• Barrie J. Carter, PhD, President
• R. Jude Samulski, PhD, President-Elect
• Xandra O. Breakefield, Vice President
• Kenneth Cornetta, MD, Past President

Barrie J. Carter, PhD
President
President
Carter BioConsulting

Dr. Carter is one of the original members of the Society and has served as Secretary and Abstract Chair (2003-2004), been on the Board of Directors twice (2000-2003 and 2005-2008), and has served in various capacities on the following committees: Publications Committee, Program Committee, Strategic Planning Committee, Abstract Review Committee, Industrial Liaison Committee, and the Bylaws Committee.

Dr. Carter was Executive Vice President and Chief Scientific Officer at Targeted Genetics Corporation in Seattle, Washington from 1992 to 2008. Previous appointments include Affiliate Professor of Medicine, University of Washington and at NIH from 1970-1992 he held appointments as Chief, Laboratory of Molecular and Cellular Biology, NIDDK; Head, Macromolecular Genetics Section, Laboratory of Cell Biology, NIDDK; and Senior Investigator, Laboratory of Experimental Pathology, NIDDK, NIH. He is currently an Adjunct Professor at University of Iowa Carver College of Medicine.

During his career, both professional and academic, Dr. Carter has received the GEN Excellence in Biotechnology Award for Outstanding Achievement in Drug Delivery; the Special Achievement Award from the NIDDK, NIH; the New Zealand Institute of Chemistry Prize for Graduate Research, and several awards from New Zealand University.

Dr. Carter received his PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Otago in Dunedin, New Zealand, did post-doctoral training at the Imperial Cancer Research Fund in London, UK and was a Visiting Fellow at the Laboratory of Biology of Viruses at the NIAID, NIH.

Dr. Carter's major research interests are publications are in Gene Therapy, Molecular Biology, Virology, Adeno-associated Virus, AAV vectors, and Development of Gene Therapy Products.

R. Jude Samulski, PhD
President-Elect

Dr. Samulski is currently the Director of the Gene Therapy Center and Professor of Pharmacology at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He received his PhD from the University of Florida in Gainesville and conducted his post-doctoral research in the laboratory of Dr. Thomas Shenk at Princeton University.

Dr. Samulski has been an Active Member of ASGCT since its inception. Since joining the Society, he has served on the Board of Directors, the Program Committee, Nominating Committee, and Advisory Council. He is currently the Chair of the ASGCT Viral Gene Transfers Committee.

Dr. Samulski's work in the field has been recognized by numerous awards, including the 2008 ASGCT Outstanding Achievement Award. He was also named the 1999 National Hemophilia Foundation Researcher of the Year.

Dr. Samulski's current research focuses on the dependent parvovirus adeno-associated virus. The ability of AAV to integrate and maintain itself in host cells and subsequent rescue and replication of its viral sequences is of considerable interest. He has established successful, long term gene expression, which directly addresses the issue of molecular therapy required for genetic disorders. One of Dr. Samulski's current goals of research is to continue to derive delivery systems for use in gene therapy.

Xandra O. Breakefield, PhD
Vice President

Xandra Breakefield, PhD is a basic scientist with a strong background in molecular genetics and neuroscience, who has focused her efforts on: generation of novel vectors for gene delivery to the nervous system; gene therapy of brain tumors; development of nucleic acid biomarkers for cancer; and elucidation of neurologic disease genes. She and her colleagues have demonstrated selective killing and on-site vector propagation using replication-conditional HSV vectors encoding pro-drug activating enzymes for brain tumor therapy. Current work includes development of serum microvesicle RNA biomarkers for cancer detection. She has also been involved in cloning of neurologic disease genes, including: elucidation of monoamine oxidase genes and their involvement in human behavior; and positional cloning of the gene responsible for early onset DYT1 dystonia. She has been active in translation of basic discoveries into the clinical arena.

Dr. Breakefield graduated from Wilson College in 1965 and received her PhD in Microbial Genetics from Georgetown University. She was a Postdoctoral Fellow with Dr. Marshall Nirenberg at the NIH. She was appointed an Assistant Professor in the Department of Human Genetics at Yale Medical School in 1974, and moved in 1984 to Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital. She is currently Professor of Neurology at Harvard Medical School and Geneticist in the Neurology and Radiology Services at MGH.

Dr. Breakefield has received a number of awards for her work, including a McKnight Foundation Neuroscience Development Award, two Javits Neuroscience Investigator Awards, the Matilde Soloway Award in Neuroscience, and an honorary doctoral degree from Wilson College. She has served on the NIH Recombinant DNA Advisory Committee as well as on several NIH Study Sections.

Kenneth Cornetta, MD
Past-President
Joe C. Christian Professor and Chairman, Department of Medical and Molecular Genetics and Professor of Medicine and of Microbiology and Immunology, at Indiana University
Director, Indiana University Vector Production Facility

Dr. Cornetta's laboratory has been interested in the use and production of clinical grad retroviral and lentiviral vectors. This production facility has certified over 30 vectors for clinical trials throughout the US. Dr. Cornetta's lab has also conducted clinical trials in the setting of bone marrow transplantation and is currently evaluating optimization of lentiviral constructs for clinical applications. He also heads the National Gene Vector Biorepository effort funded by the National Center for Research Resources/NIH, and his laboratory is the clinical lentiviral vector production site for the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institutes/NIH Gene Therapy Resource Program.

Dr. Cornetta has been a faculty member at Indiana University since 1991 and has previously served in various positions including Director of the Adult Bone Marrow Transplantation Program. Among Dr. Cornetta's career awards and honors are: Council Member, National Center for Research Resources, NIH; American Cancer Society Junior Faculty Award; National Research Service Award Fellowship.

Dr. Cornetta has been a member of the ASGT since 1998. Prior to his position of President, he served as the Society's Secretary, and thus, Abstract Chair from 2004-2007 and was a member of the Board of Directors from 2002-2004. He's been the Chair of the Clinical and Regulatory Affairs Committee and the Viral Gene Transfer Vectors Committees, and a member of the Clinical and Regulatory Affairs, Viral Gene Transfer Vectors, Education and Program Committees.

Dr. Cornetta received his bachelor's degree from the State University of New York at Albany and his medical degree from Albany Medical College. He completed his residency in Internal Medicine at Indiana University, a fellowship in the Molecular Hematology Branch of the NHLBI, and a fellowship in Hematology at the University of Wisconsin. Dr. Cornetta's publications include over 100 peer reviewed papers and 8 book chapters. He is on the editorial board of Molecular Therapy, Gene Therapy, and Human Gene Therapy.

Other Memberships:
Member, American Society of Human Genetics
Member, American Society of Hematology