Silvana Konermann | |
|---|---|
| Born | Silvana Maria Konermann (1988-05-18)May 18, 1988 (age 37) |
| Education |
|
| Known for | CRISPRa,CRISPR-Cas13,transcriptome engineering |
| Spouse | |
| Awards | Harold M. Weintraub Graduate Student Award |
| Scientific career | |
| Fields | Bioengineering,Neuroscience |
| Institutions | Stanford University,Arc Institute |
| Thesis | Interrogation and control of mammalian transcription (2016) |
| Doctoral advisor | Feng Zhang |
| Website | Konermann Lab |
Silvana Konermann (born May 18, 1988) is a Swiss-American bioengineer and neuroscientist whose research focuses onCRISPR,genome engineering,transcription andepigenetics, andAlzheimer's disease. She is an assistant professor ofbiochemistry atStanford University and co-founder and executive director ofArc Institute.
Konermann's research laboratory aims to understand the molecular pathways that drive the development ofAlzheimer’s disease using next-generationfunctional genomics, with the long-term goal of developing rationally targeted therapeutics forneurodegenerative disorders.[1]
Konermann attendedSächsisches Landesgymnasium Sankt Afra zu Meißen inSaxony, Germany.[2] Theminor planet21546 Konermann was named in honor of her 2006 second-place finish at theIntel International Science and Engineering Fair.[3] She received her Bachelor's degree in neurobiology fromETH Zurich in 2009.[4]
In 2010, Konermann entered the Brain and Cognitive Sciences PhD program at theMassachusetts Institute of Technology.[4] She joinedFeng Zhang's lab at theBroad Institute andMcGovern Institute for Brain Research as one of Zhang's first graduate students. During her PhD, Konermann contributed to the development of pioneering genetic perturbation technologies, including one of the first systems for genome-scaleCRISPR activation.[5] She completed her PhD in neuroscience in 2016, receiving theHarold M. Weintraub Graduate Student Award for "outstanding achievement during graduate studies in the biological sciences."[6]
As apostdoctoral fellow at theSalk Institute, Konermann was part of the team that discoveredCas13d, a new subclass of compact RNA-targeting CRISPR effectors.[7] She was named anHHMIHanna H. Gray Fellow in 2017 and aCZ Biohub investigator in 2019.[8] In October 2019, Konermann joined Stanford as an assistant professor of biochemistry.[1]
Along withUC Berkeley professorPatrick Hsu andStripe CEOPatrick Collison, Konermann is a co-founder of nonprofit research organizationArc Institute, where she currently serves as executive director and maintains her research laboratory as a core investigator.[9][10][11]
In June 2022, Konermann married Irish tech billionairePatrick Collison, the co-founder and CEO ofStripe.[12] Konermann met Collison at the 2005 European Union Contest for Young Scientists.[12][13]
