Bloomberg Distinguished Professor | Johns Hopkins School of Medicine

Jeff Coller is a Bloomberg Distinguished Professor at Johns Hopkins University, where he directs the RNA Innovation Center. His lab discovered a hidden layer of information in the genetic code that controls how long messenger RNA survives in a cell. The graduate student who helped make that discovery went on to design the mRNA sequence in Moderna’s COVID-19 vaccine.

Jeff co-founded Tevard Biosciences, which develops treatments for rare genetic diseases, and the Alliance for mRNA Medicines. He is a staunch advocate for rare disease families and has petitioned Congress in defense of mRNA science. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, the Wall Street Journal, Fortune, and other outlets, including a widely read 2026 Times essay on a gene editing medicine built for a single infant.

His talk asks why a medicine that can now be designed for one child remains out of reach for so many.