Dr. Mark Kay did an MD PhD at Case Western Reserve University and moved to Baylor College of Medicine in 1987 to pursue a residency and fellowship in Pediatrics, Medical Genetics and Inborn Errors of Metabolism. He started his work on Gene therapy during this period as a postdoctoral fellow. In 1993 he started his independent career at the University of Washington before moving to Stanford in 1998.  His work encompasses many different fields including gene transfer vectors, genome engineering and non-coding RNA biology. His work spans basic research through clinical trials. In his spare time, he enjoys spending time with his partner and adult children, photography, music, and playing tennis.

The goal of the Program in Human Gene Therapy is to develop gene transfer technologies and use them for hepatic gene therapy for the treatment of genetic and acquired diseases. The general approach is to develop new vector systems and delivery methods, test them in the appropriate animal models, uncover the mechanisms involved in vector transduction, and use the most promising approaches in clinical trials. Specifically, the lab works on a variety of viral and non-viral vector systems. Their major disease models are hemophilia, hepatitis C and B viral infections, and diabetes. The second major focus includes the role that small RNAs play in mammalian gene regulation.