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Bert is a Senior Fellow Architecture and Engineering at JnJ Innovative Medicine Technology R&D. That means he designs future proof solutions for the Global Sciences department, focusing on cloud-native implementations of systems that require High Performance Compute or require full integration. Bert has a background in Chemistry and Computer Science. During his 28-year career at JnJ he has spent 26 years in various IT departments. In his current position, Bert is predominantly focused on the Discovery (overall process, and In-silico design using Machine Learning) and the lab execution (Scientific Data Management) systems.
Mark Fish is the Vice President & General Manager of Digital Lab Solutions at Thermo Fisher Scientific. Mark’s role focuses on the innovation and execution of Thermo Fisher’s Automated Digital Lab Solutions portfolio, as we enable our customers to reimagine their laboratory processes with leading-edge digital, laboratory and automation capabilities. With over 20 years of laboratory informatics experience, Mark has focused on building long-term, trusting customer relationships, and delivering valuable, strategic solutions to address industry challenges. Throughout his career, Mark has held significant positions at Thermo Fisher Scientific, Accenture, Brooks Life Sciences, and Brooks Automation. With his extensive experience, Mark has developed a deep understanding in the laboratory informatics and laboratory automation spaces.
Graduated as an engineer from École Centrale Paris, with additional training completed by a PhD in bioengineering, Béatrice Perron has held positions with increasing responsibilities in R&D over her more than 25-year professional career within mid-sized French pharmaceutical companies and large groups. She was notably in charge of the portfolio and the PMO of R&D projects. She joined Servier in 2015 and currently holds the position of Executive Director, Global Head of R&D Strategy within the Strategy, Portfolio, Execution, and Excellence Department, as a member of the R&D leadership team. As the guarantor of achieving R&D objectives within the Group’s strategic framework, she oversees the R&D portfolio strategy and its governance, as well
Significant experience in new business startups, product management, sales, marketing and growth in Hi-Tech, software and science related areas (pharmaceutical & biotech, healthcare, FMCG, Oil & Gas, Chemicals and Agrotech), Sports Coaching (team sports)
Business Specialities: Team Leadership and Development, Innovation, Product Management and Marketing, Complex Problem Solving, Solution Selling, Pre-sales and Strategy, Business Analysis, IT system architecture and design.
Science Specialities: Preclinical Development, Bioprocess and Biopharma, Translational research, Clinical Research, Clinical Development, Formulations, GPCR Pharmacology, Molecular biology, Biomarker discovery, Pharmacology, DMPK, Cell biology.
Adam Paton is a principal consultant at Zifo helping scientists transform the way they work through technology but with a lens firmly on the science. As a life sciences informatics veteran, Adam has seen the shift towards digitally driven initiatives that have rapidly accelerated during the last 3 years. Starting out as a biologist, the link between science and computing was an area of initial interest and for the last 24 years he has been on a journey seeing hundreds of organisations start and continue their journey towards the next generation of digital science.
With experience in road mapping, strategy, implementation, customer success with organisations from start-ups to Top 10 Pharma, Adam has seen the vast variety of solutions emerge in the industry and in some cases succeed, in others fail to realise their promise but throughout looking to change the way science is done for the better.
The lab of the future must do more with less — and do it faster, smarter, and more sustainably. In this session, we’ll explore how intelligent, connected solutions are redefining lab operations to unlock productivity, cost savings, and sustainability. Through a case study of a 15+ year partnership, we’ll show how continuous improvement, and digital innovation can transform lab support from servicing today to shaping the scientific workplace of tomorrow.
In her capacity as GM, Tola’s business unit collaborates closely with scientists and researchers, offering comprehensive services and digital solutions throughout the scientific process. Her leadership involves building the Lab of the Future with a focus on enhancing scientific discovery and operational efficiency to drive groundbreaking discoveries in drug development. With two decades of experience in the medical device and life science industry, her expertise spans innovation development, strategic and operational execution, enterprise solutions implementation, and business development.
Darren has recently retired from GSK after a career spanning 33 years and many roles, most recently as Global Head of Cheminformatics. He is now semi-retired, working as a Consultant and is Honorary Professor of Chemistry at University College London where he continues to pursue novel computational methods- based on simulation, cheminformatics and machine learning- which will improve the speed and efficiency of small molecule drug discovery.
Significant experience in new business startups, product management, sales, marketing and growth in Hi-Tech, software and science related areas (pharmaceutical & biotech, healthcare, FMCG, Oil & Gas, Chemicals and Agrotech), Sports Coaching (team sports)
Business Specialities: Team Leadership and Development, Innovation, Product Management and Marketing, Complex Problem Solving, Solution Selling, Pre-sales and Strategy, Business Analysis, IT system architecture and design.
Science Specialities: Preclinical Development, Bioprocess and Biopharma, Translational research, Clinical Research, Clinical Development, Formulations, GPCR Pharmacology, Molecular biology, Biomarker discovery, Pharmacology, DMPK, Cell biology.
Adam Paton is a principal consultant at Zifo helping scientists transform the way they work through technology but with a lens firmly on the science. As a life sciences informatics veteran, Adam has seen the shift towards digitally driven initiatives that have rapidly accelerated during the last 3 years. Starting out as a biologist, the link between science and computing was an area of initial interest and for the last 24 years he has been on a journey seeing hundreds of organisations start and continue their journey towards the next generation of digital science.
With experience in road mapping, strategy, implementation, customer success with organisations from start-ups to Top 10 Pharma, Adam has seen the vast variety of solutions emerge in the industry and in some cases succeed, in others fail to realise their promise but throughout looking to change the way science is done for the better.
A UK top 100 influential tech leader passionate about diversity and inclusion practices. Innovation award winning pharma industry advisory consultant, founder, disruptor, passionate operational strategy expert, blockchain advocate, technology enabled clinical trials and patient engagement thought leader with over 20 years in the NHS on commission by the DOH and in Industry (Hoffman La-Roche, Amgen, ALMAC, ICON, Biogen and Novartis). As a part of R&D transformation led the strategy and implemented hybrid decentralized trials into the clinical development operating model at Biogen. Part of DIA Patient Engagement Voluntary Community Leadership team. Driver for change through identifying unmet customer needs, digital strategies, implementation and expansion of disruptive digital platform technologies across drug development and commercial lifecycles. Experience across various therapeutic areas and phases of trials in drug development including leading all phases of global clinical trials, developing electrophysiological clinical endpoints, creation and execution of successful strategies for research protocols and CRO oversight, patient and site feasibility, expertise in technologies such as eCOA, eConsent, telemedicine and IRT, creation of optimal drug packaging and administration concepts, mapping the patient journey, planning and executing effective global site and patient engagement campaigns using direct to patient methods, leading and coaching remote and complex global teams.
In her capacity as GM, Tola’s business unit collaborates closely with scientists and researchers, offering comprehensive services and digital solutions throughout the scientific process. Her leadership involves building the Lab of the Future with a focus on enhancing scientific discovery and operational efficiency to drive groundbreaking discoveries in drug development. With two decades of experience in the medical device and life science industry, her expertise spans innovation development, strategic and operational execution, enterprise solutions implementation, and business development.
