Zoran Gavrilov

PhD candidate in Biomedicine at the University of Zurich with a Master of Pharmacy degree and extensive international research experience. My research focuses on developing AAV-mediated CRISPR activation (CRISPRa) gene therapy strategies for inherited retinal diseases by transcriptionally activating endogenous therapeutic genes as a mutation-independent treatment approach. I have been awarded several competitive international fellowships and scholarships and have worked across academia in Switzerland, Germany, Slovenia, Japan, and the Netherlands. I am passionate about translating innovative research into therapeutic applications.

• Passionate about travelling, exploring new cultures, and learning Japanese. Football enthusiast and UEFA Women's EURO 2025 volunteer. Enjoying meeting new people and, since moving to Switzerland, hiking and exploring the Alps.

• FELASA B
• GCP Module 1 & 2
• GCP Module 3

• American Society for Gene and Cell Therapy (ASGCT) Annual Assembly 2026 Boston,USA, 11/05/2026–15/05/2026 Poster presentation
• International Symposium on Retinal Degeneration - RD2025 Prague,CzechRepublic, 15/09/2025–19/09/2025 Poster presentation

• David M. Mittas, Dina Y. Otify, Zoran Gavrilov, Thomas Heigl et al. "Gene Supplementation of MYO7A or activation of Myo7b for treatment of Usher syndrome 1B." BioRxiv.2026. doi: https://doi.org/10.64898/2026.07.02.736025
• Mittas DM, Riedmayr LM, Gavrilov Z et al. "Dual AAV vectors for efficient delivery of large transgenes." Nature Protocols. 2025. doi:10.1038/s41596-025-01243-8.
• Weber VJ, Reschigna A, Gerhardt MJ, Heigl T, Hinrichsmeyer KS, den Engel SV, Otify DY, Gavrilov Z et al. "CRISPR/Cas-mediated activation of genes associated with inherited retinal dystrophies in human cells for diagnostic purposes."JCI Insight. 2025;10(22):e189615. doi:10.1172/jci.insight.189615.
• Mittas DM, Gavrilov Z et al. "CRISPR/Cas-mediated gene activation as a versatile tool for treatment of inherited retinal dystrophies. Advances in Experimental Medicine and Biology." 2025;1468:95–99. doi:10.1007/978-3-031- 76550-6_16.

• Retinal Biology & Disease: Inherited retinal diseases (IRDs), retinal degeneration and disease mechanisms, photoreceptor and RPE biology, Stargardt disease, PDE6B-associated retinitis pigmentosa, Usher syndrome, translational ophthalmology
• Gene & Cell Therapy: AAV-based gene therapy, CRISPR-based gene regulation, CRISPRa-mediated transcriptional activation, dCas9-VPR systems, gene supplementation, dual AAV vector systems, therapeutic concept development and preclinical validation
• Preclinical & Translational Research: Mouse models of inherited retinal disease, human retinal organoids and explants, in vivo ocular gene delivery, subretinal and intravitreal administration, longitudinal assessment of therapeutic efficacy and safety, translation of experimental concepts toward therapeutic development
• Retinal Phenotyping & Functional Assessment: Electroretinography (ERG), optical coherence tomography (OCT), fundus and autofluorescence imaging, retinal morphology and histology, immunofluorescence and confocal microscopy, molecular and biochemical assessment of therapeutic outcomes
• Molecular & Cellular Biology: Mammalian cell culture, molecular cloning, DNA/RNA analysis, qRT-PCR, RNA sequencing, Western blotting, proteomics, AAV production and transduction, immunofluorescence, expansion microscopy
• Computational & Quantitative Analysis: Bioinformatics, transcriptomic and RNA-seq analysis, scientific image analysis (ImageJ/Fiji), quantitative data analysis and visualization, GraphPad Prism, basic Python and R