Chris Ashdown is a research associate for Lahara Bio and 4th year MD/PhD student in the lab of Dr. Clinton Rubin in the Department of Biomedical Engineering at Stony Brook University located in Stony Brook, NY. His research is directed towards improving the efficacy of CAR-T therapy by elucidating the mechanisms behind low-intensity vibration's effect on immune cells and understanding how mechanical signals can drive cell phenotype and effector function.

Chris' role at Lahara Bio consists of providing key scientific input and conducting research on the use of non-drug, mechanical signals, for high-throughput biomanufacturing of autologous cell therapies. Chris has represented Lahara Bio at numerous conferences and industry meetings, including recently at a national Investor Pitch Competition, as part of the NIH's Proof of Concept Network annual meeting. He is also currently working closely with the Long Island Center for Biotechnology, a New York State Center for Advanced Technology, as a consultant generating due diligence reports on emerging biotechnology companies. After graduating from his MD/PhD dual degree program he hopes to continue to pursue translational projects with the goal of improving immunotherapies for cancer.