Hey Universe! Science + Serendipity at RSRT
RSRT’s growth has been anything but ordinary. Again and again, the right people have appeared at the right time — strengthening our mission and bringing hope to families.
This week we announced the expansion of our research team. And it struck me how once again RSRT’s growth has happened organically. Time and time again with each new hire the right person with the right qualifications has appeared. It’s really quite extraordinary.
Tim Freeman
The first major hire came in 2013. Like so many times before and since, I received a call from a mom whose 4-year-old daughter had been recently diagnosed with Rett. We talked about the usual stuff – therapies, schooling, research and at the end of our conversation she mentioned that her husband, Tim Freeman, worked in fundraising for a non-profit focused on education. Say no more. Tim and I were on the phone a week later and met in person shortly after that and the rest is history. Tim has been with RSRT for 12 years working closely with Rett families in the US and around the world who take action and fundraise for our genetic medicine programs.
Randy Carpenter, MD
The next major hire came in 2016, Randy Carpenter, in the position of Chief Medical Officer. Randy and I had already known each other for a number of years and he was a trusted advisor. Hiring him into a more formal position felt quite natural.
Jana von Hehn, PhD
Randy and I quickly realized the scope of work we were handling was growing and we needed someone to run our clinical research operations. Enter Jana von Hehn in 2017. Jana had previously worked at Seaside Therapeutics, a company that Randy had started and run as CEO. Randy’s full endorsement of Jana made the hire a no brainer.
Robert Deans, PhD
As our science matured and the number of programs we were spearheading grew we needed to add someone to the team with deep genetic medicine industry experience. I started networking and was quickly introduced to Bob Deans by Fydor Urnov, the man who coined the term “genome editing”. Fyodor’s endorsement of Bob carried a lot of weight. Bob joined us as Chief Technology Officer in 2023.
John Sinnamon, PhD
Our latest hire is John Sinnamon. For those of you who follow RSRT closely you will undoubtedly be familiar with that name. John did his post-doc in the lab of Gail Mandel and was the lead on a trio of papers that put RNA editing on the map for Rett syndrome. I’m convinced it was that work that led Shape and Wave and Vico to add Rett to their company pipelines. John was a member of our Gene Therapy Consortium and our MECP2 Consortium.
Upon completion of his post-doc, he went to Pfizer where he led a group working on gene and RNA editing. John stayed involved with RSRT providing advice and reviewing grants and programs. When Pfizer reorganized and dissolved the group that John was leading, I jumped at the opportunity to offer him a full-time job. I was thrilled when he accepted.
John’s deep knowledge of the Rett literature, hands on experience working with Rett mice models for a decade and his rigor as a scientist are invaluable for RSRT.
We are also lucky to have Rett Dad and industry leader in gene therapy manufacturing, David Backer, advising us. Manufacturing viral gene therapies is a complex an expensive endeavor so David’s experience will be critical. Providing pro bono legal services is Robert Counihan of Fenwick who has a sister with Rett. Rounding out our comprehensive team is Han Zhang who is our project manager for the MECP2 Editing Consortium. Han is a post-doc in the lab of Erik Sontheimer at the University of Massachusetts Chan Medical School. Han coordinates between the six labs of the Consortium.
The qualifications, experience, wisdom, and dedication of these colleagues of mine are nothing short of exceptional. I could go on and on about that, but I’ll save that for another blog. For now I just want to share with our community how fortunate we are to have them at RSRT working towards cures.
Finding staff is typically a long, arduous challenge and positions are often revolving doors of people coming and going. I’m thankful that has not been the case at RSRT. It’s been uncanny how the right person comes along at the right time. And when they come to RSRT they stay, because their dedication to our mission is very real.
I’ll take all this as a good sign from the universe. Hey universe! If you’re listening…we need a cure for Rett syndrome!
