Speaker Biographies

Shashidar Reddy Abbidi is a Senior Manager in Clinical Data Management with over 8 years of experience spearheading data management activities for global clinical trials. He specializes in managing the complete data lifecycle, ensuring data quality and integrity from protocol review through final analysis. As a leader, he is passionate about building and mentoring teams to excel in a dynamic and highly regulated environment. His strategic approach has been instrumental in the successful delivery of clean, reliable data for numerous clinical programs.

• Data Management

Kim Adler is currently a Technical Product Owner within the Digital Manufacturing organization at Pfizer. In this role, she serves as product owner and data scientist for an internal search engine that surfaces operations data from a knowledge graph database. Prior to joining Pfizer, Kim obtained her masters degree in Business Analytics from the MIT Sloan School of Management.

• Knowledge Graphs

Dr. Salim Afshar is a Harvard faculty surgeon and the AI Translation Lead at the Health Systems Innovation Lab at the Harvard T.H. Chan School of Public Health. His work sits at the intersection of clinical care, data science, and organizational transformation. Drawing on 25 years of experience in healthcare delivery, surgery, and technology innovation, he helps health systems and life sciences organizations move from AI experimentation to measurable, system-wide impact. He is the VP of Innovation at Essen Healthcare, and Chief Innovation Officer at Reveal HealthTech. Dr. Afshar has led the design of various solutions, from AI platforms such as BioCanvas, translating complex data into explainable, multimodal intelligence for regulated environments to care management tools. His approach integrates health systems thinking when integrating technologies such as generative AI, guiding leadership teams to align governance, data architecture, and culture around outcomes that matter. Dr. Afshar’s work has been featured across leading conferences and journals, emphasizing that the future of AI in healthcare depends not only on better models, but on better systems of learning, trust, and collaboration.

• Generative AI Tools

Mohammed AlQuraishi is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Systems Biology and a member of Columbia’s Program for Mathematical Genomics, where he works at the intersection of machine learning, biophysics, and systems biology. The AlQuraishi Lab focuses on two biological perspectives: the molecular and systems levels. On the molecular side, the lab develops machine learning models for predicting protein structure and function, protein-ligand interactions, and learned representations of proteins and proteomes. On the systems side, the lab applies these models in a proteome-wide fashion to investigate the organization, combinatorial logic, and computational paradigms of signal transduction networks, how these networks vary in human populations, and how they are dysregulated in human diseases, particularly cancer. Dr. AlQuraishi holds undergraduate degrees in Biology, Computer Science, and Mathematics. He earned an M.S. in Statistics and a Ph.D. in Genetics from Stanford University. He subsequently joined the Systems Biology Department at Harvard Medical School as a Departmental Fellow and a Fellow in Systems Pharmacology, where he developed the first end-to-end differentiable model for learning protein structure from data. Prior to starting his academic career, Dr. AlQuraishi spent three years founding two startups in the mobile computing space.

• AI for Drug Discovery & Development

Brandon Allgood is a seasoned entrepreneur and researcher with two decades of expertise in leveraging machine learning and computational methods to enhance human health. As the Chief Data Officer at Parabilis Medicines, he spearheads the integration of data science and engineering within the Helicon discovery and development framework. Alongside his role at Parabilis Medicines, Brandon imparts his knowledge of machine learning as an instructor at UC Berkeley and contributes his expertise as a scientific advisor to numerous biotech and tech entities. Throughout his career, Brandon has been instrumental in founding and scaling innovative companies like Valo Health, Numerate, and Pharmix, which are pioneers in employing advanced machine learning and computational strategies in drug discovery and development across various domains such as chemistry, biology, clinical trials, and real-world health data analysis. At Valo Health, he excelled as the Chief AI Officer, guiding the company through its initial growth phases and overseeing the development of the AI-driven Opal Computational Platform. Prior to this, as a co-founder and Chief Technology Officer at Numerate, he led the creation of the Data Driven Drug Design (D4) Platform, contributing to over 30 successful drug design projects in collaboration with both small biotech firms and large pharmaceutical companies. Brandon's academic background includes a B.S. in Physics from the University of Washington, Seattle, and a Ph.D. in Theoretical Cosmology from the University of California, Santa Cruz. An author of diverse scientific publications, his work spans astrophysics, solid-state physics, computational biology, and chemistry, as well as business insights. His commitment to the field is further demonstrated by his roles as the founder and former executive chair of the Alliance for AI in Healthcare (AAIH), a former trustee of the UCSC Foundation, and a current member of the Baskin School of Engineering Dean's Council.

• AI for Drug Discovery & Development

No bio available.

• Generative AI

Rody Arantes is the Director of Digital Technology at Montai Therapeutics, where he leads the strategy and execution of the company’s digital ecosystem spanning scientific compute, data governance, and GxP-aligned platform engineering. With a career that bridges biotech, defense, and large-scale web infrastructure, Rody specializes in transforming complex scientific and operational requirements into scalable, secure, and interoperable systems. He is known for building high-performing teams, driving cross-functional innovation, and developing digital foundations that enable organizations to move faster with confidence.

• Data Platforms & Storage Infrastructure

Jeevan Bandharapu is an AI Reliability & Predictive Systems Architect specializing in anomaly detection, drift monitoring, and predictive assurance for high-stakes AI systems. He is the co-inventor of U.S. Patent 11,416,369 on hybrid machine-learning-based anomaly detection, referenced by leading technology organizations and applied across production environments. His work focuses on designing dependable, explainable, and auditable AI systems that maintain stability in mission-critical and healthcare-aligned workflows. As an independent researcher and consultant, he contributes to international conferences, peer-review initiatives, and industry collaborations advancing the discipline of trustworthy and high-reliability AI.

• AI for Oncology, Precision Medicine & Health

Dr. Joseph Batchelor is Head of Structural Biology for US Large Molecule Research at Sanofi, where he leads efforts to enable structure-guided design across biologics programs. Since joining Sanofi in 2013, he has pioneered the integration of cryo-electron microscopy into the company’s discovery workflows, establishing a hybrid internal-external cryo-EM platform that delivers high-resolution structures for challenging targets. Trained as a crystallographer, Joseph transitioned to cryo-EM in 2016 and has since advanced structural biology capabilities to support non-crystallizable systems. In recent years, his team has focused on integrating structure-enabled AI workflows into protein engineering pipelines. He earned his Ph.D. from the University of California, Berkeley, and completed postdoctoral training at Washington University School of Medicine.

• AI for Biologics

Dr. Sairam Behera is a research fellow at Baylor College of Medicine, where his work focuses on small and structural variant analysis in disease and large cohort studies. He has also contributed to the All of Us (AoU) and GREGoR projects.

• Bioinformatics

I’m a strategic, people-first leader passionate about innovation, digital transformation, and making meaningful impact. For over two decades, I’ve worked across sectors, from research and education to national tech clusters and global pharma, leading teams, scaling organisations, and turning complex strategies into real-world results. At Novo Nordisk, I lead R&ED’s Digital Science Academy, our internal engine for AI and digital upskilling. Since its launch in late 2023, we’ve: - Delivered over 18.000 trainings, with 80% engagement across R&ED - Supported 241 learning items and 118 software tools - Designed 200+ tailored use cases to embed AI directly into scientific workflows But these aren’t just numbers. They reflect a mindset shift: A belief that our Drug Discovery Strategy is our Digital Strategy. For transformation to succeed, it must be embedded, not bolted on. I’m proud to help build that bridge. What drives me is working with talented people to create something larger than ourselves; building high-performing teams, aligning vision with execution, and bringing strategies to life with clarity, energy, and shared ownership.

• AI for Drug Discovery & Development

David Bernick is the Chief Information Security Officer of the Broad Institute and the Co-Chair for Data Security of GA4GH. Previous to this, he was an early member of Broad's Data Sciences Platform. He has been involved in a number of startups in various sectors including the venerable Slashdot.org and has written for 2600 Magazine under a very guessable alias. He lives in the Boston area with the love of his life and a bunch of smaller humans and spends most of his time with them.

• Cloud for AI/ML & Modern Data Science

I describe myself as a nonlinear multimodal careerist-I have had 8 so far-from touring rock musician in the 70s to 15 years at IBM-and with several others along the way. My most recent career finds me engaged as a deep tech MC for various quantum events in Silicon Valley, Montreal, Washington, D.C, New York, London, and Singapore. I also host the Quantum Tech Pod, where I have interviewed over 55 senior execs at leading quantum companies. I am also passionate about helping people reinvent themselves and prepare for the future of work-focusing on career guidance and life design skills. Based on how I successfully navigated my own atypical career path, I have developed a Future Career Toolkit designed to enable learners to be successful when pursuing their own nonlinear, multimodal career path. I conduct workshops titled "How to succeed at jobs that don't exist yet" using the toolkit to excite and empower students at universities as well as in Millennial/Gen Z workplaces. With over 14 years of experience as a Chief Reinvention Officer at Improvising Careers, I help learners of all ages and stages prepare for the 21st century's global borderless workplace.

• W5: Quantum Computing in Life Sciences: From Fundamentals to Future Applications

Danny Asher Bitton is the head of Applied Research and Innovation at MSD IT, Prague. Prior to joining MSD, Danny was a senior bioinformatics scientist and a molecular biologist. Danny holds a BSc (Honors) in Biotechnology from the University of Hertfordshire and an MSc in Bioinformatics from the University of Leicester. Danny earned his PhD in Bioinformatics from the Paterson Institute for Cancer Research at the University of Manchester. He completed his post-doctoral trainings at the University of Manchester and at the Institute of Healthy Aging in University College London.

• Generative AI Tools

Barbara Brannetti is Director of data science, characterization, and formulation at the NIBR Biologics Center. The data science team with a broad expertise in the field of protein structure, human genetics, genomics, machine learning, data management and software engineering is leading data science activities in support of the biologics pipeline and technology development.

• AI for Biologics

No bio available.

• AI for Oncology, Precision Medicine & Health

Jennifer Burnette is a project manager and director for ORAU steering complex, interdisciplinary programs that bridge local, state, and federal stakeholders. She currently serves as Director of the National Institutes of Health (NIH) Common Fund Data Ecosystem (CFDE) Training Center, overseeing bioinformatics training programs that support the NIH mission to enhance data accessibility and research collaboration. She also serves as project director for federal emergency management initiatives for FEMA and CDC Office of Safety, Security, and Asset Management advancing public health, emergency preparedness, and workforce development. In her free time, Jennifer serves as board member for Women's Fund of East Tennessee and loves planning travel with her husband and daughter to far-flung destinations.

• Bioinformatics

No bio available.

• Bio-IT World Venture, Innovation & Partnering

Ben Busby, PhD, is a renowned leader in biomedical informatics, computational biology, and interdisciplinary data science. With a career spanning academia, industry, and government, he is dedicated to making biomedical data science a more productive and collaborative environment for bioinformaticians and data scientists. Dr. Busby currently serves as Senior Alliances Manager, Genomics at NVIDIA, where he drives strategic collaborations and innovations in genomics, AI, and biomedical research. He is also an Adjunct Faculty Member in the Computational Biology Department at Carnegie Mellon University, contributing to cutting-edge research and education. Prior to his role at NVIDIA, Dr. Busby was a Principal Scientist at DNAnexus, where he prototyped scientific data integration solutions and built complex compute environments for users of the UK BioBank and other major biomedical research initiatives across academia, industry, and government. He also led prototype software development in machine learning, omics, imaging, pharmacogenomics, and natural language processing (NLP), often through global hackathons that he organized and participated in. Prior to DNAnexus, Ben consulted for Johns Hopkins University, Ariel Precision Medicine, Deloitte, and NCBI, as well as founding the Bioinformatics and Data Science department at the FAES Graduate School on the NIH campus.His expertise spans biomedical informatics, deep learning, interdisciplinary collaboration, AI-driven knowledge graphs, and computational biology. He holds a PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Maryland, Baltimore, and an undergraduate degree in Biochemistry from the University of Maryland, Baltimore County.

• Generative AI

No bio available.

• AI for Biologics

David Cerf is the Chief Data Evangelist at GRAU Data and a leading advocate for modernizing scientific data infrastructure. His work focuses on eliminating redundant computation in large-scale life-science environments and enabling high-quality, AI-ready data for genomics, imaging, cryo-EM, and multimodal research. David leads the vision behind MetadataHub, a metadata fabric that removes up to 70% of AI and analytics OpEx by eliminating redundant preprocessing and improving scientific data quality. He also oversees BioMed Advisor, an explainable multi-model AI platform that doubles research velocity by accelerating analysis and delivering higher-confidence scientific insights. Partnering with global research institutes, HPC centers, and pharmaceutical organizations, David helps teams architect scalable, metadata-driven systems that enhance data usability, reduce operational cost, and accelerate discovery across the scientific workflow.

• Data Platforms & Storage Infrastructure

Kieran Chacko, Ph.D., is the Executive Vice President of Data Science and Strategy at Harbinger Health. In this role, Kieran leads the company’s data science research efforts, advancing novel machine learning and computational biology methodologies to drive platform development and uncover biological insights into the origins of cancer. These discoveries form the foundation for the company’s pioneering screening, diagnostic, and therapeutic strategies. A biotechnology entrepreneur and scientist, Kieran has co-founded multiple companies, including Harbinger Health and Ambrosia Biosciences. Before joining Harbinger, he was a Principal at Flagship Pioneering, a venture creation firm, where he collaborated with teams to create and scale transformative biotechnology companies, including Harbinger Health. Kieran began his career at J.P. Morgan Chase & Co in New York City within the Corporate and Investment Bank, working across the markets and securities divisions to support the firm’s large corporate, financial institution, and emerging market clients.

• AI for Oncology, Precision Medicine & Health

Senior pharma/biotech executive with strengths in leveraging data analytics and generating innovative ideas to develop solutions for drug discovery and development. Succeed in blending systems and strategic thinking, people engagement capabilities, with hands-on technical skills in tackling complex issues. Experience and accomplishments in: * Building and mentoring high performing teams * Delivering scientific and technical depth * Translating ideas into products * Influencing and driving changes * Recognizing untapped opportunities * Scaling operations Technical interest: predictive modeling in service of reducing time and cost of drug discovery.

• Bio-IT World Venture, Innovation & Partnering

Ishwar Chandramouliswaran is a Program Director and technical lead for the strategy, planning, coordination and oversight of establishing a FAIR data ecosystem at the NIH Office of Director, Office of Data Science Strategy (ODSS).

