Asad Abu Bakar

Christophe Bodenreider

Sioklay Monica Tan

Evelyn Chiang

Dr. Evelyn Chiang is currently serving as a Principal Scientist of Immunology and Inflammation Research at AltruBio Inc. In this role, Dr. Chiang leads a dedicated research team focused on translational science, specifically investigating the agonistic mechanisms of immune checkpoint antibodies developed by the company for the treatment of autoimmune and inflammatory diseases.

With over two decades of experience in the biotech industry, Dr. Chiang possesses extensive expertise in nonclinical safety and IND-enabling studies in antibody drug discovery and development. She has played a pivotal role in the development of innovative therapeutics, including antibody-drug conjugates (ADCs), bispecific antibodies, and immune checkpoint inhibitors targeting cancer and inflammatory diseases.

Dr. Chiang’s expertise spans immunology, oncology, biologics, and the design, execution, and management of nonclinical studies for drug research and development. Her contributions, along with those of her team, are integral to all facets of clinical product development, including translational science research and biomarker discovery.

Dr. Chiang earned her Ph.D. in animal physiology from the University of Leeds, UK, and completed her postdoctoral training at the Institute of Molecular Biology, Academia Sinica, Taiwan.

Seung Jun Yoo

Jagadish Sankaran

Tabaglio Tommaso

Volker Patzel

Dr. Volker Patzel is a German chemist who received his Ph.D. from the Ruprecht Karls University in Heidelberg and his MBA from the Steinbeis University in Berlin. He worked as postdoc at the German Cancer Research Center in Heidelberg, then as research group leader at the Max Planck Institute for Infection Biology in Berlin. He joined the National University of Singapore (NUS) in 2009 under the NUS-Cambridge Scheme. He has >50 publications, filed 16 patent families, and is (co)-founder of three biotech companies. His research focusses on RNA technologies, non-viral vector development, and therapeutic applications. He coordinates and teaches six courses on biotechnology and entrepreneurship.

Jin Rong Ow

Dr. Jin Rong Ow earned his Ph.D from the National University of Singapore under Reshma Taneja, where he studied histone methyltransferases and their functions in skeletal muscle differentiation and pathology. His international research experience includes post-doctoral work with Roland Schuele at the University of Freiburg Medical Centre in Germany, where he conducted significant work on the impact of metabolic changes on novel histone acylations and bromodomain reader proteins in tumorigenesis and metabolic disease.

Upon returning to Singapore, Jin Rong joined the Institute of Molecular and Cell Biology at A*STAR to explore the link between cell cycle regulation and metabolic disease with Philipp Kaldis. He subsequently pivoted to the blossoming field of RNA therapeutics where he has led research bridging fundamental molecular biology with therapeutic applications, focusing on developing antisense oligonucleotide treatments for rare diseases. For his translational work, he is supported by numerous honours including the A*STAR Career Development Fund and the Young Individual Research Grant provided by the National Medical Research Council.

H. Fai Poon

Dr. H. Fai Poon is a distinguished leader in RNA therapeutics, currently serving as CEO of Sirnaomics, where he drives innovation in siRNA-based treatments for cancer and genetic disorders. With extensive experience spanning academia and industry, he has held key roles at Merck (SAFC), Hisun Biopharm, and the Roskamp Institute, and founded Quacell (acquired by Lepure).
Holding a Ph.D. in Biological Chemistry (University of Kentucky) and an MBA (University of South Florida), Dr. Poon bridges deep scientific expertise with business acumen. His work focuses on biologics development, proteomics, and RNAi delivery, with over a decade of experience in cell culture and biopharmaceutical analytics. A prolific author, he has published 30+ peer-reviewed papers and contributed to 5+ book chapters.
An active leader in scientific publishing, Dr. Poon serves as Managing Editor of a biomedical journal and Associate Editor for chemistry and bioinformatics journals. His thought leadership in RNA therapeutics and precision medicine makes him a sought-after speaker at international conferences, where he shares insights on translating cutting-edge science into clinical solutions.