Agentic AI is transforming drug development by streamlining and optimizing key activities such as experiment design, experiment executions in the labs, scale-up, and regulatory submissions. This approach enables the automation of complex workflows, supports data-driven decision-making, and reduces human error, leading to shorter development cycles. By facilitating rapid iteration and regulatory compliance, agentic AI holds the potential to substantially accelerate the delivery of new therapeutics to patients. This session explores real-world applications and emerging strategies for deploying agentic AI across the drug development pipeline.
Bert is a Senior Fellow Architecture and Engineering at JnJ Innovative Medicine Technology R&D. That means he designs future proof solutions for the Global Sciences department, focusing on cloud-native implementations of systems that require High Performance Compute or require full integration. Bert has a background in Chemistry and Computer Science. During his 28-year career at JnJ he has spent 26 years in various IT departments. In his current position, Bert is predominantly focused on the Discovery (overall process, and In-silico design using Machine Learning) and the lab execution (Scientific Data Management) systems.
Starting my career in the labs as a biologist and then latterly an Automation Scientist, I stayed in R&D at GSK for the first 12 years of my career. Due to the need to programme machines, I taught myself the basics of IT before completing a formal education in Computer Sciences. This enabled me to move into Tech/IT, where I have done a wide variety of roles, with the last 7 years being at a leadership level. With over 25 years of experience in and around laboratories and worked in a Science, Automation, Support and Digital + Data Delivery/Transformation functions, I have seen the good, the bad and ugly. I have a passion for the science, the scientists experience but also how Tech, Data and Digital will transform he way we do science and discover medicines and vaccines.
Anshul leads ZS’s global supply chain and manufacturing practice, which encompasses the “Lab of the Future.” With over 20 years of experience, he has advised senior leadership at Fortune 500 companies and emerging firms on business capability building, digital transformation and leveraging AI for commercial success. Anshul’s expertise spans process digitalization, lab of the future design, digital twin implementations, product lifecycle management, knowledge management and regulatory information management.
Dr. Peter Cox is a biologist with over 25 years experience working in the pharmaceutical and biotech industries. Peter holds a PhD in Molecular Virology from the University of Glasgow, followed by postdoctoral training in Neuroscience at INSERM, Paris and the University of Cambridge. Peter began his industry career in 1998 at Pfizer dedicating 16 years to small molecule drug discovery for chronic pain, evolving from a bench scientist to taking on significant responsibilities in pain target identification and leading drug discovery projects through to IND preparation. This period provided him with extensive experience in the molecular pharmacology of diverse target classes, innovative target identification methodologies, and comprehensive drug discovery project leadership. In 2014, Peter joined BenevolentAI (BAI), a pioneering AI-led drug discovery company. There, he was instrumental in building and expanding a multidisciplinary team of drug discovery scientists and establishing a robust portfolio of projects. As a key member of BAI’s drug discovery leadership team, he provided strategic direction, leveraged BAI’s knowledge graph-based target identification platform, and led large multidisciplinary teams and drug discovery initiatives. Peter is currently Head of the Translational Science team at Isomorphic Labs, which is developing and applying frontier AI to reimagine and advance the drug design process to unlock deeper scientific insights and faster breakthroughs. Peter’s team of in vitro pharmacologists / translational biologists are responsible for the biology strategy of Isomorphic Labs’ AI-led drug design projects and provides critical validation for their innovative in-silico predictions through the generation of experimental biological data, directly advancing the evolution of some of the most sophisticated and powerful AI drug design platforms.
Siping “Spin” Wang is the Co-Founder and CTO of TetraScience, the Scientific Data and AI Cloud. TetraScience works with the world’s largest life sciences organizations to liberate, unify, and transform their raw scientific data into more-than-FAIR, AI-native data that comes to life in a rapidly growing suite of next-generation lab data management solutions, scientific use cases, and AI-based scientific outcomes. Spin helps oversee the company’s product and corporate strategy. He graduated from Cornell with a B.S. in applied physics and electrical engineering and an M.S. in electrical engineering and computer science from MIT.
How a unified, contextualized data foundation is accelerating insight, innovation, and AI success across the BioPharma value chain. As the BioPharma industry races to harness AI, many organizations still struggle with fragmented systems, inconsistent data, and rigid processes that limit true innovation. In this session, Teo Leahu, VP of Strategy & Development at L7 Informatics, will share how an AI-ready unifying platform can break down data silos, enable process orchestration, and contextualize data at the point of execution, laying the foundation for intelligent automation, scalable insights, and successful AI integration. This presentation will introduce key architectural elements and platform capabilities. Whether your organization is exploring its first AI use case or scaling enterprise-wide initiatives, this session will offer a practical blueprint for becoming truly future-ready.
Experienced and successful drug discovery executive with over 30 years of experience in biochemistry, bioinformatics , drug discovery and development, applied AI, machine learning and data science. Proven ability to build and lead teams in exploring and launching innovative drug discovery projects. Deep knowledge of the pharmaceutical industry and a strong record of success in the development and launch of new products and platforms in the drug discovery informatics space. Deep experience of cross-industry collaboration and pre-competitive working, driver of highly applied research focus to reduce new technologies to tangible drug programme outcomes and research strategy.
Aisyah Sjöholm is a medical doctor and global health specialist with extensive experience in artificial intelligence (AI) applications in drug discovery and development. She is currently the Associate Director of Global Business Development, Licensing & Strategic Partnerships at Insilico Medicine. At Insilico, Dr. Sjöholm’s primary focus is on commercialising the company’s Pharma.ai platform and robotics suite while building strategic partnerships with top pharmaceutical, biotech, and leading academic institutions to accelerate AI-powered drug discovery and advance longevity research.
Passionate about bridging the gap between transformative science and real-world healthcare solutions, Aisyah is committed to driving meaningful, systemic impact. She frequently speaks on the future of AI in healthcare, the role of women in biotech, the integration of generative AI and robotics into drug discovery, and the exciting advancements in AI applications in ageing and longevity research.
With 12 years of expertise as a scientist, Teo Leahu is a leading voice in biotech process design, optimization, and validation. As VP of Strategy & Development at L7 Informatics, he plays a crucial role in shaping the company’s strategic vision and contributing to development efforts. Teo’s career includes successful initiatives at IDBS and contributions to orphan disease vaccine campaigns at Emergent BioSolutions. His holistic experience encompasses roles that span process development, tech transfer, and cGMP compliance at Merck healthcare. Teo’s educational background includes a BS in biomedical engineering from Yale University and an MS in biotechnology from EPFL.
Teo is not just a scientist but a passionate stem cell researcher and a translator between different expertise levels. He’s dedicated to leveraging technology to eliminate inefficiencies and redundancies in highly regulated environments.
Ana is a pharmaceutical IT leader with over a decade of experience driving global solutions across lab operations, digital transformation, and enterprise systems. At Teva, she leads initiatives to streamline R&D lab processes by connecting instruments, digitizing data, and enabling advanced analytics. Her team focuses on improving operational efficiency, enhancing user experience, and accelerating drug discovery through automation and data integration.
Alessandro Spada is an accomplished Executive Sales and Operations Manager specializing in scientific digitalization enablement, currently based in Rome, Italy. With over 25 years of experience in the Life Science sector, he has developed a robust expertise in laboratory operations, scientific knowledge management, and artificial intelligence.
