Harvard Medical School Initiative for RNA Medicine Faculty

About the RNA Medicine Faculty

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Director: Frank Slack, PhD

Dr. Frank Slack is the Director of the HMS Initiative for RNA Medicine, Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center and the Shields Warren Mallinckrodt Professor of Medical Research, Departments of Pathology and Medicine, Harvard Medical School. He received his BSc from the University of Cape Town in South Africa before completing his PhD in molecular biology at Tufts University School of Medicine. He began work on microRNAs as a postdoctoral fellow in Gary Ruvkun’s laboratory at Harvard Medical School, where he co-discovered the second known microRNA, let-7.

The Slack laboratory is at the forefront of the small RNA revolution. They co-discovered the first human microRNA, let-7 and showed that it is a tumor suppressor that controls key cancer genes, such as RAS, MYC and LIN28. They are developing let-7 and a second microRNA, miR-34 as novel cancer therapeutics with miR-34 already in Phase I clinical trials. They also proved that microRNAs act as key oncogenes and developed strategies to target these oncomiRs for cancer therapy. Their research also extends to discovery of additional novel small RNAs in development, cancer, aging and diabetes as well as identifying novel SNPs in the non-coding portions of the genome with an eye to identifying the next generation of actionable targets in cancer.

Co-Director: Anna Krichevsky, PhD

Anna Krichevsky is a Professor of Neurology at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School. She earned her Ph.D. at the Hebrew University of Jerusalem and completed postdoctoral training at HMS, where she conducted pioneering research on microRNA functions and RNA interference in brain physiology and pathology. Her achievements include isolating neuronal RNA granules, performing the first successful RNA interference in mammalian neurons, identifying brain-specific miRNAs, developing the first miRNA expression profiling array, and discovering key miRNAs such as oncogenic miR-21 and miR-10b—targets for glioblastoma and other cancers—and neuroprotective miRNAs like miR-132.

Her lab focuses on regulatory RNAs, including miRNAs and long non-coding RNAs, in malignant brain tumors and neurodegenerative diseases like Alzheimer’s. She has led the way in identifying miRNA biomarkers for brain tumor diagnostics and monitoring. Current research goals include: 1) discovering additional regulatory RNA drivers of brain pathologies, 2) exploring the biological roles and biomarker potential of extracellular RNA in brain diseases, 3) identifying targetable RNA-associated hubs, and 4) developing RNA-targeting therapies for glioblastoma and neurodegenerative conditions. This groundbreaking work is driving the clinical translation of RNA research into innovative therapies for some of the most complex and unmet needs in human brain pathologies.

Members