Hidetoshi Tahara

Dr. Hidetoshi Tahara graduated from Tokyo University of Pharmacy in 1989. In 1994, he obtained his Ph.D. After working as an assistant professor and associate professor at the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Hiroshima University, he has been a professor at the university since 2006 and has been a vice president (industry-academia collaboration) since 2021, leading industry-academia collaboration at the university. He established the “Hiroshima LOVE it Consortium” and activated global industry-academia collaboration with DX. Starting with basic research on telomeres and microRNAs, he founded MiRTeL Co., Ltd. in 2012, and started PURMX Therapeutics Co., Ltd. in 2021 for drug discovery using microRNAs. He has won the special award for EY Entrepreneur of The Year 2022 Japan and the special award for Academic Startups 2022 as PURMX Therapeutics

Jirong Long

Dr. Jirong Long is a Professor of Medicine at Vanderbilt University School of Medicine. Her research centers on identifying novel genetic, epigenetic, and microbiota biomarkers for cancer risk, deepening insights into cancer development mechanisms. She currently leads five major NIH-funded studies: three focused on breast cancer—a transcriptome-wide association study (TWAS, R01CA235553), a proteome-wide association study (PWAS, R01CA293996), and a methylation-wide association study (MeWAS, R01CA247987)—and two targeting lung cancer: a combined MeWAS/TWAS study (R01CA249863) and a social epigenomics study (R01MD015396). Dr. Long has authored over 300 papers, many published in high-impact journals. She is a frequent invited speaker at national and international academic conferences. She has mentored more than 30 trainees and faculty members, significantly shaping their careers. Dr. Long plays a pivotal role in the molecular and genetic epidemiology programs at the Vanderbilt Epidemiology Center and the Vanderbilt-Ingram Cancer Center.

Xiaotao Shen

Dr. Xiaotao Shen is a Nanyang Assistant Professor at Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, Nanyang Technological University Singapore (NTU). His overarching research interests are bioinformatics algorithms development for multi-omics data and their application to precision medicine and biological questions (aging and aging-related diseases). Specifically, he is interested in bioinformatics algorithm development, including 1) Comprehensive analysis workflow and deep learning for LC-MS data, 2) Metabolic network analysis, 3) Wearable and multi-omics data integration, and 4) microbiome and metabolome data integration.

Hyun-Young Park

Dr. Hyun-Young Park is the Director of the National Institute of Health (NIH) in the Republic of Korea. Prior to this role, she led the Department of Precision Medicine and the Division of Cardiovascular and Rare Diseases at the Korea NIH. Dr. Park has made significant contributions to advancing rare disease research and health policy in Korea, while also playing a central role in building the country’s biomedical data infrastructure.

In precision medicine, Dr. Park has demonstrated leadership in national genomic initiatives including the Korean Genome and Epidemiology Study (KoGES), the Korea Biobank Project (KBP), and the Korean Reference Genome (KRG). As a key investigator in the pilot for Korea’s National Bio Big Data initiative, she helped lay the groundwork for a large-scale platform to realize precision medicine. Dr. Park has also led national efforts to promote genomic medicine, facilitating the translation of genomics into clinical practice. Her work has significantly advanced Korea’s capabilities in precision medicine and population-scale genomic analysis.

Dr. Park earned her MD from Yonsei University and completed her cardiology fellowship there. With over 200 scientific publications, her research spans population genetics, women’s health, and cardiovascular epidemiology, and she continues to demonstrate strong leadership in both the scientific and policy-making communities.

Neerja Karnani

Neerja Karnani is a molecular epidemiologist and clinical data scientist with 20 years of experience working with academia, industry and national platforms. She started her research career at University of Virginia, USA, where she contributed to the first functional annotation draft of the human genome (ENCODE consortium). She moved to Singapore in 2013 to join A* STAR’s Singapore Institute for Clinical Sciences (SICS), where she developed the multi-omics roadmap for Singapore’s National Birth (GUSTO) and Pre-conception (S-PRESTO) cohorts and identified biomarkers of metabolic and mental health adversities in expecting mothers and their offspring. These findings have been patented and licensed by prominent nutrition industries and are being translated into future interventions. Beyond the developmental and pregnancy cohorts, she is involved in Singapore National Precision Medicine (NPM) program’s SG10K-Health study and served on its science and data access committees. To advance her interest in population health analysis and to connect it with the real-world data, she joined A*STAR’s Bioinformatics Institute (BII) in April 2021 as the Head of Clinical Data Engagement. She currently serves as Deputy Director at BII, where she leads initiatives applying AI to precision health, including the development of risk prediction models and digital tools for chronic disease surveillance and clinical decision support.

