CAMBRIDGE, Mass. -- The Massachusetts Biotechnology Council (MBC) today unveils the program and participants for its annual "Discovery Day Science Symposium," taking place on March 8, 2006 at the Sheraton Copley Hotel, Boston. This year's event will focus on "Catalyzing Technologies: Innovative Tools for Biopharmaceutical Success," and will convene a "who's who" of leaders from the region's academic laboratories, teaching hospitals, biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies.
"Innovation is truly the lifeblood of biomedical science and Massachusetts continues to be home to some of the most promising and cutting-edge technology in the industry," stated Thomas M. Finneran, president of the Massachusetts Biotechnology Council. "Discovery Day will provide a rare opportunity to learn more about ground breaking research occurring in the region directly from our academic, scientific and business leaders."
Discovery Day Program Details
A focal point of the Symposium is an exclusive roundtable discussion entitled Great Expectations: The Impact of Technologies on Discovery & Development sponsored by AstraZeneca. The session brings together leading figures in the biotechnology and pharmaceutical industries, who will discuss the successes and failures in technology over the past 20 years of drug discovery and drug development. Eminent panelists will share their vision of future enabling technologies and business models that will increase return on research and development investment and help reshape the industry.
Roundtable participants include:
-- Dr. Noubar Afeyan, Managing Director and CEO of Flagship Ventures, technologist and entrepreneur who has founded and helped build several successful life science and technology startups
-- Dr. Frank Douglas, Executive Director of the Center for Biomedical Innovation at MIT and former Executive Vice President and member of the Board of Management of Aventis
-- Dr. Nick Saccomano, Senior Vice President Research Technology, Pfizer Global R&D and leader of the organization's Research Technology Center in Cambridge
-- Dr. Phillip A. Sharp, Nobel Prize winner, Founding Director of the McGovern Institute for Brain Research at MIT, Professor at MIT, and co-founder of Biogen, Inc. and Alnyam Pharmaceuticals
The MBC had previously announced that the keynote address entitled Enabling Technologies: Personalized Genome Sequencing & Synthesis will be given by George M. Church, Ph.D., Professor of Genetics at Harvard Medical School and Director of the Lipper Center for Computational Genetics. In addition, the daylong symposium will also include a number of scientific panels that will offer in-depth analysis and discussions on the technologies critical to growth and success of the industry. Sessions include:
-- Molecules to Models: Technologies for Assessing Function
Participants include:
-- Ben Askew, Ph.D., Director, Chemistry, Serono Research
Institute
-- Mark Boguski, MD, Ph.D., Genome & Proteome Sciences, Novartis
Institute for Biomedical Research (NIBR)
-- Kevin Hrusovsky, President & CEO, Caliper Life Sciences
-- Peter Lansbury, Jr. Ph.D., Professor of Neurology, Harvard
Medical School
-- The Engineering/Biology Interface: From Discovery to Manufacturing
Participants include:
-- John Bishop, Ph.D., Vice President, Pharmaceutical Sciences &
Manufacturing, Momenta Pharmaceuticals
-- Drew Endy, Ph.D., Asst. Professor, Biological Engineering
Division, MIT
-- Marcel Margulies, Ph.D., Vice President of Engineering, 454
Life Sciences
-- W. Grant McGimpsey, Ph.D., Director, WPI Bioengineering
Institute (BEI) and Professor, WPI Department of Chemistry and
Biochemistry Worcester Polytechnic Institute
-- Peter Moesta, Ph.D., Divisional Vice President, Biologics
Manufacturing, Abbott Laboratories
-- Molecules to Models: Improving the Odds of Success
Participants include:
-- Roderick V. Jensen, Alton Brann Distinguished Professor of
Physics, Biology and Mathematics and Director, Center for
Environmental Health, Science and Technology, University of
Massachusetts Boston
-- Brian Moyer, Director, Clinical Sciences, Certus
International and Certus Imaging, LLC
-- Pieter Muntendam, MD, CEO, BG Medicine
-- Rick Woychik, Ph.D., Director, The Jackson Laboratory
-- Tapping the Data Mine
Participants include:
-- Rainer Fuchs, Ph.D., Vice President, Research Informatics and
Operations, Biogen Idec
-- Simon Kasif, Ph.D., Professor, Biomedical Engineering, Center
for Advanced Genomic Technology, Computational Genomics
Laboratory, Boston University
-- Isaac Kohane, MD, Ph.D., Associate Professor of Pediatrics;
Health Science and Technology (HMS) Director, Children's
Hospital Informatics Program Associate Director, Center for
Genetic Epidemiology (BWH) Co-Director of the HST
Bioinformatics and Integrative Genomics training program
Director of Bioinformatics, HPCGG
-- Stanley Letovsky, Ph.D., Senior Director of Computational
Sciences, Millennium Pharmaceuticals & Adjunct Professor of
Bioinformatics, Boston University
-- Eric Neumann, Ph.D., Senior Director Product Strategy,
Teranode
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