Krainer was born inMontevideo, Uruguay to a Jewish family ofHungarian andRomanian descent. He has one older brother, who is achemical engineer. His father did forced labor for two years in a Romanian labor camp (Ferma Alba) duringWorld War II. After the war, his father's original surname, Kreiner changed to Krainer due to a clerical error when he was a refugee inItaly. His parents owned a small leather business in Montevideo. Krainer attended a private bilingual French-Spanish elementary school. He later attended a public school for two years before completing his pre-college education with four years at a private Spanish-Hebrew school. Krainer lived through political unrest during his teenage years, including urban guerrilla and military dictatorship. Krainer received a full scholarship fromColumbia University and completed aBachelor of Arts degree inBiochemistry in 1981.[4] He graduatedcum laude andPhi Beta Kappa. In 1986, he earned aDoctor of Philosophy degree in biochemistry fromHarvard University.[5]
From 1986 to 1989, Krainer conductedpostdoctoral research as the first Cold Spring Harbor Fellow at theCold Spring Harbor Laboratory. Krainer worked as an assistant professor from 1989 to 1990, Associate Professor from 1990 to 1994, and Professor since 1994. Krainer is a faculty member of the graduate programs in Genetics, Molecular and Cellular Biology, and Molecular Genetics and Microbiology atState University of New York, Stony Brook.[5] Krainer holds the St. Giles Foundation Professorship atCold Spring Harbor Laboratory.[6] His former students includeEwan Birney.[7][8] Krainer is a co-founder and Director of Stoke Therapeutics, based in Bedford, MA.
Krainer's father and maternal grandparents were Holocaust refugees.[9] He has three children, Emily, Andrew, and Brian.[9][5] His wife, Kate Krainer, is a plant geneticist.[13][14]
