Akshata Ijantkar
Senior Principal Scientist Bristol Myers Squibb
Seminars
Tuesday 1st December 2026
Improving Flow Cytometry Reliability to Enable Confident QC Release Decisions for Cell Therapies
9:00 am
Flow cytometry is widely used in cell therapy development but remains difficult to implement in a QC environment workflow. Variability across reagents, instruments, sample preparation and data analysis creates significant risk without thorough technical knowledge about flow cytometry. At the same time, evolving technologies such as spectral cytometry and shifting regulatory expectations are increasing complexity rather than reducing it, leaving many teams uncertain about how to build robust and future-proof approaches.
This workshop provides a practical forum to explore:
- Identifying and controlling sources of variability across reagents, instruments, sample preparation and data analysis
- Harmonizing instruments, antibody panels and reporting across internal and external partners
- Building standardized and reproducible methods that support regulatory confidence and long-term quality control
Wednesday 2nd December 2026
Confirming gene modifications on release using Flow Cytometry assays
2:00 pm
- Measuring knock out knock in or knockdown expression as a functional way of confirming whether the gene modification occurred.
- Using PCR-based methods to assess genomic knock out or knock-in efficiency as an orthogonal measure on characterization.
- Reducing measurement of redundant attributes on release to prevent assay deviations in QC
Thursday 3rd December 2026
Panel Discussion: Navigating Analytical Method Development & Tech Transfer to Support Successful Cell & Gene Therapy Programs
3:45 pm
- Sharing lessons from analytical method development across cell and gene therapy programs
- Exploring approaches to transferring analytical methods across internal teams and external partners
- Discussing considerations for supporting regulatory submissions through effective analytical strategies
