Sukumar Nagendran, M.D.

Sukumar Nagendran, M.D., is the President and Head of R&D at Taysha Gene Therapies, Inc., a clinical-stage gene therapy company focused on developing and commercializing AAV-based gene therapies for the treatment of monogenic rare diseases of the central nervous system (CNS). He is a physician leader with more than 30 years of experience in key functional areas, including gene therapy development, clinical development strategy, medical affairs and diagnostics of therapeutic products. Before joining Taysha, Dr. Nagendran served as Chief Medical Officer and President of R&D at Jaguar Gene Therapy. Prior to that, Dr. Nagendran served as Chief Medical Officer of AveXis, Inc. where he oversaw the development of Zolgensma for the treatment of spinal muscular atrophy, the first one-time systemic gene therapy approved in the U.S. Dr. Nagendran has also held key leadership positions at Quest Diagnostics, Pfizer, Novartis, Daiichi Sankyo, and Reata Pharmaceuticals.

Prior to transitioning to the biotech industry, Dr. Nagendran practiced internal medicine, with a focus on diabetes and cardiovascular disease. He currently serves on the Board of Directors of SalioGen Therapeutics, Solid Biosciences, Cove, Medocity, Project Healthy Minds, and Taysha Gene Therapies. He holds an undergraduate degree in Biochemistry from Rutgers University and earned his M.D. from Rutgers Medical School, and he trained in Internal Medicine at Mayo Clinic, Rochester.

Dr. Nagendran is a Mayo Alumni Laureate and founding member of the Robert Wood Johnson Legacy Society. He is also the sponsor for the Jerry Mendell award for Translational Science at the American Society of Gene and Cell Therapy which recognizes the extensive work required to bring gene and cell therapies to clinical trial, and the Fonseca-Nagendran Scholar award at the American Diabetes Association to enhance research in minority populations.