Dr. Mohammad A. (Mo) Heidaran, Ph.D. is Owner and Chief Regulatory Scientist at Cellx Inc., where he advises on regulatory strategy, product development, and FDA submissions for advanced therapies. With more than 35 years of experience spanning government, industry, and academia, he has held leadership roles at FDA/CBER, Celgene, Becton Dickinson, and Parexel, and most recently led translational and regulatory strategy at GC Therapeutics.

Dr. Heidaran spent nine years at FDA’s Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER), where he served as Acting Branch Chief in the Office of Tissues and Advanced Therapies and was recognized as a subject matter expert in CMC policy, GMP compliance, and regulatory review of cell and gene therapies. Earlier in his career, he conducted research at the National Cancer Institute, contributing to the understanding of growth factor signaling and oncology.

He is an active member of professional organizations including ISCT and USP, contributes to regulatory and legal committees, and has authored over 50 publications and more than 25 issued patents. A frequent invited speaker, Dr. Heidaran is recognized globally for his expertise in regulatory strategy, CMC development, and advancing cell and gene therapies from research to the clinic.

Ksenia Bezverbnaya is a Manager, Technology & Venture Development, at the company creation unit at the Centre for Commercialization of Regenerative Medicine (CCRM), Canada. She helps academic and clinical investigators derisk novel cell and gene therapy technologies and spin out start-up companies across a variety of therapeutic indications. Ksenia has extensive experience in immune cell engineering, preclinical development, and indication selection, and brings an early-stage translational industry perspective to the discussion.

Asthika Goonewardene is a Managing Director at Truist Securities, where he focuses on equity research in immune-oncology, cell therapy, and antibody technologies. He has over two decades of experience in biotech intelligence and investment with previous roles at Bloomberg Intelligence, Datamonitor, Piper Jaffray, Amba Research, and OSI Pharmaceuticals. Asthika has been a long-standing member of the ISCT Business Development & Finance Committee, where he championed previous iterations of the Investor Survey and gathered valuable insights on the CGT investment trends.

Bambi is the Director of the Clinical Research and Early Product Development Center, Cell and Gene Therapy, at the Baylor College of Medicine. She is a world-renowned expert in Clinical Research and Regulator Affairs with over 25 years of experience in protocol development, study submissions, execution, and oversight of over 1,600 studies. Bambi has been leading cell and gene therapy regulatory guidance, protocol development, quality assurance and quality control programs for over 15 years and currently serves as the Chief Regulatory Officer at ISCT. 

Wilson Bryan is a regulatory veteran in the regenerative medicine space, who served as the FDA’s Chief of the Clinical Evaluation Branch in the Office of Cellular, Tissue, and Gene Therapies (OCTGT) between 2009 and 2016, and subsequently as the Director of the Office of Tissues and Advanced Therapies (part of CBER) between 2016 and 2023. He brings a wealth of knowledge in regulation of cell and gene therapies, tissue-engineered products, plasma protein therapeutics, and xenotransplantation. Prior to leading the CGT regulation with the FDA, Wilson was an active clinician, clinical investigator, and faculty in the neurology and neuromuscular space for over a decade.

Professor of Pediatric Hematology-Oncology & Health Sciences. Areas of special interest include Immunotherapy and CAR-T cells, leading a major collaboration with Indian Institute of Technology at Powai (IIT-B) and National Cancer Institute, Bethesda that led to India’s first indigenously developed and approved CART-cell product. Principal Investigator at CAR T- & Cell Therapy Center (CTCTC) at TMC developing multiple cell & gene therapies for cancer and related indications. Leads multi-center randomized controlled trials of Indian Pediatric Hematology- Oncology Group (InPHOG) as core-member of ALL ICiCLe- Trial Group, and Study Chair of Multicentre RCT of Pediatric Hodgkin Lymphoma. Other areas of interest in research are Histiocytic Disorders, Cancer associated Thrombosis and Immunology in Malignancies. Senior member & past-Convener of Pediatric Hemato-lymphoid Group at Tata Memorial Center Mumbai that oversees a clinical program of 11-1200 new case of leukemia, lymphoma and histiocytic disorders in children annually and a DM Pediatric Oncology Training program that enrols 6 new students a year.