Hong Ji Han

Dr. Jing Han Hong began her academic journey with a Ph.D. in Biology from the National University of Singapore. She then joined the Lab of Cancer Therapeutics at Duke-NUS Medical School, where she is currently serving as a Principal Research Scientist. Jing Han has made significant contributions to the field of bile duct cancer and therapeutics. Her research has identified distinct clusters of bile duct cancer with unique epigenetic activities, which have important therapeutic implications. She has also discovered an effective drug combination for BAP1-deficient cancers. Additionally, her research has explored the potential benefits of biodiversity medicine for bile duct cancer, a cancer marked by significant inequities in treatment.

Gautham Sethi

Dr. Gautam Sethi is an Associate Professor in Department of Pharmacology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore. The focus of his research over the past few years has been to elucidate the mechanism (s) of activation of oncogenic transcription factors by carcinogens and inflammatory agents and the identification of novel inhibitors of these proteins for prevention of and therapy for cancer. The findings of his research work have so far resulted in more than five hundred scientific publications in high impact factor peer reviewed journals. He also serves as an editorial board member for several international journals including Antioxidants & Redox Signaling, Military Medical Research, Lipids in Health and Disease, Pharmacological Research, Scientific Reports, International Journal of Cancer, BMC Cancer, Cells, International Journal of Molecular Sciences, International Journal of Oncology, Journal of Functional Foods, PLOS One, and ad-hoc reviewer for several other prestigious international journals. He has been also ranked among the world’s most highly cited scientists according to the list of Highly Cited Researchers™ released in both 2020 and 2021 by Clarivate and featured in Stanford University’s World’s Top 2% Scientists List, which recognizes the most-cited scientists in various disciplines, in the fields of oncology and carcinogenesis (2019-2024). Je has been also listed among top 0.05% of all scholars worldwide by Scholar GPS in 2023 and 2024 in the field of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences based on outstanding quality of scholarly contributions.

Bryan Yeung

Bryan has over 25 years of experience as a Medicinal Chemist. Prior to joining Axcynsis, he held positions as CTO at Arum Therapeutics and Sr. Director of Strategy at the RIGHT Foundation, a global heath fund based in South Korea. He was also Associate Director at the Novartis Institute for Tropical Disease where he led multiple drug discovery research programs. He has pharmaceutical industry experience spanning multiple disease areas including oncology and infectious diseases. Bryan holds a PhD in Chemistry from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign and a B.S. in Chemistry from the University of Hawaii, USA.

Dinender Singla

Dr. Dinender Singla is an inspiring figure in translational science, carving out a profound niche with his pioneering work. Under my leadership, our team explores stem cells and their exosomes, focusing on mitigating the cardiac toxicities brought about by anti-cancer drugs and combating muscle myopathy and cardiomyopathy induced by diabetes. He is committed to advancing science, evident in his continuous engagement with major funding bodies. He lends his expertise to review grants for esteemed organizations such as the NIH, AHA, and the Ministry of Italian Health and study sections in Hong Kong. My participation in over 70 NIH study sections, ranging from fellowship to K-grant mentoring, RO1 grant review panels, and PPG grant reviews is a testament to my dedication and versatile expertise. He served as a permanent study section member as well. During these study section grants reviews, he reviewed >500 NIH grants. While at UCF, he secured over $12 million in NIH funding to support my students and staff. Beyond my research, Dr. Singla contributes significantly to the academic community through his editorial roles. He serves as an Academic Editor for PLoS ONE and an Associate Editor for the Canadian Journal of Physiology and Pharmacology. He is also an active member of the editorial board for prestigious journals, including the American Journal of Physiology: Heart and Circulatory. Dr. Singla’s influence extends through his leadership roles; he has chaired the TPIG committee and the American Physiology Society. Furthermore, he served as the general secretary for the North American section of the International Academy of Cardiovascular Sciences and currently presides over the International Society for Adaptive Medicine (ISAM). His affiliations as a fellow with the International Academy of Cardiovascular Sciences, the American Physiological Society, and the American Heart Association further illustrate my exceptional standing in the scientific community. Through his extensive travels, Dr. Singla has chaired numerous scientific sessions worldwide, sharing his knowledge and fostering collaboration. Notably, he has organized significant scientific conferences and authored a book on stem cells, contributing to over 100 peer-reviewed papers.

