Epitopea Strengthens Advisory Board By Bringing On Four Internationally Recognized Experts In Cancer Immunology And Immunotherapy

Epitopea, a cancer immunotherapeutics company with operations in Cambridge, UK, and Montreal, Canada, announced the appointment of four leading scientists to its Scientific Advisory Board: Prof. Nahum Sonenberg; Dr. Nina Bhardwaj; Dr. Maggie Callahan; and Dr. Craig L. Slingluff, Jr. These experts bring deep experience in immuno-oncology, translational research, vaccine development, and antigen biology, and will support Epitopea as it moves its Cryptigen™-targeting RNA-based immunotherapies toward clinical trials. 

Nahum Sonenberg is the James McGill Professor and Gilman Cheney Chair in the Department of Biochemistry at McGill University, also affiliated with the Rosalind and Morris Goodman Cancer Institute. He is known for discovering the mRNA 5’ cap-binding protein eIF4E, and for his work linking translational control to cancer, autism, and other diseases. He has received multiple prestigious honours including the Gairdner International Award and the Wolf Prize in Medicine, and is a member of the Royal Societies of Canada & London and the U.S. National Academies of Sciences and Medicine. 

Nina Bhardwaj is Professor of Medicine (Hematology & Medical Oncology) and Urology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai. She directs Immunotherapy and vaccines work, especially around dendritic cells, antigen presentation, tumor neoantigens, and Toll-Like Receptor agonist-based vaccines, among other areas. She has authored over 200 publications and has been recognised with awards including Scientific American’s Top 50 Researchers and the Fred W. Alt Award from the Cancer Research Institute. 

Margaret “Maggie” Callahan is Professor of Medicine and Immunology, Chief of Hematology/Oncology, and Medical Director of the Clinical Trials Office at UConn Health’s Carole and Ray Neag Comprehensive Cancer Center. Her work covers immuno-oncology, clinical trial design, and translational research, guiding promising lab discoveries toward clinical application. She trained in Internal Medicine at UCSF and in Medical Oncology at Memorial Sloan Kettering, where she also worked in tumor immunology research. 

Craig L. Slingluff, Jr. is Professor of Surgery at the University of Virginia and Director of the Human Immune Therapy Center, which he founded. He is an expert in melanoma immunology and cancer vaccine development, with a long-standing research track record including many FDA IND applications, active NIH/NCI/DOD funding, involvement in cooperative oncology groups, and patents in immunotherapy. 

Jon Moore, PhD, Epitopea’s Chief Scientific Officer, stated that the new SAB members will join existing advisory leaders including cofounder Pierre Thibault and SAB Chair Michael Kalos. Their combined knowledge is expected to be key as Epitopea advances its Cryptigen discoveries into off-the-shelf RNA-based cancer immunotherapies. 

Epitopea is developing a new class of tumor-specific antigens (“Cryptigen” TSAs) that are shared broadly among patients with the same type of tumor and are identified using its proprietary CryptoMap™ platform. This platform combines immunopeptidomics, genomics, and bioinformatics to find aberrantly expressed tumor-specific antigens derived from non-coding or “junk” regions of the genome. The company, founded in 2021, is supported by investors including Advent Life Sciences, CTI Life Sciences, Cambridge Innovation Capital, and others. It also holds a licensed research collaboration with MSD (Merck & Co.).