Conference Day One | Tuesday, November 19

For full session descriptions, download the 2025 program:

8:00 am Registration & Coffee

8:50 am Chair’s Opening Remarks

Rethinking Donor Profiles & Variability to Improve Therapeutic Outcomes

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

9:45 am What Makes a Super Donor? Rethinking Selection Through Immune Function & Lifestyle

  • Tracy Ryan Co-Founder , Chief Communications Officer & Inventor, NKore Biotherapeutics

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

10:15 am Managing Intra-Donor Variability to Promote Consistent Cell Therapy Outputs

  • Hubert Tseng Principal Scientist, Immuno-Oncology, Genentech

Synopsis

  • Investigating how physiological changes within a single donor affect cell therapy quality and product consistency
  • Examining molecular and metabolic factors, including immune cell state that drive intra-donor variability
  • Reviewing industry approaches to donor management and screening practices aimed at minimizing variability across collection timepoints

10:45 am Morning Break & Speed Networking

Achieving Scalable Cell Therapies by Optimizing Donor Selection & Function

11:45 am Maximizing Process Yield Through Understanding Donor Variability

Synopsis

  • Gaining tools to better predict process yield from donor characteristics
  • Reducing manufacturing bottlenecks by smoothing production flow
  • Proving product consistency to change investor sentiment about variability 

12:15 pm Assessing Donor-Dependent Variability in NK Cell Expansion & Function

Synopsis

  • Evaluating donor-to-donor variability to ensure consistent NK cell expansion and robust final drug product quality
  • Characterizing functional differences to optimize donor selection and enhance therapeutic efficacy
  • Monitoring cell health and process adaptability to guarantee reliable production across diverse donor sources

12:45 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

1:45 pm Roundtable Discussion: Bridging the Gap on Donor Variability Through Clear Communication & Better Data Use

Synopsis

  • Elevating awareness beyond the core community by framing donor variability in accessible, actionable terms
  • Creating shared language to help align stakeholders from research to investment
  • Encouraging honest reflection by revisiting data with openness and scientific curiosity

2:30 pm 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

3:00 pm Afternoon Break & Networking

Leveraging Novel Discoveries & Techniques to Identify High-Performing Donors

4:00 pm Identifying the Optimal Gamma-Delta Donor Through a Strategic Screening Approach

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

4:30 pm Peanut Butter & Jelly – Sandwiching Stem Cells & Engineered Immune Effector Cells from Same Donor

  • Parveen Shiraz Physician-Scientist Instructor, Division of Blood & Marrow Transplantation/Cell Therapy (BMT/CT), Stanford University

Synopsis

  • Transplanting allogeneic stem cells with an engineered graft and CAR-T cells
  • Optimizing graft versus leukemia and minimizing graft versus host disease

5:00 pm End of Conference Day One