Leaders from Top Pharmaceutical Companies, Innovating the Future of Protein Science and Biotherapeutics.

The 2027 event brings together scientific leaders and innovators from the world’s top pharmaceutical companies to share groundbreaking research, real-world insights, and emerging strategies across protein science and biotherapeutic discovery and development. Explore presentations from industry experts driving advances in areas such as protein expression and production, protein engineering, peptide therapeutics, AI/ML, functional characterization, and more.

Lipidic Platforms for Delivery of Complex Membrane Proteins in Lead Generation
Guipeun Kang, Senior Scientist, AstraZeneca

Developing GPCR Production Workflows to Support DNA-Encoded Library Screening 
Paul Agianian, Principal Scientist, Pfizer Inc

Protein Expression and G Protein-Based Functional Characterization of Orphan GPCRs
Nam Nguyen, Sr. Principal Scientist, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc

Strategic Non-Optimal Codon Usage Reduces Bispecific Protein Mispairing
Timothy Chang, Senior Scientist, Sanofi

Two Cell Lines, One Goal: Enabling Reliable Cell-Based Assay Critical Reagent Production 
Jagadish Koya, Principal Scientist, Sanofi

Membrane Protein Expression and Production in Pharma R&D Pipelines
Anand Kumar, Sr Scientist, Sanofi

Fit-for-Purpose Automation for High-Throughput Antibody Production and Characterization 
Fengli Zhang, Senior Scientist II, AbbVie 

Accelerating Biologics Discovery with Infrared Matrix-Assisted Laser Desorption Electrospray Ionization (IR-MALDESI): High-Throughput Mass Spectrometry at Scale
Rui Zhu, Principal Research Scientist I, Protein Sciences, AbbVie 

Beyond ProA: Strategies for Efficient Purification of Complex Protein Therapeutics from Screening to Scale-Up 
Daniel Yoo, Associate Director, Protein Therapeutics, Amgen Inc

End-to-End Automation of Intact Mass Spectrometry QC for Integrated Purification and Quality Workflows in High-Throughput Biologics Production
Ellie King, Senior Scientist, AstraZeneca

Scaling the Start: High-Throughput Generation of Transfection-Ready DNA and Scalable Workflows for Rapid Antibody Production
Manoj Rajaure, Associate Principal Scientist, AstraZeneca 
Predictive Assembly and Purification Schema for Multispecific Biologics Using Integrated AI/ML and Experimental QC Workflows
Alec Woosley, Associate Director, Protein Sciences and Analytics, AstraZeneca

Fit-for-Purpose Antibody Purification: A Strategic Guide to Scale, Selection, and Automation Readiness
Roushu Zhang, Sr Scientist, AstraZeneca

De novo Design of Miniprotein Cytokine Mimics Targeting ILRa by Combining Diffusion Models, MD Simulations, and Phage Display 
Paula Florez, Post Doctoral Fellow, Genentech

Overcoming in-Process Autolysis: A Robust Purification Strategy for Difficult-to-Purify Recombinant Peptidases 
Swapnil Ghodge, Scientist , Genentech 

Characterization of T Cell Engaging Bispecific Antibodies and Combination Therapies with a High-Throughput Multiparametric Automated Assay and Data Analysis Platform 
Christopher Kemball, Senior Principal Scientist, Genentech

Predicting CIEX Binding Behavior of Antibody Building Blocks to Enable High-Throughput Purification of Multispecifics
Rinchu Mathew, Principal Scientist, Gilead Sciences 

SATURN: An End-to-End Automated Platform for High-Throughput Sample Management and Preparation in Biologics Discovery 
Behnam Keshavarz, Principal Scientist, Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine 

Leveraging High-Throughput Stable Pool Data for Biologics Pipeline Advancement
Gayatri Venkiteswaran, Principal Scientist, Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine 

Discovery of an NRAS Isoform and Activation-State-Selective Macrocyclic Peptide
Ken Hallenbeck, Associate Principal Scientist, Merck & Co

When Execution is No Longer the Bottleneck: Reimagining Design of Experiments for Predictive, Data-Driven Protein Production 
Jing Ke, Associate Principal Scientist, Merck & Co

Rapid Benchtop ¹H-NMR for Real-Time Monitoring of Purification Performance and Product Quality 
Richard Rustandi, Senior Principal Scientist, Merck & Co 
Scaling Formulation Development with -Well ELISA for Stability, Potency, and Process Monitoring
Aleksandr Treyer, Senior Scientist, Merck & Co

Miniaturized Site-Specific Platform for Rapid Manufacturability Assessment of Biologic Candidates
Gabrielle Bitzas, Senior Scientist, Pfizer Inc.

Don't Fear the Noise: Partitioning Nuisance Variation from Biophysical Data to Raise the Ceiling for Predictive Models
Arthur Rudolph, Senior Data Scientist, AbbVie

Challenges in Protein Stability Prediction: Major Deviations from Arrhenius Behavior in Liquid, Frozen, and Lyophilized Formulations
Evgenyi Shalaev, Distinguished Research Fellow, AbbVie

FEATURED PRESENTATION: MS in Industry: From Fundamental Gas-Phase Ion Structure to Therapeutic Project Support 
Iain Campuzano, Scientific Director, Amgen Inc

Characterization of Co-Formulated Therapeutic Proteins by Liquid Chromatography and Mass Spectrometry
Lidong He, Principal Scientist, Amgen Inc

Enabling Faster Clinical Development through Digital Analytics, Automation, and Integrated Process Understanding 
Yogesh Kumar Mishra, Scientific Associate Director, Amgen Inc

