Christopher Cali Email & Phone Number

Neuroscientist with a strong cell and molecular biology background and 5+ years of translational research and drug development at Spark Therapeutics, a leader in the field of gene therapy. Proven track record of taking projects from idea to regulatory filing in a fast paced biotech environment. As a graduate student at the University of Pennsylvania, I helped to generate new epigenetic editing technology, developed cellular models of neurodegenerative diseases and identified new genetic associations underlying these diseases. These projects led to 5 publications, including 2 first author papers in high impact journals. My specific accomplishments include:-Collaborated with team members in development of in vitro and in vivo methods for the advancement of gene therapies for neurodegenerative diseases-Identification of a novel risk factor for Corticobasal Degeneration and development of the first iPSC cellular model for this mutation in order to understand the underlying mechanisms -Development of a novel CRISPR based epigenetic editing tool that can be used by researchers to develop disease models-Applied novel CRISPR based tool to understand the role of DNA methylation in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) and Frontemporal Dementia (FTD) disease pathogenesis-Contribution to understanding how retrotransposon elements affect disease pathways in Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis-Trained 2 undergraduates and 5 graduate students -Managed lab resources and ordering as the most senior lab member