Prof Richard Barker has a 40 year career in life sciences, encompassing biopharma (head of the ABPI, board member of Celgene), diagnostics (CEO of Chiron Dx) and informatics (global head of IBM Healthcare). His current activities combine precision medicine, AI and longevity science; he is a founder of Metadvice, bringing these together to personalise the treatment of common chronic diseases.

Dr. Cannarile is a highly accomplished Senior Biomarker Expert and Leader with over 20 years of experience in oncology drug development across academia, biotech, and pharma. He has a strong track record in identifying and validating novel biomarkers for patient selection, target verification, and proof of mechanism demonstrations, enabling early clinical trial decision-making and portfolio strategies.

Dr. Cannarile currently serves as the Head of Biomarkers Oncology at Roche pRED Early Clinical Development. Leading a global team of biomarker experts, he and his team develop early translational and companion diagnostic strategies using advanced biomarker technologies. Previously, he held various senior positions at Roche pRED Oncology, including Portfolio Biomarker Lead, Group Head Biomarker Strategy, and Site Head Oncology Biomarkers, where he introduced a new conceptual clinical biomarker framework supporting clinical dose, schedule selection, and patient enrichment.

Dr. Cannarile holds a PhD in immunology from Ludwig Maximilians University, Munich, Germany, and was a postdoctoral researcher at the University of California, San Diego, USA. He is passionate about translating scientific discoveries into patient benefits and has contributed extensively to biomarker and cancer immunotherapy research, as evidenced by numerous high-impact journal publications.

Peter Groenen currently holds a consulting company in biomarkers and translational science and is the head of translational sciences at cerebrumDAO. Holding a PhD in molecular genetics he is extremely interested in the molecular aspects of disease and treatment and passionate about the potential for precision medicine in healthcare and drug development. He received his MSc in Biochemistry and Physiology from the Radboud University, Nijmegen the Netherlands. Before obtaining his PhD in biomedical sciences at the Center for Human Genetics at the Gasthuisberg Medical Hospital, University of Leuven, Belgium he was a junior scientist at the National Institute for Health and Environmental Protection, Bilthoven the Netherlands and F. Hoffmann-La Roche AG, Basel Switzerland.

Peter held several positions with increasing responsibility at Organon NV (part of Akzo Nobel), Schering-Plough and Merck Sharp & Dohme, Oss, the Netherlands. In all three companies he helped to build the biomarker infrastructure and implement the biomarker strategy for clinical development. Peter is also on the advisory board of the startup in salivary biomarker analysis Bioinitials AG. Peter Groenen has authored or co-authored over 60 peer reviewed articles in diverse areas of genetics, bioinformatics and biomarkers. He led two large national public private partnership projects in the Netherlands on genomics in psychiatric disorders and bioinformatics. He is on the scientific advisory board of the Karger journal “Digital Biomarkers”. Peter has been sworn in as the Honorary Consul of the Netherlands for the Basel Region in 2022.

Award winning digital transformation change leader with a strong focus on diversity and inclusion, renowned for innovation in the pharmaceutical industry. With extensive experience across the value chain from discovery to development in building operational strategies and high performing team, across industry giants such as Hoffman La-Roche, Amgen, Biogen, Novartis and Novo Nordisk.

Noteworthy accomplishments include pioneering decentralized trials and driving digital innovative at scale. Recognized with numerous awards and accolades, this leader is involved in community initiatives with schools, speaks at international conferences, arenas, and actively mentors others.

Before retiring in 2022, Keith spent a four-decade career as a drug-discovery leader, dedicated to building and leading world-class drug discovery organizations. After completing his academic and postdoctoral studies at Imperial College, Cambridge, Stanford, and Columbia Universities, Keith joined the pharmaceutical industry, where he has built a deep expertise in drug discovery and early development. Over his career at Pfizer, The Scripps Research Institute, Ferring, and insitro, Keith has led research enterprises from handfuls to hundreds of scientists – encompassing the entire panoply of drug discovery disciplines.

During his career, Keith, and the organizations he has led, have delivered over thirty clinical candidates, across fifteen therapeutic areas, many of which have reached Phase 2, and two of which have reached the market (eletriptan - Relpax for migraine; maroviric - Celsentry for HIV). He is currently a scientific advisory board member and consultant for a number of US-based start-up companies.

Professor Karsdal is a distinguished researcher with extensive expertise in rheumatology (RA & OA), obesity, diabetes, and fibrosis. He has authored over 700 peer-reviewed publications in top journals. He has led the development of FDA-approved molecular diagnostics and over 125 commercialized ELISA assays. With his vast experience in clinical trial design and the use of biochemical markers in translational science, he has participated in more than 100 clinical studies.

