Dr. Derrick James Rossi (born 1966)
ASSOCIATIONS - People
[Dr. Katalin Karikó (born 1955)] and [Dr. Drew E. Weissman (born 1959)] - " Rossi develops and promotes new therapies using biotechnological methods thus contributing to novel approaches in regenerative medicine.[6] His research focussed on different aspects of stem cell biology.[4] In order to avoid ethical issues related to the use and exploitation of human stem cells, Rossi based his developments on the results of [Dr. Katalin Karikó (born 1955)] and [Dr. Drew E. Weissman (born 1959)] on mRNA. He succeeded in finding investors for his plans to transfer these findings into new medications and vaccinations by founding Moderna.[19] "
[...]
ASSOCIATIONS - Companies and Institutions
Moderna, Inc. ( )
Derrick J. Rossi (born 5 February 1966),[1] is a Canadian stem cell biologist and entrepreneur. He is known for co-founding the biotechnology company [Moderna, Inc.].
Early life and education
Rossi was born in Toronto as the youngest of five children of a Maltese immigrant family.[2] His father Fred worked in auto body shops for 50 years[3] and his mother Agnes co-owned a Maltese bakery.[2]
Rossi attended the Dr. Norman Bethune High School in Scarborough where he early discovered his passion for molecular biology.[2] He then did his undergraduate and master's degrees in molecular genetics at the University of Toronto.[4] He earned his Ph.D. from the University of Helsinki in 2003 and held a post-doc position from 2003 to 2007 at Stanford University in Irving Weissman’s lab.[5]
Career
Rossi was appointed Associate Professor at the Stem Cell and Regenerative Biology Department at Harvard Medical School and Harvard University.[when?][6] At the same time he was a principal faculty member of the Harvard Stem Cell Institute and an investigator at the Immune Disease Institute (IDI),[7] as well as in the Program in Cellular and Molecular Medicine at the Children’s Hospital Boston.[8]
In 2010 Rossi founded biotech firm Moderna to exploit his discovery of the ability to transform and reprogramme pluripotent stem cells, along with Kenneth R. Chien and Robert Langer.[9][10] Time magazine cited this pluripotent discovery as one of the top ten medical breakthroughs of the year.[11] He was also named as one of "People Who Mattered" for Time in 2010.[12] He was cited because the discovery "involved the invention of a safer method for creating pluripotent stem cells... a new method (which) could help move stem cell–based treatments for diseases such as diabetes and Parkinson’s more quickly from the lab to the clinic."[11] Rossi was selected one of the 100 Most Influential People in 2011 by Time.[13][14]
In 2013 Rossi, Chien and their team reported that they "were able to improve heart function in mice and enhance their long-term survival with a "redirection of their [stem cell] differentiation toward cardiovascular cell types" in a significant step towards regenerative therapeutics for Moderna.[15][16] In the same year and on the strength of the same paper Moderna was able to partner with AstraZeneca in exchange for $240 million "in upfront cash (plus much more in potential milestone payments)", and then received from other investors $110 million.[15]
In 2014 Rossi retired from his functions at the board and as a scientific advisor at Moderna.[2]
In 2015 Rossi was scientific co-founder of Intellia Therapeutics, which uses CRISPR gene editing for developing new drugs for treating genetic diseases. In 2016 Rossi co-founded Magenta Therapeutics focussing on hematopoietic stem cell transplantation in order to reset the patient’s immune system in case of autoimmune diseases, blood cancers and genetic diseases. Rossi was involved in the foundation of Stelexis Therapeutics, which develops new medication for treating cancerous stem cells.[when?][6][4][17]
In 2018 Rossi retired from all of his Harvard positions in order to focus on his activities as an entrepreneur.[4][2] Rossi currently serves as a board member of the New York Stem Cell Foundation.[6] Rossi is now the CEO of Convelo Therapeutics.[18]
Scientific contributions
