Dr. Krystof Stefan Bankiewicz earned an M.D. from Jagiellonian University in Kraków, Poland, and a Ph.D., D.Sc. from the Institute of Neurology and Psychiatry in Warsaw, Poland, as well as the title of Professor by the President of the Republic of Poland. He is a member of the Polish Academy of Science. Dr. Bankiewicz was a recipient of a Fogarty Fellowship and trained under Dr. Irvin Kopin and Dr. Edward Oldfield at the Surgical Neurology at National Institutes of Neurological Disorders and Stroke at National Institutes of Health (NIH), Bethesda, Maryland, where he remained as a Staff Scientist.

Currently, Dr. Bankiewicz is Endowed Chair of the Kinetics Foundation in Translational Research and Tenured Professor of Neurological Surgery at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). At the Ohio State University he is Tenured Professor of Neurological Surgery and the Gilbert and Kathryn Mitchell Endowed Chair and Director of the Brain Health and Performance Center. Dr. Bankiewicz is Director, Interventional Neuro Center at Brodno Hospital in Warsaw, Poland. He is also Scientific Chairman of Parkinson’s and MSA Gene Therapy at AskBio Therapeutics.

Among his many professional experiences, it is notable that Dr. Bankiewicz held the positions of Chief of Molecular Therapeutics Section and Chief of CNS Implantation Unit, Surgical Neurology Branch, NINDS at NIH and has held a variety of esteemed positions related to neurology and neurosurgery at UCSF. Dr. Bankiewicz has additionally been a recipient of research grants from multiple organizations, including NIH, DOD and CIRM.

Dr. Bankiewicz is a recognized expert in neuro-restorative medicine, including delivery of therapeutics to the brain as well as gene therapy with successful translation of multiple drugs and gene therapies to the clinic. He has industry and academic experience, is an inventor on numerous patents and has published more than 250 peer-reviewed research articles.

Throughout his career, he has maintained a strong focus on the development of translational approaches to drug, gene and cell replacement therapies, and has displayed the ability to synthesize distinct technologies into powerful new approaches to the treatment of serious diseases, including brain cancer and neurodegenerative disorders of the brain. Dr. Bankiewicz co-founded several biotechnology and gene therapy companies. He pioneered ongoing gene therapy clinical trials in Parkinson’s Disease, Multiple System Atrophy, Alzheimer’s Disease and in pediatric neurotransmitter deficiency. He also invented several devices currently used clinically to administer gene therapy to the brain.