The Barry J. Gertz Professorship for Translational Research
Barry J. Gertz, MD, PhD, joined Blackstone Life Sciences following its acquisition of Clarus Ventures in December 2018. He joined Clarus in 2014 following 28 years in clinical drug development at Merck & Co., Inc. Prior to joining Clarus, Dr. Gertz was the Senior Vice President and Head of Global Clinical Development at Merck.
Dr. Gertz began his career at Merck in Clinical Pharmacology, concentrating on the early investigation of more than 80 new molecular entities. Dr. Gertz’ portfolio subsequently expanded beyond early development and for the last 12 years at Merck, he had oversight of those departments responsible for the design, analysis, reporting and execution of all clinical trials required for the registration and life cycle management of new molecules.
Dr. Gertz has co-authored over a hundred scientific publications and has contributed to the clinical evaluation and approval of more than 25 new drugs or vaccines.
As a Managing Director at Blackstone his focus is on scientific diligence of investment opportunities and risk-sharing funding opportunities in the health sciences. He currently also serves on the Board of Cytel, a biostatistical software and consulting private company.
Dr. Gertz completed his undergraduate degree in chemistry and graduated summa cum laude from the University of Pennsylvania where he subsequently received his MD and PhD degrees in the Medical Scientist Training Program, with his PhD in the Department of Pharmacology. Following a residency in Internal Medicine at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania, he completed a fellowship and subsequent faculty appointment in the UCSF Department of Endocrinology.
Current Chairholder
Kiran Musunuru, MD, PhD, MPH, ML, MRA
Kiran Musunuru, MD, PhD, MPH, ML, MRA, is an actively practicing cardiologist, committed teacher, and Professor of Cardiovascular Medicine, Genetics, and Pediatrics in the Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. His research focuses on the development of novel gene editing therapies for the treatment of cardiovascular and metabolic diseases. He is a recipient of the Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers from the White House, the American Heart Association's Award of Meritorious Achievement and Joseph A. Vita Award, the American Philosophical Society's Judson Daland Prize for Outstanding Achievement in Clinical Investigation, the American Federation for Medical Research's Outstanding Investigator Award, Harvard University's Fannie Cox Prize for Excellence in Science Teaching, and the University of Pennsylvania's Jane M. Glick Graduate Student Teaching Award. He recently served as Editor-in-Chief of the scientific journal Circulation: Genomic and Precision Medicine. He is author of The CRISPR Generation: The Story of the World's First Gene-Edited Babies and Genome Editing: A Practical Guide to Research and Clinical Applications. He is co-founder and Senior Scientific Advisor of Verve Therapeutics.