John Doench is the Senior Director of the Platform Innovation Labs and leads a group focused on functional genomics R&D. First with RNAi and more recently with CRISPR, his team has developed leading bioinformatic tools and screening libraries to enable gene function discovery projects at scale. He collaborates broadly, working with experts in fields such as cancer biology, infectious disease, and immunology, highlighting both his commitment to team-based science and his enthusiasm for teaching the critical principles of genetic screens.

Prior to joining the Broad in 2009, John did his postdoctoral work at Harvard Medical School, received his PhD in Phil Sharp’s lab at MIT, majored in history and biochemistry at Hamilton College, and made many egg sandwiches at the Cresskill Deli. When not working, he enjoys Boston sports, avoiding death on the streets when running or biking, and seeing how severe an eye-roll he can trigger in his daughter with his dad jokes. 

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Curriculum vitae; Google Scholar

Kathleen Yates is the Director of Platform Innovation Labs. Alongside John Doench, she leads the Functional Genomics R&D team, where she helps to develop new functional genomics tools and drive collaborations. She and Doench also lead the broader Platform Innovation group, which integrates teams spanning functional genomics, methods and model development, spatial biology, computational biology, and immunopeptidomics.

Kathleen previously led the Tumor Immunotherapy Discovery Engine (TIDE) project in Robert Manguso's laboratory in the Cancer Program at the Broad Institute, using in vivo functional genomics to identify therapeutic targets for combination immunotherapy and uncover mechanisms of tumor immune evasion. She trained in Nicholas Haining's lab at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, studying T cell exhaustion in chronic viral infection and cancer, before joining the Broad in 2019. She was drawn to immunology after studying innate host responses to HIV infection at McGill University in Montreal, Canada.

I graduated from Zhejiang University in 2014 with B.S. in Biological Science, and got my Ph.D. training in Prof. Daniel G. Tenen’s lab in National University of Singapore. My doctorate focused on CRISPR technology development, epigenetics and gene transcription. During my studies, I developed the CRISPR-DiR system for gene specific demethylation and activation. For my postdoc at the Broad, I’ll be focusing on the development of technologies for large-scale studies of functional genomics and epigenomics. In my free time, I love photography, dancing, hiking and travelling – just not during pandemics!

I grew up in Plainsboro, New Jersey and graduated in 2024 from Johns Hopkins University, where I majored in Biomedical Engineering. During my undergrad, I was involved in computational research within a genomics lab with a focus on lineage tracing, as well as two biomedical design projects addressing ventral hernia recurrence and subjectivity in melanoma screening. I like dancing, cooking/baking, and playing card/board games in my free time.

I am from Reno, Nevada and graduated from the University of Michigan with a degree in Neuroscience. In my undergrad, I studied how the protein, CCSer2, regulates the activity of the motor protein, dynein, in both epithelial cells and neural progenitors. Outside of lab, I love hanging out with my cat, Dustin, going to concerts with friends, and frequenting used record stores. 

After growing up in the suburbs of Philadelphia, I moved to Boston in 2021 to pursue a degree in Biochemistry at Northeastern University. My undergraduate experience included two internships. The first, at Orna therapeutics, focused on developing mass spectrometry methods to assess novel compounds. The second, at Takeda Pharmaceuticals, centered around the design of cell-based assays for immuno-oncology drug development. In my free time, I enjoy running along the esplanade, reading books in the Common, going to concerts, and trying new restaurants. 

I am from Littleton, Colorado, and I graduated from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute (RPI) with a major in computational biology and minors in public health and literature and creative writing. In undergrad, I worked on both wet lab and computational research projects, notably studying gammaherpesviruses in macrophages and its relation to cancer, as well as computationally trying to predict harmful algal blooms based on geographic data. Outside of work, I enjoy reading, playing and watching soccer, and going hiking.

I grew up in McLean, Virginia and I graduated from the University of Southern California in 2026, where I majored in Quantitative Biology and minored in Biopharmaceutical Business. During my time there, I conducted research on the therapeutic benefits of exercise in mouse models of Parkinson’s Disease, and was involved in multi-omic computational research on cancer. In my free time, I love trying new food spots (especially ice cream), hiking, and reading novels.

I am from Guadalajara, Mexico, and I graduated with a Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Engineering from the University of Mississippi in May 2026. There, I worked on developing a CRISPR-based screen to identify genes involved in zebrafish cardiac development. I also completed a summer research fellowship at the Mayo Clinic, where I focused on characterizing the immune response to a novel retinal gene therapy delivery vehicle and exploring genotype-phenotype relationships in patients with Best disease. In my free time, I enjoy fiber arts, baking, weightlifting, and going to concerts!