Alexander Marson (born June 5, 1979) is an American
biologist
A biologist is a scientist who conducts research in biology. Biologists are interested in studying life on Earth, whether it is an individual Cell (biology), cell, a multicellular organism, or a Community (ecology), community of Biological inter ...
and infectious disease doctor who specializes in
genetics
Genetics is the study of genes, genetic variation, and heredity in organisms.Hartl D, Jones E (2005) It is an important branch in biology because heredity is vital to organisms' evolution. Gregor Mendel, a Moravian Augustinians, Augustinian ...
, human
immunology
Immunology is a branch of biology and medicine that covers the study of Immune system, immune systems in all Organism, organisms.
Immunology charts, measures, and contextualizes the Physiology, physiological functioning of the immune system in ...
, and
genome engineering
Genome editing, or genome engineering, or gene editing, is a type of genetic engineering in which DNA is inserted, deleted, modified or replaced in the genome of a living organism. Unlike early genetic engineering techniques that randomly insert ge ...
. He is the Director of the
Gladstone-UCSF Institute of Genomic Immunology, and a tenured Professor with a dual appointment in the Department of Medicine and the Department of Microbiology & Immunology at the
University of California, San Francisco
The University of California, San Francisco (UCSF) is a Public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in San Francisco, California, United States. It is part of the University of California system and is dedic ...
(UCSF).
Marson is best known for his work with
Clustered Regularly Interspaced Short Palindromic Repeats (CRISPR), particularly for his advances in furthering understanding of the genomics of human
T cell
T cells (also known as T lymphocytes) are an important part of the immune system and play a central role in the adaptive immune response. T cells can be distinguished from other lymphocytes by the presence of a T-cell receptor (TCR) on their cell ...
function.
Marson also currently holds affiliations with the
Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy
The Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy (PICI) is an American program focused on the acceleration of cancer immunotherapy located in San Francisco. The institute includes over 40 laboratories from several key cancer centers, Weill Cornell, ...
(PICI), the
Chan Zuckerberg Biohub
Chan Zuckerberg Biohub (CZ Biohub), or simply Biohub, is a nonprofit research organization. In addition to supporting and conducting original research, CZ Biohub acts as a hub and fosters science collaboration between UC Berkeley, UC San Francis ...
,
and the
Innovative Genomics Institute
The Innovative Genomics Institute (IGI) is an American nonprofit scientific research institute founded by Nobel laureate and CRISPR gene editing pioneer Jennifer Doudna and biophysicist Jonathan Weissman. The institute is based at the University ...
(IGI).
Early life and education
Alex Marson was born June 5, 1979, in Manhattan, New York. He is the son of Ellen Marson, a professor of Spanish literature and former director of
Hadassah, and
Bernard Marson, an architect. Marson graduated
summa cum laude
Latin honors are a system of Latin phrases used in some colleges and universities to indicate the level of distinction with which an academic degree has been earned. The system is primarily used in the United States. It is also used in some Sout ...
with an A.B. in biology from
Harvard University
Harvard University is a Private university, private Ivy League research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Founded in 1636 and named for its first benefactor, the History of the Puritans in North America, Puritan clergyma ...
in 2001. He then pursued a master's degree in Biological Sciences from the
University of Cambridge
The University of Cambridge is a Public university, public collegiate university, collegiate research university in Cambridge, England. Founded in 1209, the University of Cambridge is the List of oldest universities in continuous operation, wo ...
in 2003. Later, he received a Ph.D. in Biology from
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
The Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) is a Private university, private research university in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States. Established in 1861, MIT has played a significant role in the development of many areas of moder ...
in 2008, under the mentorship of Rick Young and
Rudolf Jaenisch
Rudolf Jaenisch (born on April 22, 1942) is a professor of biology at MIT and a founding member of the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research. He is a pioneer of transgenic science, in which an animal’s genetic makeup is altered. Jaenisc ...
at the
Whitehead Institute
Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research is a non-profit research institute located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, United States that is dedicated to improving human health through basic biomedical research. It was founded as a fiscally indep ...
.
Marson's research focuses on reprogramming human immune cells, especially T cells, with CRISPR. The applications of this research are in the
treatment of cancer
Cancer treatments are a wide range of treatments available for the many different types of cancer, with each cancer type needing its own specific treatment. Treatments can include surgery, chemotherapy, radiation therapy, hormonal therapy (oncolo ...
,
autoimmune disease
An autoimmune disease is a condition that results from an anomalous response of the adaptive immune system, wherein it mistakenly targets and attacks healthy, functioning parts of the body as if they were foreign organisms. It is estimated tha ...
s,
HIV
The human immunodeficiency viruses (HIV) are two species of '' Lentivirus'' (a subgroup of retrovirus) that infect humans. Over time, they cause acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (AIDS), a condition in which progressive failure of the im ...
and a wide range of other diseases. In August 2018, Marson was selected as
Wired Magazine
''Wired'' is a bi-monthly American magazine that focuses on how emerging technologies affect culture, the economy, and politics. It is published in both print and Online magazine, online editions by Condé Nast. The magazine has been in public ...
's 25 Icons of the next 25 Years for his research in DNA programming and genome editing for cancer immunotherapy.
[
]
COVID-19
In April & May 2020, Marson and colleagues at UCSF, the Gladstone Institutes
Gladstone Institutes is an American independent, non-profit biomedical research organization whose focus is to better understand, prevent, treat and cure cardiovascular, viral and neurological conditions such as heart failure, HIV/AIDS and Alzh ...
, & UC Berkeley collaborated on the meta-testing of COVID-19 antibody tests to verify the accuracy of results. Dr. Marson was featured on CNN, PBS, NBC, NPR, and MSNBC speaking about this work.
Affiliations
Marson is the scientific director for biomedicine at the Innovative Genomics Institute (IGI). He is a member of the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy and was selected as one of the inaugural Chan Zuckerberg Biohub investigators.
Awards and recognition
* 2016 - American Society for Clinical Investigation
The American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI), established in 1908, is one of the oldest and most respected medical honor societies in the United States.
Organization and purpose
The ASCI is an honorary society to which more than 2,800 p ...
(ASCI) Young Physician-Scientist Award
* 2016 - Burroughs Wellcome Foundation Career Award for Medical Scientists
* 2016 - NIDA/NIH Avenir New Innovator Award
References
{{DEFAULTSORT:Marson, Alex
American molecular biologists
Harvard College alumni
Alumni of the University of Cambridge
Massachusetts Institute of Technology School of Science alumni
University of California, San Francisco faculty
1979 births
Living people
Harvard Medical School alumni