• W1: Building Workflows and Advancing FAIR Bioinformatics Practices: A Practical Lab Using the Playbook Workflow Builder (PWB)

No bio available.

• AI for Oncology, Precision Medicine & Health

Leading healthcare and life sciences investments and incubating new companies with Breyer Capital with a focus on applications of computation to improve patient care from bench to bedside.

• Bio-IT World Venture, Innovation & Partnering

Xiang Chen received his BS degree in Biochemistry from Fudan University in 1997, MS in Biochemistry from the University of Singapore in 2001, PhD in Biological Sciences and MS in Computational and Statistical Learning from Carnegie Mellon University (both in 2005). He had been a postdoctoral associate of biostatistics at Yale Medical School and Lead Bioinfomatics Research Scientist in the Department of Computational Biology at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital (SJCRH). He is currently an associate member in the Department of Computational Biology at SJRCH. His research interests include the development and application of novel machine learning and statistical methods for biological and biomedical challenges, such as the detection and functional characterization of intratumoral heterogeneity in pediatric solid tumors.

• AI for Oncology, Precision Medicine & Health

Karim Chine is a London-based software architect and entrepreneur, co-founder of RosettaHUB, and lead architect of Pharma RaaS. His previous roles span academic and industrial R&D, including work at Imperial College London, EMBL-EBI, IBM, and Schlumberger. Over the last 20 years, Karim has been a regular contributor to the European Commission research e-infrastructure, HPC, cloud computing, open science and emerging technologies programs as expert evaluator and project reviewer, and holds engineering degrees from École Polytechnique and Télécom Paris.

• Generative AI Tools

Strategic, visionary leader with an established track record of building and leading multidisciplinary, global Informatics and IS/IT teams, driving change and simplification and delivering value through innovation. Over 20 years’ experience in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industry working in both Discovery and Development leading projects, managing complex portfolios, driving change programs, identifying opportunities for strategic initiatives, and translating scientific and medical questions into innovative solutions. Areas of particular strength include: strategy development and implementation, translational medicine, biomedical and health informatics, evidence-based decision makings, data and decision science, and "Big Data" exploitation.

• AI for Drug Discovery & Development

Daniel J. B. Clarke (MS) is a data scientist in the Ma’ayan Laboratory at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, where he develops computational methods and software systems that support biomedical data analysis. He is a lead developer of Playbook Workflow Builder (PWB), an interactive platform that composes bioinformatics workflows from modular, semantically annotated components spanning APIs, datasets, enrichment tools, and visualization modules. His broader contributions include data-driven methods, open-source research software, and infrastructure that enables scalable and reproducible analyses. He also works on tools that help researchers integrate diverse datasets and apply computational approaches across a range of biomedical research contexts.

• W1: Building Workflows and Advancing FAIR Bioinformatics Practices: A Practical Lab Using the Playbook Workflow Builder (PWB)

Cheristi Cognetta-Rieke, D.N.P., M.B.A., R.N. is an Assistant Professor of Nursing at the Mayo Clinic College of Medicine and Science and serves as the vice chair nursing for Mayo Clinic leading the enterprise Department of Nursing transformation work. She is the creator of MyStory a tool to capture each hospitalized patient’s story to personalize their care. In her current role, Cheristi and the enterprise practice transformation team are leveraging generative AI to build transformative tools for nurses, by nurses such as a new Nurse Virtual Assistant tool, ambient nursing documentation tool, a curated digital platform for Mayo Clinic nurses and more.

• Generative AI Tools

Cindy Crowninshield, RDN, LDN, HHC has over 25 years of experience as an expert program developer and project leader for global business and scientific conferences. Since joining Cambridge Innovation Institute (CII) in 2005, she has been responsible for overseeing a portfolio of large-scale events. She started working on the Bio-IT World Conference & Expo in 2007 and is still the lead producer. Cindy has created and delivered over 200 highly-focused executive-level conferences and events attracting international audiences of up to 18,000 delegates, both for CII and other organizations. In addition to her conference work, Cindy has two other parallel careers - 1) Licensed Registered Dietitian and Functional Nutrition Educator in private practice, and 2) Adjunct Instructor, Department of Clinical Research and Leadership at The George Washington University School of Medicine and Health Sciences. She has a BS in Business Management from Fitchburg State University, completed graduate study in nutrition science at Boston University Sargent College, and completed certification with the Institute for Integrative Nutrition & Holistic Health. In 2011, she was one of the founding members of the Women in Bio - Greater Boston Chapter.

• AI for Biologics

Vinod Das is a leading techno-functional expert with over 25+ years of experience in Pharmaceutical Research & Development IT. He is currently responsible for Artificial Intelligence enablement at Bayer Pharmaceuticals, he drives the integration of Generative AI and Language Models (LLMs) to accelerate drug discovery and clinical development. Vinod's strategic leadership in AI enablement has set new standards in pharma-tech innovation, earning him recognition as a key influencer in the industry. He actively collaborates with top academic institutions, and AI vendors to foster cutting-edge research and sustainable AI innovation. Vinod’s work bridges the gap between advanced technology and real-world applications, making him a thought leader in AI-driven healthcare outcomes.

• Generative AI

Cris joined Sanofi Ventures in 2020 to lead investments in AI and Digital Health. He holds a 20-year track record of building startups, tech innovation platforms, and healthtech deal-making with some of the largest organizations in the world. Prior to Sanofi, Cris was a founding member of Johnson & Johnson Innovation and Global Head of Digital Innovation since 2013. He held chief digital and data responsibilities, driving digital health strategy and new venture partnerships throughout spanning the Pharmaceutical, Consumer and Medical Device businesses.? Previously, Cris led emerging technology programs within research informatics at Novartis for six years. With entrepreneurial DNA, Cris is notably known for his role in the innovation economy since co-founding Ultra Light Startups, one of the largest and oldest startup venture pitch accelerators in the U.S, catalyzing hundreds of companies in Boston, NYC, and Silicon Valley, leading to several acquisitions by major tech companies. Cris was named 40 Under 40 by the Boston Business Journal and a Top 40 Healthcare Transformer by MM&M Magazine.? Cris currently serves on the boards of Aetion, Carbon Health, Click Tx, Empatica, Medisafe, Nucleai, and Omada. Cris holds a M.Sc. in Computer Information Systems from Boston University and a B.S. in Business Administration from Suffolk University.?

• Bio-IT World Venture, Innovation & Partnering

David Deng received his bachelor degree in Organic Chemistry from Peking University, and his Ph.D. in Computational Chemistry from RPI (Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute). After finishing his postdoc in the Cheminformatics group at Roche in Nutley NJ, he joined ChemAxon as an Application Scientist, working closely with the development teams and the clients. In 2015, he joined Scilligence as the Director of Software Development, leading the development team and technical support team to improve and deploy Scilligence informatics solutions. In 2020, he came back to Pharma and joined Takeda as Scientific Informatics Technology Lead. He has been leading a cross-platform team to deploy the very first global ELN (Dotmatics) to 2,000 Takeda scientists and decommission more than 10 legacy ELN systems.

• Pharmaceutical R&D Informatics

DESAPHY Jeremy obtained a master in Chemoinformatics at the University of Strasbourg in 2010, followed by a PhD in structural chemogenomics in 2014 where he developed tools to detect and compare protein/ligand binding sites and binding modes in crystal structures. In 2014, he was hired at Eli Lilly and Company to build innovative capabilities and analytical tools for crystal structures. In 2018, he joined as a scientific data lead the Genetic Medicines group where he is in charge of creating a data infrastructure and algorithms to help in the development of new therapeutic modalities.

• Pharmaceutical R&D Informatics

Dr. Anne Deslattes Mays is a computational biologist whose passion lies in identifying novel, actionable targets to accelerate clinical translation, with a primary focus on autoimmune diseases and pediatric cancers. She combines deep domain expertise with a commitment to reproducibility and open science, guiding researchers in building scalable, cloud-based workflows. Dr. Deslattes Mays actively contributes to the development of FAIR-aligned, federated data systems and knowledge graphs, enabling high-impact discoveries across diverse datasets and institutions. Dr. Deslattes Mays received her B.Sc. in mathematics from McGill University in Quebec, Canada, her M.Sc. in computer science from Johns Hopkins University, and her Ph.D. in tumor biology from Georgetown University.

• Knowledge Graphs

Lena is Lead for Semantic Data Products at Bristol Myers Squibb. She is a data science and bioinformatics expert with extensive experience in delivering value to her clients through effective data governance, data analysis, and predictive AI, particularly within the R&D and Healthcare sectors. With proficiency in FAIR principles, she actively contributes to pre-competitive consortia such as the Pistoia Alliance, ensuring that her clients are equipped with awareness of industry standards. Lena holds a PhD in Bioinformatics from Universidade Nova de Lisboa (2011) and an MS in Biology from Universidade de Lisboa (2004). She has received 9 awards, including the Elsevier Silver Coin and the NASA Space Apps Challenge winner. Lena has authored over 50 peer-reviewed publications in healthcare and life sciences, accumulating more than 1000 citations. Additionally, she has a patent to her name and has delivered 5 keynote addresses.

• Pharmaceutical R&D Informatics

Erin Diel, President at Glencoe Software, has worked with imaging data directly and in the context of educating and supporting users of imaging data for over fifteen years. She received her PhD from Harvard University where she studied the neuroanatomical and functional basis of topographic maps in the auditory cortex using various microscopy techniques. She then worked in the Harvard Center for Biological Imaging, advising on image acquisition and analysis for scientists from both within Harvard and local biotech companies. She has worked with Glencoe Software for five years, in particular advising large academic institutions and pharmaceutical companies in their management of imaging data in computational pathology use cases, including image analysis and data mining in the context of varied spatial biology techniques.

• Data Management

No bio available.

• Bioinformatics

Synho Do, MS, PhD, is the Director of the Laboratory of Medical Imaging and Computation (LMIC) at Massachusetts General Hospital and an Assistant Professor at Harvard Medical School. He is also an affiliated faculty member of the Kempner Institute for the Study of Natural and Artificial Intelligence at Harvard University. His research focuses on ontology-driven artificial intelligence for future healthcare.

• Knowledge Graphs

Parul oversees all facets of data infrastructure, software engineering, and information technology that drives Cellarity's AI/ML drug discovery platform. Prior to joining Cellarity, Parul spent 16 years in progressively senior roles across various divisions at Takeda. In her most recent role at Takeda she was the Head of IT & Digital for Takeda's Vaccine division. Parul notably led IT programs for the successful launch of oncology products NINLARO and ALUNBRIG. Before her tenure at Takeda, Parul worked at PCS, consulting at clients such as Fidelity Investments and Lego. She holds a MBA in Information Technology and Finance from Pune and a Bachelor's in Economics and Applied Statistics from the University of Rajasthan.

• Generative AI

Frank Dullweber is an experienced life science professional. His deep knowledge of data domains spans pre-clinical and clinical drug discovery as well as clinical development. Frank holds a PhD in cheminformatics and a M.Sc. in clinical research management. After a successful career in chemo- and bioinformatics, he now leads digital innovation initiatives in clinical development, helping to transform processes through advanced technologies and data-driven strategies.

• Data Management

No bio available.

• AI for Biologics

Dr. Enderling earned his undergraduate degree in Computer Science applied to Human Medicine at the University of Magdeburg, Germany. He completed his PhD in Mathematical Biology at the University of Dundee, Scotland, with focus on radiotherapy for early-stage breast cancer. After completing his postdoctoral training at the Center for Cancer Systems Biology at Caritas St. Elizabeth's Medical Center in Boston, he began his faculty career at Tufts University School of Medicine and rose through the academic ranks at the H. Lee Moffitt Cancer Center in Tampa, Florida. Since joining MD Anderson Cancer Center in 2023 as a Professor in the Department of Radiation Oncology, he is co-directing a program on Data Access, Computational Modeling, and Artificial Intelligence for Radiation Oncology, as well as Co-Leading a program on Computational Modeling for Precision Medicine at the Institute for Data Science in Oncology. His research is focused on building Digital Twins for Precision Medicine, and on identifying novel data science biomarkers in routinely collected clinical data to guide patient-specific clinical decision making. He has received numerous research and mentoring awards and served in several leadership roles of the Society for Mathematical Biology.

• AI for Oncology, Precision Medicine & Health

Brett is an experienced scientific informatics leader with extensive bioinformatics, omics data-platform, and scientific web-application development experience within a top pharmaceutical company. He is a team player who is passionate about omic applications for target ID, mechanism of action, and biomarker discovery. Architect of the omics common data model at AbbVie and inventor of OmicNavigator. Skilled in bioinformatic analysis, regularly analyzes multi-omic datasets, and is invested in improving omic data visualization, archival, and translation.

• Data Management

Michael has experience across several pharmaceutical companies working for both Research and Development. In all roles, he has been motivated to extract maximum utility from existing data and build reusable, enterprise assets.

• Data Management

In his role at Google Cloud; Bill oversees a strategy and organization whose goal is to bring accelerated cloud-based scientific solutions to the fast-growing and ever-evolving Biotechnology segment. The Google Cloud Biotech organization aims to provide value from the top venture firms investing in early-stage biotechnology doing pre-clinical research through the numerous commercial opportunities; IPO, licensing partnerships, and commercialization. In support of the biotech ecosystem the organization partners with industry leaders, technology, and solution providers to assure that Google Cloud can deliver the best environment for the rapid evolution of science and return for its investors. The biotech solution organization and its partners deliver a number of solutions which lower the cost of scientific research across numerous modalities by utilizing Artificial Intelligence, Big Data, Gene Editing, Precision Medicine, Gene Sequencing as well as Synthetic Biology. Bill has over 15 years of experience in the biotech and biopharma ecosystem where he has led similar organizations at various startups and at EMC & Dell Technologies. He is a former founder of the Life Sciences User Groups in Cambridge, MA and a current member of the Massachusetts Biotech Council. He has a degree in Management Information Systems and executive certifications from Babson College.

