Strategic Program Champion, Head of Regulatory Services

I’ve always been naturally curious and fascinating by how things work. My father is an engineer and was always taking apart things to fix them; I was very used to seeing nuts, bolts, wires, gears, and batteries. But the frozen chickens we made for dinner or crab legs we bought never had any gears or wires and I kept wondering how does a chicken’s liver work? What makes the crab walk or pinch? Trying to answer these fundamental questions had me taking summer courses in anatomy and dissection as a child and ultimately lead me to a career in science.

After earning my PhD in genetics from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, I moved north to Philadelphia to continue my post-doctoral fellowship at the University of Pennsylvania. I’m still living in Philadelphia and loving city life in the City of Brotherly Love. When the call to join the pharmaceutical industry became too strong, I left academia and focused on Regulatory Affairs.

For the past decade I’ve worked with teams supporting Regulatory Affairs CMC, specifically in Cell & Gene Therapy (ATMPs). In 2024, I successfully defended the first marketing application for Adaptimmune’s TECELRA, targeting solid tumors (Synovial Sarcoma), after 4 years of late-phase CMC planning, project management, and plan execution. I’m passionate about the work I do, and the promise of advanced therapies to make a difference in people’s lives. My colleagues know me as a collaborative, resilient, and results-driven team player, who isn’t afraid of a challenge or hard work.

When I am not working, you’ll usually find me traveling internationally, drinking fine wine, listening to opera, playing boardgames, or obsessively watching birds.