Areej Alfeen ’24, Aseptic Manufacturing Technician, Iovance Biotherapeutics
Alfeen graduated from DelVal with a B.S. in Biology, specializing in the preprofessional track with a minor in counseling psychology. Today, she plays a crucial role at Iovance, contributing to the autologous cell therapy manufacturing program. She is proud to work for a company that aims to pioneer a transformational approach to treating cancer by harnessing the ability of the human immune system to recognize and attack diverse cancer cells in each patient. Iovance strives to be the global leader in innovating, developing and delivering tumor infiltrating lymphocyte (TIL) therapy for people with cancer.
Office Space:
Alfeen’s daily workspace is a sterile laboratory environment. Dressed in scrubs cleanroom attire and personal protective equipment (PPE), she navigates the highly controlled setting. Her office is located at Iovance’s Philadelphia Navy Yard facility, a large building on the corner of Roosevelt Boulevard and Normandy Place, home to many labs and offices.
Role and Responsibilities:
Alfeen is responsible for various tasks such as cleaning, sanitization, preparation, and fulfilling products for commercial and clinical use. She works in 10-12-hour shifts, three or four days per week. The work day typically begins at 7 a.m., kicking off with a team huddle to discuss and prioritize the day’s assignments, and then it’s off to work. No two days are the same for Alfeen! Tasks like sterilizing, processing and sending samples to the next lab can take many hours as it requires the keenest attention to detail. Since Alfeen is working with living human cells, she cannot use an autoclave for sterilization because doing so would kill the cells.
Connection to DelVal:
Coming into college, Alfeen had dreams of being an optometrist. Her goal was to take the pre-professional biology track at DelVal and then head to medical school. As different obstacles derailed that path, Alfeen faced a daunting roadblock and had to pivot. She excelled in the classroom and served the campus community as President of Student Government Association (SGA), and leaned on her academic advisor at DelVal, Dr. Charles Heise. Dr. Heise learned that Alfeen had worked at a pharmacy and helped her explore options for biologists within the pharmaceutical industry. Alfeen quickly regained her focus and motivation and explored multiple options before accepting the position at Iovance.
The Rewarding Aspect:
“I really do love my job and I’m so excited to grow as the company grows,” said Alfeen. “I already feel motivated to learn as much as I can and take on as many new roles as possible. I don’t have any concrete plans for the future but I know that I will go where life guides me and work as hard as I can along the way.”