Speaker Profile
J. Craig Venter Visionary Award
Nobel Laureate & Pioneered the CRISPR-CAS9 Genome Editing Technology
Ph.D., Nobel Laureate in Chemistry & Founding, Scientific and Managing Director, Max Planck Unit for the Science of Pathogens
Biography
Emmanuelle Charpentier is a pioneering microbiologist, geneticist, and biochemist whose work reshaped modern biology and medicine. She is best known for uncovering key mechanisms of the bacterial CRISPR-Cas immune system and, with Jennifer Doudna, developing CRISPR-Cas9 as a programmable genome-editing technology. Their discovery transformed the ability to precisely modify DNA, opening new paths for biomedical research, diagnostics, agriculture, and therapeutic development. Charpentier’s research has bridged fundamental microbiology and translational impact, revealing how bacteria regulate virulence and adapt to their environment while creating one of the most powerful tools in the life sciences. Her career across Europe reflects a rare mix of curiosity-driven science, institutional leadership, and field-changing translation. She is the Founding, Scientific and Managing Director of the Max Planck Unit for the Science of Pathogens in Berlin. In 2020, she received the Nobel Prize in Chemistry, shared with Doudna, for the development of a method for genome editing.
Session Abstract – PMWC 2027 Silicon Valley
Track Chair:
Catriona Jamieson, UC San Diego
PMWC Award Ceremony
• Emmanuelle Charpentier, Max Planck (J. Craig Venter Visionary Award · Nobel Laureate)
• Jay Bradner, Amgen (Pioneer)
• Adrian Krainer, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (Luminary)
• Randy Schekman, UC Berkeley (Nobel Laureate, Pioneer)
Featured Speakers
• Emmanuelle Charpentier, Max Planck
• Randy Schekman, UC Berkeley
• Jay Bradner, Amgen
• Adrian Krainer, Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
• Alexis C. Komor, UC San Diego
• Nicole Gaudelli, GV
• Rachel Haurwitz, Caribou Bio
• Gene Yeo, UC San Diego
• Timothy Yu, Boston Children's / Harvard
• Shicheng Guo, Arrowhead Pharmaceuticals
• Mark A. Kay, Stanford
• Niren Murthy, UC Berkeley
• Ben Deverman, Broad Institute
• Stanley Crooke, n-Lorem / Ionis
Programming Protein Fate
Molecular glues, degraders, and induced proximity crossing into medicines.
Genome Editing Beyond the First Wave
Base, prime, and CRISPR-enabled editing moving from correction to clinic.
RNA Editing, Splice Modulation & Programmable RNA
RNA editing, ASOs, and splice modulation with chemistry already reaching patients.
In Vivo Delivery & Vector Engineering
AAV, LNP, and next-generation vectors that decide what is treatable.
From N-of-1 to Platform
Evidence, CMC, regulation, and access for individualized genetic medicines.
PMWC Hall of Impact
Previous Speakers Include
Nobel laureates, technology founders, regulators, CEOs and scientific pioneers who have taken the PMWC stage.
