Yvonne
Stevens
Associate
Director
of
Quality
Control, Lyell
Immunopharma
Yvonne grew up in Geneva Switzerland and attended the University of Waterloo as an international student. In addition to her BSc, she pursued a Master's degree, solidifying her interest in molecular biology and started appreciating the power and potentially held by the ability to manipulate the building blocks of life, DNA. She continued to the University of Washington's Primate Research Centre in Seattle, doing HIV research for 6 years.
Yvonne's career path continued into research and development at InBios International, a company focused on developing diagnostic kits for infectious diseases where circumstances helped her transition into Quality Control. While developing tests for rapid detection of disease was challenging and rewarding, the appeal of developing curative immunotherapies for blood cancers was compelling. Yvonne became QC Manager with Juno Therapeutics where manufacturing therapies for cancer became the most rewarding part of her career. A highlight of her time at Juno was an encounter with a patient who grabbed Yvonne by hands and with tears in her eyes said “Thank you”. She could never fully explain the footprint that she left on her heart that day.
Almost a year ago Yvonne became Associate Director of Quality Control at Lyell Immunopharma. Lyell is a new, innovative company committed to using immunotherapy to cure solid tumors. She feels the position fits perfectly into her life goal of continuous improvement. According to Yvonne, "I am thrilled and excited to be on this ride!"