Noriyuki Kasahara

Noriyuki Kasahara, M.D., Ph.D., is a Principal Investigator at UC San Francisco’s Brain Tumor Center. Dr. Kasahara has more than 30 years of experience and has authored more than 140 peer-reviewed articles in the fields of gene therapy and genetic engineering. He pioneered the development of tumor-selective retroviral replicating vectors (RRV) for gene therapy of cancer, including first-in-human multi-center clinical trials sponsored by Tocagen Inc.

Previously Dr. Kasahara was a professor of cell biology and pathology at the University of Miami and served as co-Leader of the Viral Oncology Program at the Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center. Other past positions include professor of medicine and molecular pharmacology at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) where he was director of the UCLA Vector Core and Shared Resource facility at the Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center for more than a decade. He also established and directed vector core facilities as a faculty member at the University of Southern California.

Dr. Kasahara serves as a member of the Scientific Committee on Cancer Gene and Cell Therapy for the American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy. He is also on the Board of Directors of the Japan Society of Gene and Cell Therapy and is a past president of the International Society for Cell and Gene Therapy of Cancer.

He is a member of the Scientific Advisory Boards of Tocagen Inc., POC Medical Systems Inc., the Mendez National Institute of Transplantation Foundation, and is on the Board of Advisors for OneLegacy. He is also a board-certified clinical pathologist, specializing in transplant immunogenetics, and serves as associate medical director of the HLA clinical laboratory for VRL Eurofins’ Los Angeles operations.

Dr. Kasahara trained with Professor Y. W. Kan at UCSF, a pioneer in the field of genetic diagnostics and recipient of the Lasker Award.