David Shook, M.D.

David Shook, M.D., has served as our Chief Medical Officer since June 2025. He is an early pioneer of cell therapy and remains a practicing pediatric oncologist and transplant physician. Prior to Lyell, Dr. Shook held several senior roles at Nkarta between 2020 and 2025, most recently as Chief Medical Officer and Head of Research and Development, where he was responsible for leading the clinical development of multiple CAR NK cell product candidates for oncology. Prior to Nkarta, Dr. Shook held roles as Medical Director, Pediatric Cellular Therapy at AdventHealth between 2015 and 2020, and from 2007 to 2015 he held faculty positions at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital including Fellowship Director, Pediatric Bone Marrow Transplantation and Cellular Therapy, and Assistant Member, Department of Bone Marrow Transplantation & Cellular Therapy. While at St. Jude, he conducted multiple first-in-human cell therapy trials as well as research in the laboratory of Dario Campana, M.D., Ph.D. where he co-developed the membrane bound form of interleukin-15. He earned an M.D. from The Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine and a B.S. from Purdue University.