Kara Olson
Fellow Scientist Regeneron Pharmaceuticals
Kara Olson is a Fellow Scientist at Regeneron with over 22 years of experience in preclinical antibody development, including 17 years in bispecific antibody research. Kara has been integral to Regeneron’s Bispecifics group from its inception, contributing to the development of the company’s bispecific antibody platform as well as the advancement of Regeneron’s clinical bispecific pipeline, including the approved bispecifics odronextamab and linvoseltamab. Currently her work focuses on novel protein engineering and the evaluation of CD3 and costimulatory bispecific/multispecific antibodies for the treatment of hematologic malignancies. Kara holds an M.Sc. in Biomedical Sciences, with a focus on Immunology, from Rockefeller University.
Seminars
As T cell engagers push into solid tumours and earlier-line settings, co-stimulation has emerged as one of the most promising levers for boosting efficacy and durability. This high-impact strategy workshop brings together pioneering T-cell engager experts to tackle which co-stimulatory receptor to target, how to time activation signals, and whether to build into a single trispecific or deliver sequentially. You’ll gain practical, actionable insights on overcoming tumour microenvironment barriers, managing exhaustion, and minimising safety risks. If you’re serious about engineering next-generation TCEs that deliver longlasting responses, this is the must-attend session to get ahead of the curve.
This workshop will cover:
- Clarifying the biological rationale – How co-stimulatory domains (CD28, CD137, CD2 etc.) enhance T cell fitness, prevent early exhaustion, and improve anti-tumour activity and aligning primary CD3 activation with co-stimulation signals to maximise efficacy and avoid mismatched signalling
- Choosing the right co-stimulatory target – Comparative advantages, limitations, and clinical unknowns for different T-cell engager targets
- Design and delivery strategies – How linking co-stimulatory elements directly to the engager can optimise timing, localisation, and therapeutic effect
- Managing exhaustion and safety risks – Avoiding on-target/off-tumour risks by activation of non tumour T cell subsets, reducing CRS, and limiting Fc-mediated toxicity
- Combinations vs trispecifics – Comparing strategies, advantages, and limitations – looking at clinical data
