Haro Hartounian

Dr. Hartounian leads the NJII’s Biopharma Division, working with colleagues in industry and academia to help biopharmaceutical companies transform discovery into commercial production. He has 30 years experience in biotechnology working for companies such as DuPont, Monsanto, SkyePharma and Vyteris. He contributed to three FDA-approved product launches ⁠— DepoCyt and DepoMorphine. He also founded the companies MicroIslet, Protagenic Therapeutics, and DiaVacs and has worked in a variety of product lines ⁠— including cell therapy, oncology, women’s health, pain management and drug delivery. In addition, Dr. Hartounian is an adjunct associate professor of Chemical Engineering at Columbia University, and was appointed to the Affiliated Faculty in NJIT's Department of Chemistry and Environmental Science. He earned his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Delaware.

Hana Ioannidis, PhD

Dr. Ioannidis completed her B.S. in Chemistry at Beijing Normal University and her Ph.D. in Chemistry at NJIT, with a focus on protein engineering by directed evolution. Before working at NJII, she served as the associate director of microbiology at TAXIS Pharmaceuticals, where she commissioned a new R&D facility and transferred its biology division from an academic setting into a successful industrial operation. She more recently worked as associate director of sales and marketing for ACS Scientific, where she implemented an efficient business development system for over 1,000 small molecule products. Her responsibility in the Biopharma team covers alliance management with corporate partners and clients, as well as strategic program planning and management.

Chathuranga De Silva, PhD

Dr. De Silva completed his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from Columbia University, specializing in polymer-based drug delivery systems. He later co-founded a startup company to commercialize work in this area. Prior to joining NJII, Dr. De Silva worked in chemical distribution, product development and commercialization. He has also published several peer-reviewed journal articles on his work in specialty polymers.

Fuhua Xu, PhD

Dr. Xu possesses extensive lab experience in xenograft modeling, cell and biochemical analysis, molecular biology, and genomic techniques. Since completing his Ph.D. in Cell and Molecular Biology at Rutgers University, Dr. Xu has more than 10 years of experience in research and engineering in CAR T-cell manufacturing. Prior to joining our team, Dr. Xu dedicated his talents to process development and manufacturing projects while working for CMC Biologics, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, and the National Institutes of Health.

Bhumesh Savalia, MSc

Bhumesh Savalia brings more than nine years of experience in pre-clinical and clinical development of cell and gene therapy to our team. His extensive portfolio includes projects on autologous and allogenic cell and gene therapy, including multi-antigen-specific T cells, and bio-specific antibodies. Throughout his career, Savalia worked in cGMP production, quality assurance, and process development. He is dedicating his expertise and experience to developing cost effective ways to deliver cell and gene therapy to patients.

Zainab Alali, PhD

Along with her PhD in Molecular Bioscience from Seton Hall University, Dr. Alali has more than seven years of research experience in cellular and molecular biology. She possesses extensive GMP expertise and is a certified GMP training practitioner. Her laboratory expertise includes genetic isolation, cloning, sequencing, delivery, as well as ELISA, CLARITY, and CRISPR-Cas9 technologies. Prior to working with NJII, Dr. Alali was a senior manufacturing associate in Celgene’s CAR-T projects, where she qualified new operators in CAR-T manufacturing. She also lends her expertise as an adjunct professor in NJIT’s Cell and Gene Therapy Program.

Mahezabin Tai

Tai earned her Bachelor of Science in Biomedical Laboratory & Clinical Sciences from Boston University. She has been instrumental in research and development, quality, compliance, manufacturing, training, and development of advanced therapies in the highly GMP-regulated pharmaceutical industry. She began her career in research at Evolved Nanomaterial Sciences and continued her journey with Hyaluron Contract Manufacturing, Shire and Biogen Idec. Most recently, she held a series of operations and compliance positions at Celgene in advanced cell therapy.

Sadiq Khan

Khan has more than 25 years of marketing, alliance and general management experience. He has held e-leadership roles within Sanofi-Aventis and its predecessor companies. In addition to several management positions in the Asia-Pacific region. He has held U.S. and global franchise leadership positions at companies both small and large. Additionally, he has worked as a consultant independently and with a Big Four professional service organization. Khan has experience in more than 12 therapeutic areas. He earned a B.Sc. in Mathematics and Physics and two MBAs. He is a regular guest speaker at Columbia University and NJIT.

Rucheet Patel

Patel holds a M.Sc. in Pharmaceutical & Medicinal Chemistry from New Jersey Institute of Technology and a B.Sc. in Pharmaceutical Sciences from Gujarat Technological University in India. He trained in quality assurance/quality control and R&D in the pharmaceutical industry in India for more than two years. Patel recently started working in the area of cell and gene therapy as a member of the Biopharma Division.

Benjamin Hughes

Hughes is in the Biochemistry Program at NJIT, working towards his goal of entering medicine. With a strong interest in scientific innovation, he aims to help advance the quickly growing field of cell and gene therapies in the clinic and in the lab. Prior to joining the team at NJII, Hughes was a process development assistant with BioMagnetic Solutions.

Naira Abou-Ghali

Abou-Ghali is a fourth-year biology student at NJIT and will be working towards a Ph.D. in pharmacology at Weill Cornell Medical School. During her time there, she aims to invent novel cancer therapeutics and mentor underrepresented students in STEM. Prior to joining the team at NJII, Abou-Ghali was a research intern at the University of Pennsylvania.