Shailendra Singh (Shelly) is a member of MarketsandMarket's board. He focuses on global sales and client services functions, as well as commercial optimization at MarketsandMarkets. He has years of expe¬rience in global delivery and outsourcing sector in the IT/ Consulting/Analytics/Big Data sectors. Prior to MnM, he was leading the global sales, client services and commercial ef¬fectiveness functions for Mu Sigma, a unicorn company and a leading global provider of Decision Sciences and Big Data analytics solutions.
Remi leads the Safety Epigenetics group within Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research (NIBR) Preclinical Safety department since 2009. Through continuous development of tissue-based epigenomic profiling technologies, his group has been supporting the identification of novel pharmacodynamic epigenetic biomarkers of drug-induced toxicity, specifically supporting safety assessment of therapeutic epigenetic effectors through integration of tissue-based pharmacodynamic, pharmacokinetic and morphologic endpoints. His group, in collaboration with academic partners, also has a long-standing interest in investigating novel mechanistic insights & biomarkers for long-lasting drug-induced cellular perturbations such as non-genotoxic carcinogenesis and transgenerational effects. Prior to joining Novartis Remi supported throughout his Ph.D. and postdoctoral training in France, the UK and Switzerland various projects in a diverse area of epigenetics research (development, reprogramming, cancer, genomic imprinting).
Inma Rioja is a Senior Biology Director at the Epigenetics Research Unit (GSK, UK) and the Portfolio Research Lead of Immuno-Epigenetics. She has more than 12 years of experience in R&D leading projects and teams, acting as Biology Leader, Project Leader (PL) and Early Development Leader (EDL) for bromodomain targets in the Epigenetics unit. Moreover, her expertise in immunology, epigenetics and drug discovery was consolidated during her three years of research in the Epi-Enzyme research unit (Epinova, iiTAU, GSK) with responsibilities for target validation and phenotypic compound characterisation together with coordinating academic collaborations and biology outsourcing activities. Prior to joining Epinova, she worked as a Principal Scientist in the Biomarker group within the Respiratory and Inflammation CEDD (GSK) focussing her research on the identification and validation of pharmacodynamic (PD) biomarkers and rheumatoid arthritis disease activity biomarkers at pre-clinical and clinical levels, supporting drug discovery. Inma joined GSK in 2006 after completing two post-docs, at GSK (UK) and INSERM (France), and a PhD in Pharmacology of Inflammation at the University of Valencia (Spain).
Currently Lecturer in Cell and Molecular Physiology, School of Health & Human Performance, DCU. Dr. Murphy started his research career as a Clinical Research Scientist and Core Facilities Director (Molecular Genetics) in the Centre for Cardiovascular Science, Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (1996-2000). His group also studies epigenetics with respect to chronic disease management. He is currently Vice Chair for Europe’s largest COST Action- EpiChemBio (CM1406- http://epichembio.eu/) for Epigenetic Technologies and Applications and is an Editorial Board Member for Clinical Epigenetics. Current projects in this field include working with the European space agency (ESA) on the effect of space flight on cardiovascular epigenetics. Dr. Murphy’s group is collaborating with one of Ireland’s top 3 innovative companies -https://www.brainwavebank.com, to develop novel Disruptive Technologies to manage cognitive decline, dementia and inflammageing of the Neurovascular Compartment. He is currently Associate editor for Clinical Epigenetics and Frontiers in Physiology, and an Editorial board member for Journal of Cardiovascular Pharmacology.
Prof. Saulius Klimašauskas is Director and Distinguished Professor at the Institute of Biotechnology of Vilnius University. After graduating the Department Chemistry at Vilnius University and receiving his PhD in Bioorganic Chemistry (1987) he spent 5 years as a visiting scientist with Sir Richard J. Roberts (NL) at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory, USA. In 1995, he established his own lab at the Institute of Biotechnology where he pursued mechanistic studies and molecular engineering of DNA modification enzymes followed by development of molecular tools for targeted labelling of biopolymers and epigenome analysis. Prof. Klimašauskas was a repeat International Research Scholar of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute (1995–2005), a JSPS invited professor at Osaka University (2002) and a recipient of an ERC advanced grant (2017). He became a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (2015) and an EMBO member (2017)
Dr. Budillon graduated in Medicine and passed the Specialty Certification in Oncology at University Federico II, Naples, Italy. He obtained the PhD in Oncology from University G. D’Annunzio of Chieti, Italy, and a master’s degree in health economy, Management and Bioethics. He gained experience in biochemistry and antitumor experimental therapeutics as post-doc during a stage fellow at the National Cancer Institute, Bethesda, USA. Dr. Budillon is currently the chief of Experimental Pharmacology, National Cancer Institute G. Pascale, Naples, Italy. He is author of more than 130 publications. His research interest focusses on the molecular mechanism of novel anticancer drugs and the potential combination approaches between conventional and targeted based drugs, particularly epigenetic drugs. Other scientific interests are related with the identification of new predictive biomarkers for anticancer drugs as well as in proteomic/metabolomics approach in defining new molecular diagnostic and therapeutic targets.