Rossi develops and promotes new therapies using biotechnological methods thus contributing to novel approaches in regenerative medicine.[6] His research focussed on different aspects of stem cell biology.[4] In order to avoid ethical issues related to the use and exploitation of human stem cells, Rossi based his developments on the results of [Dr. Katalin Karikó (born 1955)] and [Dr. Drew E. Weissman (born 1959)] on mRNA. He succeeded in finding investors for his plans to transfer these findings into new medications and vaccinations by founding Moderna.[19]
Rossi is on record as writing of his synthetic modified mRNA: "because our technology is RNA based, it completely eliminates the risk of genomic integration and insertional mutagenesis inherent to all DNA-based methodologies."[20] The abstract from this paper which earned him recognition of Time reads in part: "Here we describe a simple, nonintegrating strategy for reprogramming cell fate based on administration of synthetic mRNA modified to overcome innate antiviral responses (in Murine embryos and human epidermis and human ESC-derived dH1f and MRC-5 fetal lung fibroblasts, Detroit 551 human fetal skin fibroblasts, BJ neonatal foreskin fibroblasts, and fibroblast-like cells cultured from a primary skin biopsy taken from an adult cystic fibrosis patient). We show that this approach can reprogram multiple human cell types to pluripotency with efficiencies that greatly surpass established protocols (for neuronal myocyte or cardiomyocyte targets). We further show that the same technology can be used to efficiently direct the differentiation of RNA-induced pluripotent stem cells (RiPSCs) into terminally differentiated myogenic cells. This technology represents a safe, efficient strategy for somatic cell reprogramming and directing cell fate that has broad applicability for basic research, disease modeling, and regenerative medicine."[20]
In his 2010 paper, Rossi described his preference for "complexing the RNA with a cationic vehicle to facilitate uptake by endocytosis" instead of electroporation because "this would allow for repeated transfection to sustain ectopic protein expression over the days to weeks required for cellular reprogramming." Rossi and his team "treated synthesized RNA with a phosphatase" to overcome the interferon resistance pathway, and substituted "5-methylcytidine (5mC) for cytidine" and "pseudouridine for uridine". The team hit upon a "modified ribonucleotides and phosphatase treatment" (henceforth "mod-RNAs") and masked the mod-RNA past the interferon barrier through use of the vaccinia virus B18R protein, which served as inhibitor, but still the kinetics dictated a daily transfection treatment regime. Valproic acid, a histone deacetylase inhibitor, was used because it had been reported to increase reprogramming efficiency.[20]
In 2021 he was awarded the Princess of Asturias Award in the category "Scientific Research".[21]
Selected papers
Deficiencies in DNA damage repair limit the function of haematopoietic stem cells with age in: Nature 447, 725–729 (2008).
Warren L., Manos P.D., Ahfeldt T., Loh Y.-H., Li H., Lau F., Ebina W., Mandal P.K., Smith Z.D., Meissner A., Daley G.Q., Brack A.S., Collins J.J., Cowan C., Schlaeger T.M., Rossi D.J. Highly efficient reprogramming to pluripotency and directed differentiation of human cells with synthetic modified mRNA. In: Cell Stem Cell. 2010 Nov 5, 7 (5), p 618–630.
Somatic coding mutations in human induced pluripotent stem cells in: Nature 471, 63–67 (2011).
Family life
Rossi is married to Finnish biologist Nina Korsisaari and father of three daughters.[2][22]
References
^ American Men & Women of Science (2015). 33rd Edition. Cengage Learning: Detroit.
^
a b c d e f Joe O'Connor (28 May 2020). "Meet the Canadian hockey dad behind COVID-19 vaccine developer Moderna". nationalpost.com. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
^ "How Dad Made a Difference". The Orlando Sentinel. 16 June 2011. p. D1. Retrieved 9 August 2018.
^
a b c d Rahul Kalvapalle (22 February 2021). "From the lab to saving lives: Moderna co-founder Derrick Rossi on becoming a serial entrepreneur". utoronto.ca. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
^ "About the researcher". harvard.edu. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
^
a b c d "Derrick Rossi, PhD". NYSCF. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
^ "Derrick J Rossi's scientific contributionswhile affiliated with Harvard University (Cambridge, United States) and other places". Research Gate. Retrieved 26 February 2018.
^ "Derrick J. Rossi, Ph.D." VOR Biopharma. Retrieved 26 February2018.
