Dr. Minev is a highly accomplished physician-scientist with extensive industrial and academic experience in Immuno-Oncology, oncolytic viruses and stem cell biology and applications. He has a significant track record in tumor immunology and cancer vaccine development, having worked closely on the development of the first cancer vaccine to be approved by a regulatory body (Melacine). Dr. Minev has also extensive expertise in immunotherapy clinical trial designs, logistics and regulatory issues. He has a considerable supervision & management experience in industrial and academic settings and excellent skills in biotech business development, communication and collaboration. Over the past decade through July 2025, Dr. Minev served as President of Medical and Scientific Affairs and Interim Chief Medical Officer at Calidi Biotherapeutics, where he directed all clinical activities and led the design and execution of Phase I and Phase II clinical trial strategies. In this role, he oversaw IND submissions and regulatory communications with the FDA, managed clinical trial operations, data analysis, and reporting, and provided strategic leadership across clinical programs and associated budgets. He worked closely with external corporate and academic clinical partners, while also contributing to corporate development initiatives, including fundraising, corporate finance, and investor relations, supporting the company’s overall clinical and business strategy. Prior to joining Calidi Biotherapeutics, Dr. Minev was the Director of Immunotherapy and Translational Oncology at Genelux Corporation, where he was directing several preclinical and translational projects on oncolytic virotherapy, immunotherapy and nanotechnology. Dr. Minev is also a Clinical Professor at the Department of Radiation Medicine and Applied Sciences at the University of California, San Diego. There, he served previously as Principal Investigator and Director, Laboratory of Tumor Immunology and Immunotherapy where, for more than 15 years, his research has been focused on the discovery of new target antigens for immunotherapy of cancer and the development of optimized cancer vaccines. Prior to that, Dr. Minev worked in Dr. Steven Rosenberg’s Tumor Immunology Section at the Surgery Branch of the National Cancer Institute. Dr. Minev is an Advisory Board Member of the European Society for Translational Medicine (EUSTM). He is a member of the Scientific and Clinical Advisory Boards of several biotechnology companies, and has been an advisor for Amgen, Johnson & Johnson, Geron Corporation, McKinsey Consulting and Thomson Current Drugs, among others. He is recipient of the European Association of Cancer Research Fellowship and the Fogarty International Fellowship.