Speaker Profile
Ph.D., Professor, Director, UCSD
Biography
Dr. Muotri earned a BSc in Biological Sciences from the State University of Campinas in 1995 and a Ph.D. in Genetics in 2001 from the University of Sao Paulo in Brazil. He moved to the Salk Institute as Pew Latin America Fellow in 2002 for a postdoctoral training in the fields of neuroscience and stem cell biology. He has been a Professor at the School of Medicine, University of California in San Diego since late 2008. His research focuses on modeling neurological diseases, such as Autism Spectrum Disorders, using human induced pluripotent stem cells and brain organoids. He has received several awards, including the prestigious NIH Directors New Innovator Award, NARSAD, Emerald Foundation Young Investigator Award, Surugadai Award from Tokyo University, Rock Star of Innovation from CONNECT, NIH EUREKA Award, among others.
Session Abstract – PMWC 2026 Silicon Valley
Track Chair: Catriona Jamieson, UCSD
PMWC Award Ceremony Honorees
• Judy Faulkner, Epic
• Svetlana Mojsov, The Rockefeller University (GLP-1)
• Alexis C. Komor, UCSD
Opening Talk
• Catriona Jamieson, UC San Diego
GLP-1: From Hormone Discovery to a Global Therapeutic Revolution
• Svetlana Mojsov, The Rockefeller University
What’s Next at Epic?
• Peter DeVault, Epic
Modified mRNA, siRNA, ASOs
• Chair: Alexis C. Komor, UC San Diego
• Niren Murthy, UC Berkeley
• Gene Yeo, UC San Diego
• Reuben Harris, UT Health San Antonio
Stem Cell–Targeted Therapeutics: Small Molecules & Biologics
• Chair: Catriona Jamieson, UC San Diego
• Irving L. Weissman, Stanford
In Vivo Gene Therapies
• Chair: Gene Yeo, UC San Diego
• Mark A. Kay, Stanford
• David Schaffer, UC Berkeley
Diagnostics, Prognostics, and Patient Stratification
• Chair: Ezra Cohen, Tempus
• Eitan Ruppin, NIH
• Danielle Hamel, Tempus
• David Ledbetter, Florida State University
• Ludmil Alexandrov, UC San Diego
Closing
• Catriona Jamieson, UC San Diego