^ Kutz, Erin (4 October 2010). "ModeRNA, Stealth Startup Backed By Flagship, Unveils New Way to Make Stem Cells". Xconomy, Inc.
^ Lawrence Goodman (10 February 2021). "Rosenstiel Award winners celebrated for life-saving scientific breakthroughs". brandeis.edu. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
^
a b "Children's researcher honored by TIME Magazine". Thriving. Retrieved 26 February 2018.
^ "Person of the Year 2010". Time. Retrieved 26 February 2018.
^ "Derrick J. Rossi". Harvard. Retrieved 26 February 2018.
^ Park, Alice. "The 2011 Time 100". Time. Retrieved 26 February2018.
^
a b Timmerman, Luke (20 November 2013). "Moderna Vacuums Up Another $110M to Make Messenger RNA Drugs". Xconomy, Inc.
^ Zangi, Lior; Lui, Kathy O.; von Gise, Alexander; Ma, Qing; Ebina, Wataru; Ptaszek, Leon M.; Später, Daniela; Xu, Huansheng; Tabebordbar, Mohammadsharif; Gorbatov, Rostic; Sena, Brena; Nahrendorf, Matthias; Briscoe, David M.; Li, Ronald A.; Wagers, Amy J.; Rossi, Derrick J.; Pu, William T.; Chien, Kenneth R. (2013). "Modified mRNA directs the fate of heart progenitor cells and induces vascular regeneration after myocardial infarction". Nature Biotechnology. 31 (10): 898–907. doi:10.1038/nbt.2682. PMC 4058317. PMID 24013197.
^ Servick, Kelly (1 February 2017). "This mysterious $2 billion biotech is revealing the secrets behind its new drugs and vaccines". Science. Retrieved 9 August 2018.
^ "The Science of Startups: Drs. Derrick Rossi and Paul Tesar Discuss How Their Biotechs Are Bringing Stem Cell Research to Patients". Retrieved Dec 10, 2020.
^ Damian Garde, Jonathan Saltzman (10 November 2020). "The story of mRNA: How a once-dismissed idea became a leading technology in the Covid vaccine race". statnews.com. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
^
a b c Warren, Luigi; Manos, Philip D.; Ahfeldt, Tim; Loh, Yuin-Han; Li, Hu; Lau, Frank; Ebina, Wataru; Mandal, Pankaj K.; Smith, Zachary D.; Meissner, Alexander; Daley, George Q.; Brack, Andrew S.; Collins, James J.; Cowan, Chad; Schlaeger, Thorsten M.; Rossi, Derrick J. (2010). "Highly Efficient Reprogramming to Pluripotency and Directed Differentiation of Human Cells with Synthetic Modified mRNA". Cell Stem Cell. 7 (5): 618–630. doi:10.1016/j.stem.2010.08.012. PMC 3656821. PMID 20888316.
^ Courtney Shea (17 February 2020). ""It's likely we'll see another pandemic in the next 20 years": The Toronto scientist who invented the Covid vaccine technology says we need to prepare for the next virus". torontolife.com. Retrieved 6 March 2021.
External links[edit]
Scholia has a profile for Derrick Rossi (Q50173077).
show
Laureates of the Prince or Princess of Asturias Award for Technical and Scientific Research
2021-06-25-elcomerico-es-sociedad-derrick-rose-moderna-espanol.pdf
Estoy convencido de que el virus salió por accidente de un laboratorio de Wuhan»
DERRICK ROSSI | COFUNDADOR DE MODERNA
El biólogo, al que le tocó vacunarse con Pfizer, teme que el coronavirus se haga endémico y haya que reforzar la dosis «cada uno o dos años»
M. ROJO / A. VILLACORTA
Viernes, 25 junio 2021, 04:13
2
El biologo canadiense Derrick Rossi (Toronto, 1966) es uno de los fundadores de Moderna, una de las farmacéuticas que ha logrado desarrollar una de las vacunas contra el coronavirus. Junto con otros seis científicos, acaba de recibir el Premio Princesa de Investigación Científica y Técnica. Confirmaba ayer, en conversación con EL COMERCIO, que el próximo mes de octubre viajará –«por supuesto»– a Asturias para recibir el reconocimiento. «Me encanta España y me encanta la buena comida, así que estoy deseando volver, y sé que la Fundación Princesa prepara una intensa semana cultural en la que estoy deseando participar», avanza.
