Nathan Yozwiak, PhD, on Fostering Collaboration in Cell and Gene Therapy Research
The head of research at Mass General Brigham’s Gene and Cell Therapy Institute discussed the Institute’s efforts to bring about clinical translation of preclinical work.
“[If] you have an expert on a particular disease area, who may not be an expert in gene editing, we can pair those people up to develop a new therapy. [Our] scale allows us really to piece those pieces together to create a new therapy. At the end of the day, developing any gene therapy is a massive team sport, and to have that scale is a unique advantage.”
Mass General Brigham (MGB)’s Gene and Cell Therapy Institute (GCTI) was established several years ago with the intent of helping some of the innovative preclinical research in cell and gene therapy make the leap to clinical trials. Notably, several experts from the GCTI attended the American Society of Gene & Cell Therapy (ASGCT) 28th Annual Meeting, held May 13 to 17, 2025, in New Orleans, LA, including Nathan Yozwiak, PhD, the head of research at the GCTI. At the conference, CGTLive® sat down with Yozwiak to learn more about the GCTI’s work and what makes the Institute unique.
Yozwiak highlighted the Institute’s unique model in the field, emphasizing its scale and ability to bridge early research with clinical translation. He noted that MGB is an enormous medical center with experts across a range of niche disciplines, and that by pairing disease experts with gene editing or cell therapy specialists, GCTI fosters cross-disciplinary innovation, supporting advancement of development, commercialization, and funding efforts.
Yozwiak pointed out that one key highlight from GCTI’s recent efforts is its debut of new research cores. He noted that the Institute has a unique capability for manufacturing circular RNA, which he stated is a promising new RNA modality, and that the Institute is actively inviting collaboration from both academia and industry with regard to manufacturing custom circular RNA.
Yozwiak also shared his enthusiasm for the ASGCT Annual Meeting, emphasizing the appeal of its scale. He pointed out that with many programs on the verge of entering the clinic, it is a particularly exciting time for the field.
Click here to view more coverage of the 2025 ASGCT Annual Meeting.
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