Speaker Profile
M.D., CEO and Co-Founder, 4DMT
Biography
David Kirn, MD, is co-founder and CEO of 4DMT, Professor of Bioengineering and MCB at UC Berkeley, and board director and co-Founder of the UC Berkeley Life Sciences Entrepreneurship Center.
He was co-founder and CEO of four viral vector-based genetic medicines companies, and senior R&D executive at Onyx and Celgene, and strategic advisor to Novartis, Bayer, Pfizer, Biogen.
He received a BA (Departmental Citation; Phi Beta Kappa) from UC Berkeley, an MD (Alpha Omega Alpha) from UCSF and completed internal medicine residency at Harvard Medical School, Brigham & Women’s Hospital (including term as Chief Medical Resident at affiliated WRVA hospital). He completed medical oncology and clinical research fellowships at UC San Francisco. He was awarded the Johnson & Johnson Entrepreneur Innovator award from the J&J Innovation Center, was named to The Medicine Maker Power List, Advanced Medicine in 2022, and was a 2024 PharmaVoice 100 honoree in the Standout Leaders category.
Session Abstract – PMWC 2026 Silicon Valley
Track Chair:
Priti Hegde, Kite Pharma
PMWC Award Ceremony
• Michel Sadelain, Columbia University
• Arie S. Belldegrun, Allogene Therapeutics
Keynote: Engineering the Future: Innovations in CAR-T Therapy Design
• Michel Sadelain, Columbia University
Keynote: The Industrialization of Cell Therapy:From Autologous Pioneers to Allogeneic Frontiers
• Arie S. Belldegrun, Allogene Therapeutics
Next Generation CAR-T Cell Therapies: Expanding Targets and Enhancing Designs
• Chair: David Barrett, Kite Pharma
• Carl June, University of Pennsylvania
• Michel Sadelain, Columbia University
Tumor-Infiltrating Lymphocytes (TILs): Advances and Challenges in Solid Tumors
• Chair: Allison Betof Warner, Stanford University
• George Coukos, Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research
• Max Julve, Stanford
• Stephanie Goff, NIH/NCI
Allogeneic & In Vivo Cell Therapies: Manufacturing & Clinical Progress
• Chair: Arie S. Belldegrun, Allogene Therapeutics
• Zach Roberts, Allogene Therapeutics
• Adrian Bot, Capstan Therapeutics
• Aliya Omer, AstraZeneca
• Priti Hegde, Kite Pharma
Smart Scaling: Leverating AI & Automation to De-Risk Advanced Therapy Manufacturing
• Chair: Stacie Calad-Thomson
• Samuel Rodriques, FutureHouse
• Manuel Leonetti, Biohub
• Fabian Gerlinghaus, Cellares
Designing Automated Platforms for Scalable Cell Therapy Manufacturing
• Fabian Gerlinghaus, Cellares
In Vivo CAR Therapy: Immune Reprogramming Directly in Patients
• Daniel Getts, Myloid Therapeutics
Operationalizing Cell & Gene Therapy Trials in a Large Health System
•Snehit Prabhu, Stanford
Gene Editing & Synthetic Biology for Therapy
• Chair: Trevor Martin, Mammoth Biosciences
• Ken Drazan, ArsenalBio
• Lynn Seely, Lyell
• Kole T. Roybal, Parker Institute
• David Kirn, 4DMT
