Dr. Wolfgang Knirsch
Angela Osborne
Matthew Lehman
Kristina Carroll
Kristina is a Process Engineer and founding member of the Cell Therapy Development team at Precision BioSciences, focused on the development of best-in-class manufacturing methods for allogeneic CAR T therapies. As an integral part of the CMC team, Kristina led in the development of the large-scale manufacturing process, cold chain logistics for the cryopreserved drug product, and clinical administration protocols. Prior to joining Precision BioSciences, Kristina worked as a Systems Engineer at Terumo BCT, focusing on upstream and downstream cell processing systems. She has earned her Master’s degree in Biomedical Engineering from Rutgers University and Bachelor’s degree in Chemical and Biological Engineering at the University of Colorado at Boulder. When not at Precision, Kristina can be found running nearby trails with her husband and dogs, camping, or creating a disaster in the kitchen.
Dr. Michael McGuire
Dr. Maguire is President and CEO of Avectas, a cell engineering technology company. He has 20 years of experience in the life sciences industry, serving as a founder, investor, director and business leader. Dr. Maguire graduated from Trinity College, Dublin, as a biomedical engineer and completed his PhD on local drug delivery to the lung. Dr. Maguire is focused on creating value by addressing critical intracellular delivery challenges in cell therapies.
Steven Feldman
Dr. Steven A. Feldman was a Staff Scientist and Director of the Vector Production Facility at Surgery Branch, NCI for the past twelve years. Dr. Feldman’s group was responsible for the development, characterization, and manufacturing of the viral vectors used in gene therapy clinical trials at the Surgery Branch. Recently, Dr. Feldman joined the Stanford Center for Cancer Cell Therapy as Director of Manufacturing and Process Science where he will take a lead role in the development and manufacture of viral vectors and novel cell therapies for the treatment of cancer.
Neehar Bhatia
Neehar Bhatia, Ph.D. is Associate Director of Process Development and Manufacturing at Laboratory of Cell and Gene Medicine (LCGM), Stanford University. Dr. Bhatia received a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the Central Drug Research Institute, India. Dr. Bhatia is responsible for development and manufacturing of cGMP compliant cell and gene therapy products at LCGM. Dr. Bhatia oversees manufacturing for multiple projects such as CD19/CD22 bi-specific CAR-T and other T cell based therapies, CD34 HSPC transplant and manufacturing of AAV6 for gene correction in HSPC. Dr. Bhatia has lead multiple projects which include banking of ESCs, iPSCs, MSCs and iPSC derived differentiated cells, development of GMP process for translational projects and manufacturing cell therapies for Phase I/II clinical trials. Dr. Bhatia has also lead efforts in quest for serum-free chemically defined culture medium for MSCs and development of platform technology for AAV production. Dr. Bhatia’s focus is on development of cGMP compliant manufacturing process for “bench to bedside” cell and gene therapies.
Wouter Van t'Hof
Mitchell h. Finer
Zoe Coughlin
Zoe Coughlin is the Associate Director of CMC at Immatics US, Inc. in Houston, Tx leading the clinical manufacturing of adoptive cell therapy programs for various solid cancers. Zoe has more than 10 years of experience in GMP manufacturing of cell and gene therapy products and has helped guide all 4 Immatics’ active clinical trials through pre-clinical development, IND approval, and patient treatment. Before joining Immatics, Zoe was a Senior Clinical Cell Therapy Specialist at M.D. Anderson Cancer Center involved in the manufacture and administration of multiple cell therapy products including the Sleeping Beauty transposon-based CAR-T program. Zoe holds a M.S. in Clinical Practice Management and maintains a MLS (ASCP)CM certification.