Paul Peter Tak, MD PhD FMedSci is President, CEO, and Board Director of Candel Therapeutics (Needham, MA).

He served as Professor of Medicine and founding Chair of the Department of Clinical Immunology and Rheumatology at the Academic Medical Centre/University of Amsterdam (AMC) for 12 years.

He has published extensively in peer-reviewed journals (>600 publications, H-index 150 [Google Scholar], ~100,000 citations), received numerous awards, has been elected Fellow of the Academy of Medical Sciences, was recognized as 2021 PharmaVOICE100 honoree (100 most inspiring people in life sciences), and included in ‘The Medicine Maker Power List’ in 2023 and 2024 (30 influential and inspirational leaders across small molecule, biopharmaceutical, and cell and gene therapy development and manufacture).

At GlaxoSmithKline he served as Senior Vice President, Chief Immunology Officer, and Global Development Leader. He was the Chair of the Scientific Review Board, the governing body accountable for the scientific assessment of GSK’s R&D portfolio. He is also the founder of GSK’s Immunology Network, a collaboration between GSK and leading academics, which provides the latter with cognitive diversity and privileged access to the latest research and facilities GSK has to offer.

After he became CEO of Candel Therapeutics, he led the company to an Initial Public Offering (IPO) on the Nasdaq. In addition, he has been Board Director, President and CEO of Tempero Pharmaceuticals (acquired by GSK) and Board Director of Galvani Bioelectronics and ViiV Healthcare. He is currently on the Board of Sitryx Therapeutics (Co-founder), Levicept, and Citryll (Chair) as well as on the Board of Trustees of the Lorna & Yuti Chernajovsky Biomedical Research Foundation and the Kennedy Trust for Rheumatology Research.