Thomas Wechsler Email & Phone Number

California, United States

Managed therapeutics modality team within J&J IM Therapeutics Discovery organization. Held strategic leadership of portfolio and platform activities for Gene Therapy Modality team across 3 US sites.Selected accomplishments:- Supported and expanded first in-house gene therapy portfolio programs in therapeutics areas (TA) of retina and neuroscience - Contributed to strategic planning and implementation of novel in-licensed AAV CMC production platform across multiple sites- Participated in multiple governance committees, compound development teams, and therapeutics discovery leadership team- Championed and supported external innovation evaluation and diligence efforts in gene therapy and broader genomic medicine space- Ideated, co-organized, and participated in first J&J Gene Therapy Bay Area summit, with 300+ attendees and top-level speakers from local universities (UCSF, UCSD, UCB, Stanford) and industry, increasing J&J site and corporate visibility.

Established and led new J&J IM San Francisco gene therapy team, as Senior Director of Research and Translation.Selected accomplishments:- Focused team on early AAV production, development, and translational efforts, enabling innovative platform and portfolio studies.- Led and supported first in-house J&J gene therapy portfolio programs and guided stage gate progression towards NME, establishing gene therapy as novel internal therapeutic modality.

Consulting services for gene therapy preclinical development, CMC and regulatory aspects.

Menlo Park, Ca, Us

Head of research for small molecule and AAV-mediated gene therapy preclinical development.

Brisbane, California, Us

Led early-stage gene therapy and pioneering gene editing therapeutic programs towards clinical studies.Selected accomplishments:- Developed / supported lead reagents for 5 IND track gene therapy, cell therapy, and ZFN-mediated DNA editing programs (screen of 2000+ ZFN designs for albumin integration), including first-ever in vivo nuclease-based gene editing study (SB-913 for MPS II) and ongoing clinical study for Fabry disease gene replacement therapy (ST-920; NCT04046224).- Initiated conversations with rare-disease academic key opinion leaders (KOL) and patient advocacy groups, accelerating clinical development of several novel gene therapy trials.- Delivered presentations at NIH RAC meeting (now: NExTRAC), Institutional Biosafety Committees (IBC), and international research conferences (ASGCT, JSGCT, WORLDsymposium) for regulatory advancement and corporate visibility.

Brisbane, California, Us

Brisbane, California, Us

Palo Alto, Ca, Us

Study of DNA recombination and transcription-associated genomic instability triggered by the formation of RNA/DNA hybrids and R-loops in human cells.

London, Gb

- Study of DNA recombination and DNA double-strand break repair (DSB) by non homologous end-joining (NHEJ) and homologous recombination (HR)- Investigated the contribution of poly(ADP-ribosyl)ation and ubiquitination to NHEJ pathway- Characterized the function of the Holliday junction (HJ) resolvase GEN1, which contributes to HR in human cells- Studied novel chromosomal phenotype in HJ resolvase-deficient human cells

San Francisco, California, Us

- Identification of interaction partners of the NHEJ DSB repair protein DNA-dependent protein kinase (DNA-PKcs) by a yeast-two-hybrid screen- Characterization of DNA-PKcs interaction partners including the Protein Phosphatase 5

München, Bavaria, De

Characterization of new interaction partners of the double-strand repair protein DNA-PKcs

Ph.D., Biology

Ph.D. Thesis Work, Biology

Master'S Thesis Work, Biology

M.Sc., Biology

Pre-Diploma, Biology