Tom Leitch

Virginia Tech Mechanical Engineering alumnus Tom Leitch (BS ’95, MS ’97) is the Chief Technology Officer at KSQ Therapeutics, a clinical-stage CRISPR cell therapy company located in the heart of Boston’s biotech hub.  He is a patient-first, team-focused leader with more than 25 years in advanced biologics spanning process development, manufacturing operations, quality, engineering, technology transfer, and supply chain.  Prior to KSQ Therapeutics, Tom led bluebird bio’s manufacturing network of ten sites during which time he was instrumental in the regulatory approval of four of the first gene therapy products ever brought to market.  Tom came to bluebird bio from Alexion Pharmaceuticals (now AstraZeneca), where he was responsible for manufacturing of rare disease therapies at sites in Massachusetts, Rhode Island, and Georgia.  Prior to Alexion Tom spent fourteen years at Merck in positions of increasing responsibility where he worked on vaccines against shingles, chicken pox, and rotavirus gastroenteritis.

Tom completed his undergraduate degree in mechanical engineering in 1995 and his Master’s in 1997 working in Dr. Wing Ng’s lab and co-founding a tech startup company based upon their work. He was heavily involved with the Marching Virginians, as well as other ensembles on campus…tore his ACL doing the Hokie Pokie (“his football injury”). He held leadership roles in Tau Beta Pi, our National Engineering Honor Society, where he met his wife and Hokie Engineer, Katie.