Alessandro currently serves as the Solutions Sales Director at Scitara, where he leads the delivery of the scientific industry’s first Integration Platform as a Service (iPaaS) solution. This platform connects various laboratory instruments and systems, enabling scientists to manage data flow efficiently and enhance collaboration across their enterprises. Previously, he held key positions at Dotmatics, including Director of EMEA Solution Engineering and Southern Europe Area Manager, where he managed strategic accounts across multiple countries. His career also includes significant roles at PerkinElmer and CambridgeSoft, focusing on business development and key account management throughout Southern EMEA.
Alessandro holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Chemistry from the Università degli Studi di Roma ‘La Sapienza’ and a Master’s Degree in Organic Synthesis from the Universitat de Barcelona.
Automation is a strategic imperative for modern labs. In this talk, I will define the intelligent lab where innovation meets efficiency and show why laboratory and data automation must go together through case studies. I will also cover automating structured data products, creating the right environment for AI innovation, and leveraging AI agents.
Experienced professional in biopharmaceutical industry with a strong background in analytical, formulation and process development for biologics. Experience includes successful global product, approval, launch and support of commercial supply chains in the areas of (immuno-)oncology (Keytruda, Adakveo), infectious disease (Zinplava), ophthalmology (Beovu), auto-immune disease (Ilumya, Cosentyx), allergy immunotherapy (Grastek/Ragwitek), multiple sclerosis (Ofatumumab) and fertility (Elonva, Puregon).
Bethan Howells is a Senior Automation Scientist within AstraZeneca’s High Throughput Screening (HTS) Department. Her primary responsibility entails the design and optimization of automated screening protocols for biochemical, biophysical, and cell-based high-throughput screens. Bethan is also involved in the identification and implementation of innovative automation workflows to drive operational efficiency and advancement. Notably, over the past year, Bethan has played a pivotal role in the successful relocation and installation of AstraZeneca’s HTS automation platforms from Alderley Park, Cheshire to The Discovery Centre, Cambridge. Prior to this role, Bethan has 6.5 years’ experience within AstraZeneca, in HTS Screening and DNA-Encoded Library Screening.
At J&J, I am responsible for the overall technology strategy, capability delivery, product development, and application life cycle management of the Laboratory Informatics landscape. My mission requires to partner across scientific functions that operate laboratories including the Discovery Product Development and Clinical Supply (DPDS) and the Therapeutic Area Research. My role involves collaborating closely with other Research & Lab platform leaders, JRD Business Technology Leaders, and business partners to attain the revolution of the end-to-end experimental execution platforms and increase the effectiveness and efficiency of laboratory science.
Sascha Fischer is a Business Account Manager at Genedata AG in Basel, where he supports global biopharma clients in digitalizing complex R&D workflows and building strategic partnerships. Prior to joining Genedata in 2021, he held Application Specialist roles at Hamilton and Tecan, focusing on Genomics and NGS—where he developed a strong passion for lab automation. He holds a degree in Molecular Medicine from the University of Tübingen and is currently finalizing his PhD in Neuropsychiatric Genetics at the University of Basel
Alessandro Spada is an accomplished Executive Sales and Operations Manager specializing in scientific digitalization enablement, currently based in Rome, Italy. With over 25 years of experience in the Life Science sector, he has developed a robust expertise in laboratory operations, scientific knowledge management, and artificial intelligence.
Alessandro currently serves as the Solutions Sales Director at Scitara, where he leads the delivery of the scientific industry’s first Integration Platform as a Service (iPaaS) solution. This platform connects various laboratory instruments and systems, enabling scientists to manage data flow efficiently and enhance collaboration across their enterprises. Previously, he held key positions at Dotmatics, including Director of EMEA Solution Engineering and Southern Europe Area Manager, where he managed strategic accounts across multiple countries. His career also includes significant roles at PerkinElmer and CambridgeSoft, focusing on business development and key account management throughout Southern EMEA.
Alessandro holds a Bachelor’s Degree in Chemistry from the Università degli Studi di Roma ‘La Sapienza’ and a Master’s Degree in Organic Synthesis from the Universitat de Barcelona.
Ana is a pharmaceutical IT leader with over a decade of experience driving global solutions across lab operations, digital transformation, and enterprise systems. At Teva, she leads initiatives to streamline R&D lab processes by connecting instruments, digitizing data, and enabling advanced analytics. Her team focuses on improving operational efficiency, enhancing user experience, and accelerating drug discovery through automation and data integration.
How digital, done right, can foster a data culture, while establishing a data foundation for the future.
This talk will explore the role of Data Architecture within Digital Transformation programs: why, how, and when a Data Architecture becomes critical to the success of a program, and how to plan scientific workflow transformations in and around the Data Architecture. Real-world examples of iterative, use-case based development of data models within a high-level Architecture will be discussed along with lessons learned from real-world implementations: what has worked and what we’d do differently next time.
Dave Dorsett brings over 30 years of experience in R&D informatics within the global pharmaceutical, chemical, and consumer goods industries. He has a proven track record of architecting, designing, and delivering both commercial and in-house informatics solutions across the entire R&D spectrum, from early research through late-stage development and manufacturing.
Christian joined Abbvie in 2021 to drive Digital Transformation of Development Sciences, his current position is Solution Architecture Lead in Development Sciences Digital Strategy & Data team.
Christian oversees development & maintenance of the federated infrastructure and has responsibility for data architecture / standardization / governance.
Prior to joining Abbvie he worked at BASF for seven years after completing post doc research following a PhD in Organic/Medicinal Chemistry.
Senior Product Owner & Product Manager for GSK in the R&D Tech division with 20 years’ experience in pharmaceutical R&D at Pfizer and GSK. A PhD biochemist by training, I spent 14 years in early research high throughput screening/compound profiling before transitioning to IT. I have delivered IT solns across CMC functionalities: CG&T supply chain, multi-modality QC LIMS & CMC data access tools, and I am passionate about realising data accessibility in CMC to match the capability in early research. Currently I am accountable for the Tech strategy to digitalise CMC Lab Data Capture from point of generation to availability for re-use, leading the delivery of a multi-modality global CMC ELN deployment and multiple Lab of the Future initiatives.
Having developed a career in several lab-based roles across pharma R&D, Laura is now the Technology Lead for Functional Genomics in GSK. Originally trained as a Pharmacologist, her bench career took her from safety & efficacy pharmacology, to DMPK, to HTS, to mechanistic enzymology and finally to product development. For the last 6 years, Laura has worked across R&D to introduce disruptive improvements and enhanced productivity using technology. She finds it vital to ask- what scientific questions we are trying to answer?- then apply technology to accelerate those answers. Outside of work, she loves to study strategy and the application of technology by following Formula 1 motor-racing.
Joel Poissonnier leads the Manufacturing Intelligence team, as part of the Data, Digital and Technology (DD&T) group in Takeda. He is also the business partner of a group called Global Manufacturing Science, composed mainly of Process Scientists supporting all Takeda production sites. Prior to this, he spent 20 years in the Engineering & Automation domains with Baxter, 12 years in MES global deployments with Baxter/Baxalta/Shire and 3 years in IT/OT Cybersecurity & Solution Architecture with Takeda. His background is Industrial Engineering in Electro-Mechanics and Master in Biomedical Engineering.
