G-Rex Grant Tour New York -

G-Rex® Grant Tour

Supporting the Emily Whitehead Foundation

New York

Apella by Alexandria — 450 East 29th St, 2nd Floor, New York, NY 10016

Monday, October 12, 2026
9:00AM – 7:00PM EDT

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In-person · G-Rex Grant Tour New York

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

John Gluck

Meet Mr. Jonathan Gluck

Jonathan Gluck is an award-winning writer and editor whose work has appeared in The New York Times and The Washington Post. A former deputy editor of New York magazine and managing editor of Vogue, he currently serves as a senior editor at Fast Company and is the recipient of multiple National Magazine Awards.At age 38, shortly after becoming a father, Jonathan was diagnosed with multiple myeloma and told he might have only 18 months to live. Over the next 22 years, he experienced seven recurrences and underwent numerous treatments before receiving CAR T-cell therapy in 2023. The treatment brought him into complete remission.Jonathan shares his experience to offer an honest and hopeful perspective on living with uncertainty, advances in cancer treatment, and the importance of continuing to move forward. His book, An Exercise in Uncertainty: A Memoir of Illness and Hope, explores these themes, with proceeds supporting cancer research. He lives in New York City with his wife and two children.

Meet Mr. George Eastwood

George Eastwood is the Executive Director of the Emily Whitehead Foundation, an organization created by the Whitehead family after their daughter Emily became the first pediatric patient to receive CAR-T cell therapy. Under his leadership, the foundation is focused on expanding access to advanced therapies, influencing policy to remove barriers to care, and supporting patients and families throughout their treatment journey, work that builds on its original mission of funding groundbreaking research for less-toxic cancer treatments.A mission-driven innovator in cell and gene therapy, George has spent much of his career creating products, tools, and services to accelerate the development and delivery of cell-based therapeutics. As an early employee at HemaCare, he partnered with pioneering CAR-T companies like Kite and Novartis to help bring their therapies from development to commercialization. He later held leadership roles in the start-up space, including Vice President of Business Development and Partnerships at Kytopen and co-founder of Excellos, a cell and gene therapy company spun out of the San Diego Blood Bank.In addition to his role at the Emily Whitehead Foundation, George serves on the Board of Directors for the Alliance for Regenerative Medicine, where he works alongside global leaders to advance policies, standards, and innovations that ensure more patients can benefit from next-generation therapies.
Christopher A. Klebanoff, M.D. Associate Member and Attending Physician, Immuno-Oncology Program

Meet Dr. Christopher Klebanoff

Dr. Klebanoff is cellular immunologist and medical oncologist with 24 years of experience in the pre-clinical and early clinical development of T cell-based immunotherapies for the treatment of cancer. Prior to joining Memorial Sloan Kettering and the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy in 2016, he was a Howard Hughes Medical Institute Research Scholar and Assistant Clinical Investigator at the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland.Dr. Klebanoff pioneered the paradigm that T cell subsets with the memory-like attributes of self-renewal and multipotency are a critical determinant for adoptive immunotherapy efficacy. Further, he resolved how host lymphodepletion – a standard practice for nearly all cellular immunotherapies – enhances the potency of adoptively transferred T cells through the removal of homeostatic cytokine “sinks.” The Klebanoff laboratory is currently focused on the discovery and immunologic targeting of shared neoantigens resulting from recurrently mutated driver genes using TCR gene therapy.Clinically, Dr. Klebanoff has contributed to the successful early phase development of numerous T cell-based therapies. These include an anti-CD19 chimeric antigen receptor (CAR) that would become FDA approved (Yescarta®), tumor infiltrating lymphocyte therapy for the treatment of melanoma (Lifileucel) and other common cancers, and TCR gene therapies targeting epitopes derived from NY-ESO-1 (Letetresgene), MAGE-A3, and HPV16.Dr. Klebanoff is an elected member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation and recipient of several prestigious awards, including the Damon Runyon Clinical Investigator Award and a National Institutes of Health MERIT Award. Multiple technologies developed in his laboratory have been licensed to biotechnology companies and he is a scientific co-founder of Affini-T Therapeutics.
Dr. Nick Restifo

