Peter Vester

Debarshi Dey

Visionary Data Science & Biostatistics Leader with 15+ years of impactful data-driven leadership in global drug development across the pharmaceutical and biotech industries. Currently Vice President,
Global Head of Data Science at Galapagos NV, leading a team of 30 Biostatisticians, Statistical Programmers, and Data Managers in a mission to bring novel CAR-T oncology therapies to patients. Proven track record of strategic leadership in all phases of drug development, including successful NDA/BLA regulatory interactions with US FDA, EMA, and PMDA. Expertise spans late-stage submission
projects, scientific publications, market access strategies, real-world evidence (RWE), and pooled safety analyses. Spearheaded the integration of Biometrics across global sites post-acquisition, embedding
Data Science as a critical pillar in Research & Development.

Jim Hugget

Professor Jim Huggett is the Director of Biological Metrology at the National Measurement Laboratory (NML), the UK’s Designated Institute for chemical and biological measurement hosted at LGC, which focusses on high-accuracy measurements relevant to fields spanning applied testing, genomic research and biotechnology. Professor Huggett is a leading figure in biological metrology, the science of measurement, and is involved in steering the bioanalytical measurement agenda to maximise impact within UK and at a global level. Professor Huggett currently sits on the International Federation of Clinical Chemistry’s committee for molecular diagnostics, writes diagnostic and biotechnology standards for ISO and CLSI and is a member of the International Bureau of Weights and Measures’ (BIPM) consultative committee for chemistry and bioanalysis where he is the current chair of the nucleic acid analysis working group (NAWG). Prof Huggett, who is also a visiting Professor at the University of Surrey, has led several international initiatives and published extensively on topics dedicated to advancing applied bioanalysis to improve accuracy and ultimately impact of scientific bio-measurement.

Kat Kozyrytska

Ivaylo (Ivo) Petrov

Ivo Petrov is a health-tech innovator, policy strategist, and cancer care disruptor, co-founder and Co-CEO of Shemha Health, and Board Member of the Bulgarian Joint Cancer Network (BJCN). With over 20 years of experience across pharmaceuticals, healthcare policies, digital health, and access to innovations, he’s leading the development of the first GRADE-based, Gen-AI-powered clinical decision support platform for oncology. A Doctor of Pharmacy and deeply impact-driven by personal cancer experience, Ivo bridges science, regulation, and strategic leadership to advance equitable, precision cancer care on a global scale.

Richardus Vonk

Richardus Vonk is a leading expert in quantitative pharmaceutical development with over 35 years of experience transforming complex data into actionable insights that drive drug development programs forward. With his comprehensive background, spanning industry and cross-sector collaborations, Richardus delivers talks that are not only informative but also highly relevant to the current state and future direction of the pharmaceutical and biotechnology industries. Richardus is dedicated to advancing data-driven decisions in pharmaceutical development to the next level, aligning the latest scientific research with operational and regulatory requirements.

Judy Chou

Armanas Povilionis

Anil Koul

Pasi Kankaanpää

Pasi Kankaanpää, CEO, Biomendex

Rafik Fellague-Chebra

Dr. Rafik Fellague-Chebra is a dedicated MD, biostatistician, and methodologist of clinical research, with a journey of over two decades in oncology. His experience encompasses various roles in clinical practice, academic research, and pharmaceutical industry. Rafik’s mission, humbly undertaken, is centered on fighting cancer to improve the lives of patients, aiming for a better and longer life. Outside his professional endeavors, i the heart of Paris, he navigates life as a father of two incredible kids. He finds joy in the simplicity of a healthy lifestyle, cultivating his love for sports and cooking nutritious cuisine. It’s a privilege to contribute to the ongoing battle against cancer and work alongside brilliant minds towards meaningful progress in the field.

Chandan Seth Nanda

Geoff Baldwin

Martin Hofmann-Apitius

Martin Hofmann-Apitius holds a PhD in Molecular Biology and worked for more than 10 years in experimental molecular biology. The screening for novel genes involved in tumour metastasis lead him into the area of functional genomics and subsequently to applied bioinformatics. Martin Hofmann-Apitius has experience in both, academic (University of Heidelberg (ZMBH), Forschungszentrum Karlsruhe (ITG), German Cancer Research Center (DKFZ)) and industrial (BASF, Boehringer Ingelheim, LION bioscience AG) research. Since 2002 he is leading the Department of Bioinformatics at the Fraunhofer Institute for Algorithms and Scientific Computing (SCAI) in Sankt Augustin (Germany), a governmental non-profit research institute. In July 2006 he has been appointed as a Professor for Applied Life Science Informatics at Bonn-Aachen International Center for Information Technology (B-IT).

Martin Hofmann-Apitius is (co-) author of more than 250 scientific publications. Major scientific contributions were the cloning and identification of CD44v, the first gene that mediates metastatic potential to tumour cells, the functional annotation of the mouse transriptome, and information extraction methodology used for the semi-automated generation of the first computable, knowledge-based model for Alzheimer´s Disease.
Martin Hofmann-Apitius was the academic initiator and co-coordinator of IMI-project AETIONOMY, a project aimed at generating a mechanism-based taxonomy of neurodegenerative diseases (see www.aetionomy.org). He was also involved in related IMI-projects, such as EPAD (www.ep-ad.org), PHAGO (www.phago.eu) and RADAR-AD (https://www.radar-ad.org). Recently, he was successful – as coordinator – with COMMUTE (https://www.commute-project.eu/en/about.html), a project aiming at unravelling the co-morbidity mechanisms linking COVID-19 and neurodegenerative diseases.
Current research activities at the Department of Bioinformatics at Fraunhofer SCAI focus on:
• Automated methods for “text-2-knowledge graph” in indication-wide approaches
• Integrative semantics, data- and knowledge-integration in precision medicine
• Knowledge-based, mechanistic modelling of neurodegenerative diseases
• Mining in real-world data (social networks, patient forums, electronic patient records)
• Comparative progression models for neurodegerative and neuropsychiatric diseases
• Longitudinal disease (risk) models in neurology and neuro-psychiatry

Martin Hofmann-Apitius is a strong advocate of scientific excellence in translational research.