Rob Brown is Global VP, Head of Scientific Office Sapio Sciences. Prior to joining Sapio Sciences, he spent eight years at Dotmatics where he held various positions including Head of Global Presales and Head of Product Marketing & Product Management. Earlier in his career he was responsible for product marketing teams for cheminformatics and bioinformatics at Accelrys, SciTegic and MSI. Rob started his career as a postdoc and later research scientist in the Computer Aided Molecular Design department at Abbott Laboratories (now Abbvie). He received his PhD in Cheminformatics from the University of Sheffield, UK.
Dave Dorsett brings over 30 years of experience in R&D informatics within the global pharmaceutical, chemical, and consumer goods industries. He has a proven track record of architecting, designing, and delivering both commercial and in-house informatics solutions across the entire R&D spectrum, from early research through late-stage development and manufacturing.
Christian joined Abbvie in 2021 to drive Digital Transformation of Development Sciences, his current position is Solution Architecture Lead in Development Sciences Digital Strategy & Data team.
Christian oversees development & maintenance of the federated infrastructure and has responsibility for data architecture / standardization / governance.
Prior to joining Abbvie he worked at BASF for seven years after completing post doc research following a PhD in Organic/Medicinal Chemistry.
Learn what truly defines a real SaaS application and the advantages of adopting a SaaS LIMS over traditional legacy systems. Discover why moving away from heavily customized LIMS environments is critical, and how partnering with a third-party provider for instrument integration can deliver the best results. See how Veeva connects and unifies QA and QC within the Veeva Quality Cloud ecosystem – streamlining GMP QC workflows, improving efficiency, and enhancing connectivity across quality operations.
Innovative & passionate global technical lead with a strong track record of delivering transformative, realistic enterprise solutions. Skilled in communication, presentation, & facilitation, with deep expertise in disruptive technologies & hybrid cloud architectures (private & public). Proven success across biotech, pharmaceutical, manufacturing, & banking sectors.
Jelrik Masson is an Account Partner at Veeva, driving European sales for the Veeva LIMS application. Veeva LIMS is a modern, cloud-based SaaS LIMS solution built specifically for quality control environments in the life sciences industry. As a 25-year veteran of the Life Sciences industry, his career has spanned leadership roles in both sales and services at companies including PerkinElmer, Waters, and LabWare, where he managed the French branch. Before joining Veeva, he was a sales leader at SaaS firms L7 Informatics and Tetrascience. Jelrik possesses deep expertise in laboratory technologies such as LIMS, ELN, SDMS, LES, and data platforms.
In two example case studies Erik will discuss how the combination of process, tools and skill have been used for efficiency gain, FAIR data registration, and the development of new ML tools for compound design.
Darren has recently retired from GSK after a career spanning 33 years and many roles, most recently as Global Head of Cheminformatics. He is now semi-retired, working as a Consultant and is Honorary Professor of Chemistry at University College London where he continues to pursue novel computational methods- based on simulation, cheminformatics and machine learning- which will improve the speed and efficiency of small molecule drug discovery.
Erik holds a PhD in Molecular Biotechnology from The Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in Stockholm, Sweden, focusing on intracellular applications of alternative scaffold proteins. After a postdoc at the Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Protein Research (NNF CPR) in Copenhagen, Denmark, Erik joined Novo Nordisk and has over 15 years with the company (Denmark and US based) collected a broad expertise in Protein Science, Discovery Biology and Research Informatics. He has specialized in difficult-to-produce proteins and multi-specific biologics, been leading therapeutic project initiation, spearheading development of related workflow and registration systems, and contributed to external technology/target evaluation committees. He has also been a program lead for major data science collaborations with tech companies and academic groups. In his current role as VP of Scientific Data Registration, Erik is focused on exploring emerging digital capabilities to fulfil the data and decision support needs of Discovery Research.
Tamara graduated with a BSc (Hons) in Chemistry, from the University of Witwatersrand. After graduating, she spent some time working as a process metallurgist for a Mining Research and Technology business before moving into the LIMS industry. She has behind her more than 22+ years’ experience in the laboratory information technology and services industry, where she held positions in Services, Sales & Strategic Accounts Management. Tamara joined Clinisys in May 2023 and is now the Director, Global LIMS Sales.
Access to high-quality, comprehensive datasets is essential for advancing cancer research, yet data fragmentation remains a persistent challenge. The S:CORT dataset, a large and diverse colorectal cancer resource, integrates multimodal, anonymised patient data from 10 different organizations, enabling applications across image analysis, transcriptomics, and beyond.
Cancer Research Horizons (CRH), together with the University of Oxford, played a pivotal role in standardising and linking these datasets and creating a single access point, fostering greater collaboration between commercial and academic researchers. However, establishing a shared data resource at this scale presents significant technical and contractual hurdles, particularly in developing a searchable database and putting in place equitable agreements that ensure all contributors benefit from downstream commercial income. This case study explores the challenges and solutions involved in multi-institutional data integration, offering insights into best practices for building integrated datasets, structuring agreements, maintaining data governance, and driving impactful scientific discoveries. By demonstrating the potential of coordinated data-sharing efforts, the S:CORT initiative serves as a model for the future of collaborative oncology research.
Joe is a Senior Data & AI Executive at Cancer Research Horizons, leading its Data & AI team to facilitate access to high-quality cancer research data for academic and commercial use. With extensive experience in research Data Partnerships, he has led data-focused initiatives at Cancer Research Horizons for six years, following various roles at Cancer Research Horizons and Cancer Research UK. Before transitioning to Business Development, he trained as a biochemist at the University of Oxford.
Andrew Blake leads the Oxford Cancer Centre’s Data Integration Team and oversees the development and delivery of it’s multi-modal informatics portfolio. His work focuses on enabling the integration, analysis and sharing of cancer data across genomics, imaging, and clinical domains, ensuring Oxford Cancer researchers can translate discoveries into patient benefit.
He has extensive experience in delivering research informatics solutions across RNA-Seq, whole genome and exome sequencing, TAPS, single-cell and spatial transcriptomics, alongside advanced imaging and clinical datasets. Andrew has led the design and implementation of secure, scalable infrastructures—both on-premise and cloud-based—that comply with evolving regulatory and cybersecurity standards, including the establishment of Oxford Cancer’s Translation Data Platform.
Before taking up this role, Andrew held senior positions in research informatics playing key roles in international bioinformatics consortia working closely with the European Bioinformatics Institute (EBI) and the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute.
Alberto Pascual is currently the Product Portfolio Leader for Signals Workflows at Revvity Signals, where he drives the end-to-end workflow strategy for the Signals platform, helping turn complex scientific data into actionable insights. He holds a PhD in Bioinformatics and brings extensive experience in Data Science across the Biomedical and Biopharma domains. He earned a degree in Computer Science and completed his doctorate at the Autonomous University of Madrid. Following a postdoctoral period, he joined the National Center for Biotechnology (CNB), where he led a Bioinformatics Research and Core Facility group.
In 2003, he co-founded Integromics, a pioneering bioinformatics startup that was later acquired by PerkinElmer in 2014. At PerkinElmer, he served as Senior Manager of AI and Analytics Innovation.
In 2020, he joined the Danaher Life Sciences group as Director of Data Science and Analytics at IDBS, where he led the development and execution of AI, data science, and analytics strategies focused on applications in drug discovery, development, clinical research, and diagnostics. In 2024, Alberto returned to Revvity Signals to lead the AI driven workflow solutions.
