Naimish Patel, M.D., is a seasoned hematologist-oncologist with over two decades of experience in clinical development, particularly in gene and cell therapies for rare diseases and hematologic malignancies. He earned his medical degree from the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School and completed residency training in internal medicine at Johns Hopkins University, followed by fellowship training in hematology and oncology at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. Early in his career, Dr. Patel held key roles at Genzyme Corporation (now part of Sanofi), where he advanced programs in lysosomal storage disorders and transplantation, and later at Novartis, contributing to the development and approval of Kymriah, the first CAR-T cell therapy. Prior to joining CRISPR Therapeutics, Dr. Patel served as Senior Vice President and Head of Clinical Development at bluebird bio, where he led the global clinical strategy and execution for beti-cel (Zynteglo), the first approved gene therapy for transfusion-dependent beta-thalassemia, and elivaldogene autotemcel (Skysona) for cerebral adrenoleukodystrophy. His leadership resulted in multiple regulatory approvals and pivotal trial successes, establishing him as a leader in ex vivo gene therapy. As Chief Medical Officer at CRISPR Therapeutics AG since 2021, Dr. Patel oversees the company's clinical development pipeline, including CTX001 (exagamglogene autotemcel) for sickle cell disease and transfusion-dependent beta-thalassemia, as well as programs in oncology, autoimmune diseases, and in vivo editing. Under his guidance, CRISPR has advanced several investigational therapies toward pivotal trials and regulatory submissions, leveraging CRISPR/Cas9 technology to address unmet medical needs with innovative, potentially curative treatments.