Jane S. Lebkowski PhD

Dr. Jane Lebkowski has been actively involved in the development of cell and gene therapies since 1986 and is currently President of R&D at Asterias Biotherapeutics Inc, where she is responsible for all preclinical, product, and clinical development of Asterias’ products. In addition, Dr. Lebkowski recently served as the Chief Scientific Officer at Regenerative Patch Technologies, a biotechnology firm developing composite stem cell based implants targeting restoration of retinal architecture and function in patients with macular degeneration. From 1998 to 2012, Dr. Lebkowski was Senior Vice President of Regenerative Medicine and Chief Scientific Officer at Geron Corporation. Dr. Lebkowski led Geron’s human embryonic stem cell program, being responsible for all research, preclinical development, product development, manufacturing, and clinical development activities. Prior to Geron, Dr. Lebkowski was Vice President of Research and Development at Applied Immune Sciences. Following the acquisition of Applied Immune Sciences by Rhone Poulenc Rorer (RPR, currently Sanofi), Dr. Lebkowski remained at RPR as Vice President of Discovery Research. During Dr. Lebkowski’s tenure at RPR, she coordinated preclinical investigations of gene therapy approaches for treatment of cancer, cardiovascular disease and nervous system disorders, and directed vector formulations and delivery development. Dr. Lebkowski received her Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Princeton University in 1982, and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Department of Genetics, Stanford University in 1986.

Dr. Lebkowski has published over 70 peer reviewed papers and has 13 issued U.S. patents. Dr. Lebkowski has served as the co-chair of the Industrial Committee of the International Society for Stem Cell Research and serves on several scientific advisory boards and other professional committees.