• Bio-IT World Venture, Innovation & Partnering

Fernanda Foertter is currently the Director of Developer Relations at Voltron Data. She previously held roles as the Senior Scientific Consultant for BioTeam and GPU Developer Advocate for Bioinformatics at NVIDIA in the Healthcare group where she fostered an emerging community in AI and GPU computing. Before NVIDIA, Foertter held roles as an HPC Data Scientist in the Biomedical Sciences and Engineering group and was an HPC Programmer and Training Coordinator at the Oak Ridge National Lab's Leadership Computing Facility. She participated in the CORAL project that selected Summit as the next supercomputer to replace Titan, was co-PI of Kokkos Exascale Computing Project, served in OpenACC and OpenMP language standards, and is the “inventor” of the GPU Hackathon training series. Other interests include the intersection of HPC and AI, facilitating data integration workflows, and productivity in scientific application development.

• W4: Making Data AI-Ready

Dr. Yves Fomekong Nanfack is the Head of AI/ML - Research at Takeda, where he leads the integration and application of artificial intelligence and machine learning across drug discovery. Before joining Takeda, he served as Head of AI End-to-End Foundations at Sanofi, where he launched the BioAIM program to transform biologics research through data and AI. Earlier in his career at Merck/EMD Serono, Yves led teams in computational chemistry and computational biology, advancing digital and data-driven approaches to discovery. He holds a PhD in Computer Science from the University of Amsterdam and brings more than 15 years of experience at the intersection of AI, data science, and pharmaceutical research.

• AI for Biologics

Brendan Gallagher is the Chief Commercial Officer for Sentieon Inc. Sentieon Inc. is the most awarded, software accelerated, platform agnostic bioinformatics tool suite. Brendan has over 10 years experience in life sciences software tools. Prior to joining Sentieon, Brendan helped develop the approved precision medicine, “Lutathera,” in the chemistry/wetlab at BioSynthema, marketed by Novartis.

• Bioinformatics

A Product Leader with a demonstrated history of delivering clinical IT transformations for pharma, biotech/CROs with a Wharton Management Development Program, Kellogg Product Strategy and Stanford Advanced Program Management from Stanford University. He is a big believer in product innovation and leads large teams in product development using SAFe Agile methodologies. He is an ex-IQVIA/ex-Medidata with 20+ years in clinical IT. Anand is a tech savvy leader with interests in AI, big data, blockchain and use them to address the challenges faced by the life sciences industry. Anand loves participating in hackathons and social innovation activities in the life sciences/ healthcare space. More recently Anand was a semi- finalist in 'HITLAB Breakthrough One' Challenge featuring EZTrialFinder™, a Gen AI driven innovative solution enable patients find clinical trials from their mobile phone.

• Data Platforms & Storage Infrastructure

No bio available.

• Data Platforms & Storage Infrastructure

No bio available.

• Software Applications & Services

Manasi Ghogare is a product leader in Digital Health where she has led cross functional teams to design and deliver digital solutions that sit at the intersection of patient needs, clinical workflows, and responsible AI. With a background spanning product management, data driven decision making, and technology governance, Manasi focuses on turning complex problems into pragmatic, human centered workflows. She is particularly passionate about helping product teams move beyond “add AI” requests to build safe, useful, and adoptable AI enabled products.

• Generative AI Tools

No bio available.

• AI for Drug Discovery & Development

Luba Greenwood is a distinguished executive, investor, and company builder with over 20 years of experience in the healthcare and tech sectors. Luba has served as the Chief Executive Officer and Chair of the Board of Kojin Therapeutics, a leader in ferroptosis. She was previously the Managing Partner of the Dana Farber Cancer Institute Venture Fund, Binney Street Capital (BSC), which she has founded, investing and building companies across therapeutics, diagnostics, and digital sectors. She has also served as a lecturer at Harvard University in the School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. Ms. Greenwood has extensive board experience globally and serves on public and private boards, across multiple industries, including healthcare and tech, and has successfully contributed to the growth and profitability of numerous organizations, bringing her operational, industry, and financing expertise. She has a proven track record of building world-class teams and companies, building SABs with renown scientists and industry leaders, driving digital transformation and artificial intelligence initiatives, guiding companies through mergers & acquisitions, complex business development transactions, financing, and organizational change and scaling. With a strong understanding of board dynamics and corporate governance best practices, and as a former lawyer, she has also guided organizations through compliance, activist actions, and human resources challenges. She has served as Chair of the board as well as on the Compensation, Audit, and Nomination committees of a number of companies including In8Bio (INAB), BenchSci, Swiss-based Stalicla, Abcam (Abcam), where she has spearheaded the sale to Danaher (DHR), and non-profit, Massachusetts Biotechnology Council (MassBio). Ms. Greenwood has previously served in leadership roles at Google Life Sciences (Verily) and as Vice President of Global Business Development and Mergers & Acquisitions at Roche, where she also led diagnostics BD and established and led the East Coast Innovation Hub. Luba has led $5B+ in M&A, BD deals, and investments across multiple therapeutic areas, diagnostics, life sciences, and tech sectors globally. She has also co-founded and advised biotech and digital health companies in the immunotherapy, AI/ML, women's health, and microbiome space, including Luca Biologics. Her invaluable contributions to the healthcare industry have earned her recognition as a thought leader and a trusted advisor to CEOs of leading academic centers worldwide, including the Dana Farber Institute and Wyss Center for Bio and Neuroengineering in Geneva. She is a Thought Leader for the New England Journal of Medicine (NEJM) Catalyst and serves on Investor Committee for the National Cancer Institute. With a background as a former lawyer at Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr and expertise in regulatory, policy, and intellectual property matters, Ms. Greenwood brings a unique perspective to the table. Her commitment to advocating for women in science and technology has garnered several awards and honors, including the Science Club for Girls Catalyst Award.

• Bio-IT World Venture, Innovation & Partnering

Rishi has over 18 years of experience in Pharma in various capacities. In his current role as a Director within the CADD/GDC group at Biomedical Research, Novartis at Cambridge, MA, he is leading several efforts in applying cheminformatics, data science, AI/ML and molecular modeling methods for advancing drug discovery and development. Prior to Novartis, Rishi was at AbbVie, where he led the Data Science and Informatics group. At AbbVie, he conceptualized and developed a web-based infrastructure to expose suite of Cheminformatics tools called AIDEAS. He developed and deployed machine-learning models for a variety of bioassay data including ADMET endpoints. In his extended role within Competitive Intelligence (CI), Rishi developed web based visual-analytic analytic frameworks for exposing genomics data, clinical Trials data and a variety of other CI related landscapes. Prior to AbbVie, Rishi was at Pfizer Global Research and Development as a Computational Chemist where he had broad set of responsibilities ranging from developing ADMET in-silico models, novel scoring methods such as confidence metrics for in-silico models. He also supported the Anti-Bacterial research organization. Rishi earned his PhD. from University of Connecticut and MS at University of Massachusetts, Amherst.

• AI for Drug Discovery & Development

Abhinav Gupta joined Sanofi in August 2022 and is currently a Principal Machine Learning Scientist, in the AI Innovation team for Large Molecules Research. Abhinav received his PhD in Mechanical Engineering and Computation from MIT where he developed state-of-the-art algorithms and methodologies for uncertainty quantification, Bayesian learning, and deep learning for dynamical systems. At Sanofi, Abhinav is working on developing foundational ML/AI solutions to facilitate in silico Ab/Nb engineering and design, as well as supporting pipeline projects by application of advanced ML/AI methods.

• AI for Biologics

Athena leads AI/ML initiatives for Biotherapeutics and Genetic Medicine at AbbVie, driven by a personal mission to bring better medicines to patients, faster. Her team have portfolio-level impact by driving AI/ML integration into discovery and development workflows. Prior to joining AbbVie, Athena directed program-embedded, cross-functional drug discovery teams at Recursion Pharmaceuticals, scaling the impact of multi-modal data in accelerating drug discovery timelines. Athena’s curiosity and drive to innovate through cross-pollination have often led her to chart new paths, like leading ML model development teams in finance, where model risk is rigorously managed under federal regulations. Athena holds a PhD in Human Genetics and Genomics from the University of Miami, Miller School of Medicine, and completed her postdoctoral training at Yale.

• AI for Biologics

Ahmad Haider is a people-first leader and a technology strategist with deep expertise in the fields of data, machine learning, and artificial intelligence. He believes in the power of data and storytelling to change the world and has used them to build strong teams and innovative solutions to solve the most pressing problems in the life sciences, healthcare, and software industries. Coming from a diverse background himself, he believes in expanding the footprint of diversity, equity, and inclusion at home and in the workplace. His goal is to influence meaningful changes in society through better use of data and analytics.

• Cloud for AI/ML & Modern Data Science

Umer Hassan is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering and Core Faculty Global Health Institute at Rutgers University. Before joining Rutgers, he worked as a Research Scientist in the Department of Bioengineering at University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign (UIUC) with a Research Affiliate appointment at Carle Foundation Hospital, Urbana. Dr. Hassan’s research efforts have been focused on developing bioengineering solutions for global-health applications including point-of-care (PoC) biosensors development for disease diagnosis. Dr. Hassan has received Brandt Early Career Investigator Award in Precision Medicine (2017), BMES Career Development Award (2017), Baxter Young Investigator Award (2016, 17), Emerging Engineer Award (2015), Cozad New Venture Competition Award (2014), NSF I-Corps Fellowship (2014) and Our Common Future Fellowship (2010). In 2014, Umer cofounded a startup, Prenosis, Inc. that is working on commercializing his developed biosensors.

• AI for Oncology, Precision Medicine & Health

Kathie Helms, MSN, RN is the Senior Administrator of the Clinical Informatics and Practice Support Division at Mayo Clinic, where she has been advancing healthcare since 2001. With more than 20 years of clinical experience in cardiac intensive care, emergency medicine, and renal dialysis, Kathie is passionate about improving care delivery through technology and innovation. Certified in Epic Clinical Informatics and a Mayo Clinic Quality Fellow, she leads a team focused on leveraging generative AI and automation to streamline healthcare processes and elevate clinical support. Kathie’s leadership spans enterprise committees, strategic projects, and innovation councils-driving solutions that meet the evolving needs of patients and healthcare organizations.

• Generative AI Tools

No bio available.

• Data Science & Analytics Technologies

Dr. Hernandez-Boussard is an Associate Dean of Research and Professor of Medicine (Biomedical Informatics), Biomedical Data Sciences, Surgery and Epidemiology & Population Health (by courtesy) at Stanford University. Her work is at the intersection of informatics and population health, promoting responsible AI across populations. She utilizes diverse, multimodal data to develop rigorous criteria and guidelines that steer the development of responsible AI, aiming to bridge gaps in health care and enhance patient outcomes. Dr. Hernandez-Boussard advocates for practices that ensure the benefits of digital technologies are realized across all segments of society.

• AI for Oncology, Precision Medicine & Health

Dr. Hinkle established research informatics at Alnylam in 2007 and is responsible for all aspects of in-silico design of RNAi therapeutics as well as the compute infrastructure to support large scale human genetics. Greg was a graduate student of Lynn Margulis, did his post-doc at the Marine Biological Laboratory in Woods Hole, Massachusetts, and was an academic teaching molecular evolution for 3 years. In his spare [sic] time, he builds boats.

• Cloud for AI/ML & Modern Data Science

Eleanor has been working at the cutting edge of bioinformatics for over 15 years. As founder of Diamond Age, she led the company’s evolution from a small, project-based service provider to a full-fledged consultancy that works closely with clients to tackle their most difficult research challenges. Before founding Diamond Age, Eleanor served as the sole bioinformatician in the Center for the Development of Therapeutics at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, where she helped drive drug discovery projects in cancer, cardiovascular disease, and kidney disease, among others. She also worked at the Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, where she led mid- and late-stage development of the Multiexperiment Viewer, a powerful tool for mining large genomic datasets. Trained as a computational biologist, Eleanor has deep expertise in transcriptional profiling as well as drug discovery and development. She earned her Ph.D. bioinformatics from Oxford University under Christopher Holmes and John Quackenbush, and also holds a master’s degree in cellular and molecular biology from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. Eleanor is on the board of directors for WEST and speaks frequently at conferences. You can read her published scientific work here.

• Cloud for AI/ML & Modern Data Science

Hongmei Huang works with organizations and senior executives to shape business strategies and build data, digital and AI product roadmaps. Previously, she served as Vice President and Global Head of Digital Strategy and Enablement at Roche/Genentech, as well as in other senior leadership roles across the pharma and biotech industry, leading transformative enterprise data initiatives and advancing AI capabilities for drug development. Hongmei also contributes her expertise through service on industry and nonprofit boards. With a PhD from Scripps Research and three decades of leadership experience, she is widely recognized for bridging science and technology to drive meaningful impact and for guiding complex initiatives with clarity and rigor.

• Pharmaceutical R&D Informatics

Rachel Humphrey has over 25 years of experience in clinical drug development, particularly in the field of cancer treatments and immunotherapies. Currently she serves as President and Founding CEO of Normunity, a Boston-based biotech focused on immune-oncology. Highlights of her career include leading the development of multiple blockbuster cancer therapies: the CTLA-4 inhibiting immunotherapy Yervoy® (ipilimumab) at BMS, the PD-L1 inhibiting immunotherapy Imfinzi® (durvalumab) at AstraZeneca, and the kinase inhibitor cancer drug Nexavar® (sorafenib) at Bayer. After working at these big pharmaceutical companies, Rachel took her drug development expertise to emerging biotech companies, where she served in the role of Chief Medical Officer at Black Diamond Therapeutics, CytomX Therapeutics and Mirati Therapeutics, respectively. She previously served on the Board of Directors of CytomX Therapeutics and Xilio Therapeutics, respectively, and currently serves on the Board of Directors of Pyxis Therapeutics and Sporos Bioventures. Rachel started her career as an oncology fellow and staff physician at the National Cancer Institute. She received her training in internal medicine at The Johns Hopkins Hospital, her MD from Case Western Reserve Medical School, and her BA from Harvard University.

• Bio-IT World Venture, Innovation & Partnering

Julie Huxley-Jones is a seasoned leader in the biopharmaceutical industry, known for her expertise at the intersection of science, technology, and digital transformation. With a background in scientific research and a passion for innovation, she has spent over 18 years driving digital strategies across R&D functions in major pharmaceutical companies. In her current role as Vice President of Research, Pre-Clinical, Manufacturing and Supply technology at Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Julie champions the use of cutting-edge technologies to transform how medicines are discovered, developed and distributed to patients in need around the world.

