Engineering the next generation of
cell and gene therapies
publications
Select publications are highlighted below. For a full publication list, please see Paperpile (with PDF files), Pubmed or Google Scholar.
Genome-wide CRISPR screening identifies cellular factors controlling nonviral genome editing efficiency
Nature Communications
Shivani Saxena, Meha Kabra, Amr A. Abdeen, Diana M. Tabima, Divya Sinha, Piper A. Rawding, Min Zhu, Ruosen Xie, Tanvi Kulkarni, Giovanni M. Hanstad, Maria A. Fernandez Zepeda, David M. Gamm, Bikash R. Pattnaik, Shaoqin Gong & Krishanu Saha. 2026 [link]
Human T cell engineering via serial delivery of mRNA encapsulated within lipid nanoparticles
Molecular Therapy, Nucleic Acids
Apoorva Ramamurthy, Giulia Scimonelli, William L. Murphy, Krishanu Saha. 2026 [link]
Directing fratricide within T cell products using an anti-uPAR chimeric antigen receptor to drive the production of potent therapeutic cells
Molecular Therapy
Lauren E. Sarko, David Givand, Brendan Rattin, Claire Shepley, Anna Tommasi, Allen Attar, Rachel Taylor, Benjamin Kutler, Roshini M. Traynor, Anika Upadhyaya, Mackenzie Mnuk, Cavin Gehrke, Nathan Murren, Tyler K. Ulland, Christian M. Capitini, Theresa Kotanchek, Krishanu Saha. 2026 [link]
Monitoring biological effects of somatic cell genome editing
Nature Review Genetics
Benjamin S. Freedman, Jeff W. M. Bulte, Bruce R. Conklin, Luke M. Judge, Melinda R. Dwinell, Aron M. Geurts, Madeleine J. Sitton, Vineet Mahajan, Samira Kiani, Charles A. Gersbach, Mo R. Ebrahimkhani, John J. Kelly, John A. Ronald, Ryuji Morizane, Navin Gupta, Ali Shakeri-Zadeh, Nicole Vo, Krishanu Saha, Shivani Saxena, David M. Gamm, Divya Sinha, Alice F. Tarantal, Moriel Vandsburger, Azusa Matsubara, SCGE Dissemination and Coordinating Center Toolkit Team & SCGE Biological Effects Initiative. 2026 [link]
A Reset for Bioethics: A Statement from the Global Observatory for Genome Editing
The CRISPR Journal
Sheila Jasanoff, J. Benjamin Hurlbut, Krishanu Saha, Jacob D. Moses, Daniel Affsprung, Henry Austin, Françoise Baylis, John H. Evans, Timothy Hunt, Douglas A. Kysar, Laurence Lwoff, Peter Mills, Jahnavi Phalkey, Matthew H. Porteus, O. Carter Snead, Kaushik Sunder Rajan, and Carrie D. Wolinetz. 2025 [pdf]
Virus-free CRISPR knockin of a chimeric antigen receptor into KLRC1 generates potent GD2-specific natural killer cells
Molecular Therapy
Keerthana Shankar, Isabelle Zingler-Hoslet, Diana M. Tabima, Seth Zima, Lei Shi, Kirstan Gimse, Matthew H. Forsberg,4 Varun Katta, Sage Z. Davis, Daniel Maldonado, Brittany E. Russell, Muhammed Murtaza, Shengdar Q. Tsai, Jose M. Ayuso, Christian M. Capitini, and Krishanu Saha. 2025 [link]
Nonviral base editing of KCNJ13 mutation preserves vision in a model of inherited retinal channelopathy
The Journal of Clinical Investigation
Meha Kabra, Pawan K. Shahi, Yuyuan Wang, Divya Sinha, Allison Spillane, Gregory A. Newby, Shivani Saxena, Yao Tong, Yu Chang, Amr A. Abdeen, Kimberly L. Edwards, Cole O. Theisen, David R. Liu, David M. Gamm, Shaoqin Gong, Krishanu Saha, and Bikash R. Pattnaik. 2023 [link]
Efficient nonviral integration of large transgenes into human T cells using Cas9-CLIPT
Molecular Therapy: Methods and Clinical Development
Anna Tommasi*, Dan Cappabianca*, Madison Bugel, Kirstan Gimse, Karl Lund-Peterson, Hum Shrestha, Denis Arutyunov, James A. Williams, Seshidhar Reddy Police, Venkata Indurthi, Sage Z. Davis, Muhammed Murtaza, Christian M. Capitini, Krishanu Saha. 2025 [link]
Virus-free CRISPR knockin of a chimeric antigen receptor into KLRC1 generates potent GD2-specific natural killer cells
Molecular Therapy
