Fate’s leadership team has the passion and experience to explore new biology, develop innovative therapeutics, create formidable intellectual property, launch new business models and foster high-value strategic collaborations.
Bahram (Bob) Valamehr is President & Chief Executive Officer at Fate Therapeutics and is responsible for the company’s finance, administration and operations, including overseeing the company’s research and development, technical operations and translational sciences activities. Previously, Dr. Valamehr led the development of Fate’s iPSC platform and therapeutic areas for nearly 15 years and most recently held the role of President of R&D. Prior to joining Fate, Dr. Valamehr played key scientific roles at Amgen, the Center for Cell Control (a NIH Nanomedicine Development Center) and the Broad Stem Cell Research Center developing novel methods to control pluripotency, to modulate stem cell fate including hematopoiesis and to better understand cellular signaling pathways associated with aberrant cellular function. He has co-authored numerous studies and patents related to stem cell biology, immunology, oncology and materials science. Dr. Valamehr received his Ph.D. from the Department of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology at UCLA, his M.B.A. from Pepperdine University and his B.S. from the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at UCLA.
Cindy Tahl is Chief Legal & Compliance Officer at Fate Therapeutics and is serving as a key advisor in day to day operations, providing legal advice and counsel for all functions of the business and overseeing company compliance. Ms. Tahl also directs the development and expansion of the Company’s IP portfolio. Prior to joining Fate, Ms. Tahl was a technology transactions attorney at Wilson Sonsini Goodrich & Rosati, P.C., and practiced intellectual property law in the New York office of Kenyon & Kenyon, LLP. Ms. Tahl has worked extensively with biotechnology companies at all stages of growth, representing clients in numerous corporate transactions and executing patent strategy to advance corporate goals. Ms. Tahl received a J.D. from Boston College Law School and a B.S. in biology from the University of California, San Diego. She is admitted to the state bars of California and New York, and is registered to practice as a patent attorney before the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office.
Mr. Henry is Senior Vice President, Clinical Operations at Fate Therapeutics and is responsible for the global implementation of the company’s clinical programs. He has over 35 years of experience managing clinical trials in global life science companies. Over the last decade, he has worked at the executive team level as the Sr. Vice President overseeing the Clinical Development Operations and Portfolio Management at several clinical-stage biotech companies delivering global programs in cell therapies, devices, and small molecules for Alcoholic Hepatitis, Becker Muscular Dystrophy, as well as Oncology portfolios. Mr. Henry has overseen large multi-million-dollar programs and portfolios across multiple therapeutic areas and has built and managed teams from 5 to 150 employees. At Schering-Plough Oncology, he was a part of the team that led to the approval of Temozolomide for treating brain cancers including glioblastoma multiforme (GBM) and anaplastic astrocytoma (AA). At Novartis Oncology, he led the joint clinical team in partnership with Schering AG, developing an early antiangiogenic compound in a global Phase 3 colorectal cancer program. Mr. Henry has a B.S. in Biology with Honors in Biopsychology and Behavioral Genetics from William Paterson University.
Tunde Babalola is Senior Vice President, Technical Operations at Fate Therapeutics, overseeing all GxP operations, process development, quality and compliance activities. Dr. Babalola is an accomplished leader with more than 15 years of diverse experience spanning cell therapy, biologics, small molecules, combination products and medical implants. Before joining Fate, Dr. Babalola worked at Kite, A Gilead Company, leading quality control and quality assurance site organizations at Kite’s Clinical and Commercial facilities for Yescarta® and Tecartus®. Prior to that she held multiple roles of increasing responsibilities at Bristol Myers Squibb both at their corporate headquarters and at their manufacturing sites in Puerto Rico, including leading the successful US launches of Orencia® SC and Nulogix®, and as quality lead for Yervoy® and Eliquis® at critical commercial manufacturing and packaging facilities for global supply. Dr. Babalola received a B.Sc. in Biomedical Engineering with a concentration in Mechanical Engineering from the University of Rochester and a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from Cornell University.
