Umoja Biopharma Appoints Igor I. Slukvin, M.D., Ph.D. to its Scientific Advisory Board

SEATTLE, Sept. 13, 2022 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) — Umoja Biopharma, Inc., an immuno-oncology company pioneering off-the-shelf, integrated therapeutics that reprogram immune cells in vivo to treat patients with solid and hematologic malignancies, announced the appointment of Igor I. Slukvin, M.D., Ph.D. to its Scientific Advisory Board.

“We are excited to welcome Igor to Umoja’s Scientific Advisory Board. Igor’s extensive background and contributions to the human pluripotent stem cell field, in particular his expertise in hematopoiesis and immune cell differentiation, will provide vital insights as we progress our pipeline,” said Ryan Larson, Ph.D., Vice President and Head of Immunology at Umoja. “Igor’s appointment comes at an important time as Umoja continues to advance our iPSC-based synthetic receptor enabled differentiation platform into the clinic.”

Dr. Slukvin brings his expertise to the Umoja Scientific Advisory Board from the University of Wisconsin, Madison where he serves as the first Henry Pitot Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine and Professor of Cell and Regenerative Biology. His research interests include cellular and molecular pathways leading to development of hematopoietic and vascular cells from human pluripotent stem cells (hPSCs) and advancing iPSC technologies for immunotherapies. Dr. Slukvin also co-directs Precision Medicine and Genomic Resources at the Wisconsin National Primate Research Center which is focused on establishing next generation animal models and tools for the assessment of precision stem cell therapies. Dr. Slukvin is also a co-founder of Cellular Dynamics International and Cynata Therapeutics biotechnology companies. Dr. Slukvin received his medical education and Ph.D. degree from Kyiv Medical University, Ukraine.

“This is a great time to join the Umoja team as they advance their ground-breaking integrated platform therapeutics towards clinical studies and pioneer new technologies in the CAR T immunotherapy field,” said Dr. Slukvin. “Umoja is working to overcome limitations with current technologies by developing ‘off-the-shelf’ solutions which includes a novel cell manufacturing process that leverages Umoja’s proprietary synthetic cytokine receptor technology to drive differentiation and expansion of cancer fighting cells from iPSCs. I look forward to being a part of the progress Umoja is making.”

About Umoja Biopharma
Umoja Biopharma, Inc. is an early clinical-stage company advancing an entirely new approach to immunotherapy. Umoja Biopharma, Inc. is a transformative multi-platform immuno-oncology company founded with the goal of creating curative treatments for solid and hematological malignancies by reprogramming immune cells in vivo to target and fight cancer. Founded based on pioneering work performed at Seattle Children’s Research Institute and Purdue University, Umoja’s novel approach is powered by integrated cellular immunotherapy technologies including the VivoVec in vivo delivery platform, the RACR/CAR in vivo cell expansion/control platform, and the TumorTag targeting platform. Designed from the ground up to work together, these platforms are being developed to create and harness a powerful immune response in the body to directly, safely, and controllably attack cancer. Umoja believes that its approach can provide broader access to the most advanced immunotherapies and enable more patients to live better, fuller lives. To learn more, visit http://umoja-biopharma.com/.

Media Contact:
Darren Opland, Ph.D.
LifeSci Communications
darren@lifescicomms.com