Disease Targets
- Friedreich’s ataxia
- Alzheimer’s disease
- Cocaine addiction
- Alpha-1 antitrypsin deficiency
- Eosiniphilia/Eosinophilic esophagitis
- Angiogenesis for heart disease, fat transplant, and surgical wound healing
Gene therapy research is a cutting-edge field of study that aims to treat or prevent diseases by modifying or correcting genetic material within a patient's cells. This innovative approach involves introducing genetic material into a person's cells to replace missing or defective genes, or to introduce new functions.
The Department of Genetic Medicine has an enduring history of accomplishment in the field of gene therapy. Our department chair, Ronald G Crystal, is the first physician to administer a genetically modified, replication-deficient virus to a human patient in an approved clinical trial. We continue to be pioneers in the field, combining state-of-the-art genetic and molecular techniques to identify new targets, develop new methods, and translate our research on complex diseases to the clinic.