Panagis is an Associate Professor at the Nuffield Department of Medicine, Oxford University, where he is heading the Epigenetic Signalling group at the Sturctural Genomics Consortium (SGC) focusing on chemical biology and epigenetics. His interests focus on identifying and understanding structural determinants that drive signal transduction in biology. Ultimately, he aims to exploit these determinants to develop small molecule inhibitors that perturb protein:protein interactions, to study how signalling networks work. His work serves as a vital proof of principle for the idea that signalling networks in disease can provide targets for pharmacological intervention. Research in his group has largely contributed in the generation of chemical probes, selective inhibitors that can be used to block and thus interrogate protein activity in cellular systems, for bromodomains, small interaction modular domains that specifically recognize and bind to acetylated lysine sequences on histones and other proteins
Chris Schofield studied for a degree in chemistry at the University of Manchester (1979-1982). In 1982 he moved to Oxford for DPhil studies with Jack Baldwin on the synthesis and biosynthesis of antibiotics. In 1985 he became a Departmental Demonstrator in the Dyson Perrins Laboratory, and in 1990 Lecturer in Chemistry and Fellow of Hertford College. In 1998 he became Professor of Chemistry, and in 2011 was appointed Head of Organic Chemistry. He is a Fellow of the Royal Society. His research group works at the interface of chemistry, biology and medicine. His work has opened up new fields in antibiotic research, oxygen sensing and gene regulation in organisms ranging from bacteria to plants and animals. His work has identified new opportunities for medicinal intervention that are being pursued by numerous academic and commercial laboratories.
Dr. Ziv Porat is an associate staff scientist and head of the Weizmann Institute Flow Cytometry unit (the largest in Israel). His field of expertise is flow and Imaging flow cytometry, which combines the advantages of flow cytometry and microscopy. During the last 8 years, he worked closely with more than 250 researchers, resulting in more than 65 publications, including as being the corresponding author. His record includes lecturing at Weizmann as well as all other universities in Israel, research institutes, hospitals, and biotech companies. He initiated, organized and lectured in the annual Israeli Imaging Flow Cytometry user meetings. In addition, he gained international recognition and lectured in many international conferences, and was recently selected for the prestigious “SRL emerging leaders” program of the International Society for the Advancement of Cytometry (ISAC). He is the co-founder of the Flow Cytometry Society of Israel and active in promoting education, organizing workshops and conferences.
Dr. Lorenzo Pasquali is Group Leader of the Endocrine Regulatory Genomics laboratory at IGTP, Barcelona, Spain. He received his medical degree and trained in Pediatric Endocrinology at the University of Genoa Italy. He subsequently trained in genetics and molecular biology at University of Pittsburgh, and in computational regulatory genomics at IDIBAPS, Barcelona. His studies helped to map the epigenetic landscape of the insulin producing pancreatic islet cells resulting in milestone publications that opened the path to understand genomic regulation of the islets of Langerhans and shed light on the molecular mechanisms that underlie the development of diabetes. His group combines molecular genetics and bioinformatic approaches to understand the regulatory mechanisms that control function and cell fate of the endocrine tissues central to diabetes.
Mikhail Spivakov is a Group Leader at MRC London Institute of Medical Sciences and an Honorary Senior Lecturer at Imperial College. Mikhail and his group study the role of DNA regulatory elements in gene expression control and how their function is modified in disease. Mikhail’s group combine experimental and computational approaches to address these questions, capitalising on Capture Hi-C for linking non-coding elements and genetic variants with target genes, and has developed computational tools and enhanced experimental protocols for this technology.
