Derek is President and Chief Executive Officer of Stellular Bio. Prior to that, he was Chief Operating Officer leading the Manufacturing and Technical Operations organization as well as additional strategic and operational responsibilities across the company. Prior to Stellular, Derek was Chief Technology and Manufacturing Officer at bluebird bio, where he was a member of the leadership team and oversaw pharmaceutical sciences and quality functions. Prior to bluebird, he was Senior Vice President, CMC at Evelo Biosciences, and, prior to that, he held senior leadership roles of increasing responsibility in process development and manufacturing at Alexion Pharmaceuticals. He started his career with Merck & Co, Inc. in Vaccine Technology and Engineering. Derek is an independent board director at Allovir, Inc., on the manufacturing advisory board of Jasper Therapeutics, and on the Advisory Committee of the BioInnovation Group. He earned a Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Minnesota and a B.S. in Chemical Engineering with High Distinction from Worcester Polytechnic Institute (WPI).