Frank Rigo PhD

On March 22, 2013, Dr. Frank Rigo (Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, ’02) returned to speak at Marquette as part of the department’s Scholl Seminar Series. His seminar, “Antisense Oligonucleotides for CNS Diseases: From the Bench to the Bed Side” presented his research in RNA-targeting drugs at Isis Pharmaceuticals. During his visit, Dr. Rigo met with faculty, graduate students and undergraduate students to discuss his research. I sat down with him to learn more about his work and his career since his time as an undergraduate at Marquette University. -KB

When he realized that his childhood dream of becoming a professional tennis player might not happen, Dr. Frank Rigo turned to his other passion, science. “Since I was a little kid I was always curious about the natural world around me. I was always interested in trying to understand how living systems originate and are maintained. From keeping fish tanks and growing produce for his family’s restaurant as a kid, science seemed a natural career path.” When he was growing up, the news in Spain was full of new developments in genetic engineering and molecular biology, and he became very intrigued with gene expression.