Nick has over 25 years experience in Informatics, lab workflows & data, previously at Biotechs & AstraZeneca leading teams in R&D Informatics. Working especially within pre-clinical & early clinical research, externalisation & data exchange for the AZ research activities. Also involved in various pre-competitive activities and a co-founder of Pistoia Alliance .
Joe is a Senior Data & AI Executive at Cancer Research Horizons, leading its Data & AI team to facilitate access to high-quality cancer research data for academic and commercial use. With extensive experience in research Data Partnerships, he has led data-focused initiatives at Cancer Research Horizons for six years, following various roles at Cancer Research Horizons and Cancer Research UK. Before transitioning to Business Development, he trained as a biochemist at the University of Oxford.
Andrew Blake leads the Oxford Cancer Centre’s Data Integration Team and oversees the development and delivery of it’s multi-modal informatics portfolio. His work focuses on enabling the integration, analysis and sharing of cancer data across genomics, imaging, and clinical domains, ensuring Oxford Cancer researchers can translate discoveries into patient benefit.
He has extensive experience in delivering research informatics solutions across RNA-Seq, whole genome and exome sequencing, TAPS, single-cell and spatial transcriptomics, alongside advanced imaging and clinical datasets. Andrew has led the design and implementation of secure, scalable infrastructures—both on-premise and cloud-based—that comply with evolving regulatory and cybersecurity standards, including the establishment of Oxford Cancer’s Translation Data Platform.
Before taking up this role, Andrew held senior positions in research informatics playing key roles in international bioinformatics consortia working closely with the European Bioinformatics Institute (EBI) and the Wellcome Trust Sanger Institute.
Alberto Pascual is currently the Product Portfolio Leader for Signals Workflows at Revvity Signals, where he drives the end-to-end workflow strategy for the Signals platform, helping turn complex scientific data into actionable insights. He holds a PhD in Bioinformatics and brings extensive experience in Data Science across the Biomedical and Biopharma domains. He earned a degree in Computer Science and completed his doctorate at the Autonomous University of Madrid. Following a postdoctoral period, he joined the National Center for Biotechnology (CNB), where he led a Bioinformatics Research and Core Facility group.
In 2003, he co-founded Integromics, a pioneering bioinformatics startup that was later acquired by PerkinElmer in 2014. At PerkinElmer, he served as Senior Manager of AI and Analytics Innovation.
In 2020, he joined the Danaher Life Sciences group as Director of Data Science and Analytics at IDBS, where he led the development and execution of AI, data science, and analytics strategies focused on applications in drug discovery, development, clinical research, and diagnostics. In 2024, Alberto returned to Revvity Signals to lead the AI driven workflow solutions.
This interactive session will explore bias in everyday AI prompts, how to use AI effectively in the lab, and techniques for refining prompts to get the right results. We’ll cover everything from optimizing AI tools for daily workflows to advanced prompt writing, giving you practical skills and insights to make AI work smarter for you.
Having worked 10+ years in digitalization across different industries, Le (Muller) Mu is combining his IT experience with his knowledge in molecular biology to help accelerate the drug discovery process in Roche Pharma Research and Early Development (pRED). He is currently the product line manager for End-to-End AI/ML and product owner and tech lead for the Roche pRED MLOps Service team, driving the operationalization of many different machine learning models, which helps to bring better future medicines faster into the hands of the patients
From research and development to manufacturing, what does the lab of the future look like for you? In this session, we’ll explore the right benchmarks for your goals, dive into scientific change management across different scenarios, and help define what a future-ready lab means for your organization. Whether you’re a lab manager, scientist or technologist, this session will give you the insights and tools to start transforming your lab today.
Significant experience in new business startups, product management, sales, marketing and growth in Hi-Tech, software and science related areas (pharmaceutical & biotech, healthcare, FMCG, Oil & Gas, Chemicals and Agrotech), Sports Coaching (team sports)
Business Specialities: Team Leadership and Development, Innovation, Product Management and Marketing, Complex Problem Solving, Solution Selling, Pre-sales and Strategy, Business Analysis, IT system architecture and design.
Science Specialities: Preclinical Development, Bioprocess and Biopharma, Translational research, Clinical Research, Clinical Development, Formulations, GPCR Pharmacology, Molecular biology, Biomarker discovery, Pharmacology, DMPK, Cell biology.
Adam Paton is a principal consultant at Zifo helping scientists transform the way they work through technology but with a lens firmly on the science. As a life sciences informatics veteran, Adam has seen the shift towards digitally driven initiatives that have rapidly accelerated during the last 3 years. Starting out as a biologist, the link between science and computing was an area of initial interest and for the last 24 years he has been on a journey seeing hundreds of organisations start and continue their journey towards the next generation of digital science.
With experience in road mapping, strategy, implementation, customer success with organisations from start-ups to Top 10 Pharma, Adam has seen the vast variety of solutions emerge in the industry and in some cases succeed, in others fail to realise their promise but throughout looking to change the way science is done for the better.
Advances in technology are creating opportunities to identify novel drug targets, to develop new therapeutic modalities to treat disease and to identify disease biomarkers to enable the earlier diagnosis of disease and the targeting of the right medicine to the right patient. These advances continue with the ability to generate ever larger data sets, the application of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning to create new knowledge and the introduction of automation to accelerate discovery. The challenge to the drug discovery scientist is to master these new technologies to increase project success to deliver value to patients.
Becky was appointed as the Pistoia Alliance’s first female President in June 2022. She is a long-time supporter of pre-competitive collaboration in life sciences and healthcare R&D and the critical role it plays in advancing science and is passionate about diversity in STEM. Becky is responsible for leading the Pistoia Alliance’s strategy and defining its future within areas of increasing importance to the industry, such as data standards, emerging technologies, diversity and inclusion, sustainability, and precision medicine. Becky first engaged with the Pistoia Alliance on its Lab of the Future project whilst at VWR (now part Avantor) where she worked for over a decade in sales, business development, and scientific services. From here, she joined the scientific instrumentation and analytical services company, Pion, as Managing Director, before moving to the Alliance as a project manager. She later became Chief Portfolio Officer and within this role established the Alliance’s first and thriving Diversity and Inclusion in STEM Leadership program. Becky re-joined the Alliance as President after a return to the commercial world as a Director at Impellam Group where she led the company’s STEM services strategy. Becky has a PhD in Biochemistry from Imperial College and an MBA from Cranfield University
Emphasis on the application of the Protein Sciences in the drug discovery process. Leading global teams applying protein generation skills, crystallography, cryoEM, a broad suite of solution state biophysics techniques and computational modelling including ML/AI approaches across the AZ discovery portfolio.
Jesper Lau (JL) started with Novo Nordisk as bench chemists in 1990 working with small molecules but was quickly promoted to project manager for a specific project aiming to discover small molecule GLP-1 agonists as well as glugacon receptor antagonists. From 2003 JL was leading a new organization composed of organic chemists with experience from tradition medicinal chemistry that were transitioning into the untouched field of peptide and protein engineering aiming to build new capabilities on how to turn unstable peptides and proteins into effective and safe pharmaceuticals with long duration of action. Semaglutide was invented as the first once weekly GLP-1 based on human GLP-1 which has today inspired many others to follow.
