Press Release

Arrakis Congratulates Its SAB Chair, Melissa Moore, PhD, on Election to National Academy of Sciences

May 2, 2017 – Arrakis Therapeutics today announced that Melissa J. Moore, PhD, the Chair of the company’s Scientific Advisory Board, has been elected to the National Academy of Sciences. She is among the 84 new members and 21 foreign associates elected to the National Academy of Sciences today in recognition of their distinguished and ongoing achievements in original research.

“We congratulate Melissa on this recognition for her outstanding scientific accomplishments, which have led to important new insights into RNA biology. Her election to the National Academy of Sciences is well deserved both for her achievements to date and for her future contributions to innovative medicines for patients,” said Michael Gilman, PhD, CEO of Arrakis. “We are fortunate to have the opportunity to work with Melissa, and we are inspired by her scientific vision and guided by her expertise in RNA biology and drug development.”

Dr. Moore’s research has encompassed a broad array of topics related to the role of RNA and RNA-protein complexes in gene expression and touched on many human diseases including cancer and neurodegeneration. She is currently the Chief Scientific Officer of Moderna’s mRNA research platform, and previously served as Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Pharmacology at the University of Massachusetts Medical School (UMMS) and Investigator at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Dr. Moore was also a founding Co-Director of the RNA Therapeutics Institute (RTI) at UMMS, and was instrumental in the creation of the Massachusetts Therapeutic and Entrepreneurship Realization initiative, a faculty-led program intended to facilitate the translation of UMMS discoveries into drugs, products, technologies and companies.

Prior to UMMS, Dr. Moore spent 13 years as a professor at Brandeis University. She began working on RNA during her postdoctoral training with Phillip Sharp, PhD at MIT, where she also received her PhD in Biological Chemistry under the mentorship of Christopher T. Walsh, PhD. Dr. Moore holds a BS in Chemistry and Biology from the College of William and Mary.