Speakers

Elsa Abranches is currently the Chief Scientific Officer of  ViSync Technologies S.A., Portugal, where she leads the scientific, research, and technological operations, guidingthe development of new platforms in the field of viral and cell ATMPs (Advanced Therapy Medicinal products) formulation and ...

Catia Andreassi, PhD is RNA biology Director at AviadoBio in London, United Kingdom. She is an expert molecular and cellular neurobiologist that joined AviadoBio to develop gene silencing therapies for neurodegenerative diseases like ALS and FTD. Her Team employs NGS technologies and cell biology...

Dr Kate Barclay MBE CEng FIChemE - Kate is an experienced Biochemical Engineer who has worked in Global Medicines Manufacturing for over 30 years across large pharma and small biotech organisations on a wide range of medicinal products and device technologies. As a leader in life sciences she...

Cornelia Baumgartner is a dedicated and results-driven Clinical Operations Manager with a proven track record of successfully managing complex clinical trials in the field of advanced therapies. With a background in life sciences and extensive experience in the pharmaceutical industry, Cornelia...

Elena Beltrami is an accomplished Investment Manager at Indaco Bio Fud with a strong background in the biotechnology and life sciences industry. With a proven track record of identifying and investing in cutting-edge advanced therapies, Elena brings a blend of scientific expertise and financial...

Stefano Benvenuti is Head of Public Affairs and Market Access at Fondazione Telethon (Italy) since 2021. He is vice-chair of the funders constituent committee of the International Rare Diseases Research Consortium (IRDiRC) and he is member of the Italian National Committee on Rare Disease. Within...

Anne Black works for the NHS Specialist Pharmacy Service. Her role is Regional Quality Assurance Specialist Pharmacist . She developed an interest and expertise in clinical trials and advanced therapy medicinal products as a Qualified Person for investigational medicinal products. She has since...

I am a pediatric hematologist/oncologist and have served as the Chief of the Pediatric Stem Cell Transplantation and Cellular Therapies Service at Memorial Sloan Kettering (MSK) since 2018. Previously, I spent a decade developing a cord blood transplant program in the Netherlands which is now...

Jonathan Bracey, JB has worked in pharma for the last 25 years.  This has included 'big pharma', generics and pharma services.  In 2023 his son was diagnosed with a rare childhood cancer and an ultra-rare condition called Mosaic Variegated Aneuploidy (MVA) syndrome.  In Nov 2024 the MVA...

Dr. John Bridgeman is a highly accomplished immunotherapy expert with a 20 year history converting scientific ideas into tangible therapies. With a PhD from the University of Manchester and further training at Cardiff University, John has a deep understanding of chimeric antigen receptor (CAR)...

Lara is SVP, Head of Research and Translational Science at Resolution Therapeutics, a spin-out of the University of Edinburgh. In her role, she sets the Research strategy at RTx and oversees its execution to promote the progression of Resolution’s lead asset RTX001 through the preclinical and...

Cherith Campbell-Bell is currently serving as the Director of Clinical Development at Rinri Therapeutics. Throughout her career, Cherith has focused on advancing innovative treatments through the critical stages of clinical development, with particular expertise in guiding programs from early-phase ...

I am an Associate Professor at UCL Institute of Ophthalmology. My research focuses on using human pluripotent stem cells to understand and treat macular disease. Our group aims to develop new cell therapies and uncover the molecular causes of inherited and degenerative eye diseases, advancing...

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Lindsay Davies completed her PhD in biochemistry in 2006 at Cardiff University, UK. Focussing on cell therapy for cartilage repair, her thesis work introduced her to cell and gene therapy, springboarding her into a career within the field, starting with a postdoc and two fellowship positions in...

Maike completed her veterinary degree in Germany. Instead of working as a practicing veterinarian and fascinated by immunology, she decided to spend some time at the NIH, Frederick, USA, to train with Dr. S. K. Durum. She then moved to Cambridge, UK, to carry out her PhD work with Prof. D.T. Fearon ...

