Researcher

Luke Gilbert

Profile

Luke Gilbert is an Associate Professor at UCSF's Arc Institute and Helen Diller Family Comprehensive Cancer Center, and a pioneering developer of next-generation CRISPR tools for functional genomics. Working in Jonathan Weissman's laboratory, Gilbert co-developed CRISPRi (CRISPR interference) and CRISPRa (CRISPR activation) — technologies that allow programmable silencing or activation of any gene without cutting DNA, enabling genome-scale gain-of-function and loss-of-function screens. His independent laboratory focuses on applying these tools to understand cancer biology, particularly the mechanisms of drug resistance in solid tumors and the dependencies of cancer cells on specific gene regulatory programs. Gilbert's group has developed ultra-high-throughput CRISPR screening platforms that integrate single-cell readouts with genetic perturbations, enabling screens of unprecedented scale and resolution. The Gilbert lab is a significant buyer of lentiviral production equipment, next-generation sequencing infrastructure, cell culture automation systems, and flow cytometry platforms. He has filed multiple patents related to CRISPRi/a applications and is co-founder of Gordian Biotechnology. Gilbert has received a NIH New Innovator Award, an NCI Outstanding Investigator Award, and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute Emerging Pathogen Initiative grant.

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