• Pharmaceutical R&D Informatics

In his current role as a principal in the consulting practice of Ernst & Young LLP, Sanjay Jaiswal works with large life sciences and medtech clients across R&D, commercial, supply chain and enabling functions. Sanjay’s proven R&D experience includes early research, pre-clinical, clinical, regulatory and pharmacovigilance. His commercial experience includes market access, product launch, sales, marketing, payer/provider analytics and patient services. His hands on supply chain experience includes demand and supply planning, manufacturing, logistics, warehousing and procurement. He has strong enabling functions experience that includes talent management, legal, finance and IT .Sanjay earned his MD-PhD from Northwestern University, Chicago.

• AI for Oncology, Precision Medicine & Health

CFO at Seismic Therapeutics. Former Managing Director in Healthcare Investment Banking focused on biotech and life sciences. Former surgeon. NIH-sponsored, published clinical researcher.

• Bio-IT World Venture, Innovation & Partnering

Petrina Kamya, PhD, is the Head of AI Platforms and President of Insilico Medicine, Canada an end-to-end artificial intelligence-driven drug discovery company. Before joining Insilico, Dr. Kamya spent eight years in various roles at Chemical Computing Group that involved scientific and business-related aspects of preclinical drug discovery. In addition to establishing the corporate strategy for the sales and business development of molecular modeling software for academia, she also played an active role as an application scientist working on real-world discovery projects and finally in a senior role in strategy and business development for pharma and biotech companies. Following her time at CCG, Petrina moved to Certara as a Market Access Manager, where she learned first-hand the challenges of getting drugs to market. Petrina has been with Insilico Medicine since August 2020. She holds a PhD in Chemistry (specializing in computational chemistry) from Concordia University.

• AI-Powered Robotics & Intelligent Lab Automation

Gurpreet Kanwar is a senior leader with over 28 years of experience in IT, project planning, and program delivery, including more than 14 years in project and program management. At NAV CANADA, he has been instrumental in establishing and maturing the PMO, standardizing methodologies, and leading the Integrated Workstation Program (IWP) across 36 towers nationwide, including Canada’s busiest airports. Gurpreet has a proven record of delivering complex digital transformation initiatives, driving governance improvements, and mentoring project leaders under demanding conditions. Known for his collaborative approach, he works closely with executives, stakeholders, and vendors to align strategy and delivery. Gurpreet holds an MBA from Edinburgh Business School and has presented at multiple project management and technology conferences.

• Software Applications & Services

Sukru currently leads the IT organization at AbbVie’s multiple sites in Massachusetts with two teams focused on research informatics supporting early R&D and biologics development/CMC. At Abbott/AbbVie for over 10 years, he started in the discovery organization focused on data and bioinformatics supporting biologics research and ultimately transitioned to the information research R&D IT organization in 2016. His prior experiences and roles span across the bench and clinical sciences as well as IT, software engineering, and data science. Sukru has a B.A. in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and a M.S. in Bioinformatics, both from Boston University.

• AI for Biologics

No bio available.

• Data Science & Analytics Technologies

No bio available.

• AI-Powered Robotics & Intelligent Lab Automation

Dr. Mark Kiel is the founder and chief scientific officer at Genomenon, where he oversees the company's scientific direction and product development. After spending 15 years preparing for a life of academic research, Mark became convinced that revolutionary change in genomics was more likely to emerge from industry.

In 2014, he founded Genomenon, an AI-driven genomics company addressing the challenge of connecting pharma researchers with evidence in the literature to help diagnose and treat patients with rare genetic diseases and cancer.

• AI for Oncology, Precision Medicine & Health

No bio available.

• AI for Drug Discovery & Development

No bio available.

• Generative AI Tools

No bio available.

• Pharmaceutical R&D Informatics

Farhad Kosari, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor in Molecular Medicine at Mayo Clinic with a keen interest in thoracic malignancies, especially neuroendocrine tumors, and mesotheliomas. His main domain of expertise is in bioinformatics and computational immunology particularly related to the microenvironment of these tumors. His most recent focus has been on characterizing the responses of patients with mesothelioma to immune checkpoint inhibitors and identifying response determinants.

• Bioinformatics

No bio available.

• Bioinformatics

No bio available.

• Generative AI

Dynamic technical leader, pioneering at the intersection of AI, cloud architecture, and life sciences. 15+ years leading the development of sophisticated cloud-based infrastructures that serve as the backbone for critical data analytics in precision medicine and biotech. Shaped by the discipline of Brazilian jiu-jitsu, passionate about performance, adaptability, and strategic foresight.

• Data Platforms & Storage Infrastructure

Sri Krishnamurthy is a technology leader and life sciences expert, specializing in clinical systems and commercial operations. As Director of GD-IT (Delivery & Operations) at Regeneron, he supports GD-IT domains like Biostatistical Data Management, Early Clinical Development, and Clinical Sciences. Sri leads impactful projects such as digitizing clinical trial protocols, implementing advanced human sample tracking systems, developing a Scientific Data Lake, and enhancing analytical platforms with SAS, R, and Databricks. His work advances Regeneron's operational capabilities and scientific endeavors.

• Data Platforms & Storage Infrastructure

Robert Krueger is an assistant professor at New York University (NYU). Previously, he was a postdoctoral research fellow and subgroup leader at VCG Harvard, School of Engineering and Applied Sciences at Harvard University, and a senior research scientist at the Laboratory of Systems Pharmacology, Harvard Medical School. Dr. Krueger received his MS in Computer Science and Media at the Stuttgart Media University in 2012 and his Ph.D. degree (Dr. rer. nat.) in Computer Science at the Institute for Visualization and Interactive Systems, University of Stuttgart in 2017. Krueger's research interests lie in the field of data visualization and visual analytics for on spatial and spatially-referenced multivariate data with a focus on biomedical visualization.

• Bioinformatics

Eva Kudova has completed her PhD in 2009 from Charles University in Prague. Then, she spent 2 years in the lab of Douglas F. Covey, Washington University School of Medicine in St. Louis, Missouri, USA. Currently, she works as a Group Leader it the Institute of Organic Chemistry and Biochemistry, Academy of Sciences in Prague (IOCB Prague). Neurosteroid research at the IOCB prague is multi-faceted, with a strong emphasis on collaborative projects with national and international neuroscience research groups. It includes organic synthesis, medicinal chemistry, the development of drug-like compounds, the identification and characterization of the potential binding site(s), the mechanism(s) of action, and more recently, the development of neurosteroid formulations.

• AI for Drug Discovery & Development

Ritesh Kumar is an informatics strategist, specializes in digital transformation and AI-enabled data workflows across discovery, translational, and clinical research. His latest project, CAMEO, exemplifies the next generation of smart, connected, and regulatory-ready research platforms accelerating the path from patient samples to predictive insight.

• Software Applications & Services

Michael Langer is the Co-Founder and Managing Partner of T.Rx Capital, a venture firm focused on company creation and seed-stage investments at the intersection of early biology and transformative medicine. Michael is an Executive Producer of Superhuman Body, a forthcoming IMAX film designed to inspire the next generation of scientists and innovators. The film is narrated by Academy Award-winner Matthew McConaughey. He serves on several scientific and healthcare leadership boards, including the Leadership Board of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, the Global Board of Directors for MassChallenge, the Leadership Board of the Terasaki Institute for Biomedical Innovation, and acts as Senior Advisor for Special Projects at the Galenus Foundation. He previously co-founded the Young Coders Society, served on the Board of Advisors of the Museum of Science, and was a Young Leader at the Milken Institute as well as a World Economic Forum Global Shaper. Before T.Rx, Michael founded Old Silver VC, a family investment firm backing early companies in healthcare and deep tech, particularly novel materials. The portfolio included more than 20 startups such as BigHat Biosciences, ATAI Life Sciences AG, Seismic Therapeutics, Soufflé Therapeutics, and Opentrons. Old Silver VC operated in close collaboration with Susan Langer (former Head of Strategy at Biogen, current board member) and Dr. Robert Langer (MIT Institute Professor and founder of more than 40 biotech companies, including Moderna). Michael previously served as Head of Search, Evaluation, and In-Licensing at Pear Therapeutics, where he led or co-led 15 transactions across digital therapeutics development and commercialization. He holds a BA from Lehigh University in Science, Technology & Society, with double minors in Entrepreneurship and Sustainable Development.

• Bio-IT World Venture, Innovation & Partnering

Nicholas Larus-Stone leads the AI Agents team at Benchling, where he leads development of the company’s scientific agents and other AI-driven products. He joined Benchling following its acquisition of Sphinx Bio, the biotech startup he founded to apply AI to scientific data analysis and drug discovery. Earlier in his career, he was the first software engineer at Octant Bio and led the Machine Learning Infrastructure team at BenevolentAI. Nicholas also is the founder and president of Bits in Bio, a global community uniting innovators in software and life sciences.

• Cloud for AI/ML & Modern Data Science

Martin Leach, PhD, MBA, is a leader in biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, and life sciences, with a robust background in AI, data science, and informatics. With a career spanning executive roles at leading organizations such as Alloy Therapeutics, Alexion Pharmaceuticals, Biogen, Merck, and the Broad Institute of MIT & Harvard, Martin has consistently driven innovation and operational excellence. Currently, as the Chief Data Officer at Black Canyon Consulting LLC, Martin oversees global data services and informatics, leveraging his deep knowledge in informatics, technology, data, and AI, and applying it to projects for the NIH, National Library of Medicine (NLM), and the National Center for Biotechnology Information (NCBI). During his tenure at Alexion Pharmaceuticals (now AstraZeneca), he built the company's first R&D technology team, transforming patient and employee experiences through digital solutions. Martin's leadership at Biogen as Vice President & Global Data Officer was marked by the development of a scientific cloud computing strategy and the establishment of a global data sciences organization. His strategic partnerships with industry giants like Google and IBM positioned Biogen as a leader in digital transformation for multiple sclerosis treatment. With a PhD in Molecular Pharmacology and an MBA from MIT's Sloan School of Management, Martin is a sought-after advisor and mentor, contributing to industry-wide benchmarking studies and serving on advisory boards. His entrepreneurial ventures, including founding My Career Compass LLC and Career Office LLC, demonstrate his commitment to leveraging data-driven strategies for helping others with career development.

• AI for Drug Discovery & Development

Rebecca Lebeaux, PhD is an Associate Director of Strategy Implementation and Business Transformation at AstraZeneca, and a key enabler of the Generative AI scale-up program. Leveraging her unique outside-in perspectives and passion for being a change agent for data, Rebecca propels multiple enterprise-wide GenAI initiatives including prompt upskilling, use case value assessment, and portfolio management. Prior to joining AstraZeneca, Rebecca worked in Inhouse Consulting at Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, leading impactful R&D portfolio data science strategy initiatives. She has previously presented on the value-add of generative AI solutions across R&D at the Generative AI Europe 2023 conference. Rebecca holds a PhD in Quantitative Biomedical Sciences from Dartmouth College, an interdisciplinary data science program.

• Generative AI

No bio available.

• Data Platforms & Storage Infrastructure

Andy Lee is Co-Founder and Chief Business Officer of Vincere Biosciences, a Boston-based biotechnology company developing first-in-class small molecules that restore mitochondrial health with the potential for disease-modification for neurodegenerative and aging-related diseases. He leads fundraising, business development, investor relations, and platform strategy, and has a deep background in AI-enabled computational biology. Andy has partnered with global pharmas and strategic investors across a broad range of disease-area programs, and previously held leadership roles spanning AI, operations, and finance.

• AI for Drug Discovery & Development

No bio available.

• AI for Oncology, Precision Medicine & Health

Michael N. Liebman, PhD (theoretical chemistry and protein crystallography) is Managing Director of IPQ Analytics, LLC and CSO of United Cancer Centers after serving as Executive Director of the Chan Soon-Shiong Institute for Molecular Medicine. He is Adjunct Professor of Pharmacology and Physiology, Drexel College of Medicine and Adjunct Professor of Drug Discovery, Wenzhou Medical University and Fudan University. He serves on the Advisory Board for the Center of Biomedical and Health Research, University of Massachusetts (Lowell). Previously, he was Director, Computational Biology and Biomedical Informatics, University of Pennsylvania Cancer Center. He served as Global Head of Computational Genomics, Roche. He serves on the Board of the Nathaniel Adamczyk Foundation in Pediatric ARDS. Michael chairs Translational Medicine for the PhRMA Foundation and serves on the IUPAC Division on Human Health. His research focuses on computational models of disease that stress complexities of real-world patients and real-world clinical practice utilizing systems-based approaches for representation and analysis for pharma and healthcare. Current application areas include: multiple sclerosis, heart failure, and a focus on women’s health: triple negative breast cancer, hypertension and hypertensive disorders of pregnancy, infant-maternal morbidity and mortality, perimenopause-menopause transition with an emphasis on underserved populations and health disparities.

• Knowledge Graphs

Yuan Lin is the Biologics Business Partner and Solution Lead in Pfizer Digital. He manages, develops, and supports Pfizer Biologics R&D informatics platforms. He has 20+ years of experience in bioinformatics, business system analysis, and software development. Before joining Pfizer in 2017, Yuan was a Senior Principle Business Analyst and Lead Software Engineer at Novartis, focusing on the in-house E2E biologics screening platform and leading the support of a global biologics registration platform. He led the implementation of an industry-first clinical NGS genetic testing data workflow system at GeneDX and built a comparative Genome Browser and Sequence Analysis platform that enabled the sequencing and analyzing of the first individual human genome at J Craig Venter Institute.

• AI for Biologics

No bio available.

• Data Platforms & Storage Infrastructure

I am an AI and Platform Architect with deep experience building enterprise-scale GenAI systems, knowledge graphs, synthetic data pipelines, and compliant AI platforms in the healthcare industry. My work focuses on deploying LLMs in regulated environments, designing observability and validation frameworks, and developing AI-driven synthetic data tools that improve model reliability and safety. I also created an open-source synthetic data generation platform and actively contribute to advancing reproducible and responsible AI practices across clinical, operational, and research workflows.

• Generative AI Tools

Dr. Xiong (Sean) Liu is a Director of Data Science and Artificial Intelligence at Novartis. He was a principal data scientist and NLP lead at Eli Lilly. He has 9 years of experience in pharma R&D (diabetes, neuroscience, oncology, and immunology) and over 15 years of experience in data mining and machine learning. Dr. Liu is a leader in using data science and AI to drive innovation in drug development and healthcare. His work has broad impact across the pharma value chain from early discovery to clinical trials and real-world evidence. His research has appeared in leading journals and conferences and was reported by media such as CNN. He is on the program committees of several international conferences and is a Co-Chair for the IEEE BigData 2021 Industry and Government Program.

