Shih-Chu Kao

Shih-Chu Kao is a Principal Scientist at Benitec Biopharma. Shih-Chu has over 9 years of experience in the biotech industry, with a focus on early discovery of protein therapies to tackle human retinal disorders.

Prior to joining Benitec, Shih-Chu worked as a Technology Lead at Ionic Biomedical, where they identified critical endogenous angiogenesis inhibitors underproduced in common retinal diseases and developed a protein engineering strategy to enhance interaction between an antiangiogenic protein and extracellular matrix components in the vitreous humor. Shih-Chu also collaborated with scientific advisors (basic and clinical ophthalmology) to determine the scientific direction and business plan.

Before Ionic, Shih-Chu was a Scientist at GenEdit, where they were responsible for preclinical development and evaluation of genome editing technologies. Shih-Chu developed a clinically translatable nonviral approach to improve efficiency of CRISPR/Cas system and participated in an in vivo project to study efficacy of a modified Ca212 (Cpf1) system.

Shih-Chu began their career as a Research Fellow at Boston Children's Hospital, where they gained experience in cell culture, molecular biology, and animal models.

Shih-Chu holds a PhD in Biomedical Sciences from the University of California, San Francisco.

Shih-Chu Kao earned a Doctor of Philosophy in Bioengineering and Biomedical Engineering from the University of Pittsburgh. Shih-Chu also holds a Master of Science in Cell/Cellular and Molecular Biology from National Tsing Hua University and a Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from National Taiwan University. Dr. Kao did their postdoctoral work at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Some of their coworkers include Keiko Takahashi - Scientist II, Claudia Kloth - Senior Vice President of Manufacturing, and Michael Graham - Founding Scientist. Shih-Chu Kao reports to Jerel A. Banks, Executive Chairman and CEO.