Thomas Gaj

Thomas Gaj is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Bioengineering at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. He holds an affiliation with the Carl R. Woese Institute for Genomic Biology. His research focuses on advancing CRISPR-based genome editing technologies, with particular emphasis on their application in treating genetic disorders such as ALS, Huntington’s disease, and neurodegenerative conditions. Key areas include high-fidelity CRISPR-Cas13 systems, base editing tools like SPLICER, and RNA-targeting approaches to mitigate proteinopathies.

His work bridges molecular biology, synthetic biology, and biomedical engineering, emphasizing in vivo delivery mechanisms via adeno-associated viruses (AAV) and therapeutic exon skipping. Over 50 publications highlight his contributions to CRISPR innovation, including foundational studies on CRISPR-Cas9 and TALEN systems. Notable achievements include developing scalable methods for gene editing in human stem cells and pioneering CRISPR applications in nervous system diseases.

Collaborations span interdisciplinary teams addressing genetic disease mechanisms, with media coverage for breakthroughs like the SPLICER base editing platform. While no formal student advisees are listed here, his research lab likely engages graduate students and postdocs in these cutting-edge projects.