, Dr. Lee served as staff economist in innovation and entrepreneurship policy at the Council of Economic Advisers in the White House during the Obama administration's first term of office. He is also a serial entrepreneur and adviser of several venture-backed startups and serves in the Tsinghua x-lab as an entrepreneur-in-residence.

Larry Lian

Larry was in private practice with Syncoda and Foley Lardner before joining the USPTO.

Larry’s practice focused on patent law and FDA law. His patent law experience spans patent prosecution, reexamination, validity and freedom-to-operate opinions, and due diligence analysis.  Larry’s FDA law experience centers on the Hatch-Waxman Act and the Biosimilar Act.  A large part of Larry’s patent and FDA law practice focused on the differences between the U.S. and Chinese law, such as the different disclosure and obviousness standards, and the different data exclusivity scheme.  Before his private practice, Larry also worked as a student law clerk for Judge Franklin Van Antwerpen at the United States Court of Appeals for the Third Circuit, and Judge Paul Tressler of the Pennsylvania Court of Common Pleas.

Prior to changing his career into law Larry worked at three leading biopharmaceutical companies (Myriad Genetics, Cytogen/Jazz Pharmaceuticals and Barr/Teva Pharmaceuticals), where he was responsible for research development of new drugs as well as presenting clinical trial analysis for FDA approval. Larry has co-authored a number of scientific papers in leading journals such as Cancer Research.

Mr. Lian holds a Juris Doctor degree from Temple University School of Law and a Master of Science degree from Nankai University in China.