–El Princesa de Asturias es en muchas ocasiones un paso previo al Nobel. ¿Qué se siente al entrar en esta nómina de premiados?
–Es impresionante. Me siento profundamente honrado. Aunque he de decir que el trabajo de un científico es explorar la naturaleza, encontrar respuestas a lo desconocido. Y si hay algo que me reconforta es que hayamos sido capaces de encontrar una solución ante una enfermedad que causa millones de muertes en el mundo. Eso me hace más feliz. Parece que he hecho bien mi trabajo.
–¿Qué le parece que el nombre de Moderna sea conocido en todo el mundo?
–Es algo impresionante. Somos una empresa de 1.500 trabajadores, así que es tan inesperado como que fuese a haber una pandemia global y que una técnica nuestra fuese a ser tan útil. Cuando desarrollamos el ARN mensajero no pensábamos en vacunas, pero se ha visto que funciona. Yo creía, y aún creo, que el futuro de esa técnica servirá para curar las más de 6.000 enfermedades genéticas que hay en el mundo además del cáncer. Y también espero que ayude a luchar contra el cáncer. Es muy motivador.
¿Fue de los primeros en vacunarse o esperó su turno?
–Esperé mi turno, y además, cuando me tocó, ese día, estaban poniendo Pfizer. Así que, en contra de lo que muchos puedan pensar, yo me vacuné con Pfizer. Y en parte me alegra de que sea así, porque ayudo a fomentar la idea de que lo importante es vacunarse. Todas las vacunas son seguras, y está demostrado que ayudan a frenar la pandemia. Recomiendo a todo el mundo que se vacune.
–Ayer mismo se relacionaban algunos casos de miocarditis en Estados Unidos con las vacunas de Pfizer y Moderna. ¿Puede haber algún problema?
–No está nada claro que pueda fijarse una relación directa con las vacunas y, en cualquier caso, son casos tan excepcionales que el riesgo de no vacunarse es infinitamente superior. El peligro de que la covid te haga enfermar o incluso morir es muy elevado y las vacunas están ya salvando vidas. Antes de la vacuna, en los Estados Unidos había unos 250.000 contagios diarios, lo que saturaba los hospitales y causaba muertes. Ahora hay unos 10.000 al día, y, obviamente, es el efecto de la vacuna. Ahora el reto es llegar a todos los países del mundo.
–¿Puede haber variantes, como la Delta, que sean resistentes a la vacuna?
–Los virus son la unidad evolutiva más perfecta que existe. Saben adaptarse a cualquier inconveniente y puede que este logre adaptarse a la vacuna. Lo bueno de la tecnología del ARN mensajero es que, rápidamente, somos capaces de adaptarnos también a él, así que soy optimista.
¿Servirá la vacuna para inmunizarnos definitivamente?
–Es difícil saberlo. Puede ser que la vacuna nos haga generar una inmunidad natural y no sea necesario, pero también puede pasar que el virus cambie o se haga endémico, como la gripe, y tengamos que vacunarnos cada uno o dos años. En cualquier caso, estamos cada vez más preparados para ello. Lo que más nos costó fue levantar la infraestructura para producir y repartir la vacuna, pero eso está solucionándose y cada vez tenemos mayor capacidad para llegar a todo el mundo.
–¿Habrá más pandemias?
–Aunque nos olvidamos rápido de otras que hubo, como la gripe de 1918, especialmente los políticos, yo creo que esta pandemia ha sido algo excepcional, aunque no hay duda de que habrá más patógenos que salten a los humanos y causen enfermedades. Espero que estemos más preparados para ello. Y habrá tecnologías que aún desconocemos que nos ayudarán.
–¿Cómo nos pudo pasar esto?
–No tenemos pruebas en ningún sentido, pero este virus es tan diferente al de los murciélagos que me parece improbable que haya sido un salto natural. Es un hecho que un laboratorio en Wuhan trabajaba con él y yo estoy convencido de que salió de allí, que se les escapó. No creo que haya sido deliberado, simplemente estaban estudiándolo y hubo un accidente. China lo niega, claro, pero es la explicación que veo más lógica.
