Silvana Konermann is a Swiss-American bioengineer and neuroscientist whose research focuses on CRISPR, genome engineering, transcription and epigenetics, and Alzheimer's disease. She is an assistant professor of biochemistry at Stanford University, as well as co-founder and executive director of the Arc Institute in Palo Alto, California.

Silvana Konermann
Born (1988-05-18) May 18, 1988 (age 36)
Baden, Switzerland
Education
Spouse
(m. 2022)
Scientific career
FieldsBioengineering, Neuroscience
InstitutionsStanford University, Arc Institute
ThesisInterrogation and control of mammalian transcription (2016)
Doctoral advisorFeng Zhang

Biography

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Konermann attended Sächsisches Landesgymnasium Sankt Afra zu Meißen in Saxony, Germany,[1] before matriculating in 2006 at ETH Zurich, where she completed her bachelor of science degree in neurobiology in three years.[citation needed]

She then moved to the United States and worked in the lab of Carlos Lois before entering the doctoral program in neuroscience at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, receiving her Ph.D. in 2016 working in Feng Zhang's group. Since 2017, she has been an HHMI (Howard Hughes Medical Institute) Hanna H. Gray Fellow. She has also been a CZ Biohub Investigator and a postdoctoral fellow at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies and the University of California, Berkeley working with Patrick Hsu. In 2019, she joined Stanford as an assistant professor.[2]

Konermann's research uses genome engineering technologies to investigate the genetic and molecular drivers of Alzheimer’s disease risk.[3]

21546 Konermann, a minor planet, was named after her, in honor of her 2006 second-place finish in the Intel International Science and Engineering Fair. At that time she was a senior at Sankt Afra in Meissen, Germany.[4]

In June 2022, Konermann married Irish-American tech billionaire Patrick Collison, the co-founder and CEO of Stripe, with whom she co-founded Fast Grants and later the Arc Institute.[5] Konermann met Collison during the 2004 EU Young Scientist competition.[5][6][7]

References

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  1. ^ "Ein ganz normales Mädchen". Berliner Zeitung (in German). 2006-08-26. Retrieved 2024-11-23.
  2. ^ *"Silvana Konermann". Stanford Biochemistry.
  3. ^ "Salk scientist Silvana Konermann named HHMI Hanna H. Gray Fellow". Salk Institute for Biological Studies. September 20, 2017. Retrieved 2024-11-23.
  4. ^ Schmadel, Lutz D. (2012). "21546 Konermann". Dictionary of Minor Planet Names (6th ed.). Springer. p. 1020. ISBN 9783642297182.
  5. ^ a b Butler, Roisin (29 June 2022). "Inside Stripe CEO Patrick Collison's family life as he weds childhood sweetheart". Irish Mirror. Retrieved 20 November 2022.
  6. ^ "Backed by tech entrepreneurs, Arc Institute adds to its scientific ranks". www.bizjournals.com. 21 September 2023. Retrieved 7 November 2023.
  7. ^ Piper, Kelsey (21 April 2020). "This new charity offers scientists coronavirus grants in 48 hours". Vox.
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