Dr. Elena Lucchetta is a Program Officer for the Helmsley Charitable Trust’s Crohn’s Disease Program. In this role, Elena oversees a portfolio of grants focusing on the underlying biology of Crohn’s disease and identifies initiatives aimed at determining intervention points for novel therapies to improve the lives of patients.

Before joining Helmsley, Elena was an associate research scientist at Columbia University Irving Medical Center. There, her research focused on intestinal stem cell biology, regulation of cell division by insulin, and replacement of intestinal stem cells in response to environmental stressors.

Elena earned a Ph.D. in organic chemistry from the University of Chicago and a Bachelor of Science degree in chemistry from DePaul University. She completed postdoctoral fellowships in interdisciplinary research at the University of Chicago and in genetics and development at Columbia University Irving Medical Center.