Noreen Blanchett is Vice President, Deputy General Counsel at Fate Therapeutics and is responsible for day-to-day legal operations and providing legal counsel to all functions of the business, as well as supporting the Chief Legal & Compliance Officer in the areas of legal and risk management and corporate governance. Prior to joining Fate, Ms. Blanchett was Associate General Counsel at SeaSpine, Inc., a medical device company. Ms. Blanchett began her legal career as an associate in Latham & Watkins LLP’s finance department. Ms. Blanchett received her J.D. from the University of California, Los Angeles School of Law and a B.A. in Applied Mathematics from the University of California, Berkeley. She is admitted to the state bar of California.
Peter Burberry is Vice President, Information Technology at Fate Therapeutics and is responsible for the company’s information solutions, services and cybersecurity. Prior to joining Fate, Peter led Global IT teams for Aerie Pharmaceuticals (now Alcon), Allergan (now Abbvie) and Hologic. He has over 20 years of Biopharma/Pharmaceutical experience and has led large and small application roll outs across the world. Peter has a Batchelor of Science (Hons) from Loughborough University in the U.K.
Yu Cai is the Head of Intellectual Property, Assistant General Counsel at Fate Therapeutics, where she oversees all aspects of IP protection and management across the company. With a unique combination of technical expertise and legal experience, Dr. Cai has led Fate’s IP practice for nearly a decade, building a proven track record in developing and executing global IP strategies, initiating and expanding high-value IP portfolios, guiding global patent prosecution, defending against third-party challenges, and advising on competitive landscape, freedom-to-operate, IP enforcement, and risk mitigation. Before joining Fate Therapeutics, Dr. Cai practiced IP law at Polsinelli, PC, where she served corporations in biotechnology and life sciences industries. She holds a Ph.D. in Plant Sciences and Genetics from the University of Arizona, specializing in epigenetics, as well as a M.S. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, and a B.S. in Biochemical Engineering. Dr. Cai obtained her J.D. from the Sandra Day O’Connor College of Law, Arizona State University.
Jessica Francis is Vice President, Human Resources & Operations at Fate Therapeutics and is responsible for the company’s human resources, environmental health and safety, security and facilities management. Ms. Francis has more than 20 years of experience supporting biotechnology companies and has led Fate’s Human Resources function for over 15 years. Before joining Fate as one of the company’s first employees, Ms. Francis served in supporting roles in legal and administration at Immunex, Amgen, and iKaria. She served as the founding President of the Board of Trustees for the Beyond Benefits Trust, offering multiple employers competitive healthcare benefits options. Ms. Francis received her B.S. in Behavioral Science and Health from the University of Utah.
Victor Hong is Vice President, Corporate Development & Finance at Fate Therapeutics and is responsible for business development, finance, and business planning activities. Before joining Fate, he served as Vice President Hematology Strategy at BMS, guiding portfolio strategy and prioritization. Prior to that role, he was Executive Director Business Planning & Finance at Celgene, responsible for financial valuations of internal / external innovation, as well as new product planning and launch preparedness. He has over 20 years of industry experience in multiple therapeutic and functional areas, including market analysis at Novartis and clinical data operations at Pfizer. He holds an M.B.A. from Fordham University, an M.P.H. from Columbia University, and a B.S. in biomedical engineering from Boston University.
Vaneet K Sandhu is Vice President of Clinical Development at Fate Therapeutics, where she leads the development of the company’s clinical programs in autoimmunity. Previously, she was a practicing rheumatologist at Loma Linda University Health, serving as the Rheumatology Fellowship Program Directorm and Director of the rheumatology clinics at Riverside University Health System. Her academic contributions include leading numerous clinical trials, establishing lupus and systemic sclerosis registries, and conducting funded research on health services in patients with rheumatic disease and biomarker development in SLE. Vaneet earned her MBBS from Dayanand Medical College and Hospital (India) and an MS in Academic Medicine from the University of Missouri. She completed her Internal Medicine residency at Loma Linda University Health and Rheumatology fellowship at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center.