Director of the Analytical Sciences at SparingVision, Fabien holds a PhD in virology and worked as a postdoctoral researcher in the gene therapy field. Before joining SparingVision in 2022, Fabien was Head of R&D viral safety at Texcell (France) and Head of the CMC Analytical Department at...

Tim Farries is a freelance consultant as a specialist expert and leader in CMC regulatory and development aspects of cell and gene therapies, notably including viral vectors, genome editing, stem cell, RNA-based and CAR-T products. This experience comes from over 10 years in consulting, including...

President and Board of Directors chair of the International Society of Cell and Gene Therapy (ISCT) from June 2024. Previously Chief Commercialization Officer and Chair of the ISCT Commercialization Committee (2014-2020) leading the expansion of the industrial community, strengthening the Committee ...

Paul Gissen is a Clinical Professor of Paediatric Metabolic Medicine at UCL Great Ormond Street Institute of Child Health, and Honorary Consultant Paediatric Metabolic Diseases at Great Ormond Street Hospital for Children NHS Foundation Trust. He is a NIHR Senior Investigator and leads the...

Serial entrepreneur that combines strong strategic, technological and managerial experience with proven track record of deal-making and fund-raising. During my career I achieved together with my different teams to bring four drug candidates from research to the clinics (up to phase IIb). Overall, I ...

Dr. Diana Hernandez is a stem cell biologist with more than 30 years’ experience in medical research and at least 12 years in the cell therapy field both in academia and industry. After several years in basic academic research at Imperial College and UCL, she has led several collaborative projects...

Patrick Hopkinson is a Global Market Access/ HEOR expert with over 25 years experience. He is an independent consultant, founder and managing director of PHTA Consulting.  He is a senior leader in the life sciences industry with extensive expertise gained from working across multiple functions in...

Dr. Melita Irving is a Group Leader at the Ludwig Institute for Cancer Research at the University of Lausanne, where she leads a research program focused on T-cell engineering for cancer immunotherapy. Her work aims to optimize both viral and non-viral gene engineering methods and develop...

Margareth Jorvid – MSc Pharm, MSc MTRA, MBA, FTOPRA Methra Uppsala AB CEO, Regulatory Affairs & Quality Assurance Margareth Jorvid has over 30 years of experience in Regulatory Affairs and has worked at the Swedish Medical Products Agency (MPA) as well as large and small pharmaceutical and...

Head of Immunology department at Hospital Clínic de Barcelona. Responsible of Joint platform for Immunotherapy of HSJD-HCB.

Kerstin is the Engineering Biology Innovation and Partnerships Manager at the University of Bristol, where she works with academics to identify opportunities for translation and partnering presented by their research in synthetic and engineering biology. She also oversees a wide programme of...

Sandeep Kumar is a seasoned leader in the field of advanced therapy production, currently serving as the Head of Advanced Therapy Production at Guy's and St Thomas' NHS Foundation Trust. With a strong background in bioprocessing and cell therapy manufacturing, Sandeep brings over many years ...

Dr. Dinesh Kundu is the CEO & Co-founder of East Ocyon Bio, India’s first allogeneic cell therapy company developing CAR-NK and CAR-Gamma Delta T cell therapies for solid tumors, autoimmune diseases, and rare disorders. A physician by training and former Army doctor, he brings over 15 years of...

Weiwei Li is a dedicated Highly Specialist Clinical Trials Pharmacist specialising in haematology, oncology, and advanced therapies at Guy’s and St Thomas’ NHS Foundation Trust. With a strong background in pharmacy and clinical research, Weiwei plays a pivotal role in the design and delivery of...

Mark Lowdell is the co-founder and CSO of INmuneBio Inc & Professor of Cell & Tissue Therapy at University College London. With over 35 years’ experience in cell and gene therapy, his experience includes a variety of adoptive NK cell and T cell therapies, CAR-T cells, dendritic cell...

Dr John Maher is the scientific founder and chief scientific officer of Leucid Bio. He is also a clinical immunologist who leads the "CAR Mechanics" research group within King's College London. He played a key role in the early development of second generation (CD28) CAR technology...

