BrainChild Bio is motivated by our common purpose—to develop safe and effective therapies to combat incurable CNS solid brain tumors in children and adults.
We are building a best-in-class team across many disciplines including immunology, synthetic biology, manufacturing sciences, translational medicines, and clinical development to advance this promising technology, creating more therapeutic options and most importantly, more hope for patients and their families.
Michael Jensen, MD
Founder, Chief Scientific OfficerMichael C Jensen, MD is a physician-scientist specializing in pediatric oncology and cellular immunotherapy. He is a graduate of the University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine and has most recently served as the Sinegal Endowed Professor at the University of Washington School of Medicine. He has authored over 130 peer-reviewed scientific articles and is an inventor of over 200 patents in cell and gene therapy. Dr. Jensen co-founded Juno Therapeutics and Umoja Biopharma. Over the last 13 years at Seattle Children’s he has served as the founding director of the Ben Towne Center For Childhood Cancer Research and the founding Chief Therapeutics Officer and leader of Seattle Children’s Therapeutics.
Steven Brugger
Chief Executive OfficerSteven Brugger brings over 40 years of R&D and business experience in the biotech and pharmaceutical industry to BrainChild Bio. He most recently served as Founder, Chief Executive Officer and Board Director at Affinivax, Inc., a private biotech company which was acquired by GSK plc for $3.3B in 2022. Prior to Affinivax, Mr. Brugger held senior positions across multiple private biotech companies including Chief Executive Officer and Board Director at Visterra, Chief Operating Officer at Momenta Pharmaceuticals, and Vice President of Strategic Product Development at Millennium Pharmaceuticals. Mr. Brugger began his career spending 20 years in the large pharma industry, holding various leadership and management positions at Novartis, Ayerst (Pfizer), and Hoechst (Sanofi) Pharmaceuticals. Mr. Brugger received his BA in Biology from Susquehanna University and his MBA from the Rutgers Graduate School of Management.
Nicholas A. Vitanza, MD
Founding Chair, Scientific Advisory BoardCNS CAR T-cell Lead and DIPG Research Lead at Seattle Children’s
Associate Professor, University of Washington Department of Hematology/Oncology
Dr. Nick Vitanza is a physician-scientist who completed fellowships in oncology (at New York University) and neuro-oncology (at Stanford University). At Seattle Children’s, he directs a lab focused on the biological and immunological targeting of fatal pediatric tumors of the central nervous system (CNS), including diffuse intrinsic pontine glioma (DIPG) and diffuse midline glioma (DMG), and is the Research Lead for all DIPG studies. In addition, Dr. Vitanza serves as the CNS CAR-T cell Lead and has directed multiple repeatedly intracranially dosed CNS CAR-T cell trials (including BrainChild-01 targeting HER2 published in Nature Medicine, BrainChild-03 targeting B7-H3 published in Cancer Discovery, and BrainChild-04 using quad-targeting CAR-T cells). Ultimately, his focus is rapidly advancing novel therapeutics for children with fatal CNS tumors.
Kathi Shah
SVP, Corporate Development & ComplianceKathi Shah has over 25 years of leadership experience and expertise in the life sciences Industry. She has extensive understanding in diagnosing and designing organizational structures, processes, information, and skills to facilitate workflow alignment. Most recently, as Principal of LocKStep Consulting LLC, she partnered with firms ranging from early-stage startups like Affinivax to global healthcare technology leaders like Medtronic and Becton Dickinson, driving change management and enhancing capabilities to drive the mission, strategy, and operational plans forward. Previously, as Vice President at Halloran Consulting, she focused on building the Organizational Solutions team and offering for the company. Beginning her career at Nova Biomedical, Kathi subsequently progressed through multiple technical and leadership roles at Boston Scientific. She received a BS in Biomedical Engineering from WPI in Worcester, Massachusetts, and an MBA from Babson FW Olin School of Management.
