Muscle-Restricted Genome Editing in Mice

Carolyn Kraus is a doctoral candidate in Dr. Erik J. Sontheimer’s lab at UMass Chan MedicalSchool. She began her research career at Emmanuel College, where sheearnedherBachelor of Science degreein Biology.Following graduation,Carolyn was an integral teammember within the Non-Human Primate Reagent Resource (NHPRR), contributing tooperational management of the resource and to the development of novel reagents. In hergraduateresearch,she has developed CRISPR/Cas9 systems with therapeutic potential viathe incorporation of Anti-CRISPR proteins and miRNA response elements to spatiallycontrol gene editing.She received acompetitiveRuth L. KirschsteinIndividual PredoctoralFellowship fromtheNational Institute of Arthritis and Musculoskeletal and Skin Diseases(NIAMS)to supportthis work.Beyond her research, Carolynis committed to thedevelopment of future scientists. She is an active participant in STEM outreach andscientific communication initiatives such as volunteering with theRNA TherapeuticsInstitute’s ScienceLIVEoutreach program,judging in theMassachusettsStateScience andEngineering Fair (MSEF), and presenting her research to the community in the UMass ChanReverse Science Fair.