Experienced scientific professional with over 20 years of drug development/research experience in industry and academia. Drug discovery and development experience at multiple biotechnology and biopharmaceutical companies including Dyax (VP, Cell Biology and Translational Research), ArQule (VP, Discovery Research and Translational Medicine), Tokai (VP, Translational Medicine), Siamab (SVP, Research & Development) and currently Epizyme (VP, Biology, Interim Head of Research). Senior member of Research & Development leadership teams. Project Leader/Program Director on multiple pre-clinical oncology and non-oncology programs which advanced into Development or were successfully partnered externally. Experience in development of companion diagnostics and early clinical development programs including regulatory filings.
Gavin Reynolds is Honorary Professor at Sheffield Hallam University and Professor Emeritus, previously Chair of Neuroscience, at Queen’s University Belfast. After a biochemistry PhD, he undertook postdoctoral work in London, Vienna and Cambridge, following which he held university posts in Nottingham, Sheffield and Belfast. His main research interests lie in two directions: the neurotransmitter pathology of schizophrenia, and the mechanisms underlying the beneficial and adverse effects of antipsychotics and other psychoactive drugs, with a recent focus on pharmacogenetic and epigenetic influences. He has over 300 research publications, including papers in Nature and The Lancet. He has international collaborations with Visiting Professor appointments in Thailand and China. He is Past-President of the British Association for Psychopharmacology.
John is Professor of Bioorganic Chemistry at Sussex, previously spending 10 years in industry, including the James Black Foundation. He has a degree (Sussex) in Chemistry and European Studies (French), PhD (ULP, Strasbourg, M. Pfeffer) and did postdoctoral studies in the Togni lab (ETH, Zurich). Current interests are fragment based drug discovery towards p53 mutant stabilizers, bromodomain inhibitors, Protacs and general organic synthesis, especially employing palladium catalysis.
Senior Vice President, Business & Corporate Development Mr. Lebioda has over 30 years of experience in the innovative pharmaceutical industry with leading global companies such as Bristol-Myers Squibb, Hoechst Marion Roussel and Marion Merrell Dow. He held a variety of management positions with these companies in the areas of sales and business development, regulatory affairs, reimbursement and market access. Mr. Lebioda’s past contributions helped build leading global cardiovascular brands such as Plavix, Pravachol, Cardizem, and Avapro. He is responsible for leading the Company's efforts in product portfolio strategy, pharmacoeconomics, reimbursement, licensing and commercial development.
Dr. Angela Garding works at Covaris as a Field Application Scientist for Epigenomics. Before joining the Covaris team she studied epigenetic regulatory mechanisms during development and disease. For twelve years in academic research she mastered projects centered around chromatin biology and gained a profound background in adapting and optimizing state-of-the-art epigenetic techniques. In collaborative work between the University Clinic Ulm and the German Cancer Research Centre (DKFZ) in Heidelberg she studied how epigenetic mechanisms are involved in leukemogenesis. During her PostDoc at the IMB in Mainz she received her own grant money to study epigenetic regulatory mechanisms involved in cancer metastasis as well as embryonic, neuronal development. Her interest for chromatin research made her understand the importance of input material quality in order to uncover the real biology in epigenetic assays. Therefore, she would like to share her enthusiasm for how Covaris technology can improve sample preparation.
Mohammed Ghiboub studied for a degree in pharmacy at the University of Sidi bel abbes in Algeria. In 2011 he moved to France for two master studies in pharmacology (Strasbourg) and in host-graft relationship (Besancon). In 2015, he started his PhD in biomedical science with a strong focus in discovering a novel epigenetic marks/targets in inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD). His PhD research has been funded by EU Marie Curie action and enrolled at Amsterdam UMC (Group of Wouter de Jonge) and at GSK Stevenage in the UK (Epinova Epigenetics DPU). He recently started as postdoc researcher in the same group to investigate the epigenome changes related to dietary therapy in pediatric IBD.
Ambra Bianco is associate Principal Scientist in Safety Assessment in the Clinical Pharmacology and Safety Science department in AstraZeneca. She completed her PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the EMBL – Heidelberg where she was interested in collective developmental cell migration dynamic as a model for tumour metastasis. She was then awarded and EMBO fellowship to move to the MRC- Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, where she studied mRNA transport in neuronal cells and Synthetic Biology. She joined AstraZeneca in 2015 where she supports early drug discovery projects in the Oncology space, and she is leading the early Oncology Epigenetic Safety Strategy.
