Isabelle Rivière, PhD is Vice President, Head of Oncology Cell Therapy Technologies and Product Engine at Takeda. She is a leader in cell therapy and cell engineering with 25+ years of experience in developing and advancing cell therapy drug candidates from pre-clinical stage to phase I/II clinical trials and in building strong collaborations between academia and industry partners (including CAR T cells, CD34+ hematopoietic cells, dendritic cells, embryonic stem cells and iPS cells). She joined Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center in 1999 where she focused on the development of novel strategies for cell and immunotherapies. Her laboratory at MSKCC investigated genetic approaches to enhance/correct various cell types, including T cells and stem cells, for the treatment of cancers and genetic hematological disorders. Over the past 20 years, she has designed and implemented multiple cell bioproduction processes for several Phase I/II clinical trials. Her laboratory has initiated several clinical trials based on CAR-T cells for the treatment of hematological malignancies and solid tumors. She also studies the immunological functions of CAR-T cells in clinical trials and animal models. Dr. Rivière joined Takeda in 2023.

Dr. Rivière received her PhD in cellular and molecular biology from the University of Paris. She began her graduate studies at the Institut Curie in Paris and completed her thesis at the Whitehead Institute in Cambridge, MA.