Adrian Chaisson joined bluebird as Chief of Staff & Vice President of Business Operations in June 2025. As a seasoned strategic and operational drug development leader, he brings deep cross-functional experience in advancing novel medicines from discovery through commercialization for patients with serious and life-threatening diseases.

Prior to joining bluebird, Adrian served as Vice President of Program Leadership at Be Biopharma where he led the development of two first-in-class B cell therapies. In his role, he also led the Program & Project Management function where he helped shape the strategic direction of the company and was accountable for delivering on all operational goals of the business. As a member of the Executive Leadership Team, he partnered with senior leaders on strategic assignments throughout his tenure helping to build the company to a clinical organization which raised >$200M in private financing.

Previously, Adrian was the Head of Program & Project Management at FerGene, where he led the commercialization and lifecycle management of a gene therapy for non-muscle invasive bladder cancer. Earlier in his career, Adrian served in senior roles for two management consulting firms providing strategic and operational advisory services to biotech and healthcare clients.

Adrian received his MBA from Clark University where he graduated with high honors and is a Certified Project Management Professional.

With more than 30 years of experience in life sciences, Wendy has a strong record of success in financial, operational and corporate development. Wendy has led many companies through various stages of development and commercialization. Over the last seven years she has served as a life science advisor, often in an interim executive capacity, to several emerging growth companies as they approached and successfully accomplished IPO, a transformative acquisition or merger or first-time commercialization.

Most recently, she has served as the interim Chief Financial Officer (CFO) for Akari Therapeutics (NASDAQ: AKTX) and for Renovacor (NYSE: RCOR) and FerGene, all companies advancing targeted therapeutics through the clinical pipeline to commercialization. Previously, she was Chief Operating and Financial Officer of Centinel Spine, a global commercial spinal implant developer and manufacturer. Prior to Centinel, she held several public and private company CFO roles including: Camber Spine, Nuron Biotech, Quench USA, Globus Medical and Kensey Nash Corporation. She started her career in accounting at Deloitte & Touche, LLP.

Wendy currently serves on the board of directors of EyePoint Pharmaceuticals (NASDAQ:EYPT) and Imvax, Inc. and has previously served on multiple public and private life science company boards over the last 20 years. Wendy received a B.S. in accounting from Philadelphia College of Textiles and Science and is a licensed CPA. She is also an appointed Board Leadership Fellow of the National Association of Corporate Directors (NACD).

Ellen K. Forest most recently served as a strategic human resources advisor on an interim basis for two early-stage biotechnology companies. Prior to that, she was Chief Human Resources Officer at Yumanity Therapeutics (now Kineta, Inc.), where she led the company’s human resources function and developed a strategic HR vision aligned with the company’s overall mission and goals.

Before joining Yumanity, Ms. Forest was Senior Vice President and Head of Human Capital at Cogen Immune Medicine (now Repertoire Immune Medicines), a biotech firm focused on immune modulation therapeutics. Earlier in her career, she served as Vice President and Head of Human Resources at Merrimack Pharmaceuticals, a publicly traded company, where she directed human resources strategy across organizational leadership, talent management, change initiatives, and corporate culture.

Ms. Forest also held senior HR roles at Baxalta (acquired by Shire), Partners HealthCare (a non-profit healthcare system), and TA Associates, a global private equity firm, where she gained broad experience across the life sciences and investment sectors.

Ms. Forest holds an M.S. in Human Resources Management and a B.S. in Business from Emmanuel College and serves as a member of several human resources organizations.

Tom, who joined the flock in May of 2021 as our Chief Commercial Officer, has deep passion for patients and experience across multiple commercial roles in both rare diseases and oncology. Most recently, Tom served as Chief Commercial Officer at Gamida Cell, leading a high-growth, fast paced oncology cell therapy organization and establishing a culture of transparency, trust and empowerment. Prior to his tenure at Gamida Cell, Tom served in a variety of leadership roles at Atara Biotherapeutics, Navidea Biopharmaceuticals and Algeta U.S. where he led the successful commercial build-out and launch of Xofigo^®. Before Algeta, he held various commercial leadership positions at Dendreon. Tom began his pharmaceutical career at Eli Lilly where he held several positions of increasing responsibility and participated in the global launch of Cymbalta^®. Tom earned a B.A. in Business Administration and Marketing from Western State College.

Joanne Lager, MD joins bluebird bio bringing more than 20 years of experience in drug development.

Dr. Lager most recently served as Chief Medical Officer at NiKang Therapeutics and iTeos Therapeutics, where she oversaw strategy and operations for clinical programs. Before that, she was Head of Development for Oncology at Sanofi, where she directed the development of oncology products from candidate selection through post-marketing. Her career also includes key leadership and medical roles at Sanofi and GSK, reflecting a deep expertise in clinical research and development.

Dr. Lager earned her medical degree from Duke University, where she also completed fellowships in Pediatric Hematology/Oncology and Oncology Drug Development. Prior to transitioning to the biopharma industry, Joanne cared for patients in the Pediatric Blood and Marrow Transplant Unit at Duke University Medical Center.

David Meek brings over 30 years of experience in the biopharmaceutical industry, having held multiple leadership roles across a range of organizations. He has served as CEO of both public and private biopharma companies, including Mirati Therapeutics, FerGene, and Ipsen.

Before joining Ipsen, David held executive roles such as Executive Vice President and President of Oncology at Baxalta, and Chief Commercial Officer at Endocyte. He also served in global and general management roles at Novartis Pharmaceuticals and Novartis Oncology, after beginning his career at Johnson & Johnson’s Janssen Pharmaceuticals.

David currently serves on the boards of several public biotech companies, including Sobi, uniQure N.V., and Cullinan Therapeutics. He previously served on the boards of Fusion Pharmaceuticals and Entasis Therapeutics until their respective acquisitions. Additionally, he is a board member of the University of Southern California Mann School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences.

He has also contributed to the industry through his service on the boards of the Pharmaceutical Research and Manufacturers of America (PhRMA) and the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA). A decorated commissioned officer in the U.S. Army, David served on active duty and achieved the rank of captain. He is a graduate of the University of Cincinnati.

Brian Riley joins bluebird bio bringing more than 25 years of experience leading operations, quality and manufacturing.

Most recently, Brian served as the Chief Manufacturing Officer at Beam Therapeutics where he lead the design and start-up of a multi-modality GMP manufacturing facility to support both ex-vivo cell therapy drug product and in-vivo LNP encapsulated products. Prior to Beam, Mr. Riley spent five years at Catalent Pharma Solutions, where he led the company’s biologics business and managed five biologics plants across North America and Europe. Prior to Catalent, Mr. Riley served as the Site Director of Durham, NC operations at bioMerieux, where he led both the company’s compliance remediation effort and global growth platform. Before bioMerieux, Mr. Riley held progressive roles through quality and operations at Biogen Idec, Amgen and Diosynth Biotechnology.

Brian holds an MBA from Campbell University and a B.S. from North Carolina State University.