Dr. Holly Kordasiewicz is the executive vice president and chief development officer at Ionis Pharmaceuticals, where she is responsible for preclinical development, clinical development, regulatory affairs and drug safety for Ionis’ antisense medicines. 

Since joining Ionis, Dr. Kordasiewicz has played a central role in building and expanding the neurology organization. She led the preclinical research for QALSODY® (tofersen), an antisense oligonucleotide (ASO) treatment for a rare, genetic form of amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS). Under her direction, the neurology team developed a robust pipeline of RNA-targeted therapies aimed at treating a range of serious neurological diseases, including ALS, Alzheimer’s disease, and multiple rare neurological diseases. In her tenure at Ionis, she has successfully transitioned several medicines from research into development. 

Dr. Kordasiewicz earned her Ph.D. in neuroscience from the University of Minnesota, where she studied molecular mechanisms underlying neurodegeneration. She then completed her postdoctoral training in the laboratory of Dr. Don Cleveland at the University of California, San Diego, where she contributed to early preclinical validation efforts for ASO therapies.