Sam Hickenlooper, PhD

Scientist

Dr. Hickenlooper joined Luminary Therapeutics in 2024 and leads operations at the company’s Virginia lab. He earned his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the University of Utah, where he studied cardiac epigenetics in the failing heart under Dr. Sarah Franklin. His dissertation research identified key histone methyltransferases and demethylases regulating H4K20 methylation in models of heart disease. At Luminary, Dr. Hickenlooper is managing the Blacksburg location and is focused on T-cell engineering and cross-site project management, with active collaboration across scientific and leadership teams. He is currently collaborating with the Minneapolis location on an ARPA-H initiative to engineer γδ T cells with antigen-presenting capabilities as a novel cancer vaccination strategy for solid tumors. His technical expertise includes molecular biology, biochemistry, and a wide array of cell culture systems.