Roundtable Breakout Discussions

Join a breakout discussion group. These are informal, moderated discussions with brainstorming and interactive problem solving, allowing participants from diverse backgrounds to exchange ideas and experiences and develop future collaborations around a focused topic.

WEDNESDAY, JUNE 3RD

5:05 - 5:45 PM

5:05 Find Your Table, Meet Your Moderator

5:10 Roundtable Breakout Discussions

Accelerating Target Discovery

TABLE: Leveraging Advanced Genomics Tools for Target Identification

Moderators: Neville Sanjana, PhD, Assistant Professor, Departments of Neuroscience and Physiology, New York University; Faculty, New York Genome Center Richie Kohman, PhD, Senior Research Scientist and Lead, Synthetic Biology Platform, Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering, Harvard University

TABLE: Impact of Chemical Biology and Phenotypic Screening on Drug Discovery

Moderators: Jaimeen Majmudar, PhD, Principal Scientist, Chemical Biology, Pfizer Inc.

Sujatha Gopalakrishnan, PhD, Head, Molecular Screening and Characterization, AbbVie

Combining CRISPR screens and single cell analysis
Omics techniques for in situ analysis
Practical advice and things to know

Expanding Chemical & Druggable Space

TABLE: Advances and Challenges in Macrocyclic Peptide Therapeutic Development

Moderator: Vincent Guerlavais, PhD, New Modalities, Drug Discovery Consultant

Lead drug optimization challenges unique to stapled peptides and other macrocyclics
Progress using peptide-based carrier approach in the field of targeted drug delivery
New opportunities for peptidomimetics in the field of PROTACs and targeted protein degradation

TABLE: Comparing Biophysical Methods: When to Use What

Moderator: Scott Cowen, PhD, Independent Medicinal Chemistry Consultant

SPR, NMR, ITC, TSA, DEL, MST, MS-based methods, etc.
Integrating hits from various screening approaches

TABLE: Designing and Optimizing Small Molecule Protein Degraders

Moderators: Joe Patel, PhD, Director, Biochemistry, Biophysics & Crystallography, C4 Therapeutics, Inc. Guangrong Zheng, PhD, Associate Professor, Department of Medicinal Chemistry, College of Pharmacy, University of Florida

Designing small molecule degraders for tissue selectivity
Using biophysical and computational tools to help medicinal chemistry
Current challenges and knowledge gaps in protein degrader design and optimization

New Small Molecule Drug Targets

TABLE: Targeting Cellular Metabolism: Not Just for Treating Cancer Anymore

Moderator: Masha Poyurovsky, PhD, Vice President, Discovery Biology, Kadmon Corporation, LLC

Metabolic pathways of immune cell function -- under normal and pathologic conditions
Lessons from cancer biology: metabolic reprogramming of immune and cancer cells associated with transformation
Can targeting metabolic pathways regulate autoimmunity or inflammation?

TABLE: Gut Microbiota as a Small Molecule Drug Target

Moderator to be Announced

Defining bioavailability
Target engagement
Considerations for patient selection

TABLE: What Happens When You Get Off-Target Effects When You Target RNA?

Moderator to be Announced

How are off-target events for RNA-targeting drugs being avoided and assessed?
What approaches are being taken to broaden delivery, the major hurdle for RNA-targeting therapeutics?
After delivery what is the next challenge for RNA-targeting drugs?

Emerging Indications and Modalities

TABLE: Translational Strategies in CNS Drug Development

Moderator: Dario Doller, PhD, Director, Medicinal Chemistry, Sunovion Pharmaceuticals

Human as a model for human – What is the future of experimental medicine in CNS drug discovery?
Correlation or causation? Importance of genetic links for different CNS diseases
What are the attributes that have real impact minimizing risk during novel target selection?

TABLE: AI and Machine Learning in CNS Drug Development

Moderator: Istvan Enyedy, PhD, Principal Scientist, Medicinal Chemistry, Biogen

AI concepts and integrating into a drug discovery strategy
Role of AI in CNS drug discovery
Challenges, dangers and opportunities using AI in drug discovery

TABLE: Cellular Models for Fibrosis

Moderator: Vanessa Morales-Tirado, PhD, Principal Research Scientist, Translational Immunology, Immunology Discovery, AbbVieBioresearch Center

3D multicellular models
Organotypic and tissue explants
In vitro co-culture systems

Immuno-Oncology Advances

TABLE: Tumor Immune Microenvironment

Moderator: Elizabeth Thompson, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor, Pathology and Oncology, The Johns Hopkins Hospital

Immune responses in early stages of tumor development
Profiling the tumor microenvironment
Predicting recurrence/progression to malignancies

TABLE: Theranostics in Immuno-Oncology

Moderator: Michael Roehrl, MD, PhD, Director, Precision Pathology Center, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center; Associate Professor, Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Weill Cornell Medicine

Understanding deep proteomic approaches
Identifying novel biomarkers to risk-stratify patients
Distinguishing which tumors may be susceptible to immunological attack

Disease Modeling

TABLE: Organoids – Is It a Fad or an Enduring Technology?

