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Craig Mello, PhD

Professor, RNA Therapeutics Institute, Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute, and Blais Chair of Molecular Medicine

Research Focus - Mechanisms of Small-RNA-directed Search Pathways

  • Investigation of the mechanism of RNA interference
  • Investigation of how embryonic cells differentiate and communicate during development

Representative Publications

  • 5'-Modifications improve potency and efficacy of DNA donors for precision genome editing. Ghanta KS, Chen Z, Mir A, Dokshin GA, Krishnamurthy PM, Yoon Y, Gallant J, Xu P, Zhang XO, Ozturk AR, Shin M, Idrizi F, Liu P, Gneid H, Edraki A, Lawson ND, Rivera-Pérez JA, Sontheimer EJ, Watts JK, Mello CC.Elife. 2021 Oct 19;10:e72216. doi: 10.7554/eLife.72216.PMID: 34665130 Read Publication

In the News

  • Atalanta Therapeutics founded by UMass Medical School and three faculty members

    Atalanta Therapeutics founded by UMass Medical School and three faculty members

    Atalanta Therapeutics, a biotech founded by UMass Medical School and three faculty research scientists to pioneer treatment options for neurodegenerative diseases, has launched with financing by venture capital fund F-Prime Capital and strategic collaborations with Biogen and Genentech.

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  • Biomedical sciences student works toward a future in genetic engineering

    Biomedical sciences student works toward a future in genetic engineering

    PhD student Katya Makeyeva investigates how small RNA pathways regulate gene expression of reproductive cells in the lab of Nobel Laureate Craig Mello, PhD.

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  • Champagne toast raised as Nobel winner reacts to news

    Champagne toast raised as Nobel winner reacts to news

    Although Victor Ambros, PhD, was scheduled to move his lab into a new building today, the announcement that he and Gary Ruvkun, PhD, were awarded the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for their discovery of microRNA, put those plans were put on hold. Read more about how his day unfolded.  

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  • Nobel-worthy mentorship: Students rejoice after mentor Victor Ambros wins 2024 Nobel Prize

    Nobel-worthy mentorship: Students rejoice after mentor Victor Ambros wins 2024 Nobel Prize

    Students in the Ambros lab at UMass Chan Medical School and 2006 Nobel Prize winner Craig Mello, PhD, celebrated their mentor, Victor Ambros, PhD, as he received the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine with Gary Ruvkun, PhD, for their discovery of microRNA.  

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  • Video: Nobel Laureate Victor Ambros celebrates with UMass Chan community

    Video: Nobel Laureate Victor Ambros celebrates with UMass Chan community

    The UMass Chan Medical School community embraced its newest Nobel Laureate on Monday, Oct. 7, after Victor Ambros, PhD, was named the co-recipient of the 2024 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine for his co-discovery of microRNA. See how the day unfolded in this video.

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  • UMass Chan ‘takes pride in calling you one of our own,’ Chancellor tells Nobel-recipient Victor Ambros

    UMass Chan ‘takes pride in calling you one of our own,’ Chancellor tells Nobel-recipient Victor Ambros

    Victor Ambros, PhD, shared his gratitude to his wife and collaborator, Rosalind “Candy” Lee, as well as to the Medical School and scientific community, at a celebration of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine he co-received with Gary Ruvkun, PhD, professor at Harvard Medical School, for their discovery of microRNA.  

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  • NIH funds Kirschstein Award recipient Johan Girgenrath’s fertility research

    NIH funds Kirschstein Award recipient Johan Girgenrath’s fertility research

    PhD candidate John Girgenrath has received a competitive award from the Eunice Kennedy Shriver National Institute of Child Health and Human Development to conduct fertility research.

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  • Inside the new mRNA vaccines for COVID-19

    Inside the new mRNA vaccines for COVID-19

    The new vaccines by Pfizer/BioNTech and Moderna use messenger RNA to stimulate the immune system to protect against COVID-19. These vaccines are the first of their kind and researchers at UMass Medical School are among the leading RNA biologists in the world.

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  • Biomedical sciences student studying fertility in Mello lab

    Biomedical sciences student studying fertility in Mello lab

    Movies piqued PhD candidate Humberto Ochoa’s interest in science. He’s conducting RNA research in the lab of Nobel Laureate Craig C. Mello, PhD, to understand the national decline in fertility.

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  • UMass leaders share research system success during Medical School visit from ARPA-H director

    UMass leaders share research system success during Medical School visit from ARPA-H director

    UMass Chan and the entire UMass ecosystem are poised for further breakthrough advances in biomedical research, university leaders and congressional delegation members tell ARPA-H director at Medical School visit.  

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