Agilent Technologies Inc. (NYSE: A) announced Dr. David R. Liu has been selected to receive a prestigious Agilent Thought Leader Award. A prominent researcher in the field of genome editing, Dr. Liu is Professor and Director of the Merkin Institute of Transformative Technologies in Healthcare, Vice-Chair of the Faculty at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, Professor of Natural Sciences and Professor of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Harvard University, and a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Investigator. 

A primary direction of Dr. Liu's work has been a focus on using molecular editing tools such as CRISPR and developing the techniques of base editing and prime editing to study and address genetic diseases at their root cause: the genome. These tools enable targeted "rewriting" of the mutations responsible for the genetic disorders that affect hundreds of millions of people worldwide.

“I’m humbled and excited that our lab has been chosen for this award—a reflection of the creativity and dedication of our students and postdocs,” said Dr. Liu. “We can’t wait to try some new lines of research catalyzed by Agilent’s generous gift as well as their capabilities.”

“The research projects supported by this award will contribute to the continued expansion of CRISPR-based methods including prime and base editing,” said Kevin Meldrum, vice president and general manager of Agilent’s Genomics Division. “We look forward to applying our single guide RNA technology and suite of genomics profiling tools toward supporting the Liu lab’s innovative application of genome editing techniques.” 

The Agilent Thought Leader Award program promotes fundamental scientific advances by contributing financial support, products, and expertise to the research of influential thought leaders in the life sciences, diagnostics, and chemical analysis space. To learn more, visit the Agilent Thought Leader Award web site.