• AI for Drug Discovery & Development

Rana Lonnen is a healthcare technology investor, entrepreneur, and molecular biologist. At Novartis, she leads strategic investments in technology companies, on a mission to transform the healthcare ecosystem and make positive impact on people’s lives. Previously, Rana was Head of Preclinical Development at a UK biotech, Auspherix; investment consultant to IP Group in London; Founder and CSO of a UK-based Biotech, Axendos therapeutics. Prior to this, she was a Wellcome Trust-backed principal investigator in drug discovery in the field of Infection, Immunity, and Inflammation, author and inventor on high impact peer-reviewed publications and patents; before this, Rana worked at Bristol-Myers Squibb, in sales and marketing. Rana holds a PhD in molecular biology and an MBA from Imperial College London. She personally cares about equitable healthcare, social justice, sustainability, and the future of antimicrobial resistance. In her downtime, Rana likes to make culinary experiments, be in nature, and read. Rana is a board observer at Aktana, Cota Healthcare, H1 Insights, Koneksa, Mekonos, NuvoAir, and Dopavision. She is based out of Basel, Switzerland.

• Bio-IT World Venture, Innovation & Partnering

Christopher Lundy is a pioneering leader in enterprise architecture, AI, and quantum computing, with over 20 years of experience transforming digital strategies in biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, healthcare, life sciences, advanced research, and several other industries. At Pfizer, he led the development of innovative AI and quantum applications, including a Large Language Model for drug discovery and a virtual environment that accelerates R&D by simulating treatments. As founder of FindInfinite Labs, he explores quantum theory and AI-driven simulations to advance quantum computing proliferation and develop cutting-edge solutions. A frequent industry speaker, Christopher’s expertise in AI and quantum is helping to shape the future of biopharma innovation and scientific discovery.

• Knowledge Graphs

Dr. Lynch has over 25 years’ experience in Data science & Informatics in various start-ups and biopharma. He is interested in making data more accessible for better analysis, and established Curlew Research in 2014, working with pharma/biotech and life science informatics/data science companies.

• W1: Building Workflows and Advancing FAIR Bioinformatics Practices: A Practical Lab Using the Playbook Workflow Builder (PWB)

Bill Lynch has been leading Pure Storage's Life Sciences and Genomics sub-vertical since April ‘21. He is passionate about helping clients and partners find a Faster Time to Science. He has a 30+ year background in life sciences and healthcare, with a special focus on workflow optimization. His career includes software and interoperability sales, marketing, and program management including helping to establish some of the nation's most successful regional and state-wide Health Information Exchanges

• Data Platforms & Storage Infrastructure

As Principal Data Scientist at Moderna Eric leads the Data Science and Artificial Intelligence (Research) team to accelerate science to the speed of thought. Prior to Moderna, he was at the Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research conducting biomedical data science research with a focus on using Bayesian statistical methods in the service of discovering medicines for patients. Prior to Novartis, he was an Insight Health Data Fellow in the summer of 2017 and defended his doctoral thesis in the Department of Biological Engineering at MIT in the spring of 2017. Eric is also an open-source software developer and has led the development of pyjanitor, a clean API for cleaning data in Python, and nxviz, a visualization package for NetworkX. He is also on the core developer team of NetworkX and PyMC. In addition, he gives back to the community through code contributions, blogging, teaching, and writing. His personal life motto is found in the Gospel of Luke 12:48.

• W2: How to Standardize Data Science Ways of Working to Unlock Your Data Science Team’s Creativity

No bio available.

• W1: Building Workflows and Advancing FAIR Bioinformatics Practices: A Practical Lab Using the Playbook Workflow Builder (PWB)

Iambic Co-Founder and CTO Fred Manby has over 30 years of experience in developing technologies for understanding and discovering molecules. Much of his academic career was spent as a professor in chemistry at the University of Bristol in the UK, and his research resulted in over 200 publications and numerous awards. In 2019, he co-founded Iambic (at that time called Entos) with the mission of combining AI technologies and automation to revolutionize small-molecule drug discovery.

• AI for Drug Discovery & Development

No bio available.

• Cloud for AI/ML & Modern Data Science

A seasoned data scientist with a hybrid computational, automation, and molecular biology skill sets, experienced in developing an end-to-end data solutions and scalable data and AI/ML pipelines to drive innovations in bioengineering and biotherapeutics.

• Data Science & Analytics Technologies

Bahador Marzban is a leading Senior Digital Health Data Engineer at Johnson & Johnson, specializing in data science, wearable devices, and predictive modeling with digital health data. With a background as a Data Scientist at Daxor, he developed innovative algorithms and predictive models for wearable technologies. Holding a Doctorate in Engineering, his research focused on cell motility modeling. During his postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Michigan's Medical School, he specialized in cardiovascular systems and multiscale predictive models for heart failure patients. Currently at Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Bahador spearheads digital health transformation, converting vast data into valuable insights. He excels in creating disease-specific digital health biomarkers, implementing precise data extraction algorithms, and enhancing data processing solutions in regulated environments. His multifaceted contributions drive advancements in cardiovascular health, neuroscience, immunology, and beyond, establishing him as a leader in digital health research.

• Cloud for AI/ML & Modern Data Science

A globally oriented technology executive leading research, biotech, and consumer products organizations through complex changes. I have built organizations for explosive growth, consolidated them in business downturns, and led merger/acquisition/divestiture programs. I have led teams in 20+ countries, led all aspects of IT including major business transformations and culture change across organizations. I am an adept strategic thinker with experience advising several early stage biotech firms, an advisory board member to a software startup, and board chair for large ($100M+) social services agency. I have set technology strategy, implemented global programs, fixed broken operating models, rebuilt teams, negotiated large scale partnerships, and always focused on business success.

• Bio-IT World Venture, Innovation & Partnering

Dr. Cezary Mazurek, Computer Scientist, his professional activity has been associated with the development of the Poznan Supercomputing and Networking Center (PCSS) since its foundation in 1993. He served as CEO of PCSS from 2019 to 2024 and at that time he successfully brought it onto the path of developing infrastructure and applications of quantum computing and AI, and is now continuing this thread with a focus on applications in Life Sciences and Personalized Medicine. Cezary's scientific activities mainly focus on applying machine learning methods for early detection of disease development mechanisms. A solution led by him to support pre-symptomatic diagnosis of glaucoma development using machine learning received patent protection from the Japan Patent Office in 2023 and from European Patent Office in 2026. He is currently extending his interests to advanced methods of data collection and analysis in a digital twin model. He is author or co-author of over 100 papers in professional journals and conference proceedings. In 2024 he initiated the establishment of a national consortium EBRAINS-PL and became the member of EBRAINS National Node Board. IEEE Senior Member, member of IEEE Computer Society as well as IEEE Computational Intelligence Society.

• Data Science & Analytics Technologies

Janice McCallum is managing director of Health Content Advisors. She is a respected analyst in the economics of publishing and has been actively involved in creating and marketing information products for over twenty-five years. She has held senior-level product management and content development positions in pioneering information companies, including Individual, Inc. (now part of Acquire Media), Dialog Information Services (now part of ProQuest), and DeepCanyon, a Hewlett-Packard company. After receiving her MBA from the Booth School at the University of Chicago, she began her career in online publishing at Dialog where she managed several financial and business database product lines and was responsible for licensing content from dozens of publishers. Janice expanded her content development and licensing expertise into healthcare, life sciences, market research, and news information products at both Individual, Inc. and Hewlett-Packard’s DeepCanyon and has leveraged that experience in her consulting practice. Clients have ranged from major publishing firms, including Thomson Reuters, Elsevier, D&B, McGraw-Hill, Hewlett-Packard, Microsoft, to scores of many smaller publishing, technology firms, and private equity firms. Janice is a frequent speaker at industry conferences on topics from Big Data in Scholarly Publishing to business models for data content. She was on the board of trustees at the Journal of Bone & Joint Surgery from 2014 through 2022 and led the Strategy Committee for JBJS.

• Knowledge Graphs

Dr. Ben Alexander Meinen earned his PhD in Biochemistry from Martin-Luther University Halle-Wittenberg, he conducted research in protein folding and aggregation under the mentorship of James Bardwell at the University of Michigan. He performed his postdoctoral studies at the Institute for Protein Innovation with Dr. Chris Bahl focusing on de novo protein designs. As a founding scientific member and the current Head of Protein Design at AI Proteins, Dr. Meinen has been pioneering de novo protein design for miniproteins as a new therapeutic modality.

• AI for Biologics

I design and lead cloud and data platforms that help scientists and biotech teams move faster, automate more, and turn complex research into scalable, repeatable workflows. Across my career, I’ve focused on building the kind of infrastructure that quietly powers everything else: secure AWS foundations, high-throughput pipelines, unified data layers, and ML platforms that scientists can actually use. I enjoy operating at the intersection of engineering and biology, where the right architecture can open the door to discoveries that weren’t possible before. Today at Flagship Pioneering, I’m building the core cloud environment that supports a growing portfolio of early-stage biotech companies. This includes the AWS Organization structure, networking, governance, and automation patterns that allow teams to scale without friction. I also architected the CryoEM data pipeline capable of streaming more than 50 TB/day into S3, enabling near-real-time analysis and automated validation for structure determination and AI-driven research. Before this, I led Cloud and Data at Resilience, where I built global teams and created the company’s data operating model-from instrument connectivity and data ingestion, to a full data mesh, to an internal LLM platform. I’m proud of the impact that work had: connecting hundreds of instruments across the world, improving how scientists accessed information, and dramatically reducing cloud spend while improving reliability. Earlier roles at Vertex, Miltenyi/Qiagen, and the Broad Institute gave me deep experience in distributed systems, bioinformatics, and large-scale data engineering. They also shaped my belief that the best platforms are the ones that make complex science feel simple. I’m motivated by building systems that let people do their best work: infrastructure that scales, data that can be trusted, and tools that make advanced analytics and machine learning part of everyday research-not an afterthought.

• Cloud for AI/ML & Modern Data Science

Edouard Michoud serves as the AI Lead for Regulatory Data Digital and AI at Sanofi, where he drives innovation at the intersection of artificial intelligence and pharmaceutical regulatory processes. With expertise in implementing AI solutions, Edouard leads initiatives that transform regulatory data management and enhance decision-making capabilities. His work focuses on leveraging advanced technologies to streamline authoring of documents to be submitted to the health authorities as well as crafting improved regulatory strategy.

• Generative AI Tools

Nilu Mishra is a seasoned digital health and quality systems leader with over 15 years of experience in delivering compliant, scalable, and secure solutions across Software as a Medical Device (SaMD) and IoT healthcare platforms. She has successfully led global initiatives in regulatory compliance, risk-based validation, and digital health innovation for leading organizations including GSK, Novartis, Medtronic, and Baxter. Nilu specializes in establishing Centers of Excellence for Computer System Validation (CSV) and SaMD, implementing governance models aligned with GAMP 5, FDA 21 CFR Part 11, EU Annex 11, ISO 13485, IEC 62304, and ISO 14971. Her expertise spans the entire product lifecycle from risk management and cybersecurity integration to post-market surveillance ensuring regulatory readiness and operational excellence. Certified as an ISO 13485 Lead Auditor and holding credentials in MDSAP, EU MDR, IEC 62304, ISO 14971, GDPR, and GCP, Nilu combines deep technical knowledge with strategic vision. She has also driven market research initiatives and collaborated with Key Opinion Leaders to align innovation with regulatory and market needs. Beyond her professional achievements, Nilu is an accomplished storyteller whose creative work has reached millions online, reflecting her unique ability to blend analytical rigor with imaginative thinking.

• Generative AI Tools

Michael Montgomery, MD is Co-Founder and CEO of Stable Solutions, LLC a healthcare and neural net consultancy (If it isn’t stable; it’s not a solution). Dr. Montgomery is Board certified in Internal Medicine. He has over 23 years experience as a Cell Biologist working in the field of Developmental Biology at Washington University in St. Louis, Cornell Medical College, and Temple University Medical School. He was an Assistant Professor in the department of Anatomy and Cell Biology at Temple University School of Medicine. Dr. Montgomery has been a leader in Medical Development at Centocor, Johnson & Johnson and Incyte for two decades producing multiple successful projects including the development of QUEST, an award winning process automation system; ANUBIS, a system for prioritizing development opportunities for new and approved products; and UTOPIA, a project to establish processes for reviewing and running clinical trials in Medical Affairs. At J&J he was a co-founder and Leader of the Proof-of-Concept Team which prioritized reviewed, funded, supported and disseminated information from all, novel Investigator Sponsored Trials exploring new treatments in over 110 diseases in 20 therapeutic areas. He led the Global Medical Affairs team at Incyte as Interim Head. Dr. Montgomery was accredited as a Certified Physician Investigator by the Association of Clinical Research Professionals and led high performance teams at Centocor, J&J, and Incyte. Dr. Montgomery was also Founding President of the Investigator Initiated and Sponsored Research Association (iisra, iisra.org) and is a lecturer on the subjects of process, IT in Pharma and IISR.

• Data Science & Analytics Technologies

Douaa Mugahid is a systems biologist by training and currently a research scientist and faculty member at the Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health which she joined after the COVID19 pandemic revealed the importance of better digital infrastructure, more interdisciplinary research, and public-private partnerships for local and global pandemic preparedness. In her current role, she manages multi-modal data for a large NIH-funded consortium of international researchers focused on identifying principled vaccine strategies for adults at risk of TB - the world’s deadliest infectious disease by number of lives claimed. She also manages a partnership with Siemens Healthineers focused on using digitally-connected diagnostics for public health monitoring. Finally, she is a part-time Senior Consultant at the Brussels-based boutique consulting firm myEUconsulting, where she helps high-risk but promising early-stage Biotech/Techbio/Digital Health startups obtain EU funding.

• AI for Biologics

No bio available.

• AI-Powered Robotics & Intelligent Lab Automation

DraŊen Nadoveza received his PhD in 2014 in the Laboratory for Computer-Aided Design and Production (LICP) of the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology in Lausanne (EPFL). His major research interests include: context-aware systems, software architectures, Semantic Web, Life-Cycle Assessment and Product Lifecycle Management. Currently he works as a Tech Lead of data management platforms in the domain of the Biologics Discovery in BR.

