Dr Ianthe Pitout (PhD) is the Group Leader of the Oligo Therapeutics Laboratory at the Personalised Medicine Centre, Murdoch University, and is focused on the development of RNA-targeted therapeutics to treat complex and rare diseases. Dr Pitout obtained her PhD in 2019 under the supervision of Professors Fletcher and Wilton, world leaders in antisense oligonucleotide therapeutics for rare diseases. During her PhD candidature, Dr Pitout designed an antisense oligonucleotide for modulating the expression of PRPF31, the causative gene in a rare inherited retinopathy (RP11), contributing a patented molecule, VP-001 (WO2020237294A1), that is currently undergoing Phase 3 clinical trials. She began her postdoctoral career in 2019, designing antisense therapeutics for inherited motor neuron disease (MND), resulting in a patented molecule for the treatment of C9ORF72-linked MND (WO2025107038A1) that is currently undergoing preclinical development. Dr Pitout has >10 years of experience in the design and evaluation of antisense oligonucleotides for translational applications. She is an experienced biotechnology researcher, having worked in both academic and industry sectors, with a track record in impactful translational research and drug development.
