Nominee: Mohamad-Gabriel Alameh
RNA Technologies and Therapeutics, Laval, Quebec; Assistant Professor, University of Pennsylvania, and the Children Hospital of Philadelphia.
Brief Biosketch provided for the nominee:
Prof Mohamad-Gabriel Alameh trained in Montreal prior to joining the laboratory of 2023 Nobel prize laureate Dr. Drew Weissman at the University of Pennsylvania as a fellow in 2018. There he has led the development of multiple mRNA vaccines including a vaccine against the disease-causing bacterium Clostridium difficile that was licensed to BioNTech for clinical development and was also heavily involved in the development of a COVID mRNA vaccine in Thailand (Phase II/III clinical trial data published). Dr Alameh was recently appointed Assistant Professor at the University of Pennsylvania, and the Children Hospital of Philadelphia. His lab is focused on the development and understanding of novel materials for topical applications, in utero gene delivery, and vaccines.
Beside his academic work, Dr Alameh has co-founded with Dr Weissman AexeRNA Therapeutics, a start-up that develops novel ionizable lipids and RNA technologies and therapeutics that focuses on developing technologies pertaining to nucleic acid drug substances (e.g., mRNA). In addition to acting as the CSO of RNA T&T (located in Laval, Quebec), he is director of the Engineered mRNA and Targeted Nanomedicine Core at the University of Pennsylvania. He is also involved in the United Nation mRNA vaccine technology transfer hub program to capacitate LMICs for the next pandemic.
Justification provided for the nominee:
I believe that Dr. Alameh has a unique blend of academic experience in the RNA field, along with extensive translational and industry experience. Having someone of this caliber on the RNA Canada Board will be very helpful in guiding the organisation towards its goals of supporting RNA-focused research across Canada towards therapeutic and diagnostic applications. His ties to the Weisssman lab and the US research community will also be helpful in builind ties between the US and Canadian academic communities;
Dr. Alameh obtained his Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering in 2017 from Polytechnique Montreal and joined the laboratory of the now Nobel laureate Dr. Drew Weissman to develop multiple nucleoside-modified messenger RNA (mRNA) vaccines, study the adjuvant effect of different ionizable lipids, and develop new lipid-based delivery systems. He has extensive experience with mRNA-based vaccines and therapeutics, vaccines, and in translational science;
Dr. Alameh has extensive experience with mRNA-based vaccines and therapeutics, vaccines, and in translational science;