Rami Skaliter
Chief Executive Officer Cell Cure Neurosciences
Rami Skaliter, M.Sc., Ph.D., is the CEO of Cell Cure Neurosciences, a majority-owned (>95%) Israeli subsidiary of Lineage. The site is focused on manufacturing and related research and development activities. Dr. Skaliter was appointed in June 2017. In his last position, Dr. Skaliter worked for ten years as the Chief Operating Officer of Quark Pharmaceuticals, a late-stage pharmaceutical company developing siRNA-based novel therapeutics. Previously, Dr. Skaliter held various corporate and research executive positions at Quark Pharmaceuticals. Dr. Skaliter obtained his B.Sc. in Biology at the Ben-Gurion University and his M.Sc. and Ph.D. in Biochemistry at the Weizmann Institute in Israel. He specialized in the biochemistry of replication and mutagenesis mechanisms. Between 1993 and 1995, prior to joining Quark, Dr. Skaliter completed a post-doctoral fellowship at Stanford University.
Seminars
Despite promising results in preclinical models, cell therapies for ocular disease continue to face critical translational challenges from low post-injection viability and cell migration to structural disorganization and immune rejection. This workshop will examine how delivery innovations like hydrogel encapsulation, patient-specific sourcing, and immunomodulatory strategies are reshaping the future of retinal cell therapy.
Key Topics to be Explored:
- Why do injected cells fail to stay in place, and how can light-activated hydrogels improve structural outcomes post-delivery?
- How does spatial organization influence the therapeutic function of cells, and what preclinical evidence supports this correlation?
- What are the trade-offs between using autologous cells versus universal or “blank” cells to avoid immunogenicity and streamline manufacturing?
- How can we mitigate immune responses without fully suppressing efficacy, what does “partial acceptance” mean in real-world cell delivery?
- What are the next steps needed to move structurally stable, viable cell therapies into clinical trials for degenerative retinal diseases?
