Jonathan Esensten MD PhD is director of the Advanced Biotherapy Center at Sheba Medical Center, Israel. His specialty is cellular therapy product development, manufacturing, and clinical trials. He is an expert in closed and automated manufacturing technologies. He serves on the scientific advisory board of several startups in the cell therapy space in the US and Europe. He has led cellular therapy development and manufacturing projects with academic partners, major pharma, and small biotech partners. He trained in cellular immunology, clinical pathology, and transfusion medicine at University of California, San Francisco (UCSF). He served on the faculty of the Department of Laboratory Medicine at UCSF from 2017-2023.