Lilly Wong is Vice President, Clinical Translation at Fate Therapeutics, where she oversees the development and implementation of translational strategies for clinical programs in hematology-oncology, solid tumors, and autoimmune diseases. With over 20 years of experience in translational research, Dr. Wong has expertise in biomarker discovery, clinical assay development, pharmacokinetics/pharmacodynamics (PK/PD), patient enrichment hypotheses, and combination strategies. Before joining Fate, Dr. Wong served as Director of Translational Medicine at Bristol Myers Squibb, where she led clinical biomarker development and combination strategies for a novel CELMoD in relapsed/refractory multiple myeloma. She also held several scientific and leadership roles at Celgene Corporation. Dr. Wong earned both her Ph.D. and B.S. in Chemistry and Biochemistry from the University of California, San Diego.
Board of Directors
Fate’s Board of Directors has founded and led the evolution of several of the most successful companies in the biotechnology space. The group has deep expertise in science, technology, drug development, finance, and strategy – all the tools necessary to help Fate emerge as an industry leader in the development and commercialization of programmed cellular immunotherapies.
Dr. Rastetter has served as Chairman of the Board and a director since November 2011. From February 2012 to October 2012, he also served as our interim Chief Executive Officer. He is a Co-Founder of Receptos, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company acquired by Celgene Corporation in 2015, and he served as a director and Chairman of the board of Receptos, Inc. from 2009 to 2015, and was Acting Chief Executive Officer from May 2009 to November 2010. Dr. Rastetter also served as the Chairman of Illumina, Inc. from 2005 to 2016, and as a director of Illumina, Inc. from 1998 to 2016. Dr. Rastetter currently serves as the Chairman of Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc., as a director of Grail, Inc. and Regulus Therapeutics, Inc., and as Chairman of Daré Bioscience, Inc., previously known as Cerulean Pharma, Inc. He also serves as a strategic advisor to SVB Leerink, a healthcare focused investment bank, and as an advisor to Illumina Ventures, a genomics focused venture firm. Dr. Rastetter served as a Partner at the venture capital firm of Venrock from 2006 to February 2013. Prior to that, Dr. Rastetter was Executive Chairman of Biogen Idec, from the merger of the two companies (Biogen and Idec Pharmaceuticals) in 2003 through the end of 2005. He joined Idec Pharmaceuticals at its founding in 1986 and served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer. Prior to Idec, he was Director of Corporate Ventures at Genentech, Inc. and also served in a scientific capacity at Genentech. Dr. Rastetter held various faculty positions at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Harvard University and was an Alfred P. Sloan Fellow. Dr. Rastetter holds a Ph.D. and M.A. in chemistry from Harvard University and an S.B. in chemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
.John D. Mendlein, Ph.D., J.D. is an Executive Partner of Flagship Pioneering, a venture capital firm. Prior to joining Flagship, Dr. Mendlein served as President, Corporate and Product Strategy, of Moderna, Inc., a clinical stage biotechnology company. Dr. Mendlein also serves as a member of the board of aTyr Pharma, Inc., and previously served as its Chief Executive Officer and Executive Chairman of the board of directors. He also holds board positions with The BIO (Biotechnology Industry Organization) emerging companies board and Editas Medicine, Inc., a genome editing company. Dr. Mendlein previously served as the Chief Executive Officer of Adnexus Therapeutics, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company, which was purchased by Bristol-Myers Squibb (BMY) in 2008. Dr. Mendlein also served on the board of directors of Monogram Biosciences, Inc., an HIV and oncology diagnostic company that was acquired by Laboratory Corporation of America Holdings in 2009. Before that, he served as Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Affinium Pharmaceuticals Ltd. (acquired by Debiopharm Group), and board member, General Counsel and Chief Knowledge Officer at Aurora Bioscience Corporation (acquired by Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Inc.). Dr. Mendlein holds a Ph.D. in physiology and biophysics from the University of California, Los Angeles, a J.D. from the University of California, Hastings College of the Law, and a B.S. in biology from the University of Miami.
