iPSC cell line development and manufacture for cell therapies

As a Principal Scientist at RoslinCT, Rowan brings nearly two decades of valuable research and manufacturing expertise in gene and stem cell therapy. He has developed gene editing strategies for academic and industrial partners and has conducted research in motor neuron disease using genetically modified iPSC-derived cell models. Rowan holds a PhD in Molecular Physiology, an MSc in Biotechnology, and a BSc in Microbiology.

Barbara has a long history in the cell and gene therapy space, working on process and analytical development for a variety of autologous and allogeneic cell therapies. She has held leadership roles in both development and contract manufacturing organizations. Currently, at RoslinCT Boston, she oversees the process development, analytical development, and manufacturing sciences and technology groups.

Derek has over 30 years of experience developing cell and gene therapies with expertise in process/assay development, manufacturing and QC testing, and regulatory affairs.

Derek has a BS in Chemical Engineering from the University of Wisconsin-Madison, and a PhD in Biochemical Engineering from the University of California, Berkeley. Following his PhD, Derek worked at Genentech and Cerus Corp. before moving back into academia, taking a position at the University of Wisconsin to lead the development of Waisman Biomanufacturing. At Waisman, Derek led several NIH-funded initiatives including the first National Stem Cell Bank, to develop standards for production and testing of human Embryonic Stem Cells (hESCs).

Derek followed the rapidly evolving iPSC field back into industry with roles including VP of Clinical Manufacture, Quality and Regulatory at Fujifilm Cellular Dynamics, Inc., Chief of Manufacturing and Technical Operations at BlueRock Therapeutics, and Senior VP of Cell and Gene Therapy Pre-Clinical and Clinical Manufacturing at Vertex Pharmaceuticals. Derek is currently the Chief Technology Officer for Clade Therapeutics, where he is responsible for overseeing CMC technical operations including derivation of gene-edited iPSC lines, process/analytical method development, and cGMP manufacturing and testing of iPSC-derived cell therapies.

Mark Tomishima has over two decades of experience in stem cell biology. He was one of the early employees that helped establish and build BlueRock. Mark has now been a BlueRocker for over 6 years and has held positions of increasing responsibility during his tenure. He is now the Senior VP of Platform Discovery and is responsible for the vision and strategy of BlueRock’s platform.

Prior to this, Mark spent over 16 years at Memorial Sloan Kettering. As a postdoc, he worked in the lab of Lorenz Studer, one of BlueRock’s scientific co-founders. He then helped build and direct the Sloan Kettering Institute Stem Cell Research Facility, leading multiple projects over a decade and resulting in over 30 publications and multiple grants. One of the biggest projects for his lab was leading process development, assay development, and ultimately manufacturing of MSK-DA01, a pluripotent stem cell-based cell therapy for Parkinson’s disease. This cell therapy was initially developed by Lorenz Studer’s New York State (NYSTEM) consortium and is now BlueRock’s lead pipeline product.

Jacqueline Barry is Chief Clinical Officer, responsible for Clinical Adoption activities, at Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult. In this role, she leads the Access Strategy group (a multi-disciplinary team of Nonclinical, Regulatory, Health Economics, & Market Access specialists); the CGT Catapult Edinburgh Centre, and the coordination of the UK Advanced Therapy Treatment Centre Network.

She feels passionately about making advanced therapies available for patients and works closely with industry partners and policy makers on the development of the ecosystems to support the adoption of these therapies.

Kevin is the Chief Technology and Strategy Officer of RoslinCT, responsible for developing and enhancing the company’s services and capabilities by leading the technology vision and strategy.Kevin has spent more than 20 years working within the biotech industry, with a focus on cell therapy development and manufacturing, specifically with pluripotent stem cells. Before joining RoslinCT as a Chief Operating Officer (COO), Kevin held positions in Operations, Quality, R&D, and commercial development.

He has been in the Roslin family for over 16 years and has played a key role in the development of Roslin Cells’ clinical-grade pluripotent cell lines and GMP translation and manufacture of cell therapies for both pre-clinical and clinical development. More recently, as COO at Censo Biotechnologies, he established the operational capability for the European Bank for Induced Pluripotent Stem Cells and was responsible for Censo’s stem cell generation, genome editing, and assay development operations for drug discovery.

As the VP of Cell and Gene Therapy at Bayer Pharmaceuticals, Dirk leads and coaches a cross-functional team responsible for process development, quality, manufacturing, and regulatory aspects of cell and gene therapy products. He has over 20 years of experience in international biotech and pharma manufacturing settings, with a strong track record of delivering excellent results efficiently and reliably to high quality standards.