About
A Life at the Intersection of Science and Adventure
Dr. Hege is a highly regarded physician-scientist with 30 years of experience in biopharma drug development and academic clinical medicine. She currently serves on the Board of Directors of EvolveImmune and KSQ Therapeutics, and recently stepped down from director roles at Kelonia, Mersana, and Adaptimmune following external acquisitions.
In addition, she serves as co-chair of the Biotech Committee, Spring Scientific Summit, and Women in Immunotherapy Network for the Society for the Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC), along with advisory roles at cTRL, Moonlight, Dispatch, Neomorph, Kamau, Cartography, Shennon, Avemi, OverT, Waypoint, Moderna, Legend, Infinitopes, Generate, and Merck.
Dr. Hege retired from her executive role at Bristol Myers Squibb in 2023 to pursue her lifelong dream of thru-hiking the 2,650-mile Pacific Crest Trail. In her BMS role as SVP Early Clinical Development, Hematology, Oncology & Cell Therapy, she was responsible for advancing a pipeline of small molecules, biologics, and cell therapies from first-in-human studies through clinical proof-of-concept. While there she led the 2Seventybio (formerly bluebird)-partnered BCMA CAR-T cell program (Abecma) in multiple myeloma from inception through FDA approval.
Prior to BMS she held a similar role at Celgene as well as executive R&D roles in biotech at Cell Genesys, Cellerant, and Theraclone. In addition, Dr. Hege spent nearly three decades as part-time clinical faculty in hematology at the University of California, San Francisco (UCSF), most recently as Clinical Professor of Medicine.
Dr. Hege has received numerous accolades including recognition by Forbes magazine as one of “50 Women Over 50: Entrepreneurs”, by UCSD with the Duane Roth Career Achievement Award for advances in science and medicine, and most recently with election as a Fellow of the Academy of Immuno-Oncology by the Society for the Immunotherapy of Cancer (SITC). She is passionate about advocacy for the advancement of women in science and medicine and has turned her PCT adventure into a fundraiser supporting leadership skills development for early-career women working in the field of cell and gene therapy.
