Bijan Boldajipour

About Bijan Boldajipour

I am an accomplished scientist with 15 years of combined industry experience at Pfizer, Kite Pharma, Lyell Immunopharma and 5 years of postdoctoral training in immuno-oncology at UCSF. With a robust background in T-cell biology, immuno-oncology, and a keen focus on cell therapy, my expertise encompasses team leadership, strategic development and research project management. My experience underpins my drive to deliver innovative treatments, aiming to revolutionize immuno-oncology and provide new hope for patients. My tenure at Lyell Immunopharma has been defined by establishing cutting-edge research labs and guiding teams dedicated to enhancing T-cell function against solid tumors. My work centered on advancing CAR T, TCR T, and TIL programs from early discovery through preclinical development, culminating in three programs that were approved for Phase 1 trials. I focused on instilling our core values of scientific curiosity, collaboration, respect and courage to question the status quo in our daily work, and worked to establish productive collaborations with our colleagues in Process Development, CMC, Intellectual IP and Clinical Development. I also worked with the C-Suite as part of our Business Development team to evaluate external business opportunities, and have led external collaborations with our industry partners and academic institutions. My tenure as a Research Scientist and Director at Pfizer and Kite gave me insight into product development and team leadership at large pharma organizations. I supported and/or led the development the development of CD19 and BCMA CAR T programs at Pfizer that are now under development by Allogene Therapeutics. At Kite I supported the integration of multiple early discovery groups from CellDesign Labs into the Kite Pharma organization.

Experience

1. Vice President Research

   Lyell Immunopharma

   Feb 2024 — Present · South San Francisco, CA, US

   Member of the Lyell Research Team that supervises the development of research projects, reviews data and advises CSO on strategic decisions. Established the South San Francisco research labs after Lyell\'s founding and built a team to study enhancements of T cells in solid tumors, as well as the in vivo pharmacology team to lead and execute internal and external animal studies to support Lyell\'s preclinical candidates. Since October 2021 responsible for CAR and TCR T cell projects (target validation, enhancement of T cell function via gene editing or synthetic biology approaches) from early development towards IND and studying their mechanism of action in phase I clinical trials.

Education

• Universität zu Lübeck

  Bachelor of Science - BS

  2001 — 2004

• Georg-August-Universität Göttingen

  Doctor of Philosophy - PhD

  2004 — 2009