Rich Getto
SVP, Portfolio Strategy and Product DeliveryRich Getto has over 20 years of experience in the biotech industry leading diverse teams to and beyond their goals and enabling therapies for patients. He recently led Program Management and Portfolio Strategy at Umoja Biopharma, positioning early products for clinical trials while also orchestrating the build of multiple functional areas during company start up. Prior to Umoja, Rich oversaw multiple CMC development teams at Juno Therapeutics before transitioning into a role finding and delivering solutions to scale autologous CAR T manufacturing and analytical testing to meet future patient demand. Rich began his career at Amgen optimizing the company’s tech transfer process and guiding over 100 tech transfer projects across a diverse manufacturing network. Rich received a BS in Chemical Engineering from Montana State University, a MS in Biotechnology Engineering from the Technische Universität Hamburg-Harburg, and his MBA in Technology Management from the Northern Institute of Technology in Hamburg, Germany.
Cori Abikoff, MD
VP, Clinical Development & OperationsCori Abikoff, MD is Vice President of Clinical Development and Operations at BrainChild Bio, where she leads global clinical development strategy and execution. She brings extensive experience in clinical development, with deep expertise in medical monitoring, pharmacovigilance, and regulatory engagement for cell therapies. Most recently at Sana Biotechnology, Dr. Abikoff contributed to clinical innovation across next-generation cell therapy platforms, including novel applications in autoimmunity and diabetes. Earlier, at Takeda, she played a key role in shaping clinical development strategy for a myeloid malignancy portfolio, advancing cell therapy platforms from preclinical development through BLA submission. Prior to that, at Novartis, she was part of the clinical team supporting some of the earliest cell therapy approvals, including Kymriah in pediatric leukemia and large B-cell lymphoma. Dr. Abikoff is a board-certified pediatric hematologist-oncologist and completed her training at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine, Seattle Children’s Hospital, and the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center.
Jonathan Collins
VP, People, Culture & Business OperationsJonathan Collins has over 15 years of experience as a people focused leader, with a proven track record of aligning people and processes to achieve business results. Jonathan begin his career at Grainger in their Human Resource Leadership Rotational Program. Jonathan quickly rose through the ranks there and since has held several executive positions at private equity, not for profit and start up organizations. Most recently Jonathan served as Executive Vice President of PadSplit, a PropTech startup with a mission to solve the affordable housing crisis in America. Mr. Collins received his BA from the University of Texas at Austin and his Executive MBA from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill.
Joshua Gustafson, PhD
VP, Research & DevelopmentJoshua Gustafson has over 10 years of CAR-T research, development, and manufacturing experience. He holds a BS in Biomedical Engineering from Rutgers University and a PhD in Bioengineering from the University of Utah. He completed postdoctoral training in Dr. Michael Jensen’s laboratory designing and developing improved methodologies to manufacture CAR-T cells. Most recently, Josh served as the Director of R&D and led internal viral vector GMP efforts for Seattle Children’s Therapeutics, a unique venture by Seattle Children’s Hospital to design, develop, and clinically study life-saving cell therapies specifically targeted at pediatric indications.
Marie Lossky, PhD
Intellectual PropertyMarie Lossky has over 20 years in the identification, protection, management and licensing of intellectual property arising from academic and commercial biomedical research. For the last 14 years, Marie has been a free-lance advisor. Her practice aims to align intellectual property strategy to core business objectives. Clients have ranged from pre-seed funded biotech companies to major biopharma, as well as academic institutions in Boston and Cambridge. She typically accompanies each client over several years as the business matures through rounds of funding to IPO or acquisition. Ms. Lossky received her PhD in biochemistry and molecular biology from Imperial College, London, a BA in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from Harvard University, and is a registered Patent Agent before the USPTO.
David Slatcher, CPA
FinanceDavid Slatcher has over 20 years of corporate accounting and financial management experience in the life sciences industry. Most recently, he was Vice President, Corporate Controller at Affinivax, Inc., a private biotech company where he played a pivotal role in its acquisition by GSK plc for $3.3B in 2022, where he led the financial integration through 2023. Prior to that, Mr. Slatcher served as Corporate Controller at Ironwood Pharmaceuticals and was integral in executing the spin-off of Cyclerion Therapeutics, where he also served as Corporate Controller. Previously, he served as the Director of Accounting at the Acambis vaccines division of Sanofi, where he was responsible for the financial integration after its acquisition. Mr. Slatcher began his career in public accounting at Deloitte, where he earned his CPA, and received a BS in accounting from New York University Stern School of Business.