Zhimei Du

Dr. Zhimei Du is a leader in the fields of Cell/Gene Therapy and Biologics with significant experience in both early and late-stage development. Currently assuming the role of Chief Scientific Officer at BlueSphere Bio, she leads Research and Development organization, directing efforts toward the further advancement of Neoantigen technologies and TCR-based therapeutics development across various disease areas. Prior to joining BlueSphere Bio, Dr. Du served as Vice President at Atara Biotherapeutics, where she focused on accelerating the progress of both early and late-stage cell therapy pipelines, and later as Vice President at Landmark Bio, building and overseeing Translational Research and Early Development. Notably, her tenure at Merck & Co. as Executive Director and Global Head of Process Cell Sciences saw her establish innovative core functions and multi-site teams on a global scale, particularly in cell therapy and biologics development. Dr. Du has been instrumental in driving successful business development initiatives, evaluating and forging partnerships in biologics, ADC, cancer vaccine, CAR-T, and CAR-NK programs. Her extensive research contributions encompass a myriad of patents and publications in cell and gene therapy, process development, protein engineering, cell engineering, vector engineering, and genetic/epigenetic biomarker development.  Dr. Du received her Ph.D. in Immunology from Cornell University Medical College. She then worked as a Postdoctoral Fellow in Robert G. Roeder's laboratory at Rockefeller University, a world-renowned lab known for its groundbreaking work in transcription, in vitro transcription, and epigenetics.