Sensei Biotherapeutics, Inc. announced two key promotions within the company's senior management team. Robert Pierce has been appointed chief research & development officer and will have additional responsibility for drug discovery, translational medicine, and clinical development of Sensei's pipeline programs. Dr. Pierce has more than two decades of scientific leadership and experience managing large teams dedicated to translational medicine platforms in academia and industry, particularly in immuno-oncology. His research has focused on the mechanisms of tumor-induced immune tolerance and he has longstanding expertise in the development of biomarkers to predict responses to immuno-oncology treatments.

Prior to Sensei, he was the scientific director of the Immunopathology Lab in the Clinical Research Division at the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. Previously at Merck, Dr. Pierce led a team focused on the development of tissue-based biomarkers for Merck's anti-PD- 1 therapeutic antibody (pembrolizumab; KEYTRUDA®) and was the medical lead responsible for initiating the clinical trials of pembrolizumab in merkel cell carcinoma (MCC) and cutaneous T cell lymphoma (CTCL). He was also previously the chief medical officer and, subsequently, chief scientific officer of OncoSec Medical.