Noriyuki Kasahara, MD, PhD

Noriyuki Kasahara (Nori), MD, PhD, joined 4DMT in January 2024 as Chief Scientific Officer, and previously served as a member of 4DMT’s Board of Directors and chaired the Board’s Science & Technology Committee from September 2022 – December 2023. Dr. Kasahara brings more than 30 years of experience and has authored more than 150 peer-reviewed articles in the fields of gene therapy and genetic engineering. As an academic researcher, he previously established the first Vector Core & Shared Resource facilities for gene delivery vector research at both the University of Southern California (USC) and the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Most recently, he has served as Professor and Alvera L. Kan Endowed Chair of Neurological Surgery and Radiation Oncology at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), and as a Principal Investigator in the UCSF Brain Tumor Center. Dr. Kasahara’s research has focused on optimizing the application of multiple and diverse viral vector delivery systems to achieve maximal therapeutic potential, as well as developing next-generation gene transfer technologies with greater therapeutic efficacy in vivo.

He pioneered the development of tumor-selective retroviral replicating vectors (RRV) for gene therapy of cancer, and was scientific co-founder of Tocagen Inc., which evaluated this technology in first-in-human multi-center Phase I through international Phase III clinical trials. He has served as a consultant to numerous biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, and on numerous scientific review panels for the National Institutes of Health (NIH), Cancer Research UK, and National Cancer Institute of Canada. He has also served on the Scientific Committee on Viral Gene Transfer Vectors and currently on the Global Outreach Committee for the American Society of Gene & Cell Therapy (ASGCT), as past President of the International Society for Cell & Gene Therapy of Cancer (ISCGT), and is currently a member of the Board of Directors for the Japan Society of Gene & Cell Therapy (JSGCT). Dr. Kasahara obtained his medical degree in 1986 from Tokyo Medical & Dental University, completed post-graduate clinical training and Board certification in Laboratory Medicine / Clinical Pathology at UCSF, where he also received his Ph.D. in 1994 from the Interdepartmental Program in Endocrinology for his research with Professor Y. W. Kan, a pioneer in genetic diagnostics and recipient of the Lasker Award.