Jacques Galipeau
Don and Marilyn Anderson Professor of Oncology and Associate Dean for Therapeutics Development, University of Wisconsin in Madison, US
Meet Jacques Galipeau
Galipeau is the president-elect of the International Society for Cell Therapy and the director of the University of Wisconsin Advanced Cell Therapy Program. He is an internationally recognized expert in the translational development of cellular pharmaceuticals.
What is the most interesting or little-known fact about you?
As a younger man, I was a commissioned infantry officer in the Canadian national guard, and retired in 1991 at the rank of captain (medical training got in the way). I was in the Montreal Blackwatch Royal Highland Regiment (kilt and all) and got to meet in person our honorary colonel – the Queen Mother – during her Canadian regimental visit. She spoke to me in French (it was a nice touch considering I’m French-Canadian…).
What one thing do you think could improve the pharma industry?
Focusing on cell therapies as a pharma platform, there may be an underdeveloped niche of place-of-care vein-to-vein manufacturing and profitable deployment of Living Synthetic Therapeutics. Whoever figures out the COG/QA paradigm for this commercialization model may disrupt the onerous central manufacturing model and own the secondary markets of emerging economies…
If you weren’t in the pharma industry, what would you be doing?
I’m an old school university-based scholar bearing the ribbons and scars of tenured faculty. If I weren’t such, I’d be in pharma for sure! Discovery is rewarding, but drug development and deployment is where the rubber meets the road from a patient perspective.