Dr. Joanne Smith-Farrell is a mission-driven executive whose career has been dedicated to leading teams in conquering cancer, genetic diseases, and other life-limiting conditions. As President & CEO and Director of Be Biopharma since February 2021, she guides a diverse team of scientists, drug developers, clinicians, and manufacturing specialists in pioneering a new class of in vivo biologics—engineered B cell medicines—to deliver previously impossible solutions for patients with both rare and prevalent diseases.
Before joining Be Biopharma, Dr. Smith-Farrell served as Chief Operating Officer and Business Unit Head, Oncology at bluebird bio. In that role, she and her team built a robust oncology business, marked by breakthroughs such as Abecma—the first-in-class CAR-T therapy for multiple myeloma. She has also held executive positions at Merck, Pfizer, and Gene Logic, and began her career as a consultant with The Boston Consulting Group.
Dr. Smith-Farrell completed her post-doctoral research in biomedical engineering in Professor Robert Langer’s lab at the Harvard-MIT Division for Health Science and Technology, supported by the NIH National Service in Research Award Fellowship. She earned her Ph.D. in physics from The Catholic University of America—where she was recognized as a Herzfeld Scholar and Hubbard Fellow—and holds a B.S. in physics and mathematics from Vanderbilt University.
