Ritsuko Sawada

Ritsuko has more than 15 years of experience in discovery and development of therapeutic human monoclonal antibodies including expression, validation, affinity maturation, and cell line development.

Prior to joining AlivaMab Discovery Services, Ritsuko led the antibody discovery team at MabVax Therapeutics where she established the anti-tumor associated carbohydrate antigen (TACA) mAb discovery platform using B cells derived from vaccinated cancer patients and identified lead drug candidates. As a staff scientist at Avanir Pharmaceuticals, she oversaw the antibody group and improved the human mAb generation platform using SCID mice against infectious disease targets.

Ritsuko received her PhD in molecular and cellular biology from the Ochanomizu University in Tokyo and did postdoctoral research at the University of California, San Diego.