G-Rex Grant Tour Los Angeles -

G-Rex® Grant Tour

Supporting the Emily Whitehead Foundation

Los Angeles

570 Westwood Plaza, Building 114, MC 722710, Los Angeles, CA 90095

Thursday, August 20, 2026
10:00AM – 7:00PM PT

Event Agenda

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In-person · G-Rex Grant Tour Los Angeles

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

Ms. Lauri Adami

Meet Ms. Laurie Adami

In 2006, Laurie was president of a Los Angeles based financial software company when at the age of 46, with a young son in kindergarten, she was diagnosed with incurable follicular non Hodgkin lymphoma, the second most common type of NHL.She spent 12 years in non stop treatment with numerous lines of therapy before getting a treatment that worked for her in 2018. She now spends her time as a volunteer patient advocate helping other patients navigate their cancer journeys. She is also writing amemoir about her journey to help others on the road behind her.
Dr. Vicki Plaks, PhD, executive translational science leader of a global Cell Therapy organization spanning the United States and China, supporting CAR-T pipeline programs and immuno-oncology platforms

Meet Dr. Vicki Plaks

Vicki Plaks, PhD, is an executive translational science leader with global experience building and scaling R&D organizations across immuno-oncology and advanced cell therapy platforms. She currently leads a global Cell Therapy translational organization across the United States and China, including several Directors, supporting complex CAR-T pipeline programs and portfolio assets at enterprise scale. Her career spans discovery, translational medicine, regulatory strategy, clinical integration, and post-marketing lifecycle management. She has formally led a CAR-T discovery organization, architected high-impact external collaborations including the Umoja–AbbVie in vivo CAR-T partnership, and driven translational strategies supporting regulatory filings and lifecycle expansion of marketed therapies. She also embeds AI/ML-enabled analytics into translational strategy to accelerate reverse translation, combination prioritization, and portfolio decisions across CAR-T and immuno-oncology platforms. She specializes in designing integrated discovery-to-clinic-and-back frameworks that align biology, biomarkers, clinical pharmacology, regulatory planning, and portfolio prioritization to de-risk modality innovation and accelerate proof-of-concept. She operates with a full-ownership leadership model: clarifying decision rights in complex matrices, aligning cross-functional stakeholders, and building high-performance teams that deliver under pressure while sustaining long-term capability.
Carl Schoellhammer

Meet Dr. Carl Schoellhammer

Carl Schoellhammer is a parter at DeciBio, a strategy consultancy where he leads the firm's advanced therapies and biopharma practice. He brings experience across biopharma, manufacturing / bioprocessing, and supply chain considerations for his clients. He has executed on projects ranging from pipeline prioritization / life cycle management, indication road mapping, growth strategy, and M&A projects across healthcare, life science tools, and pharma (cell and gene therapies). Carl holds a B.S. from the university of California, Berkeley, and a Ph.D. from MIT where he trained with Professor Robert Langer.
Steve Gilison

Meet Mr. Steve Gilison

Steve Gilison was the first full time staff member at the Alliance when it formed in 2017 and has continued to lead operations and strategy. Prior to the Alliance, Steve’s focus was on building, growing and managing tech and media businesses. Steve has held leadership positions in several startups as well as large corporations, most recently at a startup providing digital health services to combat the impact of chronic health conditions like diabetes. Prior to that he spent nearly 8 years at Internet Brands, Inc. where he was responsible for managing and growing a portfolio of online businesses in the Health and Careers sectors to serve health practitioners, employers, and communities of patients and job seekers. Steve began his career in online advertising and then transitioned to market research and consulting for Jupiter Research (acquired by Forrester Research) and then at Deloitte’s Technology, Media and Telecommunications practice. Steve holds a B.A. from the University of Maryland and received his MBA with a concentration in entrepreneurship and technology management from the UCLA Anderson School of Management. He lives in Santa Monica with his family and labradoodle who (full disclosure) also serves as the Alliance’s Chief Inspiration Officer.
Ms. Emily O'Connor

Meet Ms. Emily O'Connor

Emily O'Connor is a seasoned commercial leader with nearly two decades of biopharmaceutical and life sciences strategy experience. Currently serving as Head of US Marketing at Kite Pharma, Emily has built a distinguished career driving high-impact commercialization, portfolio strategy, and market access for complex oncology and cell therapy programs.Prior to her role at Kite, Emily held strategic leadership positions at Gilead Sciences—including Head of Commercial Strategy & Operations and Chief of Staff to the Chief Commercial Officer—and spent over seven years at Amgen leading major cardiovascular and oncology commercial initiatives. She began her bio-health career in healthcare consulting at Trinity Partners.Emily holds an MBA in Healthcare and Pharmaceutical Management from Columbia Business School and a BA from Middlebury College. A Prosci® Certified Change Practitioner, she brings a data-driven, patient-centric approach to advancing cell therapy adoption and scaling life-saving manufacturing innovations globally.
Mr. Ignacio Nunez, M.Sc., MBB, Manufacturing Executive (formerly COO of CellReady)

Meet Mr. Ignacio Nunez, M.Sc., MBB

Ignacio Nunez is a seasoned operator and manufacturing executive with deep expertise in biologics, cell and gene therapies, and complex GMP manufacturing systems. He has spent his career helping organizations translate breakthrough therapies into scalable, reliable operations.

