Dr. Aftab is the Chief Scientific Officer at Adicet Bio leading the design and development of first-in-class allogeneic gamma-delta CAR T cell therapies. Dr. Aftab has over 20 years of rich experience in biotech, academia, and pharmaceutical industries developing multiple therapeutic modalities spanning small molecules, biologics, antibody-drug conjugates and cell therapies through all stages drug development. In his tenure as CSO, he has overseen translational characterization of the ADI-001 in heme malignancies and in autoimmune conditions, as well as  the development of a de novo pipeline of CAR T cell therapies with along with additional engineered enhancement technologies, including an armored CAR-T currently in clinical development in solid tumors. Dr. Aftab’s track record includes three approved therapies across small molecule, antibody, and allogeneic T cell modalities. Previously, as Head of Preclinical Science and Translational Medicine at Atara Biotherapeutics, Inc., he raised research and translational medicine departments to facilitate the company’s transition to cell therapy and mid-late stage clinical development, culminating in successful approval of Ebvallo and establishment of Atara’s CAR-T pipeline. Previously, Dr. Aftab led multiple research programs at University of California, San Francisco focused on drug discovery and clinical translation in multiple myeloma, including early research supporting targeted approaches for BCMA and other targets of interest, including initial clinical-translational evaluation of isatuxumab. Prior to his academic tenure, Dr. Aftab held various research and development positions at Exelixis, where he led nonclinical studies for multiple investigational drug applications, including cobimetinib, and at Dako where he co-developed a diagnostic assay for sub-typing of high risk HPV infections. Dr. Aftab received his Ph.D. from The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and holds a B.Sc. in Pharmacology and Drug Discovery, from The University of California, Santa Barbara.