Kurt Kroeger joined the GTRI in October 2004 after moving to Los Angeles from the Washington D.C. area. Before coming to the GTRI, he worked for six years at GenVec, Inc., a Maryland-based biotech company dedicated to the development and clinical evaluation of gene therapy products using an adenoviral vector delivery system. During his tenure at GenVec, Mr. Kroeger participated in the development of novel gene therapy vectors to treat cancer, macular degeneration and HIV infection, all of which have now progressed to Phase II clinical testing.
One of Mr. Kroeger's primary objectives at the GTRI is to establish a Vector Core group that is responsible for development, characterization and storage of all the gene therapy vectors used in the pre-clinical studies carried out by GTRI researchers and their collaborators. We believe that having all of our vectors produced and characterized by a centralized group of experienced scientists and technicians will enhance the quality of the vector productions and expedite our pre-clinical studies. In the process, he has set up a system of interrelated databases that have been successfully integrated into the daily operations of the Vector Core to document the large quantities of data that are generated in the vector construction production process. In addition, he coordinates the shipments of vectors, plasmids and antibodies to our many collaborators.
Another one of Mr. Kroeger's objectives is to establish the capabilities for the GTRI Vector Core to grow high capacity and first generation vectors in suspension cells. He hopes to successfully grow high concentration, high quality production runs of gutless adenoviral vectors for use in the brain cancer and the Parkinson's disease programs.
Mr. Kroeger received his BSc degree from the University of Maryland in molecular genetics and later received his MSc degree from Johns Hopkins University in biotechnology.