Most recently, Ignacio served as Chief Operating Officer of CellReady, where he led the company's operational expansion in the cell and gene therapy space. He drove large-scale organizational and manufacturing transformations, delivering material reductions in capital expenditure and development timelines while strengthening GMP manufacturing, quality systems, and supply chain performance across collaborations with global biopharma, emerging biotech, academic institutions, investors, and CDMOs/CROs.

Earlier, Ignacio contributed hands-on to the industrialization and commercialization of next-generation therapies, including some of the first FDA-approved cell and gene therapies. He founded BioExcellence to bring operator-led execution to clients—developing high-throughput manufacturing and operational excellence models adopted in the design and optimization of large-scale cell therapy production facilities.

Ignacio holds B.S. and M.Sc. degrees in Chemical Engineering from the University of Granada and is a certified Lean Six Sigma Master Black Belt.

Dr. Joshua Sasine, Associate Director of the CAR T and Immune Effector Cell Program at Cedars-Sinai and Assistant Professor of Medicine

Meet Dr. Joshua Sasine

Dr. Sasine is a physician-scientist and hematologist. He founded the CAR T Cell Program at UCLA and led it as Director before being recruited to Cedars-Sinai, where he is the Associate Director of the CAR T and Immune Effector Cell Program. He is an Assistant Professor of Medicine affiliated with the Blood and Marrow Transplant Program, Cellular Therapy Program, and Board of Governors Regenerative Medicine Institute. Clinically, Dr. Sasine mainly treats patients with B-cell lymphoid malignancies. Dr. Sasine's laboratory and clinical research focuses on 1) how cancer and engineered immune cells interact with the microenvironment and 2) enhancing the design of CARs.
Dr. Saul Priceman

Meet Dr. Saul Priceman

Dr. Saul Priceman graduated from University of California, Los Angeles with a Ph.D. degree in Molecular and Medical Pharmacology in 2010. As an associate professor in the Department of Medicine at the Keck School of Medicine (KSOM) at USC, Dr. Priceman’s lab is designing novel T cell engineering strategies to effectively target advanced prostate cancer, breast cancer, ovarian cancer, and pancreatic cancer. Dr. Priceman is the lead investigator on awards from the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine, Department of Defense, NIH/NCI, Prostate Cancer Foundation, and other funding sources. He is also founding director of the KSOM/Norris Center for Cancer Cellular Immunotherapy Research at USC.
Dr. Talar Tokatilan Bio

Meet Dr. Talar Tokatlian

Dr. Talar Tokatlian is an accomplished biotechnology leader with over 15 years of expertise in CAR T cell therapies, nanoparticle vaccines, and biomaterials. She currently serves as the Director of Discovery Research at A2 Biotherapeutics, Inc., where she has spent over eight years advancing innovative, logic-gated cell therapies (Tmod™ platform) for solid tumors. Her career at A2 Bio spans progressive leadership roles, including leading the Adaptive Innovation group which bridges late Discovery Research and Process Development.

Prior to joining industry, Dr. Tokatlian completed a postdoctoral research fellowship at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) in the lab of Darrell J. Irvine at the Koch Institute, focusing on nanoparticle design for HIV vaccines. She earned her PhD in Chemical Engineering from UCLA in the lab of Tatiana Segura, specializing in porous hyaluronic acid hydrogels for gene delivery, and holds a BS in Chemical Engineering from UC Berkeley. A frequent speaker at industry symposia, she is a driving force in the Southern California cell and gene therapy ecosystem.

Dr. Lili Yang, UCLA Professor of Microbiology and tumor immunology researcher developing cancer immunotherapy

Meet Dr. Lili Yang

Dr. Lili Yang received her Ph.D. degree in Biology from the California Institute of Technology (Caltech), studying with Dr. David Baltimore. She is currently Professor of Microbiology, Immunology and Molecular Genetics at the University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA). Her research laboratory at UCLA studies tumor immunology and cancer immunotherapy, with a special focus on developing gene and cell-based immunotherapy for cancer (https://www.liliyanglab.com/). So far her work has resulted in over 120publications, 30 patents, 3 clinical trials, and 2 biotech startups. In recognition of her scientific achievements, Dr. Lili Yang has received multiple prestigious awards, including a TR35 (Innovators Under 35) Award from the MIT Technology Review Magazine, a Director’s New Innovator Award from the National Institute of Health (NIH), a Young Investigator Award from the American Association of Immunologists (AAI), and an Outstanding New Investigator Award from the American Society of Gene & Cell Therapy (ASGCT). Dr. Lili Yang is also widely recognized for her biotech accomplishments. She has been named Women in Biopharma by Endpoints News in 2022, and Top Women in Academic Entrepreneurship by BIOS in 2023."
Dr. Abou-el-Enein

