The Antibody Society

the official website of the antibody society

An international non-profit supporting antibody-related research and development.

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Welcoming New Directors to the Board of The Antibody Society!

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We are pleased to welcome James Ernst, PhD, Vice President of Development Sciences at Xencor and Krys Corbett, Chief Business Officer at Pacira Biosciences, to the Board of Directors of The Antibody Society.

James and Krys bring broad scientific, legal and strategic expertise spanning business development, portfolio strategy, protein sciences, and translational development. Their perspectives will further strengthen the Society’s role as an international forum supporting antibody research, engineering, and therapeutic development across all career stages.

We are grateful for their willingness to serve and look forward to their contributions as we continue advancing the therapeutic antibody field.

The Antibody Society announces the election of new Directors and Officers

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The Antibody Society, Inc., an international non-profit trade association dedicated to advancing antibody research and development, is pleased to announce the election of Dr. James Ernst and Krys Corbett to its Board of Directors. Dr. Ernst was also elected Vice President, and Dr. Katherine Harris, who served as Vice President during 2024-2025, was elected President of the Society for the 2026-2028 term. Together, these Directors and Officers bring extensive scientific, operational, and strategic leadership to support the Society’s mission and continued growth.

Prof. Paul Parren, Chair of the Society’s Board of Directors commented: “I am delighted to welcome such talented and dedicated leaders to the Board. With Katherine Harris and James Ernst assuming the Society’s senior officer roles, and Krys Corbett further strengthening the Board’s breadth of expertise, I am confident that The Antibody Society is well positioned to expand its impact and continue advancing the therapeutic antibody field.”

James Ernst, Ph.D., Vice President of Development Sciences at Xencor Inc.

Dr. James Ernst is the Vice President of Development Sciences at Xencor Inc. where he leads Protein Sciences & Technology. Major responsibilities for these functions include guiding therapeutic molecules from late-stage research into clinical development, companion diagnostics, animal efficacy models, antibody discovery, research materials and protein biophysical characterization. Prior to joining Xencor, he held various leadership positions in the Genentech Research and Early Development (gRED) Protein Sciences division.

He has more than 20 years of experience supporting all stages of therapeutic molecule development from target identification to clinical validation. He has worked with and led both large and small molecule therapeutic discovery teams in a variety of therapeutic areas including oncology immunotherapy, auto-immune disease, neuroscience, and metabolic disease. He received his Ph.D. in Biophysical Chemistry from Yale University and completed post-Doctoral Studies in Molecular and Cell Biology at the Stanford University Medical School.

Krys Corbett, Chief Business Officer, Pacira Biosciences

Krys Corbett is Chief Business Officer at Pacira, responsible for corporate strategy, business development and strategic partnerships and alliances. She brings more than 25 years of industry experience across business development, strategic transactions, alliance management, and product portfolio management to Pacira. Prior to joining Pacira, Ms. Corbett led portfolio and product strategy for clinical and preclinical-stage programs at Lyell Immunopharma. Before that, Ms. Corbett was Head of Business Development, General Counsel, and Corporate Secretary for Oric Pharmaceuticals. Earlier in her career, she served in alliance and asset management leadership roles at Roche and Genentech. Ms. Corbett began her career at the law firm Wilson Sonsini Goodrich and Rosati. She holds a B.A. in Political Science from Brigham Young University and a J.D. from Duke University.

Katherine Harris, Ph.D., Chief Development Officer, Rondo Therapeutics

Dr. Katherine Harris is Chief Development Officer at Rondo Therapeutics, where she leads IND-enabling activities and oversees preclinical drug development from candidate nomination through IND submission. She is a biopharma executive and board director with deep expertise in antibody therapeutics, guiding programs from discovery through translational decision-making and into the clinic.

