Melanie has been a researcher in CRISPR technology development for the past 12 years, spanning work in both academia and industry, with a current focus on optimizing CRISPR-based tools for the next generation of gene therapies. In her current role at Epicrispr Biotechnologies, she leads teams characterizing the targeting potential and precision of dCas proteins (the targeting component of Epicrispr GEMS technology), and applying GEMS in disease relevant models to mitigate and reverse the effects of gene dysregulation in disease. In her work, she is motivated by the challenges of deploying engineered, compact, and precise gene regulators to affected tissues to improve patient health.

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