G-Rex Grant Tour San Diego - Supporting Emily Whitehead Foundation

G-Rex® Grant Tour

Supporting the Emily Whitehead Foundation

SAN DIEGO

Location

Scripps Seaside Forum.
8610 Kennel Way (formerly Discovery Way) La Jolla, CA 92037

Date

Thursday, April 16, 2026
10:00AM-7:00PM

Event Agenda

Check Sessions & Speakers

Register for Event

G-Rex Grant Tour San Diego

Hear from leaders bringing hope to patients through advanced cell & gene therapies

G-Rex Grant Tour 2026 - San Diego - Dr. Dan Kaufman

Meet Dr. Kaufmann

Dr. Kaufman is a native of Minnesota (USA). He did his undergraduate work at Stanford University and then completed an MD and a PhD (in Immunology) at the Mayo Medical School and Mayo Graduate School in Rochester, MN. He then completed both residency training in Internal Medicine and a fellowship training in Hematology at the University of Wisconsin- Madison. Dr. Kaufman was a faculty member at the University of Minnesota from 2002- 2016. In 2016, Dr. Kaufman moved to San Diego to be a Professor in the Department of Medicine, Divisions of Regenerative Medicine and BMT at UC San Diego School of Medicine. At UCSD, he does clinical work in hematology/BMT and serves as the Director of the Cell Therapy program. He also oversees the UCSD Advanced Cell Therapy Laboratory (ACTL) that provides GMP cell manufacturing to translate new cell-based therapies to clinical trials. Research in the Kaufman lab uses human pluripotent stem cells to understand the development of blood and immune cells. Recent studies have focused on the ability to use human iPSC-derived natural killer (NK) cells to kill diverse types of human cancer cells. These studies have used cellular engineering to enhance the anti-tumor activity of the iPSC-derived NK cells by expression of novel chimeric antigen receptors, stabilized expression of CD16, and other strategies. This work has now been translated into clinical trials for treatment of relapsed/refractory cancers- both hematologic malignancies and solid tumors. Additional studies aim to develop novel approaches for in vivo cell engineering to provide a potentially more efficient strategy to produce targeted, cell-based cancer therapies.
G-Rex Grant Tour 2026 - San Diego - Dr. Dan MacLeod

Meet Dr. MacLeod

Dr. MacLeod is an experienced biotechnology leader and innovator in the cell therapy space with 20 years of experience in immunology, oncology, cancer immunotherapy, gene-editing and virology. Throughout his career, Dan has successfully led numerous teams in translating platform technologies into clinical candidate cell therapies, including four CAR-T therapies that advanced from early-stage research through IND-enabling studies and into Phase 1/2 clinical trials.As Chief Scientific Officer at Optieum Biotechnologies, Dan leads R&D for OPTF01, an autologous CAR T targeting Fibroblast Activation Protein Alpha (FAPα) for Glioblastoma and additional solid tumor indications. He also oversees a growing pipeline of CAR T candidates for autologous and in vivo modalities spanning oncology, fibrosis, and autoimmunity.Prior to Optieum, Dan was Senior Vice President of Discovery at ImmunoScape, where he led R&D for autologous TCR-T cell therapies. He also held roles of increasing responsibility during his time at Precision BioSciences, leading the discovery and development of gene-edited, allogeneic CAR-T cell therapies. Earlier in his career, Dan held roles at GlaxoSmithKline and the International AIDS Vaccine Initiative (IAVI). He completed his Ph.D. at the University of California, San Diego, and B.A. at Northwestern University.
G-Rex Grant Tour 2026 - San Diego - Colin Exline

Meet Mr. Colin Exline

Colin Exline leads the Research and Development efforts at Papillon Therapeutics and has been working in regenerative medicine for over 15 years. He has developed methods to efficiently edit genomes by both virally and non-virally. These methods have been employed while leading projects in HSPC to create anti-viral immune systems and within organ transplantation settings to decrease the risk of rejection for both xeno- and traditional transplantation. He earned his PhD from the University of Iowa studying viral gene expression.
Dr. Haiyan Jiang - President and Chief Scientific Officer at Point Loma BioSciences

Meet Dr. Haiyan Jiang

Haiyan Jiang, PhD, is President and Chief Scientific Officer at PointLoma BioSciences and a biopharma R&D leader with more than two decades of experience advancing biologics and cell and gene therapies. She has built and led high-performing translational teams across emerging startups and global biopharma organizations, holding senior leadership roles at Ansun BioPharma, Editas, Biogen, Bayer and Avigen. Dr. Jiang has driven strategy and execution from discovery through IND, FDA/CBER collaboration, and BLA support. Her expertise spans biologics, AAV gene therapy, genome editing in vivo and in hematopoietic stem cells, and innate immunity-driven platforms including CAR γδ T cells and γδ TCRs, across rare genetic diseases, oncology, and autoimmune indications.

Global Resources, San Diego Innovation.

Join the coalition accelerating patient cures right here in San Diego.
Allogeneic Innovations

Learn about the latest innovations in CAR-NK, CAR-T and γδ T cell therapy.

Helping Start-ups Scale

Hear about the evolving promise of cell and gene therapy through the voices of those who walk the journey alongside patients every day

Network and Engage

Participate in the "Believe Bundle Creation" and support the Emily Whitehead Foundation’s mission to save lives.

Event Sponsors
Akadeum Life Sciences
Biolife Solutions
Wilson Wolf
MaxCyte
Biotechne
R&D Systems
Charles River
Event Essentials

Prepare for a full day of innovation, networking, and impact.

G-Rex Grant Tour

If you're building the future of cell therapy - this is your place

Interested in Sponsoring?

Are you a provider of tools, technology, or services used in research, development, or manufacturing of cell and gene therapies?
Does your innovation pair nicely with G-Rex?
If yes, please consider sponsoring one, some, or all of the G-Rex Grant Tour events.  Your sponsorship is a tax deductible donation to the Emily Whitehead Foundation.

SPONSORSHIP PROSPECTUS