Matthew Hewitt, Ph.D., currently serves as Senior Director, Scientific Services, Cell and Gene Therapy (CGT) at Charles River Laboratories. Matt plays a critical role in driving CGT strategic vision as well as leading one of Charles River’s CGT sites. Before joining the company, he was Head of R&D and Clinical Development for Lonza’s Personalized Medicine Business Unit where he led development of the Cocoon manufacturing technology, a closed, automated, scalable cell therapy manufacturing solution. In addition, he developed and executed numerous collaborations across academia and industry that leveraged the Cocoon technology. Prior to Lonza, Matt led the Tumor Immunology and Microenvironment program at Bellicum Pharmaceuticals, which focused on improving cell therapy efficacy in solid tumors. He also led the Immunology group at the University of Pennsylvania’s Gene Therapy Program, leading and contributing to numerous AAV gene therapy programs. Matt received his Ph.D. in biophysics and physiology from the University of Alabama at Birmingham and completed his postdoctoral fellowship at Johns Hopkins University.