Dr. Sepp-Lorenzino joined Vertex in 2017 as VP, Head Nucleic Acid Therapies. From 2014 to 2017, she was VP, Entrepreneur-in-Residence at Alnylam, a leader in the development of RNAi Therapeutics. At Alnylam, she was responsible for the Hepatic Infectious Disease Strategic Therapeutic Area, championed Extra Hepatic siRNA Delivery internally, and via a number of collaborations, and was active in licensing and partnering. Before joining Alnylam, Dr. Sepp-Lorenzino spent 14 years at Merck & Co., having most recently served as Executive Director and Department Head, RNA Therapeutics Discovery Biology. In this role, she was responsible for identification and optimization of siRNAs and delivery vehicles, advancement of pre-clinical candidates, and development of an siRNA-conjugate platform to expand the repertoire of tissues accessible to in vivo siRNA delivery. Prior to RNAi, Laura worked in oncology drug discovery and development, having led the Cancer Research Department at Merck West Point, and having been an Assistant Lab Member and Assistant Attending Molecular Biologist at Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. Laura received her Professional Degree in Biochemistry from the University of Buenos Aires, and her M.S. and Ph.D. in Biochemistry from New York University.