Tia Hexom, PhD received a doctorate in cell and molecular biology at the University of Tulane in New Orleans, LA, USA. Dissertation work involved investigating cell morphology and synaptic plasticity of hypothalamic neurons during chronic variable stress and dehydration. Followed by a post-doctoral fellowship sponsored by the NIH Institutional Research and Academic Career Advancement (IRACDA) fellowship investigating chronic variable stress in Alzheimer's disease. Part of this work utilized iPSCs from Alzheimer's and control patients which were subsequently made into neural stem cells and utilized for the development of Alzheimer's disease in vitro modeling for future drug discovery screening. Dr. Hexom subsequently entered the cell therapy field and has gained extensive experience in the production of raw material blood products, GMP medical devices and translational workflows for CART and other cell therapy work. During this time Dr. Hexom has: led production labs isolating various immune cells and stem cells for cell therapy; managed medical device GMP manufacturing and developed marketing tools for application science and CART translational workflows. In her current role at Thermo Fisher Scientific, Dr. Hexom supports customers transitioning their cell and gene therapy work to clinical applications by providing workflow guidance and personalized scientific support.