115. Innovations in diabetes therapies, Timothy Kieffer, CSO, Manasi Sinha Jaiman, CMO, ViaCyte

Biotech 2050 Podcast

Timothy Kieffer Dr. Kieffer has a deep knowledge of gene and cell therapies, regenerative medicine, diabetes applied research, and industry experience. As Chief Scientific Officer, he leads ViaCyte’s scientific team focused on delivering and commercializing clinical interventions for diabetes. Prior to joining ViaCyte, Dr. Kieffer oversaw the Laboratory of Molecular and Cellular Medicine with a focus on the development of novel gene and cell therapy approaches to treat diabetes at the University of British Columbia. Dr. Kieffer holds patents in the field and has co-authored over 200 peer-reviewed publications that collectively have been cited more than 20,000 times. He co-founded enGene, a biotech developing non-viral gene therapies. He received his Ph.D. in Physiology from the University of British Columbia and completed his post-doctoral training in Molecular Endocrinology at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. Dr. Kieffer received the Diabetes Canada Young Scientist Award and was elected as a Fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences. Previously, he spent a year on sabbatical at the Center for iPS Cell Research and Application, Kyoto University, Japan. Manasi Sinha Jaiman Dr. Jaiman has significant expertise in both drug and device development. Prior to joining ViaCyte as Vice President, Head of Clinical Development, Dr. Jaiman was Senior Medical Director at Covance/LabCorp working on clinical trials in diabetes as well as building the medical device department. She was also an attending physician at Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH), where she was responsible for the clinical care of type 1 and type 2 diabetes pediatric patients. Dr. Jaiman remains on faculty at MGH. Before joining Covance, she was involved in a variety of diabetes and obesity-related clinical research activities. In particular, she served as a co-investigator for the development of a closed-loop system at MGH for several adult and pediatric trials, evaluating improvements in glycemic control using a bihormonal, dual-chambered “bionic pancreas” programmed to deliver insulin and glucagon in response to real-time glucose sensor monitoring data. She was also a co-investigator in the development of a stable glucagon formulation using hyperinsulinemic-normoglycemic clamp techniques. Other research contributions included development of intradermal delivery of insulin and glucagon using a novel microneedle device, metabolic effects of gastric bypass surgery in young patients, and pharmacokinetic studies on multiple insulin types. Dr. Jaiman received her M.D. from Medical University of South Carolina and M.P.H. from Tulane University School of Public Health and Tropical Medicine with a focus on Health Systems Management. She completed her pediatric residency at Dartmouth-Hitchcock Medical Center and endocrinology fellowship at Massachusetts General Hospital, with a focus on type 1 diabetes research.