Professor Karsdal has worked on various oral formulations of smaller proteins and has been involved in developing treatments for fibrosis, osteoporosis, osteoarthritis, obesity, and diabetes, from target identification through to phase III studies. He serves as an Adjunct Professor of Molecular Medicine at the Southern University of Denmark. In 2016, he published his first book, Biochemistry of Collagens, Laminins and Elastin, which offers a comprehensive introduction to collagen and structural proteins. In 2021, he delivered his first TEDx talk on ECM and collagens, titled "I love collagens... and you should too."

Johan is EVP and leads R&D at Lundbeck A/S. He is transforming Lundbeck’s R&D towards specialist and rare indications in neurology, psychiatry and neuroendocrinology as well as changed the company’s research areas, while expanding drug modality platforms. Before Lundbeck, Johan led neurology development at Eisai. Johan was leading early neuroscience development at Merck, CEO at GeNeuro, and leading Serono/MerckSerono’s Neurology and Immunology R&D. His industry career started in Astra/AstraZeneca research and early development.

He has been engaged in >15 drugs that reached the market. Johan participated in numerous public-private pre-competitive efforts, he reviews for major scientific journals and regularly acts in scientific boards for major funding agencies. He is a board director for private and public companies. Johan studied medicine and dentistry, while obtaining a Ph.D in Neurobiology at Karolinska Institute. He became associate professor Neurobiology in 1991 and visiting Pharmacology professor at University of Chile. Johan published ~100 scientific papers. He obtained training at SIMI and Thunderbird & MIT/Sloan Management Institute.

Patricia McLoughlin PhD is former Senior Director Companion Diagnostic Partnerships, Translational Science & Precision Diagnostics at QIAGEN, where she established and managed relationships with Pharma partners for the development of CDx assays for their therapeutics. Dr McLoughlin started her career as a Research Assistant at The State University of New York before moving to Affymax Research Institute in California as a Research Associate.

Dr McLoughlin then moved to F Hoffmann - La Roche Pharmaceuticals in Basel where she worked her way through roles of increasing responsibility in the core Genomics and biomarker technology department of Roche, until she was head of Genomics. Her last role at Roche was VP Global Head of Operations, in the Translational Research Sciences department. Dr McLoughlin then worked at Leica Biosystems as Director of Strategic Alliances – Pharma where she established relationships with Pharma clients requiring IHC-based CDx assays.

Dr McLoughlin holds a BSc (hons) in Microbiology from the University of Galway, and a Ph.D. in Molecular Biology from the University of Zurich. She is currently Senior Director Business Development at Aerogen Ltd.

Maria is the Head of Precision Medicine and Biosamples for Early Oncology at AstraZeneca, responsible for patient selection and biosampling activities. She previously spearheaded precision medicine for Biopharmaceuticals, advancing patient selection across therapeutic areas, including cardiovascular, renal, metabolism, respiratory, immunology, microbial science, and neuroscience. Originally established in late oncology, Maria has played a pivotal role in launching several precision medicines and delivering over 50 diagnostic assays to market. Her efforts have set regulatory precedents, enhancing AstraZeneca's industry standing. With expertise across multiple therapeutic areas, Maria is an internationally recognized authority and serves on EFPIA's Precision Medicine Working Group.

Yaping has over 20 years of global clinical development experience in both pharma (GlaxoSmithKline, Novartis, and Takeda) and biotech (Trillium) companies. Yaping was the chief medical officer of Trillium Therapeutics, and prior to that, the executive medical director with Takeda Pharmaceuticals. She has made critical contributions to the development and approval of multiple oncology drugs including lapatinib, pazopanib, nilotinib, sonidegib, and ixazomib. She also led significant clinical progress at Trillium in recent years which formed the strong basis for Pfizer's $2.3b acquisition of Trillium in 2021. She founded Wells Therapeutics Inc. in June 2022 with the goal to accelerate globalization of regionally sourced therapeutics for the benefit of patients worldwide. 

Yaping holds a MD degree from Zhejiang University School of Medicine and a PhD degree in cellular and molecular biology from Drexel University. She also received post-doctoral fellowship training at the Genetic Branch of NCI.

Dr. Miro Venturi is a molecular scientist trained across Italy, Germany and the United States. Recognized as one of the founder and pioneer in the establishment and applications of precision medicine in the healthcare industry, Miro has held roles of increasing seniority and responsibilities at Pfizer, Novartis and Roche Pharma, where he spearheaded the field and tirelessly worked to ensure the best treatments match the uniqueness of a patient´s disease, which is characterized by biomarkers.

Miro has contributed to numerous milestones in the field, including the FDA approval of the first ever liquid biopsy test as a broad companion diagnostic, based on comprehensive genomic profiling, during his time at Roche and Foundation Medicine and the approvals and launch of a number of cancer drugs accompanied by rigorously developed companion tests.

Miro has been leading the precision medicine function at Roche Corporate level within the Diagnostics Division, gained experience in P&L management and operational roles within the broad Pharma sector and currently holds a number of Board roles in successful precision medicine companies such as Tethis, Novigenix and Tivenix. Miro is also an Operating Partner to ARCHIMED, a growth accelerator investment fund focusing across all sectors of healthcare.