Senior Vice President and Founding Director of the Center for Applied Technology Development

Larry A. Couture, Ph.D., joined City of Hope in April 1998 as head of Technology Development & Transfer and the Center for Biomedicine & Genetics. Most recently, he was appointed senior vice president and founding director of the Center for Applied Technology Development at City of Hope.

Couture began his scientific career at the National Institutes of Health (NIH), where he was involved in the first human gene therapy trials. While at the NIH, in the laboratory of French Anderson, M.D., he made significant contributions to the development of retroviral gene therapy vectors.

Couture then moved to Genzyme corporation, where he co-established a gene therapy program that initially targeted cystic fibrosis and was based on the then-untested viral vector called adenovirus. While there, he was largely responsible for the initiation of the first human clinical trials with this vector, as well as the first direct delivery of such a therapeutic to humans. Collaborations established at Genzyme in the area of cancer gene therapy have since been the foundation for several clinical trials and a spin-off company.

The considerable experience gained at Genzyme in regulatory affairs and drug development, combined with proven scientific leadership, served as the basis for Couture's subsequent position at Ribozyme Pharmaceuticals Inc. (RPI) in Boulder, Colo. There, Couture assembled a gene therapy team that, together with investigators at City of Hope, Children’s Hospital and Chiron Corporation, initiated landmark gene therapy trials for patients with AIDS. While at RPI, Couture’s emphasis shifted from pure scientific leadership to drug and business development.

Couture received his doctorate in immunology and microbiology from Albany Medical College.