Conference Day One | Wednesday, November 19

For full session descriptions, download the 2025 program:

8:00 am Registration & Light Breakfast

8:50 am Chair’s Opening Remarks

Examining Challenges & Methods for Tackling Donor Variability to Support Allogeneic Cell Therapies

9:00 am Fireside Chat: What Does Variability Mean for Allogeneic Cell Therapy Production?

Synopsis

An interactive panel discussion from the industry leaders in the field to set the scene on the donor space. Ask your questions live to understand the expert’s thoughts on key topics including:

  • Reviewing the current use of donor-derived material and the impacts of donor-based variability
  • Navigating the trade-offs between efficient donor selection and consistent product quality
  • Enhancing donor screening approaches to minimize variability and improve yield

10:00 am Overcoming Donor Variability with Computational Predictive Tools

Synopsis

  • Screening donors for superior phenotypic characteristics and functional performance to identify top performers
  • Feeding high-quality donor data into our computational biology platform to enhance learning
  • Enabling predictive algorithms to drive the future of donor selection with increased precision and consistency

10:30 am Morning Break & Speed Networking

Rethinking Donor Profiles & Variability to Improve Therapeutic Outcomes

11:30 am What Makes a Super Donor? Rethinking Selection Through Immune Function & Lifestyle

Synopsis

  • Reimagining donor profiles by challenging assumptions about age, gender, and health
  • Uncovering how lifestyle factors, including medical cannabis use, can enhance immune cell potency
  • Understanding what drives individuals to become donors and how to engage them effectively

12:00 pm Creating Super Donor Cells Post-Donation – Using Attenuated and Killed Bacteria to Induce, Polarize, and Activate Human Innate and Adaptive Immune Cells In Vitro

  • Michael Newman Founder & Chief Scientific Officer, Indaptus Therapeutics, Inc.

Synopsis

  • Reviewing Indaptus’ clinical stage attenuated and killed, multi-immune agonist Decoy bacterial platform in development for advanced solid tumors
  • Demonstrating induction, polarization, and/or activation of M1 macrophages, NK cells, gamma-delta T cells, and T lymphocytes by Decoy bacteria in vitro
  • Suggesting that GMP Decoy bacteria may represent an ideal treatment to enhance activity and reduce variability during manufacturing of allogeneic cell therapies

12:30 pm Examining The Effects of Varying Donor Deferral Periods on Leukopak Collections

  • Wassim Basheer Principle Product Manager, Technical & Scientific Sales Support, Charles River Laboratories

Synopsis

  • Understanding the impact of donor variability on leukopak yields
  • Utilizing recallable donors to maintain consistency in leukopak collections
  • Investigating the effect of varying donor deferral periods from 2 weeks up to 8 weeks on white blood cell yields and immune cell frequencies

1:00 pm Lunch Break

Synopsis

Private lunch hosted by BioIVT, please inquire at info@hansonwade.com for more information.

Harmonizing Language & Technology to Strengthen Donor Selection & Product Consistency

2:00 pm Roundtable Discussion: Enhancing Allogeneic Cell Therapy Success by Optimizing Donor Selection Early in Development

Synopsis

  •  Exploring how early collaboration between R&D and manufacturing enhances donor selection and long-term success
  • Understanding which donor characterization methods drive consistency, efficiency, and clinical readiness
  • Reducing downstream risks by integrating strategic donor profiling early in development timelines

2:45 pm Donor Sourcing: Trends, Models, and Technologies

  • Lee Buckler senior vice president, Oklahoma Blood Institute, member of Blood Centers of America

Synopsis

  • Identifying existing donor models and sources in the U.S. and determining which best fit organizational needs
  • Exploring emerging trends and technologies in donor recruitment, characterization, and selection
  • Understanding apheresis and source material trends

3:15 pm Afternoon Break & Networking

Leveraging Novel Discoveries & Techniques to Identify High-Performing Donors

4:15 pm Identifying the Optimal Gamma-Delta Donor Through a Strategic Screening Approach

  • Jeff Liter Chief Executive Officer, Luminary Therapeutics

Synopsis

  • Understanding the key phenotypic traits that define an ideal Gamma-Delta T-cell donor for therapeutic use
  • Learning how a structured screening strategy is used to characterize and select top-performing donors
  • Exploring how donor variability impacts cell expansion and potency, informing better CAR-T development

4:45 pm Advancing Rapid Assays for Pre-Identifying Top Donors

Synopsis

  • Enhancing donor screening strategies to pinpoint variability and maximize therapeutic efficacy
  • Streamlining potency assays to enable rapid scalable donor selection for large-scale treatments
  • Identifying key biomarkers to pre-select optimal donors and accelerate clinical translation

5:15 pm End of Conference Day One