Members

Advisory Committee

Derek Adams | Chief Technology and Manufacturing Officer | Bluebird Bio

Derek Adams

Chief Executive Officer
Stellular Bio

Derek is the CEO of Stellular Bio (Formerly Platelet Bio)
Previously, Derek has served as chief technology and manufacturing officer at bluebird bio. SVP of CMC at Evelo Bioscience, and VP Technical & Strategic Product Development at Alexion Pharmaceuticals.

Prior to joining bluebird, Derek was the senior vice president of CMC at Evelo Biosciences. At Evelo, Derek established the initial process development function and supply chain for clinical studies and drove strategy for product development. Prior to his time at Evelo, he served as vice president of technical and Strategic Product Development at Alexion Pharmaceuticals, where his responsibilities included developing and supporting all manufacturing processes globally as well as global clinical supply chain. Derek holds a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Minnesota and a B.S. in Chemical Engineering with High Distinction from Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI).

Jean Bender | Vice President, Pharmaceutical Sciences & Technology | Visterra, Inc.

Jean Bender

Vice President Pharmaceutical Sciences & Technology
Visterra

Jean Bender leads Visterra’s Pharmaceutical Sciences department, responsible for development, technology transfer and manufacturing, clinical supply and CMC sections of regulatory submissions. Prior to Visterra, Jean was Senior Director, BioProcess Engineering at Medimmune. She has authored more than 15 publications and presentations and holds a patent for preparing highly concentrated antibodies by ultrafiltration. Jean received her MS in Chemical Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley and her BS in Chemical Engineering from Lehigh University. Jean has been on Pall’s Scientific Advisory Board and serves on the Recovery of Biological Products Board and on the Chemical Engineering Advisory Board for Lehigh University. Jean is active in the American Chemical Society and the BioInnovation Group (BIG).

David Fritsch | Head Engineer and PMO| BioInnovation Group

Susan Abu-Absi

Chief Technology Officer
2seventy bio

Susan Abu-Absi is Chief Technology & Manufacturing Officer at 2seventy bio, an oncology cell therapy company.  She leads the Technical Development & Operations organization comprised of supply chain, internal and external manufacturing, CMC strategy, and process and analytical development. Previously, she led the oncology manufacturing organization at bluebird bio, having joined in 2017 as Vice President of Process and Analytical Development. Prior to joining bluebird, she spent more than ten years in the Global Product Development & Supply organization at Bristol Myers Squibb supporting clinical and commercial biologics drug substance manufacturing. Before BMS, Susan was a member of the Process Sciences organization at Bayer Healthcare in Berkeley, CA.  Susan earned a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Minnesota, and a B.S. in Chemical Engineering, Summa Cum Laude with Honors, from the University of Toledo.

Neal Gordon | Independent Consultant| BioInnovation Group

Gregg Nyberg

Chief Technology Officer
Landmark Bio

Gregg Nyberg is a biopharmaceutical executive with twenty-five years of experience in process development, clinical manufacturing, technology transfer and commercialization. He is currently Chief Technology Officer at Landmark Bio, where he is responsible for translational research, process and analytical development, facilities and engineering, digital integration and clinical manufacturing for advanced therapies including cell and gene therapy.  Prior to joining Landmark, Gregg served in multiple leadership roles at Merck, Amgen and Wyeth BioPharma/Genetics Institute.  Most recently, Gregg was Head of Biologics Process Research & Development at Merck, where he was responsible for discovery interface, process development and clinical manufacturing for Merck’s biologics pipeline.  Gregg received his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Jorg Thommes | Head of CMC | Bill & Melinda Gates Medical Research Institute

Jorg Thommes

Executive Vice President Pharmaceutical Sciences & Operations
Repertoire Immune Medicines

Dr. rer. nat Jorg Thommes is the Executive Vice President of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Operations at Repertoire Immune Medicines with responsibility for developing Repertoire’s manufacturing, supply chain, and site infrastructure strategy. Prior to this he was Head of CMC at the Bill & Melinda Gates Medical Research Institute in Cambridge, MA, responsible for physical product development, manufacturing, and distribution across the entire portfolio. Previously, Dr. Thommes has acted as the Senior Vice President Pharmaceutical Sciences and Technology at Visterra and Senior Vice President, Engineering and Technology at Biogen, Inc., and his responsibilities included process development for all therapeutic modalities, global and site engineering, and manufacturing sciences. Dr. Thommes received a Diplom-Chemiker degree from University of Bonn, Germany, a Doctorate of Natural Sciences from University of Bonn, Germany, and a Habilitation Degree in Biochemical Engineering from University of Dusseldorf, Germany.

Executive Members

Firoz Antia

Head of Oligonucleotide Development
Biogen

Engin Ayturk

Senior Director, CMC BioConjugation Process Development & Manufacturing
Exelixis

John Batal

Manager of Engineering
Nitto Denko Avecia

Huanchun Cui

Executive Director
Resilience

David Fritsch

Biotechnology Operations Consultant
Fritsch Consulting, LLC

Marion Glenn

Head of Technology
Resilience

Neal Gordon

Biologics Development, New Company Creation/Operations
Independent Consultant

Kathryn Golden

SVP Technical Operations & Cell Manufacturing
bit.bio

Dmitry Gumerov

Director Pharmaceutical Sciences & Technology
Visterra

Stephen Hamilton

Chief Technical Officer
Wheeler Bio

Canping Jiang

Senior Director, Biologics Strategy and PMO
Thermo Fisher Scientific

Dr. Anne Kantardjieff

Vice President Manufacturing
BlueBird Bio

Michael Laska

Senior Vice President, CMC Technical Development & Manufacturing
Flagship Labs85

Katherine Leitch

Vice President Global Technical Operations
Seres Therapeutics

Carrie Mason

Associate Director Biologics R&D PAT/Automation
Lonza

Michael Mietzner

Senior Vice President – New England
Agile GxP Advisors

Greg Papastoitsis

EVP of Process & Manufacturing Sciences
Ankyra Therapeutics

Tom Ransohoff

Principal
RTI Consulting

Joseph Shultz

Vice President & Head of Technical Development
Resilience

Peter Wojciechowski

CMC Knowledge Management
Moderna

Sarah Yuan

Chief Technical Operations Officer
Sigilon Therapeutics

Chun Zhang

Chief Technology & Quality Officer
Evelo Biosciences

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