Scientific Advisory Board

• Daniel Anderson, Ph.D.
• Alan Colman, Ph.D.
• Hongkui Deng, Ph.D.
• Sheng Ding, Ph.D.
• Rudolf Jaenisch, M.D.
• Jeffrey Karp, Ph.D.
• Robert Langer, Sc.D.
• Douglas A. Melton, Ph.D.
• Roy Ogle, Ph.D.
• Thomas Roberts, Ph.D.
• Lee Rubin, Ph.D.
• Bob Weinberg, Ph.D.
• Leonard Zon, M.D.

Lee Rubin, Ph.D.

Robotics and stem cell-based drug screening for neurodegenerative disorders

Director of Translational Medicine, Harvard Stem Cell Research Institute

Lee Rubin received his Ph.D. in Neurosciences from The Rockefeller University and did postdoctoral work in neurobiology at Harvard Medical School and at Stanford University School of Medicine. He joined the faculty at Rockefeller University where he was Assistant and then Associate Professor of Neuroscience and Biophysics. He left Rockefeller to join Athena Neurosciences (now Elan Pharmaceuticals) where he headed the blood-brain barrier (BBB) and multiple sclerosis groups, ultimately initiating a project to discover an antibody that blocks lymphocyte trafficking across the BBB. This work successfully identified an anti-integrin antibody that is now known as Tysabri. After leaving Athena, Lee became Professor of Anatomy and Developmental Biology at University College London and Director of the Eisai London Laboratory of Neurodegenerative Disease.

In 1998, he returned to Boston as Chief Scientific Officer of Ontogeny, Inc (now Curis, Inc) a biotechnology company in Cambridge, MA, founded by Dr. Douglas Melton, a well-known developmental biologist. His work there focused on the hedgehog (Hh) pathway and its involvement in cancer and neurodegenerative disease. Potent small molecule Hh antagonists have been partnered with Genentech for clinical development, and an IND is expected later this year. Small molecule Hh agonists have also been identified and partnered with Wyeth for development, with stroke as the initial lead indication.

In July, Lee moved to the Harvard University Stem Cell Institute where he is Director of Translational Medicine. Much of his effort there is devoted to identifying therapeutics for disorders such as Spinal Muscular Atrophy, Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis, Huntington's Disease and multiple sclerosis using new kinds of stem cell-based screens.