
Andrew Kasarskis, PhD
- PROFESSOR | Genetics and Genomic Sciences
- PROFESSOR | Population Health Science and Policy
Andrew Kasarskis, PhD, Executive Vice President and Chief Data Officer of the Mount Sinai Health System, is responsible for supporting the patient care, education, research, and innovation missions of the Mount Sinai Health System, which includes the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. His mandate is to create value from the data assets of the large and diverse organization. From 2011 to 2019, Dr. Kasarskis built the Icahn Institute for Genomics and Multiscale Biology as Co-Director with Eric Schadt, PhD. At the same time, he served as Vice Chair of the Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. As a Professor in the Department of Genetics and Genomic Sciences and the Icahn Institute, Dr. Kasarskis continues to lead collaborative projects that seek to identify biomarkers from a systems understanding of biology and develop new therapeutics. His research focuses on creating and applying technology to diverse areas, including pathogen surveillance, autoimmune conditions such as inflammatory bowel disease and asthma, viral infections, and primary prevention of chronic disease. Dr. Kasarskis has two decades of experience managing research and technology development projects in software engineering, drug development, human and mouse genetics, and other biological research applications. Prior to joining Mount Sinai, he was Senior Director at Pacific Biosciences, where he developed medical and research applications for the company’s Single-Molecule Real Time (SMRT) sequencing technology. He served as Scientific Director of Genetics at Merck Research Laboratories and contributed to the launch of Sage Bionetworks, a not-for-profit medical research organization that advances human health through by making science more open, collaborative, and inclusive. Additionally, Dr. Kasarskis worked at Stanford University to develop genome databases, including the Gene Ontology, the Stanford Microarray Database, and the Saccharomyces Genome Database. He was also Senior Product Manager for genome databases and software at DoubleTwist, Inc., a genomic information and bioinformatics analysis company. His published work includes book chapters and peer-reviewed articles spanning the fields of genetics, genomics, systems biology, bioinformatics, infectious disease, sleep, and several human disorders. Dr. Kasarskis holds a PhD in Molecular and Cellular Biology from UC Berkeley as well as a BS in Biology and a BA in Chemistry from the University of Kentucky.
Gargis AS, Kalman L, Berry MW, Bick DP, Dimmock DP, Hambuch T, Lu F, Lyon E, Voelkerding KV, Zehnbauer BA, Agarwala R, Bennett SF, Chen B, Chin EL, Compton JG, Das S, Farkas DH, Ferber MJ, Funke BH, Furtado MR, Ganova-Raeva LM, Geigenmüller U, Gunselman SJ, Hegde MR, Johnson PL, Kasarskis A, Kulkarni S, Lenk T, Liu CS, Manion M, Manolio TA, Mardis ER, Merker JD, Rajeevan MS, Reese MG, Rehm HL, Simen BB, Yeakley JM, Zook JM, Lubin IM. Assuring the quality of next-generation sequencing in clinical laboratory practice. Nature biotechnology 2012 Nov; 30(11).
Brunner JI, Gotter AL, Millstein J, Garson S, Binns J, Fox SV, Savitz AT, Yang HS, Fitzpatrick K, Zhou L, Owens JR, Webber AL, Vitaterna MH, Kasarskis A, Uebele VN, Turek F, Renger JJ, Winrow CJ. Pharmacological validation of candidate causal sleep genes identified in an N2 cross. Journal of neurogenetics 2011 Dec; 25(4).
Chin CS, Sorenson J, Harris JB, Robins WP, Charles RC, Jean-Charles RR, Bullard J, Webster DR, Kasarskis A, Peluso P, Paxinos EE, Yamaichi Y, Calderwood SB, Mekalanos JJ, Schadt EE, Waldor MK. The origin of the Haitian cholera outbreak strain. The New England journal of medicine 2011 Jan; 364(1).
Millstein J, Winrow CJ, Kasarskis A, Owens JR, Zhou L, Summa KC, Fitzpatrick K, Zhang B, Vitaterna MH, Schadt EE, Renger JJ, Turek FW. Identification of causal genes, networks, and transcriptional regulators of REM sleep and wake. Sleep 2011 Nov; 34(11).
Winrow CJ, Williams DL, Kasarskis A, Millstein J, Laposky AD, Yang HS, Mrazek K, Zhou L, Owens JR, Radzicki D, Preuss F, Schadt EE, Shimomura K, Vitaterna MH, Zhang C, Koblan KS, Renger JJ, Turek FW. Uncovering the genetic landscape for multiple sleep-wake traits. PloS one 2009; 4(4).
Smith CC, Wang Q, Chin CS, Salerno S, Damon LE, Levis MJ, Perl AE, Travers KJ, Wang S, Hunt JP, Zarrinkar PP, Schadt EE, Kasarskis A, Kuriyan J, Shah NP. Validation of ITD mutations in FLT3 as a therapeutic target in human acute myeloid leukaemia. Nature 2012 May; 485(7397).
Kasarskis A, Yang X, Schadt E. Integrative genomics strategies to elucidate the complexity of drug response. Pharmacogenomics 2011 Dec; 12(12).
Bashir A, Klammer AA, Robins WP, Chin CS, Webster D, Paxinos E, Hsu D, Ashby M, Wang S, Peluso P, Sebra R, Sorenson J, Bullard J, Yen J, Valdovino M, Mollova E, Luong K, Lin S, LaMay B, Joshi A, Rowe L, Frace M, Tarr CL, Turnsek M, Davis BM, Kasarskis A, Mekalanos JJ, Waldor MK, Schadt EE. A hybrid approach for the automated finishing of bacterial genomes. Nature biotechnology 2012 Jul; 30(7).
Rasko DA, Webster DR, Sahl JW, Bashir A, Boisen N, Scheutz F, Paxinos EE, Sebra R, Chin CS, Iliopoulos D, Klammer A, Peluso P, Lee L, Kislyuk AO, Bullard J, Kasarskis A, Wang S, Eid J, Rank D, Redman JC, Steyert SR, Frimodt-Møller J, Struve C, Petersen AM, Krogfelt KA, Nataro JP, Schadt EE, Waldor MK. Origins of the E. coli strain causing an outbreak of hemolytic-uremic syndrome in Germany. The New England journal of medicine 2011 Aug; 365(8).
Physicians and scientists on the faculty of the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai often interact with pharmaceutical, device and biotechnology companies to improve patient care, develop new therapies and achieve scientific breakthroughs. In order to promote an ethical and transparent environment for conducting research, providing clinical care and teaching, Mount Sinai requires that salaried faculty inform the School of their relationships with such companies.
Dr. Kasarskis is not currently required to report Industry relationships.
Mount Sinai's faculty policies relating to faculty collaboration with industry are posted on our website. Patients may wish to ask their physician about the activities they perform for companies.