Epitopea Strengthens Scientific Advisory Board with Appointment of Four World Renowned Experts in Cancer Immunology and Immunotherapy

CAMBRIDGE, United Kingdom and MONTREAL, Sept. 18, 2025 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Epitopea, a transatlantic cancer immunotherapeutics company developing accessible, off-the-shelf RNA-based immunotherapies, today announced the appointment of four world leading experts to its Scientific Advisory Board (SAB): Prof. Nahum Sonenberg, Dr. Nina Bhardwaj, Dr. Maggie Callahan, and Dr. Craig L. Slingluff, Jr. Together, they bring deep expertise in immuno-oncology, translational research, and vaccine development, supporting Epitopea as it advances its novel Cryptigen™-targeting immunotherapies towards the clinic.

Dr. Nahum Sonenberg, PhD, OC, FRS, FRSC, is a James McGill Professor and Gilman Cheney Chair in the Department of Biochemistry and the Rosalind and Morris Goodman Cancer Institute at McGill University. A world leader in translational control in health and disease, he is renowned for his discovery of the mRNA 5’ cap-binding protein eIF4E. His research has revealed critical links between translational control, cancer, autism and other diseases. Prof. Sonenberg is an elected member of the Royal Societies of Canada and London and the National Academies of Sciences and Medicine (USA) and has received prestigious awards including the Gairdner International Award and the Wolf Prize in Medicine. In 2023, he was inducted into the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame.

"I am delighted to join Epitopea’s SAB and contribute my experience in translational control to advancing a new class of cancer immunotherapies," said Prof. Sonenberg. "The company’s focus on Cryptigen™ tumor-specific antigens is based on exceptionally groundbreaking science."

Joining him on the SAB, Nina Bhardwaj, MD, PhD, is Professor of Medicine (Hematology and Medical Oncology) and Urology at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, where she holds the Ward Coleman Chair in Cancer Research. She serves as Director of Immunotherapy, Medical Director of the Vaccine and Cell Therapy Laboratory, and Co-Director of the Cancer Immunology Program at The Tisch Cancer Institute. An internationally recognized leader in human dendritic cell biology, she has made seminal contributions to understanding their immunobiology, antigen presentation, and use in cancer vaccines. Dr. Bhardwaj has developed Toll-Like Receptor agonist- and dendritic cell-based vaccines for cancer and infectious diseases, and pioneered neoantigen vaccine studies at The Tisch Cancer Institute. She has authored over 200 publications and received numerous honors, including Scientific American’s Top 50 Researchers award and the Fred W. Alt Award for new discoveries in Immunology from the Cancer Research Institute.

"Epitopea’s strategy to target Cryptigen™ antigens has the potential to open new avenues for effective and accessible immunotherapies," said Dr. Bhardwaj. "I look forward to collaborating with this outstanding team to accelerate their progress to the clinic."

Dr. Margaret Callahan, MD, PhD, is Professor of Medicine and Immunology, Chief of the Division of Hematology/Oncology, and Medical Director of the Clinical Trials Office at the Carole and Ray Neag Comprehensive Cancer Center, UConn Health. A medical oncologist and NIH-funded physician scientist, she is focused on advancing immuno-oncology research to impact patient care. Her expertise spans immuno-oncology, clinical trial design, and translational research, with a strong track record of bringing novel therapies from the laboratory into clinical testing. Dr. Callahan trained in Internal Medicine at the University of California, San Francisco, and completed her fellowship in Medical Oncology at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, where she also conducted postdoctoral research in tumor immunology. She has been recognized with multiple awards, including the Clinical Scholars Research Award from Memorial Sloan Kettering and the Conquer Cancer Foundation’s Oncology Travel Trainee Award.

"As a physician scientist, I am motivated by the opportunity to help translate promising science to treatments for patients. I believe that Epitopea’s approach has the opportunity to open up new treatment pathways for patients who need better options," said Dr. Callahan.

Rounding out the new appointments, Craig L. Slingluff, Jr., MD, is Professor of Surgery at the University of Virginia and Director of the Human Immune Therapy Center, which he established to integrate laboratory discoveries with clinical translation. An internationally recognized expert in melanoma immunology and cancer vaccine development, his research focuses on developing and optimizing melanoma vaccines, often in combination with immune modulators. Dr. Slingluff has maintained continuous NIH/NCI and DOD funding since 1992, holds 11 active IND applications with the FDA, and has licensed patents for immunotherapeutic innovations. He is active in the Melanoma Committee of the Eastern Cooperative Oncology Group and is committed to training the next generation of physician scientists.


"My career has been devoted to developing and advancing cancer vaccines for patients, and Epitopea’s exciting approach offers an important new direction in the field," said Dr. Slingluff.

Jon Moore, PhD, Chief Scientific Officer of Epitopea, commented: "We are honored to welcome Nahum, Nina, Maggie, and Craig to our Scientific Advisory Board to join co-founder Pierre Thibault and SAB Chair Michael Kalos. Each of the newly appointed members brings exceptional expertise and a proven track record of innovation in cancer immunology and immunotherapy or the underlying science and technology relevant to RNA-based immunotherapies. Their combined insights will be instrumental in guiding Epitopea as we translate our Cryptigen™ discoveries into accessible, off-the-shelf immunotherapies for patients with difficult-to-treat cancers."

The expansion of Epitopea’s SAB, reflects the company’s commitment to broaden its world-class scientific foundation beyond that provided by our scientific-founders Claude Perreault and Pierre Thibault to support the clinical development of its pipeline of RNA-based cancer immunotherapies.

About Epitopea 
Epitopea is a transatlantic cancer immunotherapeutics company developing accessible off-the-shelf RNA-based immunotherapies for use in hard-to-treat cancers by targeting a new class of untapped tumor-specific antigens, which are known as Cryptigen™ TSAs, that are broadly shared across multiple patients with the same tumor type.  

The company has created an extensive library of novel Cryptigen™ TSAs, discovered by its proprietary CryptoMap™ platform that leverages immunopeptidomics, genomics, and a bioinformatics pipeline, allowing the identification of aberrantly-expressed, tumor-specific antigens (aeTSAs) that are hidden within cancer’s ’junk’ DNA.  These hidden Cryptigen™ TSAs were first discovered through research led by Drs. Claude Perreault and Pierre Thibault at the Institute for Research in Immunology and Cancer at the Université de Montréal. 

Epitopea is backed by leading life science investors including Advent Life Sciences, CTI Life Sciences, Cambridge Innovation Capital, Le Fonds de Solidarité FTQ, Investissement Québec, adMare BioInnovations, Jonathan Milner, the Harrington Discovery Institute, IRICoR and Novateur Ventures. The company has a license and research collaboration with MSD (tradename of Merck & Co., Inc., Rahway, N.J., USA). 

Epitopea was founded in 2021 and consists of sister companies based in Cambridge, UK and in Montreal, Canada. For additional information, please visit www.epitopea.com and follow us on LinkedIn. 

For further information 
Epitopea 
Dr. Alan C. Rigby – CEO 
Alan.Rigby@epitopea.com 

Scius Communications (for Epitopea) 
Katja Stout 
+44 7789 435990 
katja@sciuscommunications.com 
Daniel Gooch 
+44 7747 875479 
daniel@sciuscommunications.com

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