Paul Peter Tak is a business leader, academic, entrepreneur and clinician who has over 30 years’ experience in medicine as a prominent expert in Immunology, Internal Medicine, and Rheumatology. Paul Peter is currently the President, CEO, and Board Director of Candel Therapeutics, the Co-Founder and Board Director of Sitryx Therapeutics, and Board Director of Levicept and Citryll. Alongside his industry career, Paul Peter has dedicated much of his life to academia and advancing our understanding in medicine. He has served as Professor of Medicine at the University of Amsterdam and holds numerous honours for his service to medicine, with a special focus on Immunology and Rheumatology.
Associate Professor at the University of Oslo and Principal Investigator of the Laboratory of Immunoregulation and T Cell Biology. Research focuses on the regulation of the germinal center reaction through the use of novel transgenic models and dynamic intravital imaging. From 2013 to 2023, worked at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and Rockefeller, USA, where novel B cell receptor and T cell receptor transgenic models were developed. These models were used to explore how the germinal center reaction can guide affinity maturation to produce therapeutic antibodies. Since 2023, based at the University of Oslo and participating in the Norwegian Research Council-funded Precision Immunotherapy Alliance (PRIMA).
Sophia Karagiannis is a translational cancer immunologist at Kings College, London with academic and biotechnology experience in the USA and UK. She heads a cancer antibody discovery team focused on dissecting the crosstalk between patient immune cells and cancer and on the design of novel agents for solid tumours such as melanoma, ovarian and breast cancers. The Karagiannis group is the first internationally to design, evaluate and translate anti-tumour IgE class antibodies from concept to clinical testing.
Petra Bacher is professor of immunology at the University of Schleswig Holstein. Her group investigates the role of T-helper (Th) cells in immune-mediated diseases. Using novel approaches for the direct analysis of antigen-reactive Th cells, we try to understand why tolerance mechanisms of the immune system fail in patients with chronic inflammatory diseases.
Co-founder of Commit Biologics, a spinout from Aarhus University developing a complement potentiating antibody platform. Previous Associate Professor at Aarhus University. Extensive experience in complement and antibody research with a strong focus on structural biology and protein engineering.
Inge Marie Svane, MD, PhD is Professor in Clinical Cancer Immune Therapy at the University of Copenhagen, Director of National Center for Cancer Immune Therapy (CCIT-DK), Herlev and Gentofte Hospital, and Chief Physician specialized in melanoma at the Department of Oncology at Copenhagen University Hospital, Herlev, Denmark. She is also head of the PhD educational program in Clinical Cancer Research at Copenhagen University and head of the Clinical Academic Group in Cancer Immunotherapy, Copenhagen Health Sciences Partners.
Inge Marie Svane has more than 25 years of research experience in cancer immunology and immunotherapy and holds a PhD in basic cancer immunology. She has pioneered the field of cancer immunotherapy in Denmark, building up CCIT-DK, a translational research center in a leading European position. Her focus of expertise is T-cell based adoptive cell therapy and other cellular therapies, cancer vaccines, and immune regulation.
Since 2001 she has initiated more than 20 phase I, II, and III immunotherapeutic trials as academic sponsor. Further, she is national principal investigator on numerous international clinical trials in collaboration with the pharmaceutical industry, primarily within the area of immunotherapy. Inge Marie Svane is co-founder of IO Biotech, a spinout biotech company from Herlev and Gentofte Hospital and the Capital Region of Denmark aiming to develop immune modulating vaccines for cancer therapy.
Senior Principal Scientist, Research Project Leader and Group Leader of the In vivo models and Pharmacodynamics group at the Pharmacology Department of Roche Innovation Center Zurich. Specialized in the preclinical development and validation of therapeutic bispecific antibodies, targeted cytokines and targeted immunomodulators for cancer immunotherapy. Dedicated Researcher with 10+ years of experience with contributions to the development of GAZYVA(RO) (obinutuzumab, GA101), cibisatamab (RG7802, CEA-TCB), simlukafusp alfa (RG7461, FAP-IL2v), glofitamab (RG6026, CD20-TCB), FAP-4-1BBL (RG7827), PD1-TIM3 (RG7769), CD19-4-1BBL (RG6076), PD1-LAG3 (RG6139), PD1-IL2v (RG6279) and others. Strong expertise in in vivo models including humanized mouse models and others. Research project leader of CD19-CD28 (RG6333), a CD19-Targeted affinity-optimized CD28 Bispecific Antibody that enhances and prolongs the anti-tumor activity of glofitamab.
Dr. Nicola Ferrari is an experienced Translational Science leader with a career spanning 15 years, integrating expertise gained from both industry and academia. At AstraZeneca he is leading multiple assets in immunology and respiratory indications, managing pre-clinical to early- and late-phase (Ph1-Ph3) clinical studies for targeted therapies, encompassing large and small molecules, as well as cell therapies. Currently focused on leveraging translational research to advance the application of cell therapy in autoimmune diseases.
Eric Vivier is a leading immunologist and a key figure in the field of innate immunity. As a professor, researcher, and industry leader, Vivier has made significant contributions to our understanding of the immune system and its role in disease. He is a co-founder and scientific director of Innate Pharma, a biotechnology company focused on developing cancer immunotherapies. Vivier is also a member of several prestigious organizations and has received numerous awards for his groundbreaking research.