Dr (Lt Col) Pawan Kumar Gupta, is President – Medical & Regulatory Affairs, Stempeutics Research, Bangalore since October 2008, which is the first stem cell company in India focusing on clinical development of major unmet medical needs using allogeneic bone marrow derived Mesenchymal Stromal Cells.

Dr Pawan is a Hematologist & Medical Scientist and has worked in Armed Forces in India for 24 years. He has worked in Stem Cell Institute, University of Minnesota and trained in the field of stem cells. He was the former Dean of Manipal Institute of Regenerative Medicine, Bangalore. Under his leadership the product stempeucel® has progressed from pre-clinical to clinical trials and has been granted manufacturing and marketing approval for three indications in India.

  He has more than 100 publications and is the Asia Regional Vice President of International Society of Cell & Gene Therapy.  

Dr. Rahul Purwar is a professor at Department of Biosciences and Bioengineering at IIT Bombay. He

holds a Ph.D. in Molecular Medicine from Hannover Medical School, Germany. Dr. Rahul’s

professional journey spans various prestigious institutions and roles. He started his post-doctoral

fellowship at Harvard Medical School, Boston, USA. After his fellowship, he joined ImmunoGen,

Inc. (Boston, USA), as a scientist before returning to India as a faculty member at IIT Bombay.

His lab at IIT Bombay developed indigenous technology platform for CD19 CAR-T cell therapy, a

type of gene therapy. Based on his research at IIT Bombay, Dr Purwar founded ImmunoACT in 2018,

first cell & gene therapy company in India. Upon successful multiple clinical trials, ImmunoACT

received market authorization of the country’s first CAR-T cell therapy, and Honorable President of

India dedicated CAR-T cell therapy to the nation on April 4th, 2024. This is the first of many planned

milestones in democratizing access to advanced cell & gene therapies in India.

Dr. Purwar’s research work is well-recognized in the scientific community, with numerous

publications to his credit in esteemed journals. His contributions to the field of Biosciences & Bioengineering are commendable and his work continues to inspire many in the scientific community.

An esteemed leader in the biologics, cell and gene therapy industry with over two decades of expertise in developing molecules for the US and EU markets in the biologics space. In addition to a strong background in structural, biophysical, process development, analytical, and biological assays, Lakshmikanth has demonstrated expertise in cell and gene therapy programs using AAV and Lentiviral vector based therapies over last eight years. He has filed several patents in the field of product development in biologics and cell and gene therapies and been part of successful approvals of US IND’s, BLA’s and EU MAA’s for biosimilars. As the Chief Scientific Officer at Immuneel Therapeutics, Lakshmikanth oversees a team of professionals dedicated to the development of novel cell and gene therapy products and platforms. The key achievements of the same include technology transfer of antiCD19-CAR-T from HCB to Immuneel facility in India, resulting in a commercial approval of the first global CD19-CAR-T product (Qartemi®) in India, as well as successful development of a patented SIM-CAR-T platform resulting in both 3 and 7 day CAR-T product. Other notable achievements include development of an allogenic CAR-T platform and evaluation of novel humanized AntiCD19-gd CAR-T with established POC data for further studies. Prior to the current role, Lakshmikanth has served as Chief Scientific Officer of InnovaVector SRL a Gene therapy company based in Naples, Italy. He also served as Sr. Vice President, at Intas Pharmaceuticals handling R&D and Manufacturing Sciences for both Biologics and Cell and Gene therapy verticals, where he set up the R&D facility and programs for both Gene therapy and CAR-T cell therapies. Prior to that he has also served in various leadership roles in Biological Evans, Sanofi and Dr Reddy’s Laboratories.

Professor Oscar Kuang-Sheng Lee is an orthopedic surgeon-scientist and has worked in stem cell research and regenerative medicine for more than 25 years. He has published over 170 peer-reviewed papers in leading scientific journals, with total citations exceeding 14,000. Professor Lee has actively served in ISCT; he was the Co-Chair of the 2016 ISCT Annual Meeting in Singapore, Regional Vice President of Asia in 2019-2021, and the Associate Editor of Cytotherapy from 2017 to January 2024. Currently, he is the Chair of the Orthopedic & Musculoskeletal Therapies Committee. Listed among the top 2% of scientists by Elsevier in 2024, Prof. Lee currently serves as Professor and Senior Consultant at the MacKay Memorial Hospital in Taipei, Taiwan. He was selected as ‘member of the month” in August 2025 by the American Academy of Orthopedic Surgeons.    

