James B. Trager, Ph.D.

Scientific Advisory Board Member

Dr. Trager is a well-established biotechnology leader deeply versed in the development and application of cellular therapies for cancer. He brings to Senti Bio over 25 years of technical expertise, strategic execution and development of novel cellular and biologic therapies. In addition to his industry positions, he also serves as an advisor for the Shoreline Community College Immunotherapy Biohub and SPARK at Stanford. Over the course of his career, he has contributed to nearly 50 publications, abstracts and patents.

Dr. Trager formerly served as the Chief Scientific Officer of Nkarta Therapeutics where he led the development of multiple discovery assets through IND and the creation of a pipeline of CAR NK product opportunities. Prior to his role at Nkarta, Dr. Trager held a number of increasing roles and responsibilities at Dendreon Pharmaceuticals, Inc., most recently having served as Vice President of Research and Product Development, where he was responsible for product and biomarker development development activities, supporting the late stage development of sipuleucel-T through clinical study, approval, and commercialization. Prior to that, Dr. Trager served as a Senior Scientist at Geron Corporation, where he was part of the team that cloned human telomerase, and enabled the manufacture and clinical development of a telomerase inhibitor. Across his career, he managed and integrated the efforts of over 100 scientists, engineers and technicians contributing to the invention and development of multiple cell therapies.

Dr. Trager holds a BA from St. John’s College in Santa Fe New Mexico and his Ph.D. in Molecular Biology and Biochemistry from the University of California at Berkeley.