Blake T. Aftab PhD

Blake T. Aftab, Ph.D. is Vice President and Head of Preclinical Science and Translational Medicine at Atara Biotherapeutics. Dr. Aftab leads cell therapy discovery, research, and translational evaluation for off-the-shelf cell therapies covering oncology, infectious disease, and autoimmune conditions. He has over 15 years of experience in academic, biotech and pharmaceutical industries developing multiple therapeutic modalities including small molecule, biologics, antibody-drug conjugates, and cell therapies. He conducted his doctoral training in Pharmacology and Drug Development at The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and received his bachelor in Pharmacology and Drug Discovery from The University of California, Santa Barbara.