Kevin Eggan, Ph.D., joined BioMarin Pharmaceutical Inc., in October 2020 and serves as group vice president, head of research and early development. He is responsible for the execution of BioMarin’s discovery research programs, helping to shape the vision and long-term growth of the company through the oversight of a research pipeline of first- or best-in-class therapies.

Prior to joining BioMarin, Kevin served as a tenured professor in the department of stem cell and regenerative biology at Harvard University, director of stem cell biology for the Stanley Center for Psychiatric Research at the Broad Institute, and an institute member of the Broad Institute of Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Harvard.

Kevin has garnered international recognition for his seminal work in stem cell biology and a number of high-profile awards for his creativity and productivity, including the MacArthur Foundation “Genius Grant” in 2006, and named one of 50 Howard Hughes Medical Institute Early Career Scientists.

Kevin has published 130 scientific articles and holds 13 patents. He made a significant impact in the field by publishing two prestigious papers in Cell Stem Cell and Science in 2008; the first describes the discovery that motor neurons derived from human embryonic stem cells are susceptible to the toxic effect of glial cells harboring an ALS mutation, and the latter showed how iPSCs generated from adult skin cells of ALS patients can be differentiated into motor neurons. In addition, Dr. Eggan has served on the Scientific Advisory Boards of Iperian, Roche and Angelini Pharma.

Kevin earned a B.S. degree in microbiology and immunology from the University of Illinois and a Ph.D. in biology from MIT, where he focused on cloning, stem cells, and reprogramming after nuclear transfer under the guidance of genetics pioneer Rudolf Jaenisch, Ph.D. He remained in the Jaenisch lab for a one-year post-doctoral position at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research, where he conducted a study with Nobel laureate Richard Axel, M.D.