Meet Dr. Mohamed Abou-el-Enein

Mohamed Abou-el-Enein, MD, PhD, MSPH, is Associate Professor of Medicine (Oncology), Pediatrics, and Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine at the Keck School of Medicine of USC and Executive Director of the USC/CHLA Cell Therapy Program, where he serves as Founding Director of the cGMP facility. He earned his PhD in manufacturing of cell and gene therapies and completed master’s degrees in public health, regulatory science, and cancer biology. Dr. Abou-el-Enein is a physician-scientist and translational leader. Over the past 15 years, he has built academic infrastructure that enables the development and clinical evaluation of cell and gene therapies, bringing multiple products into early-phase clinical trials. His lab pioneers engineering, analytical, and computational approaches to define determinants of safety, potency, and clinical performance and guide the design of next-generation therapies. He serves as Editor-in-Chief of Molecular Therapy – Advances and contributes to scientific and policy initiatives shaping the future of cell and gene therapies. He has received several honors, including the ASGCT Award for Research on Conditions Disproportionately Affecting Minorities, the Inaugural ISSCR Lawrence Goldstein Policy Fellowship, the Max Rubner Innovation Award, and a Global Eisenhower Fellowship. He is a strong advocate for equitable access to safe and effective medical innovations.
Dr. Sareen

Meet Dr. Dhruv Sareen Sareen

Dr. Sareen is the founding Executive Director and Chief Biomanufacturing Officer of the Cedars-Sinai Biomanufacturing Center (CBC). A visionary leader at the intersection of biology and engineering, he has extensive experience in human iPSC-based platform technologies, GMP biomanufacturing, space medicine, mechanistic drug discovery, and the clinical translation of genetically engineered cell therapies.

As a pioneer in the field, Dr. Sareen leads the CBC, a premier Center of Excellence for cell and gene therapy innovation. He spearheaded the design and construction of a cutting-edge 25,000 SF current Good Manufacturing Practice (cGMP) facility. This "smart" infrastructure houses multiple ISO-certified cleanroom suites and leverages tech-enabled biology to support human IND-enabling clinical trials. Under his leadership, the CBC has established a robust biomanufacturing pipeline that bridges the gap between academic discovery and commercial reality.

Dr. Sareen is driving the next evolution of biomanufacturing by integrating artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning into the production workflow. His team is building automated, data-driven pipelines that optimize iPSC generation and cell differentiation, ensuring reproducibility and scalability. He led the development of the world’s largest ALS iPSC and motor neuron biorepository (Answer ALS), comprising over 1,200 patient lines (>4,000 clonal iPSCs) distributed globally. Beyond the bench, Dr. Sareen is deeply committed to enterprise formation and the commercialization of science. He established the CBC as a unique Partnership Development Manufacturing Organization (PDMO)—a hybrid model that not only provides cGMP services but actively incubates early-stage companies and fosters new ventures in the cell and gene therapy space.

His research group remains at the forefront of innovation, specializing in the differentiation of stem cells into neurons, vascular endothelium, and organoids. A prolific inventor, Dr. Sareen holds several patents on reprogramming, differentiation, biomanufacturing automation, and immune-evasion platform technologies. By combining modern genetic engineering with AI-enhanced automation, he is building the infrastructure to scale the next generation of "off-the-shelf" therapies, championing symbiotic partnerships between academia and industry to accelerate cures for today’s most intractable diseases.

Global Resources, Los Angeles Innovation.

Join the coalition accelerating patient cures right here in Los Angeles
Inspiring Patient & Caregiver Stories

Hear firsthand from cancer survivor Laurie Adami as she shares her powerful journey of recovery alongside top industry advocates.

Breakthroughs in Solid Tumor Cancer Research

Join experts from Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, USC, and A2 Biotherapeutics as they discuss new cellular immunotherapies and hope for solid tumor patients.

Innovations in Ex Vivo Cell & Gene Therapy Manufacturing

Connect with leading scientists from UCLA and USC/CHLA to explore the next generation of manufacturing advancements.

Event Sponsors
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Wilson Wolf — sponsor of the G-REX Grant Tour
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Stemcell Technologies logo — sponsor of the G-REX Grant Tour
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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

ScaleReady is a joint venture between Wilson Wolf Manufacturing and Bio-Techne.