Christian Mandl

Christian Mandl, M.D., Ph.D., is a member of Icosavax’s scientific advisory board and has an accomplished academic career in molecular and clinical virology and more than a decade of experience in large pharma R&D global leadership. He is a recognized expert in the area of infectious diseases, vaccines, and innovative technologies such as molecular structure, RNA vectors and vaccines. He currently serves as the cofounder and scientific advisory board (SAB) chair for Tiba Biotech, SAB chair for Themis Bioscience GmbH, and scientific advisory group chair for the International Vaccine Institute. Previously he was the Senior Vice President of Research for VIR Bio. Until 2015, he served as Global Head of Research, Early and Exploratory Clinical Development at Novartis Vaccines, leading more than 300 discovery and clinical researchers in the development of a broad range of viral and bacterial vaccines, adjuvants, and delivery platforms, including the self-amplifying RNA technology (SAM), which was inspired by his previous academic research. Prior to joining Novartis in 2008, Dr. Mandl was a professor and assistant head of the Clinical Institute of Virology at the Medical University of Vienna. His academic research focused on molecular mechanisms of RNA viruses, their interactions with host organisms targeting novel medical applications, enabling new antiviral strategies and applications in vaccine development or viral gene vectors. He has authored more than 100 scientific publications and is an inventor on patents related to marketed tick-borne encephalitis (flavivirus) vaccine, the SAM technology, and other antiviral approaches. Dr. Mandl holds a Ph.D. and M.D. from University of Vienna and a M.S. in biochemistry from Pennsylvania State University.