Kenneth W. Witwer

Kenneth W. Witwer, PhD.

Associate Professor

Molecular and Comparative Pathobiology

Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, USA

President

International Society of Extracellular Vesicle (ISEV)

About the Speaker:

Dr. Kenneth W. Witwer is an associate professor of molecular and comparative pathobiology and neurology at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine.   His research focuses on extracellular vesicles, RNA-mediated regulation, biomarker discovery, and therapeutic modulation of innate and intrinsic defenses.   His group is particularly interested in neurodegenerative diseases including the HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders, Alzheimer's, and Parkinson's.

Witwer has served as Secretary General and Executive Chair of Science and Meetings for the International Society for Extracellular Vesicles (ISEV), the leading scientific organization in his field.   He has been a scientific advisor to the US National Institutes of Health (Extracellular RNA Communication Consortium, Stage 1) and the US Environmental Protection Agency (FIFRA SAP).   He is an associate editor of the Journal of Extracellular Vesicles.

Honors

Catalyst Award, Johns Hopkins University, 7/1/17

Center for AIDS Research Scholar Award, Johns Hopkins University, 12/1/14

Young Investigator Award, 18th Conference on Retroviruses and Opportunistic Infections, 2/1/11

Keystone Symposia Scholarship, Keystone Symposia, 2/1/11

Richard T. Johnson Young Investigator Award, International Society for NeuroVirology, 6/1/09

Travel Grant, International Society for NeuroVirology, 6/1/09

Graduate Research Fellowship, National Science Foundation, 1/1/03

Turock Young Scientist Award, Turock Family Foundation, 1/1/02

Scholl Scholarship, Penn State University, 1/1/01

Selected Recent Publications:

1. Troyer Z, Gololobova O, Koppula A, Liao ZH, Horns F, Elowitz MB, Tosar JP, Batish M, Witwer KW (2024) Simultaneous Protein and RNA Analysis in Single Extracellular Vesicles, Including Viruses. ACS Nano 18:26568-26584.

2. Welsh JA, Goberdhan DCI, O'Driscoll L, Buzas EI, Blenkiron C, Bussolati B, Cai HJ, Di Vizio D, Driedonks TAP, Erdbrügger U, Falcon-Perez JM, Fu QL, Hill AF, Lenassi M, Lim SK, Mahoney MG, Mohanty S, Möller A, Nieuwland R, Ochiya T et al. (2024) Minimal information for studies of extracellular vesicles (MISEV2023): From basic to advanced approaches. J Extracell Vesicles 13:e12404.

3. Driedonks TAP, Goberdhan DCI, Mohanty S, Williams S, Nieuwland R, Witwer KW, Torrecilhas AC (2024) Connecting through ISEV's developing social media landscape. J Extracell Vesicles 13:e12475.

4. Halushka MK, Witwer KW (2023) Letter by Halushka and Witwer Regarding Article, "Circulating MicroRNA-122-5p Is Associated With a Lack of Improvement in Left Ventricular Function After Transcatheter Aortic Valve Replacement and Regulates Viability of Cardiomyocytes Through Extracellular Vesicles". Circulation 147:e64-e65.

5. Witwer KW, Wolfram J (2021) Extracellular vesicles versus synthetic nanoparticles for drug delivery. Nat Rev Mater 6:103-106.