Jasmin Major

Jasmin is a Senior Pogramme Manager within the Health team at Challenge Works. Challenge Works is a social enterprise founded by Nesta, the UK’s Innovation Foundation, that runs challenge prizes which attract innovators to solve pressing social problems across the globe.

Within the Health portfolio, Jasmin works on the £7.5 million (~$10 million) Longitude Prize on amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), which incentivises the used of AI-based approaches to transform drug discovery for ALS, the most common form of motor neuron disease (MND). The Longitude Prize on ALS is newly launched and will run for five years. Find out more at: als.longitudeprize.org.

Jasmin previously led the Longitude Prize on Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) – a £10 million prize fund which in 2024 rewarded a team of innovators who developed a transformative diagnostic test to support more targeted use of antibiotics, helping to conserve them for future generations.

Before Challenge Works, Jasmin worked at the Wellcome Trust in a number of roles, including evaluation, science funding, and programme management. Jasmin’s first degree is in Global Health and Social Medicine, and she holds a a Master’s in Pyschology.

Delia Wang

Delia Wang attained her PhD in Molecular Biology from National University of Singapore (NUS) in 2015. She joined GenScript in 2017, leading innovations in gene and cell therapy over the past 8 years in the nucleic acid market. Her work focuses on developing high-efficiency CRISPR-Cas9 platforms, synthetic RNA/DNA tools, and optimized oligonucleotide delivery systems for therapeutic applications. At GenScript, Delia has designed end-to-end service packages for nucleic acid drug discovery and gene editing, accelerating global clients’ pipelines from R&D to scalable production. Her integration of bioinformatics and high throughput screening has solidified GenScript’s leadership in next-generation gene therapies and editing technologies. A recognized industry leader, Delia drives strategic partnerships with top biotech firms, ensuring GenScript remains a global pioneer in genomic medicine. Her contributions continue to redefine standards in nucleic acid and gene cell therapeutics.

Edward Wong Sern Yuen

Edward is a Senior Manager of Gene Writing and Editing at the Integrated DNA Technologies (IDT), specializing in CRISPR, Functional Genomics and Synthetic Biology solutions across the APAC region. With extensive experience in gene editing technologies, Edward plays a key role in supporting researchers and biotech companies by providing strategic insights, technical expertise, and innovation solutions for genome engineering. At IDT, Edward collaborates closely with biopharma, CROs, and academic institutions to optimize gene synthesis and CRISPR workflows. He has been instrumental in developing business strategies that align with regional market demands, ensuring researchers have access to cutting-edge tools for drug discovery, cell and gene therapy, and functional genomics. Additionally, Edward has a strong track record of customer engagement, scientific consultation, and market development. He actively gathers insights on emerging trends and industry needs, driving IDT’s product advancements and service enhancements in CRISPR and Synthetic Biology. His expertise extends to navigating challenges such as off-target effects, precision editing, and optimizing gene synthesis for complex applications.

