Dr. Branden Moriarity grew up in Faribault, Minnesota, and Dr. Beau Webber is from Austin, Minnesota. Both were the first in their families to attend college, eventually finding their way to the University of Minnesota, where their paths crossed during their PhD training at Itasca. They hit it off quickly and made an ambitious decision: “Let’s do science together!”
More than a decade later, that friendship has grown into a unique scientific collaboration—and a team of more than 60 people working at the intersection of genome engineering, stem cell biology, cancer immunotherapy, and gene therapy.
Their research uses cutting-edge technologies, including CRISPR, base editing, transposons, and viral gene delivery, to engineer immune and stem cells with the goal of developing better treatments for cancer and genetic diseases. Their work is driven by a shared commitment to moving discoveries from the laboratory toward patients.
