Priya S. Kishnani, MD

United States of America

Dr. Kishnani is Chief of the Division of Medical Genetics, Department of Pediatrics and Director of the YT and Alice Chen Center for Genomic Research, which has a focus on developing new therapies for rare genetic disorders. She holds certification from the American Board of Medical Genetics and the American Board of Biochemical Genetics.

Throughout her career, Dr. Kishnani’s primary focus has been the translation of laboratory science into the clinical arena, especially in the area of such therapeutic interventions as enzyme replacement therapy, gene therapy and small molecules. She has propelled a translational research program at Duke with a T1-T4 impact, implementing bench-to-bedside approach, and from the bedside back to the bench for further advances toward the diagnosis, treatment and management of patients with rare genetic diseases.

Dr Kishnani has built an interdisciplinary team whose efforts are most notably demonstrated by the long-standing research and clinical experience that resulted in FDA approval of alglucosidase alfa (Myozyme™) as the only available treatment for Pompe disease in 2006.