Shannon Strader is a PM&R physician and is currently undergoing her fellowship in cellular therapy at Mayo Clinic. She is dedicated to caring for individuals with developmental disabilities and neuromusculoskeletal disorders, particularly patients with cerebral palsy. As an undergraduate, she conducted research in the regenerative biology lab of Dr. James Thomson. There, she became enthusiastic about the potential of new cellular therapies.  She will be staying on staff at Mayo Clinic within the Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Department after she completes her fellowship where she will be a leading a transition clinic for young adults with complex pediatric-onset disabilities. She aims to care for adults with complex disabilities while investigating cellular treatments for neuromusculoskeletal conditions and advocating for patient access to commercial, FDA approved cell and gene therapies.

Dr. Jason Doles is an Associate Professor and Vice Chair for Strategic Engagement in the Department of Anatomy, Cell Biology, and Physiology at the Indiana University School of Medicine. Dr. Doles received a B.A. in Political Science and Biology from Brown University (Providence, RI), and a Ph.D. in Biology from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (Cambridge, MA). Following postdoctoral fellowships at the Center for Genomic Regulation (Barcelona, Spain) and the University of Colorado-Boulder, Dr. Doles moved to Mayo Clinic in 2016, where he led a research lab before relocating to IU in 2022. Dr. Doles’ research program centers around three main themes: 1) cancer cachexia, 2) tissue recovery/regeneration following trauma, and 3) neuromuscular disease. The lab uses a variety of cell-based models (iPSCs, primary stem cell cultures, organoid cultures), model organisms (mouse, fly), and experimental techniques (cell/molecular biology, multi-omics, physiological assessments) to tackle projects spanning basic discovery to pre-clinical translational studies. Dr. Doles is actively involved in professional organizations including the American Association of Cancer Research, Society on Sarcopenia, Cachexia, and Wasting Disorders, Shock Society, Cancer Cachexia Society, and the Society for the Advancement of Chicanos/Hispanics and Native Americans in Science (SACNAS). He frequently serves on grant review panels for the National Institutes of Health, Muscular Dystrophy Association, and the Department of Defense/Veterans Affairs. Additionally, Dr. Doles is an Associate Editor for the Journal of Cachexia, Sarcopenia and Muscle, and JCSM Rapid Communications.  

Professor Wan-Ju Li is an associate professor and principal investigator who leads the Musculoskeletal Biology and Regenerative Medicine Laboratory in the Department of Orthopedics and Rehabilitation at the University of Wisconsin–Madison. He is also affiliated with the Department of Cell and Regenerative Biology and serves as leader of the Musculoskeletal Regeneration Group in the Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine Center. Professor Li earned his PhD in Cell and Tissue Engineering from Thomas Jefferson University in 2004 and completed postdoctoral training at the NIH in 2008.
His research focuses on stem cells and skeletal tissue engineering, with the aim of developing effective stem cell therapies for orthopedic diseases such as osteoarthritis and osteoporosis. His NIH-funded studies examine the use of induced pluripotent stem cells for cartilage repair. He has published more than 100 research articles. His work has been cited more than 14,830 times, and his Google Scholar profile shows an H-index of 47.

Professor Li is a member of the International Society for Stem Cell Research, the Osteoarthritis Research Society International, and the Orthopaedic Research Society, where he helped establish the Stem Cell Interest Group. His awards include the NIH Fellow Award for Research Excellence, the Young Investigator Research Award from the North American Spine Society, the Nontenure Faculty Award from 3M, and the Emerging Investigator Award of Stem Cell Research & Therapy. In 2025, he was elected a Fellow of the International Combined Orthopaedic Research Societies.

He serves on the editorial boards of several scientific journals, including Journal of Orthopaedic Translation, Frontiers in Cell and Developmental Biology, Genes and Diseases, and Regenerative Engineering and Translational Medicine.