Tom Van Blarcom, PhD

Senior Vice President and Head of Research

Tom Van Blarcom, PhD, has 15 years of biopharmaceutical industry experience leading research teams which have contributed to multiple CAR T cells and bispecific antibodies currently under clinical evaluation. Dr. Van Blarcom joins Kyverna from Allogene Therapeutics where he most recently served as Executive Director, Head of Protein Engineering and Research Operations; he joined Allogene shortly after the company acquired the allogeneic cell therapy assets from Pfizer. In this role, he contributed to developing the scientific strategy, led cross-functional teams responsible for execution, and oversaw scientific operations. Dr. Van Blarcom also built the Protein Engineering Department that is responsible for protein sciences and technology development and led to co-inventorship on more than fifteen of Allogene’s pending or issued patents. Prior to Allogene, Dr. Van Blarcom held several roles of increasing responsibility at Pfizer and was involved in their initial work on allogeneic CAR T cells, which is now part of Allogene. He also spent time at Amgen where he began his industry career. Dr. Van Blarcom is a co-inventor on more than 12 patents and co-author on numerous peer-reviewed publications.

Dr. Van Blarcom received his PhD in chemical engineering from the University of Texas at Austin and a B.S. in chemical engineering from North Carolina State University.