bluebird bio, a pioneer in gene therapies for severe genetic diseases, has appointed Brian Riley as President and Chief Technical Officer, Joanne Lager, MD as Chief Medical Officer, and Adrian Chaisson as Chief of Staff, further bolstering its management team. This move follows the announcement late last year that bluebird bio would restructure.

“I am thrilled to welcome Brian, Joanne and Adrian to bluebird’s leadership team. They each bring extensive experience in the biotech and pharmaceutical industry with proven track records in strategic leadership, genetic therapy manufacturing, operational excellence and drug development,” said David Meek, CEO of bluebird bio. “These new appointments mark an exciting and important milestone as we sharpen our focus on commercial execution and expanding access to our gene therapies.”

Brian Riley – President and Chief Technical Officer

Brian Riley joins bluebird bio with more than 25 years of experience leading operations, quality and manufacturing.

Most recently, Riley served as the Chief Manufacturing Officer at Beam Therapeutics, where he led the design and start-up of a multi-modality GMP manufacturing facility to support both ex-vivo cell therapy drug product and in-vivo LNP encapsulated products. Prior to Beam, Riley spent five years at Catalent Pharma Solutions, where he led the company’s biologics business and managed five biologics plants across North America and Europe. Before Catalent, Riley served as the Site Director of Durham, NC operations at bioMerieux, where he led both the company’s compliance remediation effort and global growth platform. Previously, he held progressive roles through quality and operations at Biogen Idec, Amgen and Diosynth Biotechnology.

Riley holds an MBA from Campbell University and a B.S. from North Carolina State University.

Joanne Lager, MD – Chief Medical Officer

Joanne Lager, MD joins bluebird bio with more than 20 years of experience in drug development.

Lager most recently served as Chief Medical Officer at NiKang Therapeutics and iTeos Therapeutics, where she oversaw strategy and operations for clinical programs. Before that, she was Head of Development for Oncology at Sanofi, where she directed the development of oncology products from candidate selection through post-marketing. Her career also includes key leadership and medical roles at Sanofi and GSK, reflecting a deep expertise in clinical research and development.

Lager earned her medical degree from Duke University, where she also completed fellowships in Pediatric Hematology/Oncology and Oncology Drug Development. Prior to transitioning to the biopharma industry, Lager cared for patients in the Pediatric Blood and Marrow Transplant Unit at Duke University Medical Center.

Adrian Chaisson – Chief of Staff

Adrian Chaisson joins bluebird bio with strong strategic and operational drug development leadership, shaped by his deep cross-functional experience in advancing novel medicines from discovery through commercialization for patients with serious and life-threatening diseases.

Prior to joining bluebird, Chaisson served as Vice President of Program Leadership at Be Biopharma where he led the development of two novel B cell therapies and established the Program Management function, which helped shape the strategic direction of the company and deliver on all operational business goals. Previously, Chaisson was Head of Program & Project Management at FerGene, where he led the commercialization and lifecycle management of a gene therapy for bladder cancer. Earlier in his career, Chaisson spent several years as a management consultant providing strategic and operational advisory to biotech and healthcare clients.

Chaisson holds an MBA from Clark University.