Eric B. Kmiec, Ph.D.
Eric B. Kmiec, Ph.D., Director, Gene Editing Institute, Helen F. Graham Cancer & Research Institute, Christiana Care Health System
Eric B. Kmiec, Ph.D., is well-known for his pioneering work in the fields of molecular medicine and gene editing. Throughout his professional career, Dr. Kmiec has led research teams in developing gene editing technologies and genetic therapies for inherited disorders such as Sickle Cell Disease. He is the recipient of multiple research awards from the National Institutes of Health (RO1s, R21s), the American Cancer Society, and private foundations including the 2012 Proudford Foundation Unsung Hero Award in Sickle Cell Disease. He has been a member of numerous editorial boards, NIH study sections and review boards and is the (primary/senior) author of more than 145 scientific publications (mostly in genetic recombination and gene editing).
He holds 18 issued patents, most of which have been licensed by biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies and has founded two biotechnology companies. He is a senior scientific advisor and SAB member of ETAGEN, a gene editing company located in Cambridge, Massachusetts, centered on the development of therapeutic uses of gene editing. Dr. Kmiec has been the primary mentor for 18 Ph.D. students and 4 MS students, all of whom have attained scientific positons. He has held or holds major administrative posts in various on NIH regional and state biomedical research grants, including IDeA Network of Biomedical Research (INBRE) and Centers of Biomedical Research Excellence (COBRE). Dr. Kmiec was also honored as the Eminent Scholar in residence at Marshall University (Huntington, West Virginia) in 2009-2011 and was elected as an Honorary Commander of the 436th Air Wing at Dover Air Force Base in Dover, Delaware for in 2013 and again in 2014.
The Gene Editing Institute, founded by Dr. Kmiec, is a core facility providing genetic tools for gene editing as well as instruction in the design and implementation of these tools for collaborators and colleagues nationwide. Currently, the Institute is working with a variety of groups within the Delaware/ IDeA state network and has recently developed an educational module for instruction of gene editing in undergraduate teaching laboratories. This module will be licensed, marketed and sold through an international biotechnology company.