BioTech Entrepreneur Leen Kawas

Leen Kawas is a biotech and medical research entrepreneur. Kawas founded a biotech company that developed and commercialized cancer vaccines for melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancers. The vaccine has been approved for use on patients with a high risk of developing cutaneous melanoma, which can develop from other less serious forms of skin cancer, such as basal or squamous cell carcinomas. Kawas’ vaccine is the first in a new generation of cancer vaccines that has the potential to replace the current chemical treatment of these common forms of skin cancer.

Biography

Leen Kawas has a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from Northwestern University and a BS in Biochemistry from the University of California, Berkeley. Dr. Kawas has over ten years of experience running R&D labs and biotech start-ups. Dr. Kawas founded AbVitro, a vaccine for melanoma based on her development of new technology to treat cancer with molecular vaccines. Bristol-Myers Squibb acquired the company. Dr. Kawas holds several patents and has published numerous papers on the technology for cancer vaccines used to treat melanoma and other skin cancers.

Achievements

Leen Kawas has also been a member of numerous prestigious boards, such as the National Cancer Institute’s Special Opportunities in Cancer Research Review Committee together with the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) Leadership Development Board. She was in charge of the AACR Program on Molecular Targets and Cancer Therapeutics. She received the AACR’s James F. Holland Award, which recognizes outstanding achievements as a young investigator who has significantly contributed to cancer research and clinical practice. Dr. Kawas has won the following awards for her work.

Kawas is a cancer survivor and has been very active in the fight against cancer. The AACR Foundation established the Leen Kawas Award as an award that will be given to a scientist who has demonstrated leadership in research and clinical care related to cancer. Kawas holds patents for a new generation of vaccines, which have proven highly effective in treating cancers.

Original source to learn more: https://www.leenkawas.com/

Leen Kawas is a biotech and medical research entrepreneur. Kawas founded a biotech company that developed and commercialized cancer vaccines for melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancers. The vaccine has been approved for use on patients with a high risk of developing cutaneous melanoma, which can develop from other less serious forms of skin cancer, such…

Leen Kawas is a biotech and medical research entrepreneur. Kawas founded a biotech company that developed and commercialized cancer vaccines for melanoma and non-melanoma skin cancers. The vaccine has been approved for use on patients with a high risk of developing cutaneous melanoma, which can develop from other less serious forms of skin cancer, such…