Speaker Profile
M.D., CEO and co-founder, 4DMT
Biography
David Kirn, MD, is co-founder and has served as Chief Executive Officer since inception in 2013. Dr. Kirn is also Professor of Bioengineering and Molecular Cellular Biology (Adjunct) at UC Berkeley where he teaches biotechnology entrepreneurship, including in the Robinson Life Sciences Business Entrepreneurship Program. He is a board director and co-Founder of the UC Berkeley Life Sciences Entrepreneurship Center. Over his 30 year career, Dr. Kirn has co-founded and been CEO of four viral vector-based genetic medicines companies, three of which to date were either acquired or went public. Dr. Kirn also held senior clinical research and development positions at Onyx Pharmaceuticals (VP) and Celgene (SVP), and was a senior consultant and strategic advisor on viral vector-based genetic medicines to Novartis, Bayer, Pfizer, Biogen and others. Dr. Kirn received a BA in Physiology (Departmental Citation; Phi Beta Kappa) from UC Berkeley, an MD (Alpha Omega Alpha) from UC San Francisco Medical School and completed internal medicine residency training at Harvard Medical School, Brigham Womens Hospital (including term as Chief Medical Resident at affiliated WRVA hospital). He completed medical oncology and clinical research fellowships at UC San Francisco, and he completed a certificate of business excellence from the Haas Business School at UC Berkeley. He was awarded the Johnson Johnson Entrepreneur Innovator award from the JJ Innovation Center, was named to The Medicine Maker Power List, Advanced Medicine in 2022, and was a 2024 Pharma Voice 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
CAR-T Cell Therapies: Strategies in Mitigating Challenges in Solid Tumor Delivery
• 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, Royal Marsden
• 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
Designing Automated Platforms for Scalable Cell Therapy Manufacturing
• Fabian Gerlinghaus, Cellares
TCR-Based Cell Therapies: New Targets and Clinical Advances
• Chair: Diwakar Davar, UPMC
• Lauren Harshman, Clasp Therapeutics
• Cassian Yee, MD Anderson Cancer Center
Gene Editing & Synthetic Biology for Therapy
• Chair: Matthew Porteus, Stanford University
• Rachel Haurwitz, Caribou Biosciences
• Kole T. Roybal, Parker Institute
• Ken Drazan, ArsenalBio
In-Vivo Myeloid Programming: Engineering the Innate Immune System for Solid Tumor Therapy
• Daniel Getts, Create Medicines
Synthetic Circuits for Smarter Cell Therapies: Enhancing NK Precision and Persistence
• Gudrun Stengel, Alida Biosciences