• AI for Biologics

Srivatsan has over thirty years of experience in growing businesses in the Digital, Data, AI, Analytics, IT, Product and Operations management areas across several industry verticals. Currently he is helping companies unlock exponential growth opportunities to scale their businesses by leveraging the power of AI. Previously as Chief Digital Officer for R&DS Technologies, IQVIA he was responsible for driving growth and leading product development and operations of R&DS Technologies. Prior to that, as Chief Growth Officer for EXL he oversaw the Sales & Marketing, Consulting and Strategy functions helping EXL become a Strategic digital transformation partner to its customers. Before that, as Venture partner, he grew Cognizant’s foray into Digital & Platforms. He identified, incubated and grew innovative digitally enabled ventures across the Healthcare & Life Sciences value chain. Early on, He was responsible for growing Cognizant’s Life Sciences business unit to be a Tier one provider. He has worked with the many of the top 50 global Life Sciences organizations providing them comprehensive end-to-end consulting, analytics, business process and IT solutions. He has provided strategic leadership in helping life sciences organizations leverage technology and the global delivery model to effectively transform their businesses. Srivatsan was recognized as the top 100 most inspiring people in the life sciences industry award by PharmaVOICE publication in 2010 and 2021. Srivatsan holds a bachelor's in electrical engineering from B.I.T.S. in India and a master's degree in electrical engineering & computer science from Northwestern University.

• Generative AI

Radhesh Nair focuses on democratizing access to clinical data and creating analytics-driven pan-R&D insights and solutions.

• Data Science & Analytics Technologies

Mahesh Nawade is a strategic IT and data capability leader in the biopharmaceutical industry, with deep expertise in research informatics, clinical data management, data integration platforms, and enterprise data enablement. As a Director and Product Owner within the Data Capability Group at Bristol Myers Squibb (BMS), Mahesh drives the development and lifecycle management of data delivery platforms that support translational research and informatics and predictive sciences. His work focuses on harmonizing data flows across R&D, managing data operations processes to integrate and organize external research datasets, governing research data lake and enabling FAIR-compliant data ecosystems to accelerate scientific discovery. With a career spanning over two decades, Mahesh has led transformative initiatives in lab data capture, cross-study conformance, cloud-native infrastructure, and real-world data integration. He is known for bridging the gap between scientific needs and technology solutions-partnering with research scientists, IT architects, and business stakeholders to deliver platforms that support predictive-first research and digital transformation. Mahesh’s contributions extend to thought leadership in data governance, platform consolidation, and AI-readiness in biomedical research. He is a frequent collaborator across cross-functional teams and has played a key role in shaping BMS’s data strategy for research and early development. Passionate about innovation and operational excellence, Mahesh is committed to fostering high-performing teams and driving the strategic direction of data-centric research platforms.

• Data Management

Suhas Nikam is based out of New York City Metropolitan Area and works at Johnson & Johnson - Innovative Medicine as Global Head of Data & Advanced Analytics Enterprise Architecture.

• Data Management

Stephanie Oestreich is Managing Director of the Myeloma Investment Fund (MIF) and is the chair of the McCloy Alumni Association. She is also on the faculty of MIT, a member of SpringBoard Ventures, an advisor at grIP Venture Studio, to Biognosys (a Bruker company), Invitris, CART company CelineTx and to the drug development and investment company OrangeGrove Bio. Previously she was Chief Business Officer at Galecto, Vice President at cell therapy company Mnemo Therapeutics, a Venture Partner at RA Capital and Executive Vice President at Evotec where she built its North American investment arm and started an incubator with Samsara BioCapital. She also worked as International Business Leader at F. Roche Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd., and for Novartis in Business Development and in Commercial. Stephanie conducted the research for her Ph.D. in biochemistry in the lab of a Nobel Prize winner at Harvard Medical School and obtained an MPA from the Harvard Kennedy School.

• Bio-IT World Venture, Innovation & Partnering

Tudor I. Oprea is a digital drug hunter with three decades of experience in knowledge management applied to target and drug discovery. He co-developed ChemGPS, the “lead-like approach,” systems chemical biology, and a knowledge-based classification for human proteins. He co-discovered the first GPER agonist (orphan drug designated, LNS8801), GPER antagonist, and several GLUT transporter inhibitors. His machine-learning models include cheminformatics, drug discovery, disease, and target biology. His team maintains DrugCentral and Pharos, part of an NIH Common Fund project. He co-authored over 300 publications and 10 US patents and edited 2 books on informatics in drug discovery. He is CSO at Expert Systems, Inc., a San Diego-based i2020 Accelerator company.

• Knowledge Graphs

Loucif has over 15 years of experience in medical affairs, digital healthcare, clinical development, and patient safety, across local, regional, and global roles. He has worked in both the private (J&J, GSK, Roche, Pierre-Fabre, Biogen) and public sectors in France, EMEA, and the U.S. He is passionate about the impact of digital health technologies on patient outcomes, clinical practice, and internal collaboration. As Global Head of Digital Healthcare, Loucif leads strategy and implementation of digital tools, working cross-functionally to build agile digital medical capabilities that advance the organization’s goals.

• AI for Drug Discovery & Development

Dr. Arpitha Parthasarathy, Ph.D., MBA, is a clinical-translational scientist and healthcare strategist with over 18 years of leadership across the VA, NIH, academia, and biotech sectors. She is Principal Investigator at the VA Caribbean Healthcare System, aiming to lead two federally supported precision-mental-health initiatives: the Proteus-AI AI/ML-based clinical-decision tool and a mitochondrial DNA-based biomarker study for suicide prevention. Her work bridges AI innovation, biomarker discovery, and systems-level implementation for precision behavioral health.

• AI for Oncology, Precision Medicine & Health

Kayure Patel, MBA, is a Senior Data Scientist and Product Leader at Genentech, where he has led data management and quality strategy for high-priority global oncology trials. With expertise spanning clinical data governance, AI adoption, and risk-based quality management, Kayure has pioneered initiatives that integrate FAIR data principles and AI-driven practices into trial operations. He is also an active leader in Roche’s Portfolio Center of Excellence and AI Community of Practice, advancing the future of data sciences.

• Data Management

Ryan Peckner has been the head of machine learning at Seismic Therapeutic since early 2022, where he leads a team focused on applying ML to develop next-generation classes of non-immunogenic protein therapeutics. He earned his PhD in theoretical mathematics at Princeton University in 2015 and, after deciding to transition to an applied field, completed his postdoctoral training at the Broad Institute with an emphasis on the intersection of proteomics, genomics, and machine learning. Since entering biotech in early 2019, he has focused on developing and applying new machine learning techniques to structural biology, immunology, and drug development, beginning with models to probe TCR-pMHC interactions at Repertoire Immune Medicines and continuing with his work at Seismic.

• AI for Biologics

Dr. Plasterer has pursued interests in bioinformatics, clinical informatics, systems biology and biomarker discovery over the last twenty years in both industry and academia. He co-founded PanGenX (a Personalized Medicine/Pharmacogenetics Knowledge Base start-up), directed the project planning and data interpretation group at BG Medicine, and held an adjunct professor position in the department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Northeastern University. He now leads FAIR data and Knowledge Graph initiatives at AstraZeneca. In these roles at AstraZeneca, Dr. Plasterer has been responsible for establishing and executing the linked data strategy which includes knowledge representation, vocabulary & metadata services, semantic visualization, analytics and business case development. This strategy has been deployed to build the competitive intelligence and integrative informatics frameworks for R&D. Tom also serves on the Pistoia Alliance FAIR data implementation board.

• Pharmaceutical R&D Informatics

Allison Proffitt is a science writer with a background in biology and chemistry, research experience in cancer biology, and an expanding repertoire in biotech, AI, and battery chemistry. She serves as the editorial director for the Healthtech Publishing media group, a growing collection of online news sites. In addition to Bio-IT World, her work has been published by Nature Biotech, Chemical & Engineering News, and the Economist Intelligence Unit. She has a bachelor’s degree in communication of science, engineering, and technology from Vanderbilt University and a Master’s degree in science and medical writing from Johns Hopkins University.

• AI for Drug Discovery & Development

Rumana Begum Raffi has nearly 10 years of experience helping biotech, pharma, and research-based organizations with their digital transformation efforts. She has led multiple projects in areas such as ELN implementation, data FAIRification, and digital strategy. Currently, Rumana works as a Scientific Data Architect at Zifo RnD Solutions, where she focuses on global digital strategy, data architecture, data management, and data governance for top pharmaceutical companies. Rumana is particularly passionate about the role data plays in driving innovation in the life sciences sector. She finds it rewarding to see clients progress on their digital transformation journeys, knowing that these changes will shape the future of research and development.

• AI for Biologics

With a background in mathematics, psychology, and computer science, Hannah specializes in software engineering and data modeling for the life sciences industry. At Bristol Myers Squibb, Hannah has managed the development of advanced information modeling systems, utilizing graph databases such as Neo4j to capture complex scientific and product development processes. Hannah has overseen the creation of data pipelines for integrating raw data and domain ontologies, led the release of user interfaces for domain modeling platforms, and established best practices for code review and CI/CD within cross-functional teams. Proficient in Python, Cypher, AWS, Airflow, and other modern technologies, Hannah is dedicated to building scalable, innovative solutions that improve data accessibility and drive scientific progress.

• Pharmaceutical R&D Informatics

Sudeep heads Enterprise data management and Innovation for Takeda and responsible for data strategies, its processes, data products and its solutions. Sudeep understand the importance of “Happy Data” and has been instrumental on developing several healthcare data and AI products and solutions globally. He is ambassador for “Data led AI (Agentic, Gen) transformation”. He leads end to end data lifecycle management including data architecture, data acquisition, data access and privacy, data quality, master data management, data marketplace, data engineering and data products to support AI/Agentic AI admissions.

• Cloud for AI/ML & Modern Data Science

Carl Robinson is a Senior Corporate Solutions Director at Copyright Clearance Center (CCC). He is responsible for the strategy and direction of several CCC offers, including CCC’s knowledge graph and related services, our newer capabilities with deep search solutions (DSS) and how our professional services teams can support customers to get even more value from CCC's services especially through the addition of data-related services and workflows.

In his role at CCC, Carl takes time to understand our customers' needs and problem spaces and helps to define solutions that will support them in their workflows. Carl leverages his deep domain and content knowledge, technical understanding, consultancy skills and coaching talent to assist organizations as they seek to evolve in an ever-changing business context.

Carl joined CCC in 2013 in a role supporting publishers with their content management needs, progressed to develop a team of senior consultants focused on publishing and workflow solutions before taking on his current role in the Corporate Solutions business unit, shifting his focus to research and development workflows. Prior to joining CCC, Carl spent 20+ years working in senior positions at blue chip companies, including Oxford University Press, Macmillan Education and Pearson

• Generative AI

Dr. Jeffrey Rosenfeld, PhD, MBA has extensive experience in genomics and bioinformatics. He is the author of over 40 scientific publications, a graduate-level textbook, and the recipient of a US patent. He received his undergraduate education at the University of Pennsylvania and his PhD in biology from NYU. He performed his doctoral research at the prestigious Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. Over his 15-year career in genomics, he has worked on a wide range of biological and genetic projects including genetic association studies of schizophrenia, genomic testing of embryos for fertility treatments, gene patent litigation, and clinical cancer genome sequencing. For the past five years, he has been an Assistant Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine and the head of the Bioinformatics Core at the Rutgers Cancer Institute. In this role, he has become very familiar with laboratory testing both for cancer and other genetic diseases. He has set up the computational infrastructure for multiple tumor sequencing panels as well as a clinical data warehouse. Dr. Rosenfeld is always at the leading edge of technology and is looking for the newest ideas that can be used for scientific research and diagnostics including single-cell techniques and long-read sequencing. Additionally, Dr. Rosenfeld has been sought out for his expertise as the head of Rosenfeld Consulting LLC. Clients come to him seeking advice regarding genomics, oncology, and laboratory testing. Due to his long tenure in the field and his knowledge of genomics as well as finance, he can give a clear assessment of the companies and their potential. Companies approach Dr. Rosenfeld looking for his expert-level genomics knowledge, industry insight, and management experience.

• Bioinformatics

As the Vice President of Data Analytics, Technology, and Innovation at Rancho BioSciences, Dan Rozelle leads with a blend of strategic vision and technical expertise. Since 2016, he has overseen the growth of Rancho’s Bioinformatics and Data Science teams, spearheading transformative initiatives like the Single Cell Data Science Consortium and the Spatial Innovation Initiative. His leadership has cemented Rancho’s reputation for innovation, particularly in the fields of oncology, immunology, and neuroscience. Dan holds a PhD in Cell and Developmental Biology from the University of California, Davis, and his teams regularly contribute to high-impact publications, driving the application of advanced analytics and AI to biotherapeutic research.

• Bioinformatics

Catherine Sabatos-Peyton, Ph.D., is Larkspur Biosciences’ Chief Executive Officer and a 2024 Termeer Fellow. Prior to joining Larkspur, Catherine was Executive Director and Head of Immune Modulation at Novartis Institutes for BioMedical Research (NIBR), overseeing strategy and development of immunotherapy programs through development into Ph1-3 clinical trials. Catherine joined Novartis in 2014 from the acquisition of CoStim Pharmaceuticals where she was Director of Immunology, developing the cancer checkpoint antibodies that became part of the Novartis pipeline. Catherine was a Fulbright Fellow at the University of Oxford. She earned her Ph.D. from Harvard University and went on to a postdoctoral fellowship at UCSF, followed by a fellowship at the University of Bristol, under sponsorship from the UK Multiple Sclerosis Society.

• Bio-IT World Venture, Innovation & Partnering

Dr. Nicholas Sarlis is an accomplished physician-scientist with extensive expertise in oncology, hematology, and drug discovery and development. He currently serves as Chief Medical Officer at CLEARA Biotech B.V., while he additionally leads initiatives to integrate artificial intelligence and machine learning into clinical and translational research and the practice of precision medicine. Throughout his career, Dr. Sarlis has directed medical strategies for the launch of six global products across a total of nine indications and overseen the development of an additional eleven pipeline candidates. He has served as principal or associate investigator in thirty-eight clinical and translational studies and two disease registries, and has played a key role in supporting a biotech firm's transition from private to public ownership and its financing activities. Dr. Sarlis has represented organizations in joint drug co-development and commercialization committees with major pharmaceutical partners, and has frequently participated as a speaker or panelist at international scientific and industry conferences. His previous leadership roles include positions at Amplity Health, The Lynx Group, SELLAS Life Sciences, Incyte Corporation, and Sanofi, in addition to academic appointments at MD Anderson Cancer Center and the US National Institutes of Health. Dr. Sarlis holds M.D., Dr. Med. Sci., and Ph.D. degrees, has completed residency and fellowship training, maintains active licensure and board certification, and has demonstrated a strong ongoing commitment to professional development. He is an elected Fellow of several respected professional societies and is an author of over 140 publications, having received several awards recognizing his contributions to the field.

