Naiyer has served as Synthekine’s Chief Medical Officer since May of 2021. He is an internationally recognized leader in cancer immunotherapy drug development whose clinical research has helped deliver FDA approvals of several landmark immunotherapies, including nivolumab in squamous lung cancer and pembrolizumab in non-small cell lung cancer. As a medical oncologist and expert in clinical immuno-oncology, Naiyer’s research into mechanisms of sensitivity and resistance to immunotherapy has laid the foundation to the understanding of clinical responses to immune checkpoint inhibitors. He conducted clinical studies of novel immunotherapy drugs and immunotherapy combinations, including the landmark study to demonstrate a correlation between mutations and neoantigens with durable benefit to immune-checkpoint blockade. His work has been published in leading journals including ScienceNature, and the New England Journal of Medicine. Naiyer most recently served as the Price Family Professor of Medicine, Director of Thoracic Oncology and Co-Director of Cancer Immunotherapy at Columbia University Medical Center. In addition, he was recently Research Director of the Price Family Comprehensive Center for Chest Care at New York-Presbyterian Hospital. Naiyer received his M.D. from the University of Manitoba Faculty of Medicine and completed his residency training at the University of Manitoba Affiliated Hospital and fellowship at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center/Harvard Medical School. He is a co-founder of Gritstone bio (previously known as Gritstone Oncology) and serves on its board of directors and scientific advisory board.