Ryszard Kole MSc, PhD

Dr. Ryszard Kole, Ph.D. is a Distinguished Scientist at Sarepta Therapeutics, a company developing innovative RNA-based therapeutics. He is a pioneer in the use of oligonucleotides for modulation of splicing and exon skipping and one of the leaders in the field of RNA processing. Dr. Kole joined Sarepta (previously AVI BioPharma) in 2008 and prior to joining AVI he was Professor of Pharmacology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. His work there led to important discoveries related to the mechanism of alternative splicing and, in particular, to the invention of oligonucleotide-induced modulation of pre-mRNA splicing as a therapeutic target. This technology is being tested at Sarepta in a series of clinical trials for treatment of Duchenne muscular dystrophy (DMD) a debilitating muscle disorder.

Dr. Kole’s oligonucleotide splicing modulation technology is not limited to DMD or genetic disorders but is a platform technology applicable to a variety of indications. Dr. Kole co-authored over 100 scientific publications and is on several editorial and scientific advisory boards. Dr. Kole received his postdoctoral training in biology and genetics at Yale University, a Ph.D. in natural sciences at the Institute of Biochemistry and Biophysics, and M.Sc. in chemistry at University of Warsaw, Poland.