Michal Bassani

Matthew Chang

Provost’s Chair Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Synthetic Biology Translational Research Program, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore

Executive Director, National Centre for Engineering Biology, Singapore

Matthew Chang is the Executive Director of the National Centre for Engineering Biology in Singapore. He also directs the Singapore Consortium for Synthetic Biology, the Wilmar–NUS Corporate Laboratory, and NUS Synthetic Biology for Clinical and Technological Innovation. He holds the Provost’s Chair and is Professor of Biochemistry at the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore. Dr. Chang’s research focuses on engineering programmable cells for applications in biomedicine and biomanufacturing. He has published over 130 scientific papers and received numerous honors, including the NRF Investigatorship Award and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's Scientific and Technological Achievement Award. A co-founder of the Global Biofoundry Alliance and the Asian Synthetic Biology Association, he also serves as Co-Chair of the World Economic Forum’s Global Future Council on Generative Biology. As a dedicated mentor, he has guided over 100 students and researchers, promoting interdisciplinary collaboration across science, engineering, and medicine.

Arielle Elkrief

Dr. Arielle Elkrief, MD, FRCPC is a clinician–scientist (FRQS J1) and Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine, Division of Oncology at the Centre hospitalier de l’Université de Montréal (CHUM), where she also serves as Co-Director of the CHUM Microbiome Centre. She leads a multidisciplinary translational research program with the overarching goal of developing microbiome-based therapeutic strategies to enhance the efficacy of anticancer immunotherapy. Her laboratory integrates clinical trials, preclinical models, and advanced computational oncology to design and test novel microbiome-based interventions including fecal microbiota transplantation, prebiotics, nutrition modulation, and next-generation live biotherapeutic products.

Dr. Elkrief was among the first to demonstrate that antibiotic exposure compromises the efficacy of immune checkpoint inhibitors in cancer, a landmark finding that altered clinical practice and shaped international treatment guidelines. Her team leads multiple investigator-initiated phase I and II clinical trials aimed at positively changing the microbiome to improve immunotherapy outcomes, while also leading a computational program to uncover the mechanistic underpinnings of microbiome-centered interventions.

She has authored more than 90 peer-reviewed publications. Her contributions have been recognized through several prestigious awards, including the American Society of Clinical Oncology (ASCO) Young Investigator Award, the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC) Women in Melanoma Award, and the Terry Fox Young Investigator Award.

Parameswaran Hari

Parameswaran Hari, M.D., M.S., is Obsidian’s Chief Medical Officer. Dr. Hari brings decades of experience designing, managing and leading complex cell and gene therapy clinical programs, including TIL therapies. Previously, Dr. Hari was Senior Vice President, Clinical Science at Iovance Biotherapeutics, where he led solid tumor adoptive cell therapy programs across multiple tumor types and indications, including new IND submission, first in human phase 1 studies and BLA submission efforts. Prior to Iovance, Dr. Hari was the Chief of Hematology and Oncology at the Medical College of Wisconsin, where he led national cooperative multi-PI trial groups in cell and gene therapy and multiple myeloma. He also served the American Society of Transplantation and Cellular Therapy (ASTCT) as its secretary. Dr. Hari received his M.B.B.S at Kerala University, M.D. at Central University of Pondicherry, and his M.S. at the Medical College of Wisconsin.

Filipe Pereira

Filipe Pereira, Ph.D. is a Full Professor of Molecular Medicine at Lund University’s Faculty of Medicine in Sweden. He is internationally recognized for pioneering work at the intersection of cellular reprogramming and immunology, particularly in the development of reprogramming-based immunotherapies. Over the past two decades, he has contributed to the fields of cellular reprogramming and hematopoietic specification. During his Ph.D. at Imperial College London, he employed cell fusion and heterokaryon models to study mechanisms of reprogramming toward pluripotency. As a postdoctoral researcher at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, he was the first to apply reprogramming concepts to hematopoiesis.

He established his first independent group at Coimbra University in 2015 before moving to Lund University in 2017, where he uncovered novel mechanisms underlying hematopoietic reprogramming and definitive hematopoiesis. He also pioneered reprogramming approaches in immunology by inducing dendritic cells from fibroblasts and cancer cells, introducing a new paradigm that bridges reprogramming with cancer immunotherapy. This work led to the founding of Asgard Therapeutics, which has secured €36 million in funding from leading venture capital firms to bring in vivo dendritic cell reprogramming to cancer patients.

His scientific achievements, along with his innovation efforts, have been recognized with numerous awards, including ERC Consolidator and Proof-of-Concept Grants, the Swedish Research Council Consolidator Grant, and the Novo Nordisk Foundation Distinguished Innovator Grant. He is a fellow of the Swedish Wallenberg Program in Molecular Medicine and serves as Editor-in-Chief of Cellular Reprogramming. Additional honors include the Swedish Fernström Prize for young investigators, the Pfizer-Portugal Basic Research Award, the Imperial College Emerging Alumni Leader Award, the Mount Sinai-KiiLN Entrepreneurship Award, and a Medal of Merit from his hometown in Portugal.

Mark Stewart

Mark Stewart works at Friends of Cancer Research, a Washington, DC–based organization that brings together partners across healthcare to advance science, policy, and regulation in oncology. He leads collaborative initiatives that develop frameworks for innovative clinical trial designs, novel endpoints, and emerging technologies to accelerate the development of innovative therapies, including immunotherapies and cell and gene therapies. His work emphasizes consensus-driven approaches that help align regulatory pathways and accelerate the availability of promising therapies for patients.

Mark’s contributions have informed national policy discussions, shaped FDA guidance, and advanced new strategies for cancer drug and diagnostic development. He has authored more than 45 peer-reviewed publications on topics spanning immuno-oncology, biomarker development, clinical trial design, and regulatory innovation, and frequently participates in multi-stakeholder initiatives that bridge science and policy to improve outcomes for people with cancer.