Generoso Ianniciello is a strategic leader in life sciences with expertise in multi-omics, diagnostics, biopharma, and platform services. As Chief Business Officer at Anima Biotech, he leads the global strategy for the Biology GPU – a new category in drug discovery infrastructure that connects how AI thinks with how biology works, tackling one of the biggest challenges in the field.
Previously, as CBO at Dante Genomics, he scaled the start-up into a global enterprise with over 200 employees and $100 million in annual revenue. He launched the Dante MyGenome Platform for longevity, personalized medicine, and rare disease diagnostics, and built key partnerships with hospitals, biopharma, and research institutions worldwide.
An innovative Scientist, Informatician and Technologist with over 25 years of experience in AI/ML, data science and advanced technologies as a Member and Leader of both R&D and IT groups, providing strategic direction and building diverse teams to support the design and development of novel drugs, across modalities and indications. Experienced working and collaborating with start-ups, not-for-profit organisations and large pharma at all levels including executive leadership, internal consulting, and non-executive & advisory board memberships.
Patrick Schorderet is Head of Digital Strategy & Execution at Novo Nordisk, with responsibilities to help drive Novo Nordisk’s research organisation’s digital transformation. Prior to his current position, Patrick held various positions including PwC’s European consulting leader in Digital Strategy & Innovation for research-based organisations. Patrick holds a PhD in molecular biology and applied data science.
Marc is a Lead Product Manager for Process Development at IDBS. Prior to that role, he was a Director of Strategic Solutions, developing the enterprise-level IDBS Polar BioPharma Lifecycle Management solutions.
With over 15 years of experience working in the pharmaceutical sector implementing and leading digital solutions and strategies, Marc is an expert in laboratory and operational technology, laboratory informatics and system integration and leads a team of technological and domain experts committed to the development of Polar Solutions.
Before joining IDBS in 2021, he worked at Lonza Biologics and Angel Biotechnology, and holds a BSc (Hons) in Pharmacology from the University of Sunderland.
Martin Winter is founder and CEO of Lab Automation Network since 2008. Martin is passionate about providing outstanding technological solutions to life science companies with his alliance of leading lab automation and digitalization partners. Driving the technological transformation in pharma, biotech and diagnostics industries will significantly improve medical research and individual healthcare.
Martin pursued his chemistry studies in Aachen and Constance before earning his PhD in organic chemistry from the University of Tübingen in 2001. With a professional journey beginning in 1998, he has held various co-founding and managerial positions in biotech and life science technology companies. Martin resides in Tübingen, Germany.
Karl-Johan Leuchowius did his PhD in Ulf Landegren’s lab in Uppsala, Sweden, developing the in situ proximity ligation assay (PLA). In 2010, he joined the high throughput screening facility at the Walter+Eliza Hall Institute in Melbourne, Australia, where he worked on assay development and screening of small molecules and siRNA using high content screening, and established the institute’s platform for arrayed CRISPR screening. In 2018, he joined AstraZeneca in Gothenburg, Sweden, where he worked with assay development and profiling of small molecules, then later therapeutic oligonucleotides. Since 2023, he has led the Oligo Assay Development team, with the remit of providing assays to the internal therapeutic oligonucleotide projects.
Product Owner with experience delivering scientific solutions to researchers in line of business. Have lead international agile teams in all aspects towards release of both implementation of vendor products, and development of purpose built products. Have extensive domain knowledge of experimental early research in the pharma industry from 10+ years in biophysics and formulation. Currently working on my most ambitious project yet, which aims to drive the change for structured raw data across the organization, enabling better decisions faster, and entirely new analysis towards new predictions and insights.
Martin is currently Senior Director, Scientific Collaborations, part of the Enterprise Science and Innovation Partnerships team in the corporate organisation at Thermo Fisher Scientific. Think of him as that rare thing, a science and technology generalist. Martin has worked in the team for nearly seven years. Immediately prior to that he worked in a small CRO. The majority of Martin’s career has been spent in research and commercial roles at Thermo Fisher, and before that, Applied Biosystems. Martin once wrote an article about his love of mass spectrometry. He works on both internal and external collaborations, particularly with biopharma and biotech, with a remit to identify and develop partnerships that will result in product and services innovation. The future of scientific research, how it is delivered, how to enable scientific productivity and deliver insights, and the role of suppliers in delivery of that innovation, is a topic of particular interest.
Bert is a Senior Fellow Architecture and Engineering at JnJ Innovative Medicine Technology R&D. That means he designs future proof solutions for the Global Sciences department, focusing on cloud-native implementations of systems that require High Performance Compute or require full integration. Bert has a background in Chemistry and Computer Science. During his 28-year career at JnJ he has spent 26 years in various IT departments. In his current position, Bert is predominantly focused on the Discovery (overall process, and In-silico design using Machine Learning) and the lab execution (Scientific Data Management) systems.
Julie Klint, serves as the Director of Molecular Discovery and Enabling Technologies at Lundbeck Research. She earned a Master of Pharmaceutical Sciences from Copenhagen University and a PhD from the University of Queensland, specializing in Ion channel Drug discovery. After a few years as a Research Leader at Evotec AG, Automated Patch Clamp facility in Hamburg, Germany, she joined Lundbeck in Copenhagen, Denmark. At Lundbeck, she is a core member of the Research Leadership team and plays a pivotal role in advancing innovative Drug Discovery projects in the field of Neuroscience. Her leadership is driving research projects, through cutting edge technologies and the integration of Generative AI and predictive modeling to transform drug discovery processes. She is responsible for the Digital strategy of Lundbeck Research and is leading the implementation of Research Scientific data system and application platforms, enhancing lab automation and implementing FAIR data principles.
Ulrike Richter is Manager of Data Acquisition Systems and Analytics in the in vivo Research area at Lundbeck. Coming from a technical background in electrical engineering and signal processing, Ulrike has spent the past 15 years working embedded in in vivo research environments, gaining deep insight into the unique technical challenges they present. Today, she leads efforts to optimize and transform the ways of working in Lundbeck’s in vivo facility, and does so with a passion for user-centricity as well as high-quality, FAIR and AI-ready data – supporting not only one-time decision making but serving as a long-term asset to the organization. Her work integrates smart systems and scalable solutions that enhance operational efficiency and scientific insight, and foster innovation across the organization.
Anna Codina is a seasoned scientific strategist with a career spanning academia, pharma, and industry. She has held key roles at Pfizer and Bruker, where she led initiatives in analytical science and biopharmaceuticals. Now at SciY, Anna focuses on driving digital transformation in life sciences, leveraging her deep technical expertise to accelerate innovation and operational excellence. She brings a unique perspective on how data-driven technologies are reshaping the future of drug discovery and development.
In this talk, Stephane Maikovsky (Deputy CEO and Chief Financial Officer, LifeArc) will draw on his experience of leading strategic and physical growth at both LifeArc and the Francis Crick Institute. He will draw on LifeArc’s 30 years of experience convening key strategic partnerships, collaborating across disciplines, and the importance of physical space – including laboratories – to enable this.
Nick has over 25 years experience in Informatics, lab workflows & data, previously at Biotechs & AstraZeneca leading teams in R&D Informatics. Working especially within pre-clinical & early clinical research, externalisation & data exchange for the AZ research activities. Also involved in various pre-competitive activities and a co-founder of Pistoia Alliance .
