Newswise — Wayne Frankel, PhD, has joined Columbia University as professor of genetics & development in the College of Physicians and Surgeons and as director of preclinical models in the Institute for Genomic Medicine (IGM), a cornerstone of Columbia’s Precision Medicine Initiative.
Dr. Frankel is one of the world’s foremost experts in epilepsy genetics and in the development of mouse models to uncover the mechanisms of epilepsy and other complex neurodevelopmental disorders.
“Wayne brings exactly the expertise we need to really exploit recent genetic discoveries made in human patients and turn them into successful therapies,” says David Goldstein, PhD, director of the IGM and the John E. Borne Professor of Medical and Surgical Research (in Genetics & Development) (in the Institute for Genomic Medicine and Neurology).
In just the past few years, studies of epilepsy patients have uncovered hundreds of genes that appear to cause seizure disorders. At the same time, advances in genome editing, such as CRISPR, now make it possible to make mouse models with the same genetics at a much more rapid pace.
The combination of these two advances allows researchers at Columbia to make mouse models of individual patients’ diseases to test potential treatments that are precisely tuned to each individual’s genetic condition. The development of these models is a critical step in uncovering the still mysterious mechanisms shared by different types of epilepsy; understanding the mechanisms may lead to new treatments for a wide range of patients.
Dr. Frankel recently received a prestigious Javits Neuroscience Investigator Award from the National Institute of Neurological Disorders and Stroke to conduct this research. Javits Awards are given to scientists who are leaders in their fields with a record of “cutting-edge” or landmark discoveries.
Before joining Columbia, Dr. Frankel was a professor at the Jackson Laboratory in Bar Harbor, Maine, where he spent 24 years, with adjunct appointments at the University of Maine and Tufts University School of Medicine. A native of Staten Island, he received his PhD in genetics from Albert Einstein College of Medicine in the Bronx.
Beyond his laboratory research, Dr. Frankel has had many roles at the Jackson Laboratory, including as scientific director of postdoctoral training and scientific leadership of program grants. He is also the founding editor-in-chief of PLOS Genetics, has been a member of multiple NIH grant review and planning groups and served as member and chair of the Board of Scientific Counselors of the NIH’s National Institute on Deafness and Other Communication Disorders.
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