Meet Dr. Nick Restifo

Nicholas P. Restifo, MD, is Co-Founder and Chief Medical Officer of Medici Therapeutics and a physician-scientist whose career has focused on making T-cell therapy effective for patients with solid tumors. He spent nearly three decades at the National Cancer Institute, where he was a Senior Investigator in the Center for Cancer Research and led studies defining how T-cell differentiation, metabolism, persistence, and tumor immune escape shape the success or failure of cancer immunotherapy. His work helped establish the importance of stem-like, less-differentiated T cells in durable antitumor responses and contributed to the scientific foundation of modern TIL and TCR-engineered therapies. At Medici, Restifo is developing approaches to identify and expand rare tumor-reactive T-cell clonotypes and translate them into more effective personalized therapies for solid cancers.
Dr. George Coukos

Meet Dr. George Coukos

George Coukos, MD, PhD, is a gynecologic oncologist, physician-scientist, and internationally recognized leader in tumor immunology and cancer immunotherapy. In 2026, Dr. Coukos joined Weill Cornell Medicine as founding Director of the Ludwig Laboratory for Cell Therapy, where he leads a multidisciplinary research and clinical translation program dedicated to developing next-generation T-cell therapies and advancing personalized cellular immunotherapy for cancer. He served for over a decade as the founding Director of the Department of Oncology at the Lausanne University Hospital (CHUV) and University of Lausanne, as well as Director of the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research Lausanne Branch in Switzerland, where he ran a bench-to-bedside research program for the development, production and clinical evaluation of cellular immunotherapies and cancer vaccines.
Dr. Mohamad Hamieh

Meet Dr. Mohamad Hamieh

Dr. Mohamad Hamieh is an Assistant Professor of Immunology in Pediatrics at Weill Cornell Medicine and a member of the Sandra and Edward Meyer Cancer Center. He earned his PhD from Rouen University in France before completing a senior research fellowship at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center.Dr. Hamieh’s pioneering research focuses on CAR T-cell engineering and overcoming tumor resistance mechanisms to advance cancer immunotherapy. A recognized leader in his field, his lab is NIH-funded and was recently awarded a prestigious NIH R37 MERIT Award.Dr. Hamieh is also a member researcher within the Parker Institute for Cancer Immunotherapy network. His work has been widely published in top-tier journals like Nature and Nature Medicine, driving the future of curative cancer treatments.
Neil Sheppard

Meet Dr. Neil C. Sheppard

Neil C. Sheppard, D.Phil. (Oxon) is a cell therapy leader focused on translating engineered immune cell platforms into early clinical development. Neil leads the Therapeutic Innovation in NK cells (THINK) Lab at the University of Pennsylvania Center for Cellular Immunotherapies, where his work centers on CAR-based NK and T cell therapies, with an emphasis on improving efficacy, persistence, and manufacturability.With over 20 years' experience spanning pharma, biotech and academia, his expertise spans translational strategy, cell engineering, and GMP-aligned process development in complex clinical and regulatory settings.
Dr. Jonathan Villena-Vargas

Meet Dr. Jonathan Villena-Vargas

Dr. Jonathan Villena-Vargas is an Assistant Professor of Cardiothoracic Surgery at Weill Cornell Medicine and an attending thoracic surgeon at NewYork-Presbyterian Hospital. He received his medical degree from Loma Linda University School of Medicine, followed by a general surgery residency at Mount Sinai Health System and a specialized fellowship in cardiothoracic surgery at Weill Cornell Medical College.As both a clinician and principal investigator, Dr. Villena-Vargas focuses on advancing minimally invasive thoracic surgeries, recently achieving a major milestone by performing the first single-port robotic Ivor-Lewis esophagectomy in the United States. His translational research lab bridges the gap between surgery and science, investigating immuno-oncology, T-cell memory differentiation, and tumor-draining lymph nodes to combat metastatic recurrence in lung cancer.Supported by prominent groups like the LUNGevity Foundation and the Lung Cancer Foundation of America, his pioneering insights are actively reshaping multi-modality treatment strategies and patient outcomes in thoracic oncology.
Dr. Marie-Andrée Forget, Principal Scientist at CTMC