Optimizing vendor strategy and service delivery at one of AstraZeneca’s most strategic R&D sites, unique in housing the full value chain, from early discovery to late-stage development.
Stéphane Maikovsky Deputy Chief Executive Officer (CEO) / Chief Financial Officer (CFO) Stéphane joined LifeArc as CFO and Trustee in June 2022, and he took on the additional responsibility of Deputy CEO in October 2024, following a year as Interim CEO, during which he led the organisation. Stéphane heads up the Finance, Investment, LifeArc Ventures, Information Technology and Strategic Planning and Performance teams. Stéphane was previously CFO at the Francis Crick Institute and, prior to that, held senior financial, commercial and strategic roles at Mobil Oil, Accenture and Amgen.
Advancing AI and scientific discovery in pharma depends fundamentally on building a data estate that is Findable, Accessible, Interoperable, and Reusable (FAIR). This talk outlines the ontology-driven data strategy developed and implemented by the R&D Data Office at AstraZeneca, designed to unlock the value of research data for both machine learning and human analysis. Through experiments and extensive practice, we established a foundation of semantic data modeling, broad adoption of controlled vocabularies, and robust persistent identifier solutions. These technical choices ensure the data assets are standardized, freely reusable, and their value is vendor-agnostic. We demonstrate why a meaning-first approach, anchoring data infrastructure in semantics and reliable identifiers, is critical for providing context, promoting navigability, and enabling advanced analytics. This strategy is instrumental to accelerate scientific progress and supports effective, scalable AI and ML applications across the enterprise.
Bert is a Senior Fellow Architecture and Engineering at JnJ Innovative Medicine Technology R&D. That means he designs future proof solutions for the Global Sciences department, focusing on cloud-native implementations of systems that require High Performance Compute or require full integration. Bert has a background in Chemistry and Computer Science. During his 28-year career at JnJ he has spent 26 years in various IT departments. In his current position, Bert is predominantly focused on the Discovery (overall process, and In-silico design using Machine Learning) and the lab execution (Scientific Data Management) systems.
Mattia Bosio holds a PhD in Machine Learning and has spent over a decade as a scientist developing advanced data analysis tools and platforms for bioinformatics. As a seasoned product manager, he has extensive experience driving innovation in scientific data processing software. Currently at AstraZeneca, he is managing the definition and implementation of data standardization strategies and tools to build a FAIR data estate and to help teams efficiently find, analyze, and integrate diverse scientific datasets. This approach improves data quality and reliability, allowing researchers to extract meaningful insights and accelerate discovery.
Bruno is the Team Lead of ZIFO’s Data Architecture team, designing robust data foundations that enable biopharma leaders to harness AI and machine learning for medical discovery, combining expertise in AI data readiness, ontology management, collaborative data models, and metadata governance to drive innovative data products on cutting-edge platforms. With over five years’ experience developing data products for enterprise data platforms, and more than a decade as a biotech scientist specialising in big data management and analytics, including CRISPR and RNAi high-throughput screening, Bruno focuses on integrating complex biological datasets to accelerate AI-powered breakthroughs in drug discovery.
Drug-induced liver injury (DILI) represents one of the most prevalent liabilities in drug development, frequently resulting in safety-related withdrawals of drug candidates and late-stage program failures. Mitigating the risk of DILI is essential to evaluate the hepatotoxicity profile of potential molecules and elucidate their structure-activity relationships. Strategic assessment at this early phase holds the promise of rescuing programs without significant losses of time and resources. Our team has developed an innovative approach that merges lab automation, high-content phenotypic screening with advanced deep-learning models, enabling the identification of diverse parameters that serve as sensitive predictors of DILI, including mitochondrial toxicity, oxidative stress, phospholipidosis and cell death. This methodology includes leveraging multiparametric screening and AI-based image processing to interrogate compound effects on cellular nuclei, mitochondria, and membranes. The machine learning model identifies validated phenotypes, thereby predicting and assessing the hepatotoxic potential of each compound under investigation. When positive signals are detected, the approach further supports investigation of potential mechanisms underlying safety liabilities, empowering us to systematically de-risk lead compounds at an early stage of drug discovery. Our results demonstrate the power of this approach to accelerate decision-making, reduce safety liabilities, and inform molecular design, setting a new benchmark for early safety de-risking in drug discovery. This methodology showcases best practices in translational toxicology and the role of machine learning and automation in elevating preclinical screening standards.
Our vision is to establish predictive model-driven safety screening as the new golden standard of preclinical drug development identifying liabilities and empowering teams to pursue safer, more effective medicines delivering transformative treatments for patients worldwide.
Pharma has industrialized many processes, from combinatorial chemistry to high-throughput screening and next-generation sequencing, enabling massive data generation. Yet paradoxically, R&D efficiency continues to decline, drug development today costs 100x more than in the 1950s, even after adjusting for inflation. Why? Because while data production has skyrocketed, much of it remains siloed, disconnected, and unable to support AI or strategic decision-making.
Having worked 10+ years in digitalization across different industries, Le (Muller) Mu is combining his IT experience with his knowledge in molecular biology to help accelerate the drug discovery process in Roche Pharma Research and Early Development (pRED). He is currently the product line manager for End-to-End AI/ML and product owner and tech lead for the Roche pRED MLOps Service team, driving the operationalization of many different machine learning models, which helps to bring better future medicines faster into the hands of the patients
Anastasiia is an accomplished drug discovery expert currently in the role of Senior Research Scientist in Mechanistic Biology and Profiling at AstraZeneca, based in Cambridge, United Kingdom. She drives delivery of mechanistic and safety data packages to various drug discovery programs. Complementing her scientific background, she specialises in implementing automated workflows and predictive ML models for compound profiling, while facilitating cross-functional partnerships with data scientists to advance AI integration throughout multiple programs. Anastasiia holds a Ph.D. in Bioorganic Chemistry and an Executive MBA, combining deep scientific expertise with business management capabilities. With over a decade of experience in the pharmaceutical sector, her extensive background includes managing high-throughput screening teams, developing and optimising biochemical, biophysical, and cell-based assays, and executing large-scale screening campaigns from proof-of-concept to lead optimisation stages.
Dr. Thibault Géoui is a biotech executive with over 20 years of experience driving innovation in life sciences. He has launched more than 30 laboratory products at QIAGEN, repositioned Elsevier’s flagship chemistry solution, and led AI-driven strategies that accelerate pharmaceutical R&D. At Charles River Laboratories, he spearheaded a forward-looking scientific product and data strategy, leveraging digital solutions to accelerate discovery and keep the organization at the forefront of the industry. As Director of Transformation at Zühlke, he shapes the go-to-market strategy for the company’s Pharma Lab Automation offering — aligning engineering excellence with the real-world needs of drug discovery. He also hosts the Tech and Drugs podcast, exploring how AI and data are transforming the future of pharma and biotech.
This presentation will cover the latest advancements in leveraging AI for manufacturing deviation management, highlighting practical use cases and insights from rollout preparation. It will also discuss key considerations for implementing AI in a regulated manufacturing context.
In AI- and automation-enabled chemistry laboratories, automated data flows are essential for bridging experimental execution with data-driven insight. This presentation explores how analytical data—generated from techniques such as LC, MS, and NMR—and chemistry data from related experiments can be captured, standardized, and assembled automatically within the experimental context; and managed for both scientist and machine-use. When analytical results are formatted and engineered with chemical and procedural metadata and structured through technologies like ACD/Labs’ Spectrus platform, they become the rich input for downstream use in laboratories and AI/ML frameworks.
