The Icahn Genomics Institute (IGI) is dedicated to the development of new DNA and RNA based therapies. The success of the mRNA vaccines for treating COVID-19 has had a profound effect on the world—yet this is only the tip of the iceberg of gene medicine. The IGI is working on the next generation of advances in gene therapy, including identifying new genetic targets that drive disease, developing delivery mechanisms to modify or influence them, and pioneering treatments for diseases that have defied conventional treatment by traditional drugs. Our exploration of gene and cell therapy, RNA vaccines and therapeutics, and DNA-based drugs will have a profound effect on the way medicine is practiced.

Novel flu vaccines, regeneration of heart tissue following myocardial infarction, neoantigen vaccines to treat cancer—these are a few of the areas in which we are conducting groundbreaking research. Our researchers come from a range of disciplines and scientific focuses, including gene and cell engineering, CRISPR gene and base editing, RNA vaccines and therapeutics, viral oncolytics, microbiotics, regenerative medicine, as well as genomics, data science, and computational biology. With these tools, our scientists are working on improved treatments for cancer, infectious disease, inherited genetic disorders, neurodegeneration, heart disease and other conditions. 

Housed within the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, we are working together with physicians and physician scientists in the Mount Sinai Health System. From bench to clinical practice, we are leading the way in bringing the latest generation of gene and cell therapies to our patient population, including chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) T cell therapies and in situ vaccines for leukemia and multiple myeloma, and RNAi drugs for diseases such as acute intermittent porphyria, and other life-long genetic diseases. In doing so, we are helping to improve the lives of our patients and transforming medicine.

Our Research

• RNA Therapeutics and Nanomedicines
• Gene, CRISPR, and Cell Engineering
• Viral and Microbial Therapeutics
• Cancer Gene and Cell Therapy
• Gene and Cell Therapy for Genetic Diseases
• Therapeutic Target Gene Discovery