#122 - Lisa Purcell & Alina Baum

As part of KGI's Industry Speaker Series, Trustee Ross Grossman interviewed two Regeneron leaders: Dr. Lisa Purcell, Senior Manager, Clinical Sciences, Immunology and Inflammation, and Dr. Alina Baum, Senior Staff Scientist. Lisa Purcell joined Regeneron in 2008 and is a Clinical Scientist in Immunology and Inflammation. She received her PhD from McGill University and completed her Postdoctoral Training at Columbia University. Dr. Purcell’s current work focuses on the clinical development of therapies within the immunology and infectious disease therapeutic areas, including those for SARS-CoV-2/COVID-19. She has also developed therapies for pathogens using Regeneron’s novel technologies. Dr. Purcell is the scientific director of Regeneron’s science education efforts, including the Regeneron Science Talent Search, research mentorship efforts, the International and Westchester Science and Engineering Fair, and STEM teacher programs. Alina Baum is a Senior Staff Scientist at Regeneron Pharmaceuticals where she is leading the COVID-19 spike antibody program currently in clinical trials.  She received her PhD in molecular virology from the lab of Adolfo Garcia-Sastre at Mount Sinai School of Medicine and performed postdoctoral studies with Charlie Rice at Rockefeller University. Her academic career focused on studying interactions between RNA viruses and the innate immune system. In her current position at Regeneron, she is leading a virology research group developing novel therapies for viral infections including influenza and hepatitis B, and emerging pathogens such as Ebola and SARS-CoV-2, as well as the development of oncolytic viruses and vaccines for cancer immunotherapy.