MADISON, Wis. – The Program for Advanced Cell Therapy (PACT) has selected a new director of cell manufacturing.
Ross Meyers will oversee the program’s Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) lab operations and advanced cell manufacturing as the program works to develop FDA-compliant manufactured hematopoietic cells, mesenchymal stem cells and other cell types for first-in-human clinical trials conducted at UW Health.
“We look forward to having Dr. Meyers on board with his knowledge and experience,” said Dr. Jacques Galipeau, PACT director and associate dean of therapeutics in the UW School of Medicine and Public Health. “He brings with him a great skill set for biologics manufacturing that will help our program immensely.”
The lab, completed in 2018, will be used to enable a series of novel clinical trials starting this year, as well as other ongoing research projects for the school and UW Health.
The main work of the lab will be to develop UW-generated cell technology innovations through clinical trials conducted at University Hospital. Meyers will also develop partnerships with UW-Madison researchers and clinicians to make accessible to Wisconsinites new treatments based on immunotherapy and other cell-based therapies for cancer, autoimmune disorders and tissue injury, according to Galipeau.
Meyers brings strong academic, manufacturing background
This role at PACT is not his first within the Madison biotechnology ecosystem, Galipeau said.
Prior to arriving at PACT, Meyers was the quality control manager at Waisman Biomanufacturing, located in UW-Madison’s Waisman Center.
Meyers brings 13 years of experience working in a GMP lab environment, eight years in biomanufacturing and a total of 30 years in the pharmaceutical industry and academia.
He earned a PhD from the University of Arizona Cancer Center, Tucson, Ariz., and has extensive experience in biopharmaceutical and cell manufacturing, translational research and management.
He has co-authored numerous publications and has unique inventions in the area of chemotherapy; including a University of Arizona patent in medicinal chemistry. He has mentored numerous undergraduate and graduate students and trained multiple GMP scientists throughout his career.
“I am grateful for the opportunity to integrate my experiences into the PACT team to advance collaborative innovations in personalized medicine at the UW-Madison,” Meyers said.
