Strand Therapeutics has appointed oncology researcher Jason Luke as its new chief medical officer, strengthening its clinical development expertise in programmable mRNA therapeutics.

Jason joins from the University of Pittsburgh and UPMC Hillman Cancer Center, where he was associate professor of medicine, associate director for clinical research, and director of the Immunotherapy and Drug Development Center. He has served as principal investigator for more than 100 clinical studies, including the FDA/EMA registration trial KEYNOTE-716 that established adjuvant therapy for stage II melanoma.

As CMO, Jason will oversee Strand’s clinical development strategy, pipeline advancement, and medical affairs, with a near-term focus on the company’s ongoing first-in-human trial of its lead programmable mRNA therapy, STX-001. He previously advised Strand on clinical trial design and was a site principal investigator for the study.

“Jason is one of the most respected clinician-researchers in cancer immunotherapy, with a rare combination of deep scientific insight and a patient-first mindset,” said Jake Becraft, co-founder and chief executive officer of Strand Therapeutics. “His leadership will be invaluable as we expand our clinical programs and unlock the full potential of programmable mRNA medicines.”

“I am thrilled to join Strand at such a pivotal moment in the field,” said Jason. “Programmable mRNA is an unprecedented platform to engineer sophisticated biological functions in vivo. Strand’s approach has the potential to transform cancer treatment and impact other high unmet need areas in biomedicine.”