Martin Winter is founder and CEO of Lab Automation Network since 2008. Martin is passionate about providing outstanding technological solutions to life science companies with his alliance of leading lab automation and digitalization partners. Driving the technological transformation in pharma, biotech and diagnostics industries will significantly improve medical research and individual healthcare.
Martin pursued his chemistry studies in Aachen and Constance before earning his PhD in organic chemistry from the University of Tübingen in 2001. With a professional journey beginning in 1998, he has held various co-founding and managerial positions in biotech and life science technology companies. Martin resides in Tübingen, Germany.
With a multidisciplinary background across various domains and industries including the pharmaceutical, Swiss luxury watchmaking, drone, and creative sectors, Maria Sedykh is a knowledgeable AI expert currently serving as AI & Automation Solutions Lead at Lonza AG. Since March 2021, Maria has been identifying opportunities and leading AI initiatives, shaping Lonza’s technology landscape of tomorrow with an AI portfolio leveraging in-house custom-developed software. Her commitment to AI adoption and Good AI Practices extends beyond organizational boundaries by actively engaging with regulatory authorities on these topics on behalf of Lonza. Maria’s technical expertise includes machine learning, deep learning, (3D) computer vision, and natural language processing, among others. She holds a Master’s degree from the University of Basel, specializing in drug discovery and toxicology.
Richard obtained his Ph.D. from McMaster University, Canada, where he focused on strategies for metabolite identification and metabolomics studies. From McMaster, he moved on as a Scientist, as part of the Drug Development group, at the Centre of Probe Development and Commercialization, focusing on radio-pharmaceutical imaging agents and radiotherapeutics for oncology. He has been with ACD/Labs for the past 9 years and during this time, has been responsible for inception and development of MetaSense—software to support metabolite identification. For the last 5 years he has been ushering new technology development, laying the foundations for the next generation of ACD/Labs software, as a member of the Innovation and Informatics Strategy team.
Strategic R&D and Digital Transformation Leader with 12+ years’ experience driving enterprise-scale innovation across the global biopharma and life sciences ecosystem. I blend deep scientific expertise with digital execution and internal consulting acumen to unlock business value from data, automation, and AI. At CSL Behring, I led multi-year, seven-figure digital transformation programs spanning lab automation, sample management, AI readiness, and GLP-compliant digital ecosystems—impacting 1,400+ scientists across six global R&D sites. My leadership style is grounded in integrity, empowerment, and strategic partnership. I thrive on building cross-functional, cross-timezone teams that translate complexity into scalable outcomes. I believe that digital transformation is not about technology alone, but about enabling people to evolve with purpose and clarity.
Our presentation outlines a modular and collaborative approach to advanced cell culture automation, addressing common automation challenges that often result in multi-million-dollar “turnkey” platforms failing to meet customer expectations. This strategy involves breaking down complex concepts into smaller components to build a toolbox of reusable software and hardware modules, enabling faster platform development, rapid iteration of MVP-type products, and more efficient delivery of tangible results.
Avantor will share the latest advancements in its AI-powered digital assistant, designed to streamline lab workflows and empower scientists. The session features real-world customer applications and a live demonstration of how the assistant simplifies experiment preparation through conversational, integrated technology. Audience will also gain insight into the roadmap for expanding these capabilities and how they fit within the broader AvantorAI digital ecosystem. Join us to see how Avantor is enabling smarter, more efficient laboratories.
Robbert van Putten joined J&J in 2021 and currently employed as a Senior Scientist in High-Throughput Experimentation. In this role, he acts as the department’s Automation Lead and is responsible for lab automation and workflow optimization for J&J’s chemical process R&D teams.
Dr Mark Basham is Science Director for Artificial Intelligence and Informatics at the Rosalind Franklin Institute, located on the RAL campus in South Oxfordshire. Mark was awarded his Physics PhD in surface science simulation from the University of Reading, he then moved to data acquisition and analysis of synchrotron and other experimental data after working with colleagues in the field.
Mark’s primary research contributions have focused on the removal of barriers between image processing techniques in different scientific domains, and the open development of these techniques. He is a strong advocate of open-source software tools that focus on the similarities between different fields rather than their differences, and in so doing, bring advances to all. A key aspect of these collaborative projects is their inclusive nature, bringing key stakeholders to the table. For example, in the development of SuRVoS workbench, Mark gathered together a group of biochemists, cell biologists, beamline physicists, and computer vision programmers to identify the needs in segmentation of biological images and work towards the development of a software program that addressed these needs.
Laura is Head of Research Software Engineering at The Rosalind Franklin Institute where she leads a team responsible for infrastructure and scientific Research Software Engineering. She studied physics at Imperial College London before completing a PhD in X-ray Imaging at UCL. She has worked between academia and industry in various Data Science and Software Engineering roles in various exciting companies and fields. Laura is passionate about accelerating scientific research with good data, technology and software engineering practices.
The vision of an autonomous laboratory is rapidly becoming a strategic priority for organizations operating routine and high-throughput environments. But how do we move from manual processes to fully autonomous systems? In this session, we explore Agilent’s practical approach to automation and digitalization, highlighting the key steps, technologies, and mindset shifts required to make this transformation achievable and scalable. Learn how Agilent is helping laboratories of all sizes accelerate their automation journey
Nick has over 25 years experience in Informatics, lab workflows & data, previously at Biotechs & AstraZeneca leading teams in R&D Informatics. Working especially within pre-clinical & early clinical research, externalisation & data exchange for the AZ research activities. Also involved in various pre-competitive activities and a co-founder of Pistoia Alliance .
Laura is Head of Research Software Engineering at The Rosalind Franklin Institute where she leads a team responsible for infrastructure and scientific Research Software Engineering. She studied physics at Imperial College London before completing a PhD in X-ray Imaging at UCL. She has worked between academia and industry in various Data Science and Software Engineering roles in various exciting companies and fields. Laura is passionate about accelerating scientific research with good data, technology and software engineering practices.
Dr Mark Basham is Science Director for Artificial Intelligence and Informatics at the Rosalind Franklin Institute, located on the RAL campus in South Oxfordshire. Mark was awarded his Physics PhD in surface science simulation from the University of Reading, he then moved to data acquisition and analysis of synchrotron and other experimental data after working with colleagues in the field.
Mark’s primary research contributions have focused on the removal of barriers between image processing techniques in different scientific domains, and the open development of these techniques. He is a strong advocate of open-source software tools that focus on the similarities between different fields rather than their differences, and in so doing, bring advances to all. A key aspect of these collaborative projects is their inclusive nature, bringing key stakeholders to the table. For example, in the development of SuRVoS workbench, Mark gathered together a group of biochemists, cell biologists, beamline physicists, and computer vision programmers to identify the needs in segmentation of biological images and work towards the development of a software program that addressed these needs.
Rouan is a Digital Solutions Specialist focused on transforming laboratories to meet their efficiency and sustainability goals. With a background in customised chromatography solutions, Rouan joined Agilent Technologies at the start of 2022 to focus on optimising lab operations. Outside work, Rouan is an active member of his local sustainability group, currently involved in a sustainable heat network project for his community.
