Dr Richie Kohman joined the Wyss Center as Chief Scientific Officer in November 2021. He was previously part of the technology advancement team at Harvard University’s Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering where he served as Platform Lead of the Synthetic Biology division.

During his time at Harvard, he led research projects on mapping large volumes of mammalian brain tissue using genetic labeling and cellular barcoding approaches. He also oversaw a vast, interdisciplinary research platform focused on gene delivery, in situ omics, nucleic acid synthesis, and stem cell engineering. His tenure saw the successful spin out of numerous startup companies in a variety of areas such as gene therapy, cell differentiation, aging reversal, and protein engineering.

Prior to joining the Wyss Institute, Dr Kohman worked as Group Leader at the startup company Expansion Technologies, Inc. where he brought techniques and reagents for high resolution molecular mapping of tissues to market. He has also previously worked on the development of nanomaterial delivery agents and neurosurgical techniques for drug delivery to the brain.

Over his career Richie has investigated a broad range of scientific topics and disciplines, however his greatest area of interest is in developing technologies which can analyze or influence brain structure and function.

Dr Kohman holds a BS in Chemistry from Santa Clara University, a PhD in Organic Chemistry from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign, and was a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Boston University as well as an affiliate of the MIT Media Lab.