Professional Role and Responsibilities
Matt Maciejewski currently serves as Vice President and Head of Data Science at Korro Bio, a biotechnology company specializing in RNA editing therapeutics. In this capacity, he leads the data science team focused on applying advanced machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence (AI) approaches to accelerate and optimize oligonucleotide drug design for RNA editing.
Company Context: Korro Bio
Korro Bio’s platform harnesses ADAR enzyme-mediated endogenous RNA editing by designing synthetic oligonucleotides to direct site-specific A-to-G editing with high specificity and efficacy. The company targets difficult-to-treat diseases involving the liver and central nervous system by developing novel RNA editing therapeutics. Korro Bio has successfully attracted significant series funding, with a $116 million Series B round, supporting the advancement of its RNA editing pipeline, including oligonucleotide drug candidates in clinical trials.
Expertise and Career Background
- Matt holds a PhD in Computational Biophysics from the National Institutes of Health and the University of Edinburgh.
- His scientific trajectory includes a Presidential Postdoctoral Fellowship at Novartis, followed by approximately eight years at Pfizer, where he applied AI/ML to drug discovery challenges.
- At Korro Bio, he transitioned to focus on more innovative applications of machine learning in RNA editing therapeutic development.
Technical and Scientific Focus
- Matt’s expertise encompasses AI/ML, deep learning, probabilistic models, and computational biology, applied specifically to drug discovery and RNA therapeutics.
- He pioneered the design of Korro Bio’s first RNA editing oligonucleotide drug candidate, now in clinical trials.
- Leads efforts that utilize diverse ML models:
- Classical models such as XGBoost.
- Deep learning architectures including convolutional neural networks.
- Cutting-edge graph neural networks, which have proven particularly effective at modeling oligonucleotide structures and their interaction with both RNA targets and the ADAR enzyme.
- He oversees the generation and analysis of extensive proprietary datasets linking oligo structural modifications (e.g., insertions, deletions, chemical modifications at sugar, base, or linker) to functional RNA editing outcomes. This enables navigating a high-dimensional design space efficiently, prioritizing novel chemistries, and expediting lead candidate selection.
Key Contributions and Intellectual Capital
- Combines deep domain knowledge of RNA biology and chemistry with computational methods to produce highly predictive models that generalize across diverse oligo chemistries, accelerating the drug development pipeline.
- Develops machine learning-driven strategies to understand translational challenges, including predicting modification efficacy across different RNA targets and leveraging molecular modeling to interpret ML insights.
- Advocates the advantages of Korro Bio’s RNA editing technology over existing modalities like antisense RNA, mRNA therapeutics, and CRISPR gene editing by emphasizing safety, specificity, and reversibility inherent to ADAR-based editing.
Thought Leadership and Visibility
- Featured in professional Q&A interviews, notably DeciBio’s June 2023 spotlight, detailing the intersection of AI/ML with RNA editing drug discovery and development.
- Publicly presents on RNA editing and AI applications in biotech, including participation in RNA Editing Summits.
- Holds an active personal web presence (https://www.mattmaciejewski.com/) highlighting his work integrating computational science with therapeutic development.
Additional Roles and Activities
- CEO of MatGen, a computational Contract Research Organization (CRO) specializing in hands-on data science, coding, and technical execution, headquartered in Cambridge, Massachusetts. This role complements his leadership position at Korro Bio by maintaining close engagement with applied bioinformatics and computational research services.
Matt Maciejewski’s profile reflects a unique blend of advanced AI/ML expertise, deep molecular and biophysical insight, and experience spanning large pharma to biotech innovation. At Korro Bio, he directs data science functions critical to refining and scaling RNA editing therapeutic designs, leveraging cutting-edge computational tools to transform complex biological and chemical data into actionable drug candidates currently progressing through clinical evaluation.
