The Science of CRISPR with Dr. Jennifer Doudna

This event is sold out.

Join the Cleveland Museum of Natural History as we welcome Nobel Prize–winning biochemist and Founder of the Innovative Genomics Institute Dr. Jennifer Doudna.

This moderated conversation will explore Dr. Doudna’s groundbreaking development of CRISPR-Cas9 as a genome engineering technology and the ethical implications of genome editing for human biology and societies. Dr. Kari A. Cunningham, a board-certified pediatric dentist, the owner of Panther Pediatric Dentistry, and a member of the Museum's Board of Directors, will serve as moderator.

This program is part of the Linda and Les Vinney Know Your World Lecture Series.

Museum doors open at 6:30pm; the discussion will begin at 7pm. Beverages and grab-and-go items will be available for purchase in Origins Café before the program.

Tickets & Parking

Leadership Circle: $20*
Members: $25
Nonmembers: $30

Members: Please log in to your online Museum account to ensure access to the presale and discounted tickets. Your member discount will be reflected in your shopping cart.

Tickets limited to four per order.

Parking is available in the Museum's attached garage. Standard rates apply.

*To learn more about joining the Leadership Circle, please contact Kelly Federico, Annual Fund Manager, at 216.231.4600 x3360 or kfederico@cmnh.org.

About Jennifer Doudna, Ph.D.

Dr. Jennifer Doudna is a biochemist at the University of California, Berkeley. Her groundbreaking development of CRISPR-Cas9—a genome engineering technology that allows researchers to edit DNA—with collaborator Emmanuelle Charpentier earned the two the 2020 Nobel Prize in Chemistry and forever changed the course of human and agricultural genomics research.

Dr. Doudna is also the Founder of the Innovative Genomics Institute, the Li Ka Shing chancellor’s chair in Biomedical and Health Sciences, and a member of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, Gladstone Institutes, the National Academy of Sciences, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She is a leader in the global public debate on the responsible use of CRISPR and has co-founded and serves on the advisory panel of several companies that use the technology in unique ways.

Dr. Doudna is the co-author of A Crack in Creation, a personal account of her research and the societal and ethical implications of gene editing.

About Kari A. Cunningham, D.M.D.

Dr. Kari A. Cunningham is a board-certified pediatric dentist, a Fellow of the American Academy of Pediatric Dentistry, a Fellow of the International College of Dentists, and the owner of Panther Pediatric Dentistry—Euclid's Leading Sedation Location. This October, she will be inducted as a Fellow of the American College of Dentists. Dr. Cunningham contributes to the profession as a leader, a volunteer, and an adjunct faculty member at Case Western Reserve University School of Dental Medicine. She is the Chair of the Ohio Dental Association's Council on Access to Care and Public Service, past Vice-Chair of the ODA Subcouncil on Diversity and Inclusion, and past president of the Greater Cleveland Dental Society and CWRU School of Dental Medicine Alumni Association. She is a certified life coach with a focus on temperaments, office culture, and health careers coaching, and can often be found saying, "Dentistry is my ministry!"

Dr. Cunningham is a member of the Board of Directors of the Cleveland Museum of Natural History and the CWRU Alumni Association, a dental provider to children in Northeast Ohio with sickle cell anemia and sickle cell trait, and the sister of a "sickle cell warrior." She is blessed to see the effects of gene therapy on patients and the sickle cell community. Dr. Cunningham is honored to moderate this impactful and informative discussion with Dr. Jennifer Doudna—the pioneer of CRISPR gene-editing advancements.