Overview

Dr. Anh-Thu Lam, a Scientific Advisor, works closely with attorneys to align technical details with legal strategies. Focusing on patent prosecution and developing and strengthening patent portfolios in the life sciences, including the biotechnology and pharmaceutical fields, she serves as a resource to translate complex scientific concepts into clear, accurate descriptions that support strong patents for matters in the U.S. and internationally. She also supports IP litigation efforts through targeted document review and technical analysis.

With more than a decade of research experience in molecular and cellular biology, biochemistry, genetics, and neuroscience, Anh-Thu brings deep subject-matter expertise to matters across the life sciences sector. Her integration of legal training, regulatory experience, and scientific depth uniquely positions her to support clients navigating the evolving landscape of biotechnology and pharmaceutical intellectual property.

At her prior firm, Anh-Thu advised attorneys and clients on a wide range of IP issues, including prior art and freedom-to-operate analyses, patentability evaluations, technical due diligence, and invalidity investigations. She conducted complex factual and scientific research and assisted in developing global patent portfolios for innovative biotechnology companies.

Before entering the IP field, Anh-Thu served as an expert consultant supporting the U.S. Food and Drug Administration’s (FDA) Center for Drug Evaluation and Research. In this role, she led safety data review planning for IND and NDA submissions, performed sophisticated statistical analyses, and contributed to the publication of high-quality regulatory documents. Her contributions earned her the FDA’s Outstanding New Reviewer Award in 2022.

Anh-Thu completed her Ph.D. in Human Genetics and Molecular Biology at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, where she conducted award-winning research on genetic modifiers of cystic fibrosis and collaborated with multiple institutions on high-impact genetic studies. Her postdoctoral work further explored the genetics of neuropsychiatric disorders using CRISPR genome editing, RNA-seq, and ATAC-seq methodologies. Earlier in her career, she conducted research at Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School on somatic mutations underlying pediatric brain malformations.

Committed to advancing the intersection of science, innovation, and law, Anh-Thu is currently pursuing her J.D. at Georgetown University Law Center, where she is a Tech Law & Policy Scholar in the evening program. Her scientific publications have appeared in leading journals, including The New England Journal of Medicine, JCI, PLOS Genetics, and Scientific Reports.

*Not admitted to the D.C. Bar

Newsroom

Speaking Engagements

“Increased expression of SLC26A9 delays age-at-onset of diabetes in cystic fibrosis.” Lam, A., et al. Gordon Research Conference: Human Genetic Variation and Disease, 2018 (Biddeford, ME)

  • Invited Oral Presentation and Lecture and Poster Presentation

“Increased expression of SLC26A9 delays age-at-onset of Cystic Fibrosis-Related Diabetes.” Lam, A., et al. American Society of Human Genetics Conference, 2017 (Orland, FL)

  • Reviewer’s Choice Abstract: Scored top 10% of poster abstracts as determined by the reviewer’s score

Publications

Co-author, “Genetic modifiers of body mass index in individuals with cystic fibrosis.” Am J Hum Genet. 111(10):2203-18 (2024).

Co-author, “Pleiotropic modifiers of age-related diabetes and neonatal intestinal obstruction in cystic fibrosis.” Am J Hum Genet. 109(10):1894-1908 (2022). 

Co-author, “CRISPR Del/Rei: a simple, flexible, and efficient pipeline for scarless genome editing.” Sci Rep 12, 11928 (2022).

Lam, A.*, Peng, X.*, Das, D.*, et al. “Transcriptomic data of chlozapine-treated Ngn2-induced human excitatory neurons.” Data Brief. 35:106897 (2021).

Das, D.*, Peng, X.*, Lam, A.*, et al., “Transcriptome analysis of human induced excitatory neurons supports a strong effect of clozapine on cholesterol biosynthesis.” Schizophr Res. 228:324-326 (2021).

Co-author, “SLC26A9 SNP rs7512462 is not associated with lung disease severity or lung function response to ivacaftor in cystic fibrosis patients with G551D-CFTR.” Cyst Fibros. 20(5):851-856 (2021).

Co-author, “Homozygous deletions implicate non-coding epigenetic marks in Autism spectrum disorder.” Sci Rep. 10(1):14045 (2020). 

Lam, A. et al., “Increased expression of anion transporter SLC26A9 delays diabetes onset in cystic fibrosis.” J Clin Invest. 130(1):272-286 (2020).

Co-author, “Capitalizing on the heterogeneous effects of CFTR nonsense and frameshift variants to inform therapeutic strategy.” PLoS Genet. 14(11): e1007723 (2018).

Co-author, “Systematic computational identification of variants that activate exonic and intronic cryptic splice sites.” Am J Hum Genet. 100(5):751-765 (2017).

Co-author, “Integrated genome and transcriptome sequencing identifies a noncoding mutation in the genome replication factor DONSON as the cause of microcephaly-micromelia syndrome.” Genome Res. 27(8): 1323-35 (2017).

Co-author, “Mutations in mitochondrial enzyme GPT2 cause metabolic dysfunction and neurological disease with developmental and progressive features.” Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. 113 (38): E5598-E560 (2016).

Co-author, “Targeted DNA Sequencing from Autism Spectrum Disorder Brains Implicates Multiple Genetic Mechanisms.” Neuron 88(5): 910-17 (2015).

Co-author, “Somatic mutations in cerebral cortical malformations.” N Engl J Med. 371(8):733-43 (2014).

Co-author, “Mutations in QARS, encoding glutaminyl-tRNA synthetase, cause progressive microcephaly, cerebral-cerebellar atrophy, and intractable seizures.” Am J Hum Genet. 94(4):547-58 (2014).

Co-author, “Deletions in GRID2 lead to a recessive syndrome of cerebellar ataxia and tonic upgaze in humans.” Neurology 81(16):1378-86 (2013). 

Education

Ph.D., Human Genetics and Molecular Biology, The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine

B.S., Biochemistry and B.A., Spanish, University of Vermont

Languages

  • Vietnamese
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