Anastasia Khvorova, PhD, has more than 20 years of experience developing oligonucleotide technology and therapeutics. She is professor in the RNA Therapeutics Institute at the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School. Her lab brings together organic and oligonucleotide chemists with RNA biologists and pharmacologists to develop novel approaches and solutions to understanding natural and therapeutic RNA trafficking and delivery. Prior to joining UMass, Dr. Khvorova spent 12 years in industry in different executive positions. She has co-founded several biotechnology companies. Dr. Khvorova is a named inventor on more than 175 patents and has authored more than 100 peer-reviewed publications, including seminal articles in Cell, Nature and Nature Biotechnology, defining the field of drug design and development for RNA interference. She has served as a director of the Oligonucleotide Therapeutics Society and director-at-large and scientific and research council chair of the American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy.