Researcher

Ophir Shalem

Profile

Ophir Shalem is an Associate Professor at the University of Pennsylvania's Perelman School of Medicine and the Center for Cellular and Molecular Therapeutics. He is a leading developer of genome-scale CRISPR screening technologies and their application to understanding neurological diseases. As a graduate student and postdoctoral researcher in Feng Zhang's laboratory at the Broad Institute, Shalem co-developed the first lentiviral CRISPR knockout library systems enabling genome-wide loss-of-function screens in human cells — a technology that transformed functional genomics and drug target discovery. His independent laboratory at Penn focuses on applying CRISPR tools to dissect the genetic basis of neurodegeneration, particularly ALS, frontotemporal dementia (FTD), and disorders caused by dysfunction of the ubiquitin-proteasome system. The Shalem lab develops custom CRISPR base-editing screens, single-cell readout platforms, and iPSC-based disease models for high-throughput genetic interrogation. He is a significant buyer of viral vector production equipment, sequencing platforms, iPSC differentiation reagents, and automated cell culture systems. Shalem has received a Pew Biomedical Scholar Award, a Rita Allen Foundation Scholar Award, and an NIH Director's New Innovator Award.

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