Barry Polisky, Ph.D.
Distinguished Scientist and Chair, Scientific Advisory Board
Dr. Polisky joined Marina Biotech as Chief Scientific Officer in January 2009 and became Distinguished Scientist and Chair, Scientific Advisory Board in September 2011. Previously, he served as Research Vice President at Merck & Co., from 2007 to 2008. Before joining Merck, Dr. Polisky was Chief Scientific Officer at Sirna Therapeutics, a leading RNAi company that was acquired by Merck in 2006. Earlier, Dr. Polisky served as Vice President of Research at ThermoBiostar, Inc., where he initiated and launched a SNP diagnostic platform. From 1992 to 1998, Dr. Polisky was Vice President of Research and Drug Discovery at NeXstar, Inc. where he developed several aptamer therapeutics (nucleic acid-based therapeutics including the VEGF aptamer currently marketed by Pfizer [as Macugen® (pegaptanib sodium injection)]). Prior to joining NeXstar, Dr. Polisky was Professor and Chairman of the Molecular Biology program at Indiana University. Dr. Polisky received his Ph.D. in molecular biology from the University of Colorado and conducted his post-doctoral work in the Department of Biochemistry and Biophysics, University of California, San Francisco.
Beverly L. Davidson, Ph.D.
Dr. Davidson is currently Professor of Medicine, Neurology and Physiology & Biophysics in the Department of Internal Medicine at The University of Iowa. She holds the Roy J. Carver Biomedical Research Chair and is Director of The Davidson Laboratory, which is focused on inherited genetic diseases that cause central nervous system dysfunction, with a focus on (1) recessive, childhood onset neurodegenerative disease, in particular the lysosomal storage diseases such as the mucopolysaccharidoses and Battens disease; and (2) dominant genetic diseases for example the CAG repeat disorders, Huntington's disease and spinal cerebellar ataxia type I, and (3), understanding how noncoding RNAs participate in neural development and neurodegenerative diseases processes. Dr. Davidson is a member of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, American Federation for Clinical Research (Midwest Section), American Society for Neuroscience, American Society for Gene Therapy, and the American Society for Microbiology. Dr. Davidson serves on the Board of Directors for the American Society for Gene Therapy, and is Associate Director of the Center for Gene Therapy for Cystic Fibrosis and other Genetic Diseases, and is past Co-Director of the Iowa Biosciences Advantage Program. Dr. Davidson received her Ph.D. from the University of Michigan in 1987 and was a Fellow of the University of Michigan from 1990 to 1992.
Carl Novina, M.D., Ph.D.
Dr. Novina is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pathology at Harvard Medical School, an Assistant Professor of Cancer Immunology/AIDS at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute and an Associate Member at the Broad Institute. His research focuses on investigating the mechanisms and applications of mammalian RNAi. To discover the biological roles of microRNAs and their interacting proteins, his group has developed cell-free, microRNA-dependent translational gene silencing reactions and cell-based reporter systems for translational repression and mRNA cleavage by microRNAs. His laboratory is engaged in collaborative projects to profile microRNA expression as well as microRNA and RNAi factor gene loci, in an effort to understand the roles of microRNAs in cancer, including hematopoietic and solid tumors. Dr. Novina received his M.D. from Columbia University, College of Physicians and Surgeons in 2000 and his Ph.D. from Tufts University, Sackler School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences in 1998. He did his graduate studies on transcriptional regulation of TATA-less promoters by TFII-I in Dr. Ananda Roy's laboratory. Dr. Novina completed his postdoctoral training with Dr. Phillip Sharp, Nobel Laureate, at Massachusetts Institute of Technology investigating small RNA-directed gene silencing.