Shannon E Boye,

Dr. Shannon E. Boye received her B.S. in marine biology with a minor in chemistry from Fairleigh Dickinson University in 2001. She graduated with a Ph.D. in Neuroscience from the University of Florida in 2006. Her thesis work involved developing viral vectors for the treatment of retinal disease, specifically GUCY2D Leber Congenital Amaurosis (LCA1). Following a postdoctoral fellowship and research assistant professorship under Dr. William Hauswirth, Dr. Boye was appointed as tenure track Assistant Professor in the University of Florida’s Department of Ophthalmology (2012). In 2016, she received tenure and was promoted to the rank of Associate Professor. In 2020, she transferred to the Department of Pediatrics where she is now Professor and Chief of the Division of Cellular and Molecular Therapeutics.

Dr. Boye’s memberships in professional societies include the Association for Research in Vision and Ophthalmology (ARVO) and the American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy (ASGCT). She currently serves as PI, Co-PI or Co-Investigator on several federally as well as privately funded grants and is actively involved in the University of Florida’s teaching mission. She is actively engaged in community outreach and is a highly sought after speaker at patient-oriented conferences. Her real passion is interfacing with those affected by the diseases she studies and educating these individuals about treatment options and ongoing research to develop future treatments. For her efforts, she is the three-time recipient of the Exemplary Teacher Award from UF’s College of Medicine. She has authored over 70 peer-reviewed manuscripts, multiple textbook chapters, is actively involved in grant and manuscript review, and is the recipient of several major awards including the ARVO Foundation/Merck Innovative Ophthalmology Research Award in Gene Therapy and Eye Disease, the Foundation Fighting Blindness Board of Director’s Award, a UF Term Professorship, the Gund Harrington Scholar Award for excellence in gene therapy research, and UF’s 2023 Innovator of the Year. She is also co-Founder, Director, and Chief Scientific Officer of Atsena Therapeutics, a clinical stage gene therapy company based in Durham, North Carolina.

When she is not at work, Dr. Boye still spends most of her time in the ‘Wet Lab’ (our nerdy boat name) with her husband and two children.

The focus of my research is developing viral vector-based gene therapies for the treatment of inherited ocular disease. My current focus areas are 1) developing AAV-based gene therapies for the treatment of GUCY2D-Leber congenital amaurosis-1 (LCA1), MYO7A- Usher syndrome 1B, and X-linked retinoschisis (XLRS), 2) developing novel AAV capsids for safe/efficient gene delivery to the outer retina (namely, foveal cones), 3) developing dual AAV vector platforms capable of delivering large transgenes (> 5kb), 4) developing AAV-CRISPR/Cas9-based therapies for dominant inherited retinal disease and 5) developing an AAV-based gene therapy for the ocular phenotype of Friedreich’s Ataxia.

My team has extensive experience developing novel AAV vectors via both rational design and directed evolution, testing these vectors for their ability to deliver therapeutic genes to animal models of inherited retinal disease and normal macaques, and conducting IND-enabling studies necessary to translate therapies from bench to bedside. I have published over 70 manuscripts, multiple book chapters and developed 45 technologies for which 188 patents have been awarded. I have given over 70 invited lectures (international and national), have chaired 9 Ph.D. thesis committees, served as member of 12 others, graduated 6 Ph.D. students, mentored 4 postdocs, 27 undergraduates, 4 junior faculty members, 5 medical students, and 3 visiting scholars. I perform grant review for the NIH, DoD, various European governmental agencies, and private foundations. I serve as an Associate Editor of Molecular Therapy, on the editorial boards of Human Gene Therapy, Visual Neuroscience, and Frontiers in Neuroscience, and perform ad hoc review for many others. For my efforts, I received several major awards including the Foundation Fighting Blindness Board of Directors’ Award, Gund Harrington Scholar Award, the ARVO Foundation/Pfizer Ophthalmics Carl Camras Translational Research Award, and the University of Florida’s Innovator of the Year. In 2020, I co-founded a gene therapy start up, Atsena Therapeutics, for which I act as Chief Scientific Officer and Director. I was promoted to Professor in 2021 and appointed Chief of UF’s Division of Cellular and Molecular Therapy in January 2024. Outside of my research, I am actively involved in the teaching mission of the University of Florida and am the three-time recipient of UF’s Exemplary Teacher Award. I am also passionate about outreach/education outside the University.

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