• Data Science & Analytics Technologies

Justin Scheer serves as the Vice President of In Silico Discovery. In this role, he oversees a global team delivering cutting-edge solutions in AIML, Bioinformatics, Cheminformatics, Structure-based Drug Design, Protein Modeling, and Generative Design. His modality expertise spans a wide spectrum, including Small Molecule Discovery, Peptides, Antibody Discovery/Engineering, Bispecifics, siRNA, Gene Therapy, Cell Therapy, and RNA platforms and his team impacts programs across all of J&J’s Therapeutic Areas. Justin holds a PhD in Biophysics and Biochemistry from Washington State University and an NIH Postdoctoral Fellowship at the University of California, San Francisco. Before becoming head of In Silico Discovery, he held the position of Vice President, Interim Head of Cell Therapy and Vice President, Gene Therapy and Gene Delivery Platforms. Prior to J&J, Justin was Executive Director for Boehringer Ingelheim’s Biotherapeutics Discovery & Engineering Platform Capabilities team, and earlier, led the discovery of multiple therapeutic molecules at Genentech, including Lunsumio, a bispecific antibody for lymphoma patients.

• AI for Biologics

Sebastian Schlicker has more than 15 years of experience in managing pharma R&D IT projects, specializing in the implementation of global enterprise software solutions for large molecule R&D. As the director of Genedata’s Biologics business, Sebastian oversees all major consulting and deployment projects globally. Currently based in Basel, Switzerland, Sebastian previously worked out of the Genedata Boston office, where he helped to build Genedata’s biopharma business in the US. Among his many responsibilities, he led implementation and customization projects for major US biopharma companies. Before joining Genedata, Sebastian worked at Sanofi, where he managed the implementation of new R&D platforms in both small- and large-molecule R&D, covering the complete project life-cycle and resulting in integrated and harmonized enterprise solutions used by scientists around the globe. Sebastian holds a degree in Computer Science and Economics from the University of Applied Sciences in Darmstadt, Germany.

• AI for Biologics

Dr. Fritz Sedlazeck is an Associate Professor at Baylor College of Medicine and an adjunct Associate Professor at Rice University. He is leading a research group since 2017 at the Human Genome Sequencing Centre at Baylor College of Medicine. His research focuses on developing computational methods to detect and analyze genomic variations with a focus on Structural Variations. Structural Variations are genomic events that manipulate multiple positions in a genome, which impact evolution, genomic disorders, regulation as well as play an important role in explaining multiple phenotypes. Dr. Sedlazeck groups focuses on the mechanisms of the formation of SV across multiple species and to improve our understanding how these complex alleles evolve and impact phenotypes. Over the past years, Dr. Sedlazeck lead multiple efforts from large scale short reads (e.g. Topmed, CCDG) to long reads (CARD, All of US) to study SV occurrence, impact and mechanism of SV.

• Bioinformatics

Anu Sharma is a Senior Principal Scientist and Real World Evidence platforms leader at Merck. She leads Data Sciences, Platform Strategy and Health Economic Modeling Initiatives within the MRL Biostatistics and Research Decision Sciences(BARDS) working with cross functional teams to leverage the value of real world data across the drug discovery, clinical development and commercialization lifecycle. Anu is a STEM leader, an AI enthusiast and avid industry speaker. With multiple accolades, she continues to strive towards saving patient lives and making world a healthier place.

• Generative AI

Alex is the Director of the Center for Innovation and Biomedical Informatics (CIB) at MGH and a Principal Associate in Neurology at Harvard Medical School. The focus of Alex’s work and research is conception, design, and development of technology, platforms, infrastructure, and methods for collaborative clinical research and optimization of clinical research in disease-specific networks. Other aspects of Alex’s research are patient empowerment, developing a system of incentives and supporting technologies to secure collaboration, integration, harmonization, and sharing of clinical and research information by all clinical research enterprise participants. Alex’s CIB team has introduced such innovative and break-through concepts and products as NeuroBANK, a patient-centric research platform and accelerated research environment, utilized by hundreds of investigators at 80+ clinical sites in 14 countries; PRO-ACT, a harmonized anonymized dataset of ALS clinical trials utilized to design clinical trials and identify novel biomarkers and disease models; and The SigNET Platform for unique and secure patient identification across research continuum. All three platforms have won the Best Practice Award from Bio-IT World Congress in Precision and Translational Medicine category in 2013, 2016, 2018, and 2020, as “outstanding example of how technology innovations and strategic initiatives can be powerful forces for change in the life sciences, from basic biomedical research to drug development and beyond.” Alex is the Chair of the Big Data committee of NEALS (www.neals.org) and is a founding Board Member of ALD Connect. Mr. Sherman holds a Master of Science degree in Nuclear Engineering and graduated from a doctorate program in Nuclear Engineering. For more information, please visit https://www.data4cures.org

• AI for Drug Discovery & Development

Woody Sherman is Founder and Chief Innovation Officer at Psivant Therapeutics and a thought leader in molecular simulations and computer-aided drug design, with over 90 peer-reviewed publications covering novel methods and applications. As Chief Computational Scientist at Roivant, Woody oversaw the computational strategy, implementation, and deployment of computational methods. He received his B.S. in Physical Chemistry from the University of California at Santa Barbara where he studied nonlinear optical properties of organic polymers using computational quantum mechanics methods. He completed his Ph.D. at MIT working in Professor Bruce Tidor’s lab where he examined the role of electrostatics in protein-ligand binding and implemented a novel method for optimizing ligand binding specificity across a panel of targets. While in graduate school he worked at Biogen where he developed novel methods to enhance antibody affinity via electrostatic charge optimization, resulting in a publication and patent. As Global Head of Applications Science at Schrödinger, led research, product development, methods development, and the deployment of Python-based tools. He also worked closely with Pharma partners on research projects and collaborations. Woody has published on a broad range of topics, including induced-fit docking, ensemble docking, molecular dynamics, free energy simulations, protein design, small molecule optimization, cheminformatics, hybrid ligand/structure-based methods, charge optimization, pharmacophore modeling, and more.

• AI for Drug Discovery & Development

Leon Shpaner is a data scientist and adjunct professor who has spent more than fifteen years evaluating business risk and developing predictive analytics across healthcare, education, and finance, with a focus on building reproducible machine learning pipelines that support clinical decision making. His work spans end to end model development, fairness and bias auditing, and large scale registry analytics, including ongoing research comparing machine learning methods with the Kidney Failure Risk Equation for CKD risk prediction. Leon is the creator of several open source Python libraries for exploratory data analysis and model evaluation, including EDA Toolkit, EquiBoots, Model Metrics, and Model Tuner, which have been adopted in both academic and applied settings. He has presented this work at conferences such as JupyterCon and the Data Science Salon, and he teaches graduate level courses in data science, machine learning, and statistical modeling at multiple universities, where he bridges practical industry workflows with modern research methods.

• AI for Biologics

After a PhD in Structural Bioinformatics on the structural modeling of efflux pumps, Méliné joined Discngine in 2021 as a Scientific Project Manager. Partnering with some of the top 10 pharma scientific teams, she works at understanding and co-building scientific solutions for resolving drug discovery challenges.

• Data Science & Analytics Technologies

Dr. Sandeep Singhal is an Associate Professor in the Department of Pathology at the University of North Dakota School of Medicine and Health Sciences, Director of the ND INBRE Bioinformatics Division, and Adjunct Faculty in Pathology and Cell Biology at Columbia University Medical Center. With more than 25 years of experience in multi-omics data integration, machine learning, and biomarker discovery, his research bridges genomics, transcriptomics, and spatial omics to advance precision oncology and environmental toxicology. His recent innovations integrate artificial intelligence with digital pathology to decode tumor-immune interactions and spatial complexity in cancer biology. Dr. Singhal has led large-scale, multi-institutional collaborations across North America, resulting in high-impact publications and the development of AI-driven platforms for biomarker discovery and personalized medicine.

• AI for Oncology, Precision Medicine & Health

No bio available.

• Bioinformatics

Dr. Christopher Southan works at the interface between bioinformatics, cheminformatics, pharmacology and drug discovery. His current role as Data Scientist at Medicines Discovery Catapult, UK (working remotely from Sweden) was preceded by being Principle Consultant at TW2 informatics in Göteborg, Sweden. In turn this was preceded by Senior Cheminformatian for the Edinburgh University BPS/IUPHAR Guide to Pharmacology database team 2013-18. Prior to this he set up TW2Informatics, engaging in patent data consulting for SureChem (2011-12) and the AstraZeneca Knowledge Engineering Program for testing and documenting Chemistry Connect (2009-11). During 2008-9, he coordinated the ELIXIR Database Provider Survey at the EBI, preceded by a Principle Scientist and Bioinformatics Team Leader position in AstraZeneca, Mölndal (2004-7) preceded by senior bioinformatics positions at Oxford Glycosciences Gemini Genomics and SmithKline Beecham. He has a PhD in Protein Chemistry from the Ludwig Maximillian University of Munich and a BSc Hons in Biochemistry from Dundee University (further information on LinkedIN).

• AI for Drug Discovery & Development

Director of Cloud Engineering and DevOps at Regeneron Genetics Center, leading the development of scalable digital infrastructure for genomics research and drug discovery. I architect secure, high-performance computing platforms that process complex bioinformatics workloads at scale, specializing in cloud computing, HPC systems, container orchestration, and serverless architectures. My expertise spans platform engineering, workflow automation, parallel computing, and cost optimization-all while maintaining rigorous security and governance standards that enable scientists to focus on life-saving medical research.

• Bioinformatics

Parthiban Srinivasan, an experienced data scientist, earned his PhD from Indian Institute of Science, specializing in Computational Chemistry. After his PhD, he continued the research at NASA Ames Research Center (USA) and Weizmann Institute of Science (Israel). Then he worked at AstraZeneca in the area of Computer Aided Drug Design for Tuberculosis. Later, he headed informatics business units in Jubilant Biosys and then in GvkBio before he floated the company, Parthys Reverse Informatics and later an AI consultancy, Vingyani. Then he returned to academia as a Professor of Data Science at the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research, Bhopal. Currently, Parthiban is a Professor and Director at the Center for AI in Medicine, Vinayaka Missions Research Foundation, AV Medical College and Hospital, Puducherry, India

• W3: Next-Gen AI for Drug Discovery: From LLMs to Multi-Agent Systems

Dr. Eric Stahlberg is the Executive Administrative Director, Institute for Data Science in Oncology, at MD Anderson Cancer Center. Previously he directed cancer data science initiatives at the Frederick National Laboratory, having led and launched several initiatives at the lab. He was instrumental in establishing the Frederick National Laboratory’s high-performance computing initiative and in assembling scientific teams across multiple, complex organizations to advance predictive oncology. Stahlberg first joined the Frederick National Laboratory in 2011 to form and direct the National Cancer Institute’s Center for Cancer Research Bioinformatics Core, which helped build intramural research collaborations between the national laboratory and the National Cancer Institute. Since then, Stahlberg has played a leadership role in many key partnerships, including a major collaboration between the National Cancer Institute and the Department of Energy. Under the Joint Design of Advanced Computing Solutions for Cancer (JDACS4C), the National Cancer Institute and Department of Energy are accelerating progress in precision oncology and computing. The collaboration is rooted in three major national initiatives; the Precision Medicine Initiative, the National Strategic Computing Initiative, and the Cancer Moonshot. He has helped lead initiatives to transform data management approaches at the lab as well as more recently leading program efforts exploring the application biomedical digital twins for cancer applications. Stahlberg has spearheaded the Frederick National Laboratory’s contributions to a number of JDACS4C projects, including ATOM and CANDLE. He helped launch the annual meeting series, Frontiers in Predictive Oncology and Computing, and co-organizes the annual Computational Approaches for Cancer and HPC Applications of Precision Medicine workshops. In 2017, he was recognized as one of FCW‘s Federal 100. Stahlberg holds a Ph.D. in computational chemistry from The Ohio State University.

• AI for Oncology, Precision Medicine & Health

Grant Stephen is an entrepreneur, mentor and investor focused on launching and building organizations that improve people's health by leveraging the power of data. As co-founder and CEO of bPrescient, Grant leads a consulting team of over 300 independent experts who work together to boost the performance of biopharma companies by unlocking the hidden value in their data. Operating at both a strategic and at an implementation level, he works with clients to get that data under control, creates systems that answer the key business and management questions, develops predictive models and implements machine learning and AI capabilities that allow biopharma organizations to significantly reduce uncertainty as they move forward in a rapidly changing world. Prior to founding bPrescient, Grant was the founding executive and CEO of Tessella, Inc, the US arm of the Tessella Group, where he also served on the global Board of Directors and was one of the three-person team that led the buyout of that company in 2012. Grant is a graduate of the James Watt School of Engineering at the University of Glasgow in the UK. He also holds an MBA.

• AI for Oncology, Precision Medicine & Health

George Stephen is the Director of Global Program Management for Respiratory, Emerging Viruses, and Pandemic Preparedness at Gilead Sciences. With extensive leadership across antiviral programs, including Remdesivir (Veklury), Obeldesivir, RSV assets, HIV, and global outbreak-response initiatives, George has played a pivotal role in shaping Gilead’s clinical, regulatory, and operational strategy during and beyond the COVID-19 pandemic. He has partnered closely with global agencies such as WHO, BARDA, OPPR, Africa CDC, and multiple Ministries of Health in Africa to strengthen pandemic-preparedness infrastructures and accelerate emergency response pathways. George holds an MBA from University of Chicago Booth School of Business and multiple advanced professional certifications, including Project Management Professional (PMP®), Agile Certified Practitioner (ACP®), and Certified Program Management in AI (CPMAI™). His work spans end-to-end drug development, strategic planning, and governance, with expertise in accelerating life-saving therapies through complex global environments. A thought-leader in pharmaceutical program management, George actively writes on crisis-driven drug development, pandemic preparedness, and organizational agility for industry publications.