I am convinced that the virus came out by accident from a laboratory in Wuhan »
DERRICK ROSSI | CO-FOUNDER OF MODERNA
The biologist, who had to be vaccinated with Pfizer, fears that the coronavirus will become endemic and the dose will have to be reinforced "every one or two years"
Canadian biologist Derrick Rossi (Toronto, 1966) is one of the founders of Moderna, one of the pharmaceutical companies that has managed to develop one of the coronavirus vaccines. Along with six other scientists, he has just received the Princess Award for Technical and Scientific Research. He confirmed yesterday, in conversation with EL COMERCIO, that next October he will travel - "of course" - to Asturias to receive the recognition. "I love Spain and I love good food, so I am looking forward to going back, and I know that the Princesa Foundation is preparing an intense cultural week in which I am looking forward to participating," he advances.
- The Princess of Asturias is on many occasions a step prior to the Nobel. What does it feel like to enter this list of winners?
Is awesome. I am deeply honored. Although I have to say that the job of a scientist is to explore nature, to find answers to the unknown. And if there is something that comforts me, it is that we have been able to find a solution to a disease that causes millions of deaths in the world. That makes me happier. I seem to have done my job well.
- What do you think that the name Moderna is known all over the world?
- It is something impressive. We are a company of 1,500 workers, so it is as unexpected as that there was going to be a global pandemic and that one of our techniques would be so useful. When we developed messenger RNA, we didn't think of vaccines, but it has been shown to work. I believed, and still believe, that the future of this technique will serve to cure the more than 6,000 genetic diseases that exist in the world in addition to cancer. And I also hope it helps fight cancer. It is very motivating.
Were you one of the first to get vaccinated or did you wait your turn?
- I waited my turn, and also, when it was my turn, that day, they were putting Pfizer. So, contrary to what many may think, I got vaccinated with Pfizer. And I'm partly happy that that's the way it is, because I help to promote the idea that the important thing is to get vaccinated. All vaccines are safe and have been shown to help curb the pandemic. I recommend everyone to get vaccinated.
Just yesterday some cases of myocarditis in the United States were related to the Pfizer and Moderna vaccines. Could there be a problem?
–It is not at all clear that a direct relationship with vaccines can be established and, in any case, they are such exceptional cases that the risk of not being vaccinated is infinitely higher. The danger of COVID making you sick or even dying is very high and vaccines are already saving lives. Before the vaccine, in the United States there were about 250,000 daily infections, saturating hospitals and causing deaths. Now there are about 10,000 a day, and obviously that is the effect of the vaccine. Now the challenge is to reach all the countries of the world.
- Can there be variants, such as Delta, that are resistant to the vaccine?
- Viruses are the most perfect evolutionary unit that exists. They know how to adapt to any inconvenience and you may be able to adapt to the vaccine. The good thing about messenger RNA technology is that we are quickly able to adapt to it as well, so I'm optimistic.
Will the vaccine serve to permanently immunize us?
-It is difficult to know. It may be that the vaccine makes us generate a natural immunity and it is not necessary, but it can also happen that the virus changes or becomes endemic, like the flu, and we have to get vaccinated every one or two years. In any case, we are increasingly prepared for it. What cost us the most was to build the infrastructure to produce and distribute the vaccine, but that is being solved and we have an increasing capacity to reach the whole world.
- Will there be more pandemics?
–Although we quickly forget about others that existed, such as the 1918 flu, especially politicians, I believe that this pandemic has been something exceptional, although there is no doubt that there will be more pathogens that jump to humans and cause diseases. I hope we are more prepared for it. And there will be technologies that we still do not know that will help us.
- How could this happen to us?
"We have no evidence in any way, but this virus is so different from bats that it seems unlikely to me that it was a natural leap." It is a fact that a laboratory in Wuhan worked with him and I am convinced that he came out of there, that he escaped them. I don't think it was deliberate, they were just studying it and there was an accident. China denies it, of course, but it is the explanation that I see as the most logical.