Keerthana Shankar, Isabelle Zingler-Hoslet, Diana M. Tabima, Seth Zima, Lei Shi, Kirstan Gimse, Matthew H. Forsberg, Varun Katta, Sage Z. Davis, Daniel Maldonado, Brittany E. Russell, Muhammed Murtaza, Shengdar Q. Tsai, Jose M. Ayuso, Christian M. Capitini, Krishanu Saha. 2025 [link]
Production and characterization of virus-free, CRISPR-CAR T cells capable of inducing solid tumor regression
Journal for ImmunoTherapy of Cancer
Mueller, K. P.*, Piscopo, N. J.*, Forsberg, M. H., Saraspe, L. A., Das, A., Russell, B., Smerchansky, M., Cappabianca, D., Shi, L., Shankar, K., Sarko, L., Khajanchi, N., La Vonne Denne, N., Ramamurthy, A., Ali, A., Lazzarotto, C. R., Tsai, S. Q., Capitini, C. M., & Saha, K. 2022. [link] [PDF] *equal contribution
"Editor's Pick" for October 2022
Human iPSC Modeling Reveals Mutation-Specific Responses to Gene Therapy in a Genotypically Diverse Dominant Maculopathy
The American Journal of Human Genetics
Divya Sinha*, Benjamin Steyer*, Pawan K. Shahi, Katherine P. Mueller, Rasa Valiauga, Kimberly L. Edwards, Cole Bacig, Stephanie S. Steltzer, Sandhya Srinivasan, Amr Abdeen, Evan Cory, Viswesh Periyasamy, Alireza Fotuhi Siahpirani, Edwin M. Stone, Budd A. Tucker, Sushmita Roy, Bikash R. Pattnaik, Krishanu Saha, David M. Gamm. 2020. [link]
*equal contribution
Media Coverage: UW-Madison [link]
A biodegradable nanocapsule delivers a Cas9 ribonucleoprotein complex for in vivo genome editing
Nature Nanotechnology
research
We utilize quantitative and bioengineering methods to advance the next generation of cell and gene therapies.
Genome Editing
CRISPR-Cas9, nanoparticle delivery
We develop new tools and insights into the editing of the human genome. Projects include understanding DNA repair and nanoscale assembly of nucleic acids and novel nonviral polymeric delivery agents around protein-based CRISPR systems. We are advancing two projects in the NIH Somatic Cell Genome Editing Consortium.
Biomanufacturing
Cell therapy manufacturing
Cells are living drugs that can be difficult to generate, scale-up, and quality control. Projects include monitoring and controlling the heterogeneity during gene modification and scale-up of stem cells and T cell immunotherapies (e.g., CAR T cells). We benefit from collaborations with the national Center for Cell Manufacturing.
Science and Technology Studies
Science Policy/Bioethics
We seek to understand the dynamic and heterogeneous processes by which novel bioengineered objects get embedded into law and policy. Outputs are designed to invoke reflection among practicing scientists on the social commitments behind their choices when engineering human cells, as well as to inform regulations, institutional obligations, and state policy. We leverage collaborations within Holtz STS Center, Bio+Society Collaboratory, and Forum on Regenerative Medicine.
meet our lab
Members come from several programs including biomedical engineering, biophysics, molecular biology and medicine.
Kris Saha, PhD
Associate Professor
Kathryn and Latimer Murfee Chair - Retina Research Foundation
NIH Somatic Cell Genome Editing Consortium, Co-Chair
NSF Center for Cell Manufacturing Technologies, Testbed Co-lead
Ross Schwartz
Lab Manager
Srikumar Sengupta, PhD
Principal Scientist
Marcela Tabima Martinez, PhD
Principal Scientist
Anna Tommasi
Graduate Student
- Biomedical Engineering
GSTP Fellowship
Daniel Maldonado
Graduate Student - Comparative Biomedical Sciences
Giulia Scimonelli
Undergraduate Research Assistant
Catherine Reiher
Undergraduate Research Assistant
Jack Zemlock
Undergraduate Research Assistant
Merrick Mann
Undergraduate Research Assistant
Aizada Yernar
Undergraduate Research Assistant
Charles Andorfer
Undergraduate Research Assistant
Evelyn Keelty
Undergraduate Research Assistant
Raya Gottesfeld
Undergraduate Research Assistant
Swar Khopkar
Undergraduate Research Assistant
funding
We are supported by:
