Dr. Kaufmann is currently Senior Vice President, Chief Scientific Officer and Head of Open Innovation at Kyowa Kirin, Inc. San Diego and has extensive experience in discovery and preclinical development of both biotherapeutics and small molecule drug product candidates. Dr. Kaufmann served as Chief Science Officer at Oncternal Therapeutics, Inc. from 2019 to 2022, Senior Vice President, Immunotherapy, Head of Research and Global Partnerships at Sorrento Therapeutics, Inc. Dr. Kaufmann was previously a faculty member at The Scripps Research Institute and still serves as Adjunct Assistant Professor in the Departments of Chemistry and Immunology and Microbial Science. Dr. Kaufmann holds a B.S. in human biology from Phillips University Marburg, an M.S. in human biology from Ernst-Moritz-Arndt University Greifswald, and a Ph.D. from The Scripps Research Institute’s Biology Program.