Dr. Kenneth Culver named Director of Research & Clinical Affairs for ALK Positive, Inc.

We are excited to welcome Dr. Kenneth Culver as our first Director of Research & Clinical Affairs! Dr. Culver graduated from the University of Iowa College of Medicine in 1981.  He completed his internship and residency in Pediatrics and a fellowship in Pediatric immunology at the University of California, San Francisco.  At UCSF, he developed a passion for finding new treatments for patients with incurable diseases. He is board certified in Pediatrics and in Allergy and Immunology

Next, he went to the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, Maryland as a Medical Staff Fellow and later as a Senior Clinical Investigator.  He worked in the laboratory of Dr. Michael Blaese. In collaboration with French Anderson, they initiated the first approved human gene therapy experiment.  Dr. Culver infused genetically-modified T-cells into Ashanti DeSilva on September 14, 1990.  A second child was treated in 1991.  Subsequently he co-led the first gene therapy clinical experiment for the treatment of glioblastoma multiforme.

Ken has published 2 books and more than 100 scientific articles. 

Dr. Culver worked for 20 years at Novartis Oncology where he contributed to the development of 12 compounds including ceritinib for ALK+ NSCLC.  In his last role, he served as Head, US Thoracic Oncology Clinical Strategy and Lead for the Center of Excellence for Immuno-Oncology for US Clinical Development and Medical Affairs.  Most recently, he was the Global Medical Affairs Leader for the Cell and Gene Oncology program at GlaxoSmithKline.

Outside of his medical career, Dr. Culver co-founded in 2002 the Foundation for Peace, a non-profit focused on education, medical care and community development for the materially impoverished in the Dominican Republic, Haiti and Kenya.  Thousands of people have volunteered, and many more have been served over the past 20 years.

We hope you all get the chance to meet Dr. Culver sometime through ALKtALKs, the next Summit, volunteer committees! #strongertogether