Meet Dr. Marie-Andrée Forget​

Marie-Andrée Forget, PhD, is a Principal Scientist at CTMC, a joint venture between Resilience and MD Anderson Cancer Center. For the past three years, she has led the TIL Therapy Process Development group, enabling five INDs and six IND amendments for academic and biotech partners. Her team developed the CTMC Manufacturing TIL platform, designed to accelerate development while reducing manufacturing time and cost for non-engineered TIL as well as viral-based and non-based engineered TIL products. Before joining CTMC, Marie was recruited to MD Anderson as a postdoctoral research fellow co-mentored by Drs. Laszlo Radvanyi and Lawrence Cooper to improve the TIL manufacturing process. This included adoption of the G-Rex device in manufacturing, development of a new feeder platform, and implementation of retroviral engineering for TIL expansion. After being promoted to Scientist in charge of manufacturing production, including GMP TIL production, Marie co-authored over 45 peer-reviewed papers and two book chapters.Marie began her career in a diagnostic laboratory before earning her MS and PhD in immuno-oncology from the University of Montreal, where she studied TIL and tumor-specific T-cell expansion and tumor antigen validation for immunotherapy.
Jon Pileggi

Meet Mr. Jon Pileggi

Jon Pileggi is the Associate Director of Process Development at CTMC—a joint venture between Resilience and MD Anderson Cancer Center. With over 15 years of biotechnology experience, Jon specializes in adoptive cell therapy and closed-system automation. Throughout his career, Jon has supported the process development and clinical manufacturing of more than 10 cell therapy programs, spanning CAR-T, NK, and other novel modalities. Prior to his role at CTMC, he held key technical positions at MD Anderson Cancer Center, KBI Biopharma, and Bellicum Pharmaceuticals. He holds a degree from Augusta State University and is an active member of the Society for Cryobiology.Jon’s work centers on optimizing scalable, closed-system processing, donor access logistics, and cryopreservation strategies to streamline the translation of life-saving therapies from bench to bedside.
Dr Pauel Muranski

Meet Dr. Pawel Muranski

Pawel Muranski, M.D., is an Assistant Professor of Medicine, Pathology, and Cell Biology, as well as the Director of the Cellular Immunotherapy Laboratory at Columbia University Irving Medical Center in New York.A distinguished physician-scientist, Dr. Muranski brings over two decades of clinical and research expertise in tumor immunology, CD4+ T-cell biology, and cell-based adoptive immunotherapy. Prior to joining Columbia University, he served as a Staff Clinician at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute (NHLBI) and completed a Senior Clinical Fellowship at the National Cancer Institute's Surgery Branch within the NIH.His work focuses on developing novel T-cell platforms to target solid tumors, viral infections, and post-transplant complications. Operating a cGMP-compliant facility, Dr. Muranski leverages gas-permeable culture technologies like G-Rex bioreactors to streamline cell expansion, driving translational research from pre-clinical models into investigator-initiated clinical trials.

Global Resources, New York Innovation.

Join the coalition accelerating patient cures right here in New York
Inspiring Patient & Caregiver Stories

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

Breakthroughs in Solid Tumor Cancer Research

Join leading experts as they discuss new cellular immunotherapies and hope for solid tumor patients.

Innovations in Ex Vivo Cell & Gene Therapy Manufacturing

Connect with Dr. Pawel Muranski to explore the next generation of manufacturing advancements.

Event Sponsors
Biolife Solutions logo — sponsor of the G-REX Grant Tour
Wilson Wolf — sponsor of the G-REX Grant Tour
MaxCyte logo
Bio-techne — sponsor of the G-REX Grant Tour
R&D Systems — sponsor of the G-REX Grant Tour
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Thermo Fisher
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aldevron
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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.