Rational Antibody Engineering for Multiparameter Developability Enhancement 
Tyler Lefevre, Senior Scientist, AstraZeneca

Protein-Protein Interactions and Dynamics Cooperatively Determine Multispecific Antibody Format Selection, Function, and Developability 
Xue Yang, Senior Research Scientist, Boehringer Ingelheim

Confidence at Scale: Process Controls and Streamlined Analysis for Biophysical Developability Screening 
Maureen Crames, Principal Scientist, Boehringer Ingelheim Pharma GmbH & Co KG

FEATURED PRESENTATION: From Data Silos to Shared Insights: Democratizing Data and AI for Accelerated Biotherapeutics Analytics and Decision Making 
Melody Shahsavarian, Senior Director, Eli Lilly & Co

Predictive Accelerated Stability Studies: A Strategic Approach to Developing Oligonucleotide Therapeutics
Zhichao Zhang, Advisor, Eli Lilly and Company

FEATURED PRESENTATION: What Does the Future Hold for Antibody &#;Lab-in-the-Loop&#; Methods? 
Andrew Watkins, Senior DIrector, Genentech

Integrating Sequence, Structure, and Biophysical Data for Early Biologics Developability Prediction
Krishna Bharadwaj Anapindi, Senior Scientist, Gilead Sciences Inc

FAIR Data Capture and Application through Benchling Validated Cloud: A Structured Digital Future
Riley Schaefer, Experienced Scientist, Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine

Next-Generation NAM Platforms: Advancing Microphysiological Systems and AI-Enabled Assays for Human-Relevant Data
Jean Carlos Serrano, Principal Scientist, Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine

Modeling Stability to Support Biotherapeutics Development
Pankaj Dwivedi, Associate Principal Scientist, Merck

Implementing Agentic AI and Autonomous Systems in Analytical Development 
Jacek Kominek, Associate Director, Merck

Investigation of Low Molecular Weight (LMW) Formation of a Multispecific Antibody by Protease Inhibitor Study 
Jennifer Zhang, Principal Scientist, Merck

Predictive Models for Biophysical Developability Properties
Katherine McCoy, Computational Structural Biologist, Novartis

Taking Smart Risks: Standardization, Digitalization, and Predictive Stability to Accelerate Analytical Development 
Tilen Praper, Associate Director, Novartis Pharmaceuticals

A Streamlined Workflow Enabling Efficient Preclinical Development of Novel Protein Therapeutics through Risk Assessment and Enhanced Communication Bridging Research and CMC 
Michelle Mazzeo, Staff Engineer, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals Inc

AI-Powered Predictive Spectral Libraries for High-Confidence Sequence Variant Analysis in Therapeutic Antibodies 
Shivkumar Raidas, Senior Scientist, Regeneron Pharmaceuticals

High-Throughput Cryo Electron Microscopy and Machine Learning for Biologics Engineering: From Pipeline to Decisions
Madhu Sevvana, Principal Scientist, Sanofi

Modular Generation of Multispecific Antibodies Using Protein Trans-Splicing
Jared Shadish, Senior Scientist, AstraZeneca

In silico Developability Assessment of Single- and Dual-Chain Antibodies
Roberto Spreafico, Senior Director, Biologics AI Innovation, AstraZeneca

Improving Dual Targeting Selectivity in T Cell Engagers via Synapse-Gated and Affinity-Tuned Trispecific Antibody Design
Peng Zhao, Senior Scientist, AstraZeneca

A Machine-Learning-Enabled Venom Peptide Platform for Rapid Drug Discovery 
Lijuan Zhou, Scientist , Genentech Inc

Beyond the Binders: A Structure-Based Framework to Guide Engineering of Multispecific Antibodies across Formats
Saeed Izadi, Director, Gilead Sciences

Development of a PRAME pMHC Targeted T Cell Engager for Solid Tumor Therapy 
Katarzyna Skrzypczynska, Principal Scientist, Gilead

Mammalian Antibody Display to Secretion Switchable Libraries for Microfluidics-Assisted Function First Hit Discovery
Achim Doerner, Scientific Director, Merck Healthcare KGaA

Engineering a p/TLA Bispecific Antibody for IBD: How Format Optimization Enabled Clinical Candidate Selection 
Nicole Piche-Nicholas, Senior Principal Scientist, Pfizer Inc

AI-Driven Design of Mono- and Multispecific VHH Therapeutics 
Norbert Furtmann, Global Head of Biologics AI & Design, Sanofi

FEATURED PRESENTATION: From Undruggable to Druggable: Unlocking Intracellular PPIs with SnipeTide Technology
Atsushi Ohta, Head, Chugai Pharmaceutical Co. Ltd.,

Discovery and Characterization of Potent Macrocycle Inhibitors 
Francesca Anson, Scientist III, Genentech Inc

Development of LRRC-Binding Disulfide-Constrained Peptides for PET Imaging of Cancer-Associated Fibroblasts
Henry Maun, Principal Scientific Researcher, Genentech

Mirror-Image mRNA Display Uncovers Isoform-Selective D-Peptide Macrocycles Targeting a Cryptic KRAS Pocket
Anthony Partridge, Senior Director, Genentech

Enabling Oral and Parenteral GLP- Delivery through Biophysical and Molecular Characterizations
Jing Ling, Assoc Principal Scientist, Merck & Co

Clinical Pharmacology Perspectives on Immunogenicity of Peptide Drugs
Mohsen Rajabi Abhari, Director, PK Sciences Governance, Novartis

FEATURED PRESENTATION: From Molecule to Mucosa: Designing Better Peptide Delivery Systems
Stephen Buckley, Scientific VP, Novo Nordisk A/S