Robert Keefe, PhD

Robert Keefe is the Chief Development Officer at Bluesphere.  He is a T-cell biologist and process engineer with over 20 years of product development experience in the cell and gene therapy industry.  Bob earned his PhD in Immunology at the University of California, Davis, and was a post-doctoral fellow at Fox Chase Cancer Center, where he focused on the role of T cells in the immune response to infectious disease and cancer.  During his career, he has developed and translated innovative therapeutics for cancer, advanced these therapies to the clinic and toward commercialization, and developed several new animal models of disease.  His expertise centers on process and analytical development and validation, both for cell therapy and viral vectors.

Dr Keefe joins BlueSphere from AstraZeneca, where he was Head of CMC for cell and gene therapies, leading development of autologous and allogeneic cell therapies globally.  Prior to that, he held leadership positions at several therapeutic companies and CDMOs. At Lentigen, he worked on novel GMP-grade lenti-vector production and at Maxcyte, Bob launched their 1-day point-of-care CARMA CAR-T product.  During his time at Autolus, he led GMP vector production in Stevenage, UK. Bob also led efforts at Lonza and Wuxi to transform efficacious therapeutics to commercial-ready products for multiple companies.  As a leader in the field, Bob has remained on the cutting edge of technology and innovation and brings a wealth of experience to Bluesphere.