• AI for Drug Discovery & Development

Grigoriy is a Senior Principal Engineer on the Data Platform team at Tessera Therapeutics. After graduating with a Master's degree in Computer Science in 2010, he worked in various software and data engineering roles in pharma/biotech over the next 13+ years. First, creating multiple data analysis applications for Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research, later, as a Principal Software Engineer at the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard where he helped improving the open-source Cromwell workflow engine. At Tessera Therapeutics Grigoriy is responsible for design and implementation of scalable pipeline infrastructure.

• Data Platforms & Storage Infrastructure

Rebecca Stevenson HSBC Rebecca (Becky) Stevenson is Head of Healthcare Investment Banking for the Americas at HSBC. Becky previously served as a Managing Director on the Biopharma Investment Banking team within the Healthcare Corporate & Investment Banking group at Wells Fargo where she advised, and executed on behalf of, biopharma companies’ long-term strategic financing, M&A, partnership and overall business development strategies.

• Bio-IT World Venture, Innovation & Partnering

No bio available.

• Generative AI

Hok Hei Tam is Co-founder and Chief Technology Officer at Montai Therapeutics and Senior Principal at Flagship Pioneering. Hok Hei has distinctive expertise in chemical and bioengineering, informatics, and machine learning; he has been a central architect of the Montai strategy to leverage AI to decode untapped, diverse chemistry to develop breakthrough medicines for chronic disease. At Flagship, he has also co-founded four other companies that are using technology to drive solutions across human health and sustainability, including Sail Biomedicines and Invaio Sciences. A named inventor on or author of more than 30 patents and published papers, Hok Hei’s work has been published in top journals including PNAS, Nature Materials, Nature Biotechnology, and Nature Medicine. Hok Hei received a Ph.D. from MIT in chemical engineering and holds B.Sc. degrees in mathematics and chemical engineering from the Ohio State University. Hok Hei’s graduate research was supported by a competitive National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellowship.

• AI for Drug Discovery & Development

Iman Tavassoly, PhD, is a systems biologist and computational scientist specializing in the application of AI and nonlinear dynamics and computational modeling to medicine. His work integrates mechanistic theory with modern AI to advance predictive and interpretable models of complex biological systems. He is the author of Nonlinear Dynamics and Applied Bifurcation Theory for Cancer Systems Biology.

• Data Science & Analytics Technologies

Thomas George Thomas is a Senior Data and ML Platform Engineer at Montai Therapeutics, where he drives innovation in data infrastructure to accelerate drug discovery through advanced analytics and machine learning. With over nine years of experience spanning big data engineering, MLOps, and cloud computing, he designs and implements end-to-end solution architectures encompassing CI/CD, data, and ML pipelines. Thomas specializes in data engineering, warehousing, modeling, and analytics engineering-building scalable, automated systems that transform complex life science data into actionable insights. At Montai, he leads initiatives to unify chemoinformatics and bioscience datasets into a robust data mesh, enabling seamless data integration and value delivery across scientific and computational teams. His career spans roles in healthcare technology and academic research, with a consistent focus on automation, performance optimization, cross-functional data collaboration and translating data into discovery.

• Data Platforms & Storage Infrastructure

Yu Tian is the Director II of Convergence and Data Strategy at Development Sciences at AbbVie. Yu joined AbbVie in 2005 and is currently working on enterprise R&D data strategy, focusing on pre-clinical areas while facilitating data utilization across organizations at AbbVie. Prior to the current role, Yu led an omics team focusing on translational biomarkers and disease mechanisms through an integrated multi-omics approach. Yu received his Ph.D. in bioorganic chemistry at Rutgers University and completed postdoc training in bioanalytical chemistry and enzyme kinetics at UMDNJ.

• Data Science & Analytics Technologies

Sonia Timberlake has spent the last 15 years building biotech startups, as a head of computational biology and head of Research. Sonia currently consults for biotechs and VC on leveraging novel high throughput technologies and AI to accelerate R&D. As head of translational research at a cell therapy biotech, she built a discovery platform based on a novel beside-to-bench translation of genomic data for target ID and hit ID, and is transitioning it to the clinic. Sonia has a BS from Caltech and a PhD from MIT.

• W6: AI Upskilling for Computational Biology Teams

No bio available.

• Bio-IT World Venture, Innovation & Partnering

As a Senior Data Scientist at Moderna, I work on machine learning-guided library design for small molecules and proteins. I obtained my PhD in Biological Engineering from MIT and have worked on sequence-to-function machine learning models for RNA sequences and on graph neural networks for small molecule antibiotics discovery.

• W2: How to Standardize Data Science Ways of Working to Unlock Your Data Science Team’s Creativity

As a PhD geneticist, Van Etten contributes the perspective of a scientist in helping clients solve their computer-aided research problems. Van Etten honed his informatics skills at the Whitehead Institute Center for Genome Research at MIT before co-founding BioTeam in 2002. Since then he has specialized in the development of informatics software with a keen eye toward ease of use. Van Etten received his Doctorate of Philosophy in Genetics at Indiana University in Bloomington, Indiana. Following his graduate research Bill was Senior Software Engineer at the Whitehead Institute Center for Genome Research where he contributed to the genetic mapping of the rat, and was the Head of Informatics for the Mouse Radiation Hybrid Mapping Project as well as Whitehead’s contribution to the SNP Consortium. Bill was involved with the generation of 2 million DNA sequences, and the discovery of 1.4 million Human SNPs; having developed and optimized novel algorithms for SNP discovery. He took these high-throughput computing research skills to Blackstone Computing as Principal Bioinformaticist where he designed, built and configured environments to support computer-aided research for life sciences.

• AI for Oncology, Precision Medicine & Health

Vishal A. Varma is a seasoned Data Science/AI professional with over 15 years of Data Science experience spanning multiple industries including Pharmaceuticals, Energy, Advanced Materials and Chemicals. His core expertise resides in developing and deploying optimization, simulation, machine learning and AI models to optimize performance of healthcare and clinical supply chains.

• Software Applications & Services

Vas leads the customer team for Globus, an innovative software-as-a-service for research data management, developed and operated by the University of Chicago. He works with current and prospective users to grow adoption of the service and make it self-sustaining. Vas is also a lecturer in the Master's Program in Computer Science, where he teaches courses on Cloud Computing and Product Management. Vas has 30 years of experience in operational and consulting roles, spanning strategy, marketing, and technology. He has nurtured early-stage companies into successful businesses and consulted with companies on a wide range of strategic issues. Vas holds an MBA from the Ross School of Business at the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, and a BS in Electrical Engineering from the University of the Witwatersrand in South Africa.

• Cloud for AI/ML & Modern Data Science

Laszlo Vasko’s career in leading technology-enabled innovation in drug development spans over twenty at Wyeth, Accenture, AstraZeneca, and now Janssen Pharmaceuticals. Throughout this career, Laszlo seized opportunities to engage drug development leaders in improving the delivery of new medicines in areas such as structured clinical trial design, AI-enabled regulatory knowledge mining, EHR for research, etc. He currently leads a team focused on supporting novel therapeutic and development modalities, such as CAR-T cell therapy development, EHR for sponsor research, digital health-enabled study delivery, and innovation pilots such as AI voice in clinical research. Laszlo has Master’s of Science degree, in Clinical Research Operations Management from Drexel University’s College of Medicine as well as Master’s of Science in Information Science from Penn State. He brings forth a blend of technical and functional expertise, combined with business change management skills. His passion outside of work is aviation: Laszlo is a private pilot flying both powered planes and gliders and is an active member of the Greater Boston Soaring Association.

• Pharmaceutical R&D Informatics

Srihas Velpuri is an Infrastructure Engineer at Roche Diagnostics, where he builds the computational platforms that support over 100 biostatisticians and data scientists. He specializes in designing, building, and managing end-to-end CI/CD pipelines (Docker, Git, Posit) for both GxP-validated and exploratory research. His work provides the critical infrastructure for R/Shiny applications and AI/ML workflows, in-silico antibody development. A computational scientist by training, Srihas holds an M.Sc. in Bioengineering (with a focus on computational biochemistry) and a B.Eng. in Chemical Engineering.

• Data Platforms & Storage Infrastructure

Dr. Jo Viney, Ph.D., is Cofounder, President and CEO of Seismic Therapeutic, the machine learning immunology company developing medicines for autoimmune disease. A seasoned biotech executive and entrepreneurial scientist, she has co-founded 3 biotech startup companies in MA - the first of which, Pandion Therapeutics, was acquired by Merck in 2021 for $1.85B. Prior to Pandion she held research leadership positions and contributed to the drug discovery pipelines at Biogen, Amgen, and Immunex. She is an experienced director on both private and public company boards. Jo is a big advocate for workplace inclusiveness and regularly volunteers her time with a number of organizations focused on increasing diversity.

• Bio-IT World Venture, Innovation & Partnering

Dr. Vlysidis obtained his PhD in Chemical Engineering at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, studying and modeling the stochasticity of biochemical reaction networks. With over 6 years of experience in the industry, he has made significant contributions to the fields of scientific software development and engineering. Currently serving as a team leader at AbbVie, Dr. Vlysidis' primary focus is on supporting the biologics organization in capturing and analyzing experimental data. He possesses a deep understanding of protein properties and leverages innovative protein language models to further enhance research in this area. Prior to joining AbbVie, he worked at Intel, where his expertise was instrumental in supporting R&D research on semiconductors and cutting-edge technology. With a strong academic background and industry experience, Dr. Vlysidis is dedicated to driving advancements at the intersection of chemical engineering, software development, and AI/ML models.

• Cloud for AI/ML & Modern Data Science

Dr. Waller has joined Quantori as the Chief Strategist, working alongside the CEO and executive team to define and drive the company’s vision and growth priorities across life sciences, healthcare, and AI. In this capacity, he helps shape corporate strategy by anticipating industry shifts, evaluating emerging technologies, and ensuring Quantori remains at the forefront of the R&D, clinical, and healthcare data ecosystems. He is focused on translating market insights and innovation trends into actionable, scalable initiatives across the organization. Prior to joining Quantori, Dr. Waller was the Vice President, Scientific Informatics Consulting, and Chief Scientist, Life Sciences, at EPAM Systems, Inc., focusing on using data and analytics to transform pharmaceutical research and development. With over 30 years in pharmaceutical R&D and informatics, his career includes significant leadership roles at Merck, Pfizer, EPAM, OSI, and Eli Lilly, where he consistently leveraged data and analytics to transform drug discovery and development. A dedicated industry leader, Dr. Waller is a Founder, past-Board member, and Chairperson of the Board of the Pistoia Alliance, a not-for-profit organization dedicated to fostering pre-competitive collaborations in life sciences. Dr. Waller holds an Adjunct Professor position at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, where he is also an Advisory Board member and benefactor of the School of Pharmacy.

• AI for Drug Discovery & Development

Dr. Huijun Wang is an AI-driven drug discovery expert with extensive experience across pharma and biotech. At Deerfield, she leads 3DC FAIR data efforts and advances a “Prediction-First” AI strategy for accelerating discovery. Her past roles at Agios, Merck, and Pfizer focused on virtual screening, multi-omics, and machine-learning-based target and lead optimization. She holds a Ph.D. in Informatics and graduate degrees in computer science and cheminformatics.

• AI-Powered Robotics & Intelligent Lab Automation

Marianna Weener MD PhD is a physician-scientist specializing in inherited retinal degenerations (IRDs) with deep expertise in applying AI-driven variant interpretation, functional genomics, and multimodal data integration to unsolved genetic disease. With 15+ years of clinical experience and leadership of a patient IRD registry, she bridges high-resolution phenotyping with advanced sequencing analytics. Her current work leverages machine learning-assisted prediction of cryptic exons and a high-throughput splicing assay (HTSA) platform to validate deep intronic variants, developed in collaboration with the Broad Institute’s Medical Population Genetics group. Dr. Weener also consults for top global gene therapy biotech and pharma companies, guiding computational pipeline design, data strategy, and translational decision-making.

• AI for Oncology, Precision Medicine & Health

Scott Weiss is responsible for developing IDBS’ expanding network of technology and channel partners. He joined IDBS in 2004 and has held senior leadership roles in consultancy, product management and strategy. Prior to joining IDBS, Scott spent over 20 years in the pharmaceutical industry, where he led multiple drug-development programs from conceptualization to entry into clinical trials and as VP BD & Innovation at IDBS authored over 30 peer-reviewed scientific papers and patents. He obtained his PhD in Psychology from the University of Leeds, specializing in Neuroscience.

• Bio-IT World Conference & Expo

Chris is part of the Research IT business partnering organization at Bristol Myers Squibb. His role focuses on planning the technology and digital strategy to deliver integrated data, analytics and visualization solutions for research scientists. Chris’ previous experience includes biopharma R&D management consulting at Accenture, an informatics field application scientists and sales manager role at Thomson Reuters and postdocing in an oncology lab studying tumor microenvironment signaling after receiving his PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Maryland School of Medicine.

• Knowledge Graphs

No bio available.

• Pharmaceutical R&D Informatics

Peng received his PhD in Biomedical Engineering from the University of California, Irvine, where he studied morphogensis of drosophila wing development with a systems biology approach. He then joined GlaxoSmithKline on a rotational program to get a broad overview of the industry. There, he held various roles, including data enablement and delivery manager, and principle product owner responsible for developing and delivering solutions for scientists. Most recently, he joined Biomedical Research at Novartis as a technical associate director of scientific products, working on a research data platform.

• Generative AI

Jeremy Zhang, PhD is Senior Director, Data Science Solutions at Otsuka Pharmaceutical Companies, focusing on extracting insights from data, building predictive models, and enabling data-driven decision-making and the development and application of advanced analytical methods including AI. Jeremy has over 15 years of experience in life science research, development, manufacturing, quality, and product launch. Prior to joining Otsuka, he has held data science leadership positions of increasing responsibility at Gilead Sciences and Abbott Labs. Jeremy holds a Bachelor’s degree in biomedical engineering from Duke University and a PhD in bioengineering from Clemson University.

• Generative AI Tools

Rima Zinjuwadia is a bioinformatics scholar specializing in Omics and Data Science. Her research focuses on integrating computational and molecular biology to investigate disease mechanisms through high-throughput sequencing, statistical modeling, and workflow automation. With experience in both academia and industry, she develops reproducible NGS and multi-omics pipelines that bridge wet-lab experimentation and computational discovery to advance translational and therapeutic research.

• Bioinformatics