Meet Our Consultant: Jennifer Chain, PhD, CABP

Tell us a bit about yourself. What is your name? Where are you from? What do you do?

My name is Jennifer Chain, but you can call me Jenny. Originally from Amarillo, Texas, I now reside in Norman, Okla., with my husband of more than 20 years and our two teenage sons. My expertise is specialized in allogeneic cellular starting materials for biotherapies by assisting both nonprofit and for-profit collection centers in establishing and expanding their collection programs for biotherapy research, development and manufacturing. 

How did you first get involved with AABB?

I joined AABB in 2017 and attended my first AABB Annual Meeting that year in San Diego. As a newcomer to blood banking and cell therapy, I made it a point to connect with as many professionals in the field as possible. During the meeting, I expressed my interest in joining AABB committees and offering my expertise as a consultant. Shortly after, I was invited to join the AABB Cellular Therapies Standards Committee, where I gained valuable insights into cell therapy by contributing to the 9th and 10th editions of the Standards for Cell Therapy Services. In the fall of 2018, I was elected to the Cellular Therapies Subsection Coordinating Committee (CTSCC) and initially led the Novel Therapies Subsection. Later, I co-led the merged Current and Emerging Topics (CT-CET) subsection. In 2024, I was elected as the secretary of the CTSCC. Since 2018, I have actively participated in a variety of committees and working groups. I have also delivered talks and directed education sessions at annual meetings and for eCasts.

When the CABP exam was first offered in 2022, I seized the opportunity to validate my expertise in biotherapies by taking the exam. I was proud to be in the first cohort to receive this certification.

What is your area of expertise?

I earned my PhD in immunology, specializing in T cell development, function and senescence. Early in my career, I focused on gamma delta T cells (I loved them before they were cool). Throughout my 27-year career as a scientist, I developed numerous tools and methods and conducted R&D work to create new products and services. Method optimization and product development are among my key areas of expertise.

In 2016, I began expanding my knowledge and experience in blood banking and cell therapy. I assisted my organization in developing cryopreservation, testing and manufacturing protocols and created new blood-based products to support the biotherapies field. For three years, I served as the director of my organization’s allogeneic starting materials collection program, where I concentrated on donor recruitment for cell therapy collections and provided customer service to companies needing starting materials and other blood products. I facilitated significant program growth and solidified my expertise in donor recruitment and characterization for cell therapy products.

How did you get into consulting? What do you enjoy most about it?

Describe some of the projects you have been working on at AABB so far. What do you find exciting about them?

I am very grateful to be working as a consultant for AABB. Around the time I became available as a consultant, AABB was developing study materials for the CABP exam. I was asked to create some of the CABP boot camp videos that were released in advance of the 2024 AABB Annual Meeting. I developed presentations for Domain 2: Biotherapies Science & Ethics and Domain 5: Manufacturing Biotherapies. Additionally, I reviewed and edited some of the other domain presentations.

I was excited to be part of this project and to contribute my expertise to the development of these educational materials, helping future test takers prepare for the CABP exam. This experience also allowed me to deepen my knowledge of biotherapies through developing and reviewing these presentations.

What are your top tips for someone starting off their career in the field of blood and biotherapies?

After spending about 18 years as a bench scientist in immunology, I transitioned into the field of blood and biotherapies. It was the perfect time for me to broaden my expertise and find new ways to contribute to scientific advancement. Joining AABB was the best decision I made to achieve this goal. I gained invaluable knowledge from my fellow committee and subsection members, which enhanced my skills and helped shape me into the scientist and consultant I am today.

I highly recommend getting involved with AABB to anyone new to the field, whether you're just starting your career or looking for new ways to advance it. The field of biotherapies is continuously growing, and there are numerous opportunities to apply experience from traditional scientific and technical fields to biotherapies. Your unique skills and expertise will only serve to improve the field further.

What are you most excited to work on in the next year?

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