Adrian Bot, MD, PhD, MSSM '98
Biography
Adrian Bot, MD, PhD, ISMMS '98, is the Vice President of Translational Medicine at Kite Pharma, a biotechnology company developing genetically engineered T cell therapies. He received his MD at the University of Medicine and Pharmacy in Timisoara, Romania, and his PhD in Biomedical Sciences at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, under the preceptorship of Dr. Constantin Bona, and the leadership of Dr. Peter Palese, Chair of the Microbiology department at Mount Sinai.
Dr. Bot had many favorite faculty members while at ISMMS, but mostly remembers Drs. Peter Palese and Constantin Bona. Dr. Palese, for his laser focus and determination, to "conquer" the influenza virus and Dr. Bona for his vision that gene programming of the immune system would eventually become a reality, which happened nearly three decades later.
Life after Mount Sinai
Dr. Bot leads Translational Medicine at Kite, focused on developing new cell therapies for cancer. In this role, his daily activities involve management meetings on R&D strategy, product portfolio management and related topics, team meetings with scientists reviewing the latest data, and calls with collaborators, opinion leaders to discuss internal and external programs. He spends about 60% of his time reviewing science and mapping out the next steps, and the rest of his time on organizational management.
One of the most challenging aspects in the industry is the rapid changes to product portfolio management, the competitive landscape of the industry, and business situation, which can lead to sudden changes in programs or program terminations. As an R&D leader, Dr. Bot constantly adapts to change.
To date, Dr. Bot is most proud of his contribution to bringing a first in class T cell product to the commercial stage for patients with malignant lymphoma, as Chief Scientific Officer, and then as Head of Translational Medicine, at Kite, now a Gilead company.
A Career in the Pharma Industry
Dr. Bot sees the pharma industry changing by advancing transformative treatments, vaccines, or diagnostics for unmet medical diseases, such as cancer, inflammation, metabolic and degenerative diseases, life-threatening infections. Gilead Sciences has advanced first in class therapies for cancer (Chimeric Antigen Receptors; with Kite, a Gilead Company), Human Immunodeficiency Virus, and Hepatitis C virus, and is now at the forefront of testing novel compounds for Coronavirus.
Dr. Bot believes that while many basic research discoveries happen in academia, the overwhelming majority of transformative treatments requiring very significant investments and infrastructure occurs in the industry. His pipeline is primarily focused on immunotherapies for cancer, inflammatory diseases, and viral infections, comprising platform technologies such as cell and gene therapies and small molecule targeted therapies.
Advice for Students
"I would advise becoming familiar with the primary focus of industry – both pharma and biotech – in terms of the current and prospective areas including platform technologies, and unmet medical diseases, to further define areas of interest in terms of career. Take classes or seek training in medical research or related topics. Nowadays, expect a very competitive environment in the industry. Today's industry matches science with the quality and creativity of academic research, while heavily focusing on the discovery, translation and development of new therapies or diagnostics.
A translational focus of the PhD related work is essential to making students attractive to employers in the pharma industry, and it makes them uniquely positioned for postdoc opportunity as a stepping stone to a career in industry. Efforts to patent, publish on topics directly or indirectly related to drug discovery or development, will also help."