Speaker Profile
Ph.D., Vice President, Research & Development, Castle Biosciences
Biography
Dr. Rebecca Critchley-Thorne joined Castle Biosciences in December 2021 as Vice President, RD, Spatialomics and GI, as part of the acquisition of Cernostics Inc., where she was Co-Founder and Chief Scientific Officer. She led the development of the Tissue Cypher computational pathology platform as well as the Tissue Cypher Barretts Esophagus test and its supporting clinical studies. She currently oversees RD for Castles commercially available tests and pipeline activities. She completed training as a postdoctoral fellow at Stanford University, where she focused on highly multiplexed analysis of biomarkers to understand mechanisms of immune dysfunction in various cancer types. She completed doctoral work in cancer immunotherapy at Imperial College and Cancer Research UK in London, UK, and earned a B. S. (Hons) degree in Pharmacology from the University of Sheffield, UK. Dr. Critchley-Thorne is the author of many medical and scientific publications, a principal investigator on NIH-funded research studies, and an inventor on several of Castle's patents.
Session Abstract – PMWC 2027 Silicon Valley
Track Chair:
Priti Hegde, Kite Pharma
PMWC Award Ceremony
• Arie S. Belldegrun, Allogene Therapeutics
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: Erin Harris Cell & Gene
• David Barrett, Kite Pharma
• Carl June, University of Pennsylvania
• Michel Sadelain, Columbia University
PMWC Award Ceremony
• Michel Sadelain, Columbia University
Keynote: Engineering the Future: Innovations in CAR-T Therapy Design
• 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
• 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