Harris is Professor Of Manufacturing Systems andDeputy Head of Department (Research( in the Department of Engineering at King’s College London. He is also the founder of Centillion Technology Limited, a UK based biotech specialising in the rapid scaling and manufacture of RNA-based therapeutics and ...

Dr Salah Mansour is a senior immunologist at the University of Southampton, specialising in unconventional T cell biology and its application to advanced immunotherapies. His research focuses on invariant natural killer T (iNKT) cells, CD1-restricted T cells, and their therapeutic potential in...

Aline is Professor of Biomolecular Engineering, Chief Scientific Officer of Unit M and Associate Dean for Business Engagement and Innovation within the Faculty of Science and Engineering at the University of Manchester. She is Director of the NW Industrial Biotechnology Innovation Catalyst – a £5m...

Sophie is a Programme Manager in the Translation Team at the Medical Research Council, where she supports funding schemes and strategic activities for clinical and translational medical research. Her portfolio covers advanced treatments in cancer, including cancer vaccines, gene therapy, nucleic...

Alexander Natz is the Secretary General of the European Confederation of Pharmaceutical Entrepreneurs (EUCOPE) in Brussels and advises innovative pharmaceutical and biotech companies, including start-ups, in regulatory and pricing & reimbursement matters from the EU law and German law...

Dan O'Connor is medically (Leicester) and PhD (Imperial) qualified and currently the Director Regulatory and Early Access Policy at The Association of the British Pharmaceutical Industry (ABPI). He joined the ABPI from the Medicines and Healthcare products Regulatory Agency in 2023. At the MHRA ...

Visionary and charismatic biotech executive with over 27 years of experience spanning commercial strategy, drug development, and product lifecycle management. He has held key global and regional leadership roles at top-tier pharmaceutical companies including Novartis Oncology, Celgene, and Bristol...

I am a Senior Research Fellow in the Genetic Therapy Accelerator Centre (GTAC) at the UCL Queen Square Institute of Neurology, where I closely collaborate with the GTAC AAV research team and the Dubowitz Neuromuscular Centre (DNC), at the Great Ormond Street UCL Institute of Child Health...

Dr. Monica Raimo the Director of Product and Process Development at Glycostem Therapeutics, which she joined in 2018. She is strongly focused on advancing cell therapy innovation in the development of clinically compliant non-engineered and engineered allogeneic NK cells. She has a PhD in Molecular ...

Ali Roghanian is an Associate Professor in Cancer Immunotherapy at the University of Southampton. With a strong background in immunology and cancer research, Ali is dedicated to advancing the field of advanced therapies to revolutionise cancer treatment. His research focuses on developing...

Dr. Lior Shaltiel is an awarded executive and scientist with a wealth of multidisciplinary international experience, specializing in innovative drug delivery systems. Since 2021, serving as the CEO and Director at NurExone Biologic Inc., an Canadian-Israeli biopharmaceutical company (TSXV:NRX)...

John Black Professor of Bionanoscience - Department of Physiology, Anatomy and Genetics and Institute of Biomedical Engineering Professor Stevens’ multidisciplinary research balances the investigation of fundamental science with the development of technologies and designer biomaterials to address...

Hiro Usuda is Scouting & Transaction Lead, Business Development at Astellas. He moved to Cambridge, UK, in 2021 when Astellas launched a BD office there. He is responsible for introducing European technologies and assets to global Astellas, communicating with external partners, and creating new ...

Chief Operating Officer & Chief Manufacturing Officer | Driving Cell Therapy Innovation & Global Manufacturing Strategy.- PhD in Biochemical Engineering from UCL;- MBA in Businesses Management & Leadership;- Senior Manager at GMP manufacturing facility.

Darius Widera is a Professor of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine and Research Division Lead at the University of Reading. His lab is mainly interested in adult stem cells and their secretome, inflammatory signalling cascades in health and disease, and novel methods for clinical-grade 3D...

›20 years in science, biopharma and investments ›At LanceBio screened >3,000 opportunities; built the portfolio ›At IBC Generium performed scouting and DD of new opportunities, R&D project management. ›Served at Algodign LLC, a IT-based drug design company, founded by Nobel prize...