Dr. Shefali Agarwal formerly served as President, Chief Executive Officer, and Chair of the Board of Onxeo S.A., a clinical stage biotechnology company developing drugs targeting DNA Damage Response (DDR). Prior to joining Onxeo, Dr. Agarwal was the Chief Medical Officer at Epizyme, Inc., a clinical-stage company developing novel epigenetic therapies for cancer and other serious diseases, where she led the global clinical development and regulatory strategy for tazemetostat for the treatment of cancer. Prior to joining Epizyme in 2018, Dr. Agarwal held leadership positions across medical research, clinical development, clinical operations and medical affairs. She most recently served as chief medical officer at SQZ Biotech, where she built and led the clinical development organization, which included clinical research operations and the regulatory function. Before SQZ Biotech, Dr. Agarwal also held leadership positions at Curis and Tesaro. At Curis, she oversaw the Phase 2 study for its dual HDAC/PI3K inhibitor in diffuse large B-cell lymphoma, and the Phase 1 study in solid tumors for its oral checkpoint inhibitor. At Tesaro, she led the NDA and EMA submissions for ZEJULA(r) (niraparib) in ovarian cancer. Dr. Agarwal has also held positions of increasing responsibility at Covidien, AVEO Oncology and Pfizer. In addition to receiving her medical degree, Dr. Agarwal holds a master’s of public health and a master’s of science in business.
Timothy P. Coughlin is the former Chief Financial Officer of Neurocrine Biosciences, Inc., a biopharmaceutical company that has received FDA approval for INGREZZA® (valbenazine) and ORILISSA® (elagolix), both of which were discovered and developed during his tenure at Neurocrine from 2002 to 2018. Mr. Coughlin serves on the board of directors of Travere Therapeutics, Inc. and aTyr Pharma, Inc., both biotechnology companies, and also served on the board of directors of Peloton Therapeutics, Inc. prior to its sale to Merck & Co. in 2019. Prior to joining Neurocrine, he was with Catholic Health Initiatives, a nationwide integrated healthcare delivery system, where he served as Vice President, Financial Services. Mr. Coughlin also served as a Senior Manager in the Health Sciences practice of Ernst & Young LLP and its predecessors from 1989 to 1999. Mr. Coughlin holds a master’s degree in international business from San Diego State University and a bachelor’s degree in accounting from Temple University. Mr. Coughlin is a certified public accountant in both California and Pennsylvania.
Dr. Epstein is an epidemiologist and strategic consultant to life sciences companies and serves on the board of directors of Illumina, Inc., and Veracyte, Inc., a molecular diagnostic company. From 2010 to 2012, Dr. Epstein served as president of the Medco-UBC Division and as Chief Research and Development officer of Medco Health Solutions, Inc., a managed healthcare company. In these roles, Dr. Epstein was responsible for all of Medco’s clinical research initiatives, including the Medco Research Consortium and United BioSource Corporation. Dr. Epstein served as Medco’s Chief Medical Officer from 1997 to 2010, leading formulary development, clinical guideline development, drug information services, personalized medicine program development, and client analytics and reporting. Dr. Epstein is the former President of the International Society of Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR), and served on the board of directors of the Drug Information Association (DIA) and the International Society of Quality of Life, and was also elected to the AHRQ CERT (Centers for Education and Research on Therapeutics) Committee. Dr. Epstein holds a B.S. and an M.D. from the University of Michigan and an M.S. from the University of Maryland.
Karin Jooss, Ph.D. formerly served as Executive Vice President of Research and Chief Scientific Officer of Gritstone bio, a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing cancer immunotherapies from April 2016 to December 2024. Prior to Gritstone, from May 2009 to April 2016, Dr. Jooss served as head of cancer immuno-therapeutics in the vaccine immuno-therapeutics department at Pfizer, Inc., a public pharmaceutical company, where she was also a member of the vaccine immuno-therapeutics leadership team and served as head of the immuno-pharmacology team. Prior to joining Pfizer, Dr. Jooss served as vice president of research at Cell Genesys, Inc. from June 2005 to April 2009, and as senior director of research at Cell Genesys from July 2001 to June 2005. She is on the editorial board of Molecular Therapy and the Journal of Gene Medicine and is a member of the Immunology and Educational Committee of the American Society of Gene & Cell Therapy and the Industry Task Force of the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer. Dr. Jooss received her diploma in theoretical medicine and a Ph.D. in molecular biology and immunology from the University of Marburg in Germany, and performed postgraduate work in gene therapy and immunology at the University of Pennsylvania.
