Elisabetta Morini

Massachusetts General Hospital, Center for Genomic Medicine; Harvard Medical School, Department of Neurology

Elisabetta Morini is an Instructor in Neurology at Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH) and Harvard Medical School (HMS). Her research focuses on understanding the regulation of mRNA splicing and how its disruption leads to human disease, with the goal of developing new therapeutics. After receiving her PhD in Molecular and Regenerative Medicine from the University of Modena, she joined the laboratory of Dr. Susan Slaugenhaupt in the Center for Genomic Medicine (CGM) at MGH, where she worked on the generation of a new mouse model for Familial Dysautonomia. This mouse was truly a breakthrough in the field and allowed her to test novel splicing modulator therapies for FD. Since becoming a junior faculty at MGH and HMS, she has been working on developing treatments targeting splicing alterations across a variety of neurologic disorders.

Anil Chekuri

Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary

Anil Chekuri is an Instructor in Ophthalmology at Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary (MEEI) and Harvard Medical School (HMS). His research interests include understanding the molecular mechanisms of Inherited Retinal Degenerations (IRDs) and developing novel therapeutic approaches using AAV delivery. Anil Received his PhD in Biotechnology from the University of Hyderabad, India. In 2019, he joined the laboratories of Dr. Susan Slaugenhaupt and Dr. Luk Vandenberghe in the departments of Neurology and Ophthalmology at Harvard Medical School (HMS). Since then, his work has been focused on understanding the retinal pathology characteristic of familial dysautonomia (FD) and testing the in vivo efficacy of small molecules and U1small nuclear RNA to rescue retinal degeneration. He has also been working on developing novel treatment modalities for other IRDs such as Usher’s syndrome, Retinitis pigmentosa 28, and Bietti’s crystalline dystrophy.