Gergely Toth

Andiappan Murugan

May Thandar Aung-Htut

Dr Aung-Htut graduated with a PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics from the University of New South Wales (UNSW). Prior to her position as a senior research fellow (Co-Head of Molecular Therapy Laboratory) at the Personalised Medicine Centre, Murdoch University, she held postdoctoral positions at the UNSW and Centre for Cancer Biology, University of South Australia working on cellular aging and transcriptional regulation of programmed cell death, respectively. Her current research focuses on designing and evaluating therapeutic antisense oligonucleotides for various diseases, including multiple sclerosis, juvenile-onset Parkinson’s, and Pompe disease. Dr. Aung-Htut aims to broaden the application of these therapeutic oligonucleotides to treat both rare genetic disorders and common diseases such as cardiovascular diseases. Currently, Dr Aung-Htut and colleagues are driving towards innovative precision therapies for children with rare diseases, specifically n-of-1 approaches.

Minh Le

Dr. Minh Le is an Assistant Professor, Graduate Program Director and Director of the Engineered Extracellular Vesicles for Anti-Cancer Therapy (EVANTICA) program at the Department of Pharmacology, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore. Previously, she received a Ph.D. degree from the Singapore-MIT Alliance and trained as a postdoctoral fellow at Boston Children’s Hospital. Her group has developed novel strategies to harness EVs from red blood cells and engineer EVs for targeted delivery. For this research, they have received multiple national and international awards. Dr. Le currently serves as a deputy/associate editor for the Journal of Extracellular Biology and Journal of Extracellular Vesicles.

Wonil Kim

Wonil Kim, Ph.D., Chief Scientific Officer at Aston Sci., leads the development of nucleotide-based therapeutic cancer vaccines targeting MHC class II. His work centers on the Th-Vac® platform, designed to elicit strong CD4+ T cell responses. In his talk, he will share clinical progress on AST-301 (DNA, Phase 2 for HER2-positive gastric cancer) and preclinical results on AST-1138 (mRNA, lung cancer model), highlighting the platform’s potential in cancer immunotherapy.

Chee Yang Lee

Chee Yang joined Agilent since 2010 and is part of the South Asia Pacific (SAP) Applications Team for the Diagnostics and Genomics Group. His work as a Senior Field Applications Scientist includes providing applications support for the Genomics portfolio of products, such as targeted NGS and microarray for research and clinical research in cancer and human health. He has also been involved in many projects, one of which was utilizing systems that combine liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry with PCR-based assays for viral/microbial detection. Chee Yang completed his Ph.D. at Curtin University in Western Australia and was involved in a wide range of research projects. These include the characterization of the ovine MHC class II region and its association with gastrointestinal parasite resistance, the effects of IgA on parasite resistance in sheep, identification of microsatellites in pedigree testing in Alpacas, as well identifying microsatellites in several crustacean species in environmental studies.

Ser Mien Chia

Kyeong Kyu Kim

Weihong Tan

Professor Weihong Tan earned his Ph.D. in physical chemistry at the University of Michigan in 1993. Currently, he is the director of Hangzhou Institute of Medicine, Chinese Academy of Sciences, the dean of the Zhejiang Cancer Hospital. He is also the director of the State Key Laboratory of Chemo/Biosensing and Chemometrics, and distinguished professor of chemistry and biology at Hunan University, and the director of the Institute of Molecular Medicine at Renji Hospital and Shanghai Jiao Tong University. He served as a University Distinguished Professor and a V.T. and Louis Jackson Professor at the University of Florida for more than 20 years. Professor Tan’s research is in the general area of molecular medicine, bioanalytical chemistry, and chemical biology. He specializes in aptamer research, DNA nanotechnology, and cancer theranostics. He has received many awards and honors, including the Second Prize of the State Natural Science Award in 2014 and 2020, the Award in Spectrochemical Analysis from the American Chemical Society in 2018, the Prize for Scientific and Technological Progress, Ho Leung Ho Lee Foundation in 2018, the Ralph Adams Award for Bioanalytical chemistry and The Pittsburgh Analytical Chemistry Award in 2019, Britton Chance Award in 2024.

Amisha Shukla

Edwin Simjaya

Huakang Tu

Jeremy Chan

Krishna Ganesh

Kyeong Kyu Kim

Meng Shi

Michael Winther

Wu Xifeng