Mr. Lee is a co-founder and portfolio manager at Redmile Group, LLC, a health care-focused investment firm based in San Francisco and New York. Prior to Redmile, he worked as a biotechnology investor at Steeple Capital, and before that at Welch Capital Partners and Prudential Equity Group. Mike holds a B.S. in Molecular and Cellular Biology from the University of Arizona.
Dr. Mozaffarian formerly served as Chief Medical Officer of Atomwise Inc., where she led the company’s clinical development, operations, regulatory, and quality teams to progress AI-driven pipeline assets to first-in-human studies. Prior to Atomwise, Dr. Mozaffarian served as Chief Medical Officer of GentiBio, Inc., where she advanced novel autologous and allogenic T-regulatory cell programs aiming to restore immune homeostasis in patients with inflammatory diseases; as Vice President, Autoantibody Pathway Area Leader at Janssen Pharmaceuticals / Johnson & Johnson; as Senior Vice President at Ichnos Sciences Inc.; and held R&D leadership positions in clinical development at Gilead, Eli Lilly, and AbbVie. Dr. Mozaffarian graduated with honors from the Albert Einstein College of Medicine in New York, and completed Internal Medicine residency and Rheumatology research fellowship at the University of Washington in Seattle.
Dr. Xu joined Legend Biotech Corporation in March 2018 as Chief Executive Officer and as a Director, playing a leading role in the company’s IPO, clinical development of the autologous CAR T-cell therapy cilta-cel, and partnership with Janssen until her resignation in August 2020. Prior to Legend, Dr. Xu was Senior Vice President at Merck from August 2015 to August 2017, where she led discovery, preclinical and technical development, and manufacture of the Biologics & Vaccines subdivision. Dr. Xu was Vice President at Gilead from March 2014 to August 2015, where she led biologics and vaccines development and oversaw all operational aspects of the company’s Oceanside manufacturing facility as Site Head, and was Vice President at Novartis from 2008 to 2014, where she led several functions in the U.S. and Europe including the biotherapeutics development unit focusing on innovative medicines such as engineered cell therapies, gene therapies, and antibody drug conjugates. Early in her career, Dr. Xu held positions at Amgen, Chiron, GlaxoSmithKline and Genentech. Dr. Xu received a B.S. in biochemistry from Nanjing University and a Ph.D. in biochemistry from the University of Maryland, and she completed her post-doctoral training in virology and gene therapy at the University of California, San Diego. Dr. Xu currently serves as an independent director on the board of directors of Akero Therapeutics, Inc. (Nasdaq: AKRO).
Bahram (Bob) Valamehr is President & Chief Executive Officer at Fate Therapeutics and is responsible for the company’s finance, administration and operations, including overseeing the company’s research and development, technical operations and translational sciences activities. Previously, Dr. Valamehr led the development of Fate’s iPSC platform and therapeutic areas for nearly 15 years and most recently held the role of President of R&D. Prior to joining Fate, Dr. Valamehr played key scientific roles at Amgen, the Center for Cell Control (a NIH Nanomedicine Development Center) and the Broad Stem Cell Research Center developing novel methods to control pluripotency, to modulate stem cell fate including hematopoiesis and to better understand cellular signaling pathways associated with aberrant cellular function. He has co-authored numerous studies and patents related to stem cell biology, immunology, oncology and materials science. Dr. Valamehr received his Ph.D. from the Department of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology at UCLA, his M.B.A. from Pepperdine University and his B.S. from the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at UCLA.
