Speaker Profile
Brian K. Kaspar

Brian K. Kaspar BS, PhD

Pediatrics, Biotechnology, Neuroscience
Bannockburn, Illinois, United States of America

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Brian K. Kaspar, Ph.D. is Associate Professor and Principal Investigator at The Ohio State University and The Research Institute at Nationwide Children's Hospital in Columbus, Ohio. His graduate education was at University of California San Diego specializing in molecular pathology. After graduate study, he performed post-graduate work at The Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, CA in the laboratory of Dr. Fred H. Gage where he pioneered various methodologies in viral gene transfer for neurological disorders. After finishing his training in 2004, he moved to Nationwide Children's to start a laboratory focused on understanding and developing treatments for severe neuromuscular disorders.

In 2009, Dr. Kaspar's group identified the first viral vector capable of traversing the blood brain barrier and utilized these findings to treat various neurological disorders, including spinal muscular atrophy which is currently in process to enter first in human clinical trials in 2013. In 2011, the laboratory made a seminal finding in amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, being the first group to model the disease in a dish.
Working together with The Center for Gene Therapy and Center Director, Dr. Jerry Mendell, a muscle enhancing gene therapy trial is currently being tested in patients for Becker Muscular Dystrophy and Inclusion Body Myositis patients, with the potential to increase muscle mass and size in these debilitating disorders. Intellectual property developed at the hospital on this work has resulted in licensing and formation of a biotechnology company focused on treating debilitating muscle diseases.
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