Katie Hooper

Katie brings to Sonoma a strong background in cellular assay development, as well as training in virology and immunology. She completed a B.S. at the University of Washington in Biochemistry and Microbiology, then continued on to earn a Ph.D. in Molecular and Cellular Biology in the laboratory of Jesse Bloom, studying a novel influenza virus entry mechanism and its consequence on humoral immunity.

Prior to joining Sonoma, she spent 4 years with Bluebird Bio working to develop assays to characterize the function and potency of CAR- and transgenic TCR-T cells. She was also extensively involved in Bluebird’s gene-editing platform and its application to the oncology pipeline. Prior to Bluebird, she completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the California Institute for Biomedical Research where she worked on the switchable CAR-T cell platform, now partnered with Abbvie for clinical development.

Katie is a member of Sonoma’s Translational Development team in Seattle and will be working to characterize the cell therapy products as they develop for the clinic.