Adrian Krainer, Ph.D.

Adrian Krainer, winner of the 2021 Wolf Prize in Medicine, the 2019 Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences, the 2019 International Prize in Translational Neuroscience, and the 2019 RNA Society Lifetime Achievement Award, is a co-founder and director of Stoke Therapeutics. He is also the St. Giles Foundation Professor and Deputy Director of Research of the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory Cancer Center. Adrian’s fundamental and applied research on RNA splicing for over three decades directly led to the invention and development of Spinraza™ (nusinersen), the first approved therapeutic that corrects a splicing defect and a life-saving drug for infants with spinal muscular atrophy. He is a member of the National Academy of Sciences, the National Academy of Medicine, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the National Academy of Inventors. Adrian was awarded the 2019 Breakthrough Prize for his work developing Spinraza, which the prize committee described as “one of the first of a promising new breed of antisense therapies.”