Moderator: Angela Zhang, PhD, Product Manager, Epithelial Cell Biology, Research & Development, Stemcell Technologies

All models have advantages and disadvantages – will the pros of organoids make them worth it?
How have we as a field moved forward? Where are organoids best used?
What do we still need?

TABLE: Transitioning from Academia to Industry

Moderator: Joanna Lee, PhD, Scientist, Genentech

What is an industry job (i.e. day-to-day responsibilities)
Conducting an industry job search
Negotiating a compensation package

Preclinical Strategies, Models & Tools in Oncology

TABLE: Preclinical Strategies for T Cell Therapy

Moderator: Lindsay King, PhD, Associate Research Fellow, Biomedicines Design, Pfizer

Preclinical challenges in CAR T Cell therapy development in solid tumors
Exploratory assays for T Cell therapy development
Major translational challenges
Therapy breakthroughs

TABLE: Targeting Inflammasome in Cancer & Beyond

Moderator: Pushpa Jayaraman, PhD, Senior Investigator I, Exploratory Immuno-Oncology, Novartis Institutes for Biomedical Research

Acute and chronic inflammation in oncogenesis
Researching inflammatory microenvironment
Targeting inflammasome

Advances in Drug Metabolism & Safety Testing

TABLE: Impact of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning on Drug Safety Assessments

Moderators: Barun Bhhatarai, PhD, Investigator, Novartis Institute for Biomedical Research Joshua Swamidass, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor, Immunology and Pathology, Laboratory and Genomic Medicine; Faculty Lead, Translational Informatics, Institute for Informatics, Washington University

Case studies on effective use of AI/ML for ADME/Tox assessments
Key questions to ask when evaluating and integrating AI/ML into existing workflows
Caveats on how to analyze and use the knowledge from AI/ML studies

TABLE: Traditional and Advanced Models and Strategies for Early Risk Assessments

Moderators: Terry Van Vleet, PhD, DABT, Director, Investigative Toxicology, Department of Preclinical Safety, AbbVie Paul Michalski, PhD, Investigator, Systems Modeling and Translational Biology, GlaxoSmithKline

Comparison of traditional 2D systems with complex 3D and microphysiological systems
Practical advice on use of in silico tools like DILIsym for safety predictions
Evaluating and integrating new tools into current safety assessments and workflow

Immuno-Oncology Biomarkers

TABLE: Tumor Immune Microenvironment

Moderator: Elizabeth Thompson, MD, PhD, Assistant Professor, Pathology and Oncology, The Johns Hopkins Hospital

Immune responses in early stages of tumor development
Profiling the tumor microenvironment
Predicting recurrence/progression to malignancies

TABLE: Theranostics in Immuno-Oncology

Moderator: Michael Roehrl, MD, PhD, Director, Precision Pathology Center, Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center; Associate Professor, Pathology and Laboratory Medicine, Weill Cornell Medicine

Understanding deep proteomic approaches
Identifying novel biomarkers to risk-stratify patients
Distinguishing which tumors may be susceptible to immunological attack

Clinical and Translational Biomarkers

TABLE: Genomics and Biomarker Data Analysis

Moderator: Viswanath Devanarayan, PhD, Global Health of Statistics & Data Sciences, Charles River Laboratories

TABLE: Big Data to Select Patient Populations

Moderator: Dirk Brockstedt, PhD, CSO, RAPT Therapeutics

AI for Drug Discovery and Development

TABLE: Decoding AI: Making the Case for Artificial Intelligence in the Pharma Industry

Moderator: Amol Jadhav, PhD, Industry Consultant, Transformational Health, Frost & Sullivan

Adjusting pharmaceutical business models to incorporate AI technologies
What measures should be taken to invest and apply AI at various stages of drug development? What should be the expectation on returns?
Business-Academia partnerships: Pharma is looking for collaborations, shared experience from startups, academia on opportunities and expectations
Establishing evaluation standards and benchmarks: Can we benchmark products and technology?

TABLE: Machine Learning in Action: Moving Beyond Hype

Moderator: Sean Ekins, PhD, DSc, CEO, Collaborations Pharmaceuticals, Inc.