Previously, Dr. Harris held senior leadership roles at TeneoBio and Amgen, where she built and led oncology research organizations, shaped antibody discovery platforms, and provided strategic and scientific direction for antibody therapeutics programs. At TeneoBio, her leadership contributed to four IND approvals in under six years, and following the company’s acquisition, she led integration of the TeneoBio portfolio and platform into Amgen’s oncology R&D organization while serving as site head of the Amgen Newark Research Facility.

Dr. Harris brings a systems-level approach to therapeutic development, emphasizing clarity, alignment, and the decisions that ultimately determine clinical success. She holds a Ph.D. in Molecular and Cell Biology from University of California, Berkeley and has authored multiple peer-reviewed publications and issued patents.

About The Antibody Society

The Antibody Society, Inc. is an international non-profit trade association representing individuals and organizations involved in antibody research and development. The Society is an authoritative source of information about antibody therapeutics development, which we disseminate via our website, presentations, and publications. In addition, the Society organizes conferences and webinars on antibody research and development and related topics. The Society also serves as the home for the Adaptive Immune Receptor Repertoire Community, which focuses on developing standards and protocols for curating, analyzing and sharing antibody B and T cell receptors. As a business association, the Society can engage with government and international agencies such as the World Health Organization to discuss topics that are important to the antibody community, such as international naming conventions.

Upcoming webinar with Sanofi’s SNAC-DB: A New Open-Source Resource for Antibody & NANOBODY® VH

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We’re excited to invite you to an upcoming webinar with Sanofi, where Abhinav Gupta (Principal ML Scientist, Large Molecule Research) and Ruijiang Li (Computational Scientist Lead, Large Molecule Research) will introduce SNAC-DB a new open-source database designed to improve how AI models predict antibody and nanobody-antigen complexes.

What You’ll Learn

Current AI models struggle to accurately predict antibody-antigen complexes, limiting their usefulness in drug discovery. SNAC-DB addresses this gap with:

  • Expanded Coverage: 32% more structural diversity than SAbDab, capturing overlooked assemblies such as antibodies/nanobodies as antigens, complete multi-chain epitopes, and weak CDR crystal contacts.
  • ML-Friendly Data: Cleaned PDB/mmCIF files, atom37 NumPy arrays, and unified CSV metadata to eliminate preprocessing hurdles.
  • Transparent Redundancy Control: Multi-threshold Foldseek clustering for principled sample weighting, ensuring every experimental structure contributes.
  • Rigorous Benchmark: An out of sample test set comprising public PDB entries post May 30, 2024 (fully disclosed) and confidential therapeutic complexes.

Proven Impact

Fine tuning models on SNAC-DB nearly doubled performance compared to training on SAbDab alone. This work was presented at the ICML 2025 Workshop on DataWorld in Vancouver, and all resources including the dataset, code, and paper are publicly available.

View Resources: Paper | Open Review | Dataset | Code

Who Should Attend

Relevant for anyone working in antibody discovery, structural biology, computational modeling, or AI driven drug development.

We look forward to having you join us on 28th January, 2026 at 12pm ET!

Register here

Our Team is Growing!

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Please join us in welcoming Dr. Randall J. Brezski, our new Director of Antibody Business Intelligence and Engagement at The Antibody Society.

We’re excited to work with Randy as we expand our business intelligence and engagement initiatives to better support our global antibody community.

Welcome to the TAbS team, Randy! 🎉

A new career opportunity from Aureka Biotechnologies, Inc.

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Aureka Biotechnologies is expanding its Antibody Therapeutics team!

Aureka Bio is seeking a Principal Scientist or Director to lead antibody discovery programs in immunology and metabolic diseases. This role offers an exciting opportunity to contribute to a fast-growing, AI-driven biotech advancing next-generation biologics.

Full Job Description

Role: Principal Scientist or Director, Antibody Therapeutics in Immunology and Metabolic Diseases

Location: Irvine, CA

Company Summary: 

Aureka Biotechnologies is an AI-driven biotech startup integrating high-throughput biology with generative AI to discover and develop antibody therapeutics with exceptional speed and quality. Through multiple pharma partnerships, our platform has been validated to deliver best-in-class, differentiated antibodies that are difficult to identify using traditional approaches.

Position Summary:

Aureka Bio is seeking a highly motivated, passionate, and detail-oriented Senior Scientist or Principal Scientist to join our Antibody Therapeutics team. This is an exciting opportunity to contribute to a fast-growing, AI-driven biotherapeutics company dedicated to rapidly generating next-generation biologics for Immunology & Inflammation (I&I) and metabolic diseases.

The successful candidate will have 6+ years of hands-on experience in protein engineering and immunoscreening techniques, with a strong track record in biotherapeutic discovery and development. This role will provide the opportunity to lead multiple discovery campaigns, advancing programs from concept through preclinical development in close collaboration with cross-functional teams, including bioassay, translational biology, and CMC.

This is a bench-facing, on-site position based in Irvine, CA, offering high visibility and impact within a dynamic and collaborative environment. The final title and level will be determined based on experience.

Key Responsibilities

  • Lead the design, discovery, and optimization of monoclonal, bispecific, and multispecific antibodies using display and screening platforms (B-cell cloning, phage, and yeast display).
  • Execute small- and large-scale antibody expression and purification using chromatography techniques and evaluate purity via SDS-PAGE, analytical SEC, and Western blot.
  • Perform high-throughput antibody screening assays, including binding kinetics, ligand blocking, and epitope binning, to rapidly identify and prioritize lead candidates.
  • Design and develop recombinant protein-based immunoassays to characterize therapeutic antibodies using biochemical and biophysical methods.
  • Co-lead biotherapeutic discovery campaigns and partner closely with in vitro and in vivo pharmacology teams to evaluate PK/PD, efficacy, and safety profiles.
  • Provide strategic and technical input on antibody design, developability, and candidate selection during early-stage development.
  • Interface with CROs and external collaborators to ensure high-quality data generation and timely project execution.
  • Present experimental results and program updates to project teams, senior management, and collaborators.
  • Maintain accurate experimental documentation in ELN and ensure compliance with best data practices.
  • Stay current with emerging literature and technologies relevant to antibody engineering and biologics discovery.

Professional Experience and Qualifications

  • PhD in Biochemistry, Biomedical Engineering, Molecular Biology, or related discipline with at least 6 years research experience working in a biotech or large pharma setting is a must.
  • Experience working in therapeutic antibody pipeline discovery, screening, antibody engineering and optimization is a must.
  • Expertise in designing and conducting in vitro protein-based assays using diverse biophysical and bioanalytical methods (e.g., SPR/BLI, ELISA, DLS, thermal stability, immunoassays) is a must.
  • Strong understanding of protein engineering, Fc modifications, and developability assessments is essential.
  • Ability to work independently and as part of a team in a fast-paced environment with strong analytical and problem-solving skills, with attention to detail is essential.
  • Experience with antibody screening databases and proficiency in data analysis/visualization software, such as Spotfire, Dotmatics, D360, etc. is a plus.
  • Demonstrated scientific innovation and productivity, as evidenced by patents and/or peer-reviewed publications.
  • Strong communication and interpersonal skills, with the ability to present complex data clearly to cross-functional teams, leadership and collaborators.
  • Self-motivated, collaborative, and enthusiastic about contributing to a multidisciplinary, early-stage biotech focused on breakthrough antibody therapeutics.

Compensation:

Competitive and commensurate with experience, including salary, equity, and benefits—aligned with the company’s long-term success.

Why join us:

  • Competitive compensation, comprehensive healthcare coverage, equity participation, family leave and paid time off
  • A dynamic early-stage work environment and highly interdisciplinary, talented team with a collaborative and innovation-driven culture.
  • Participation in an unprecedented opportunity to significantly impact the quality of life of patients by developing a targeted approach to delivering therapeutic molecules.

Professional growth opportunities through mentoring, training, immersion in cross-functional projects, and opportunities to learn and try new things.

Contact Alon Wellner, Chief Innovation Officer at alon@aurekabio.com to apply.