Pharmaceutical companies are undergoing a digital transformation. By experimenting with new initiatives, they are positioned to play a role in the revolution of healthcare. This transformation is driven by data from internal and external sources, including
both -omic data and that from digital devices. Bio-IT World WEST, part of Molecular Medicine Tri-Conference, brings together all the stakeholders involved in this transformation. Your registration includes the option to track-hop
to the other programs at the Molecular Med TRI-CON as well as the Hackathon, plenary keynote, exhibit/poster hall, and more!
Machine learning, specifically for drug discovery and development, is highly data-intensive with disparate types of data being generated that have historically been trial-and-error processes. Deep learning, machine learning (ML) and artificial intelligence
(AI), coupled with correct data, have the potential to make these processes less error-prone and increase the likelihood of success from drug discovery to the real-world setting. The AI-Enabled Drug Discovery and Development conference
will discuss lessons learned from case studies as well as challenges that lay ahead.
Final Agenda
Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Download Brochure
Sunday, March 1
2:00 - 5:00 pm Afternoon Short Courses*
*Separate registration required
5:30 - 8:30 Dinner Short Courses*
*Separate registration required
Monday, March 2
8:00 - 11:00 am Morning Short Courses*
*Separate registration required
10:30 Conference Program Registration Open
(please see Keynotes page for details)
11:45 Organizer’s Opening Remarks
Cindy Crowninshield, RDN, LDN, HHC, Executive Event Director, Cambridge Healthtech Institute
11:50 Chairperson’s Remarks
Allison Proffitt, Editorial Director, Bio-IT World
11:55 Keynote Introduction, Benchling
Ashoka Rajendra, Head, Product, Registry, Inventory, Benchling
12:10 pm KEYNOTE PRESENTATION: The AI Bubble and the Emerging Thinking Economy
Pietro Michelucci, PhD, Director, Human Computation Institute
This presentation presents a realistic assessment of the “AI bubble” – where there is value, where there is hype, and how human-in-the-loop computing gives us futuristic AI capabilities today that co-evolve with AI technology
and even help improve AI.
12:40 PANEL DISCUSSION: Data Quality in Human Computation Systems
Is today’s artificial intelligence fervor based on hype or is it happening? We’ve seen some amazing results from AI-based systems, fueled by increases in processing speed that render traditional applications finally practicable. At
the same time, powerful new techniques are emerging including fruitful human/AI partnerships and recent successes based on combining crowdsourcing with machine learning. These new methods dovetail nicely with special challenges posed by precision
medicine, often entailing complex interdependencies among data acquisition, analysis, privacy, and ethics. That said, they also introduce a new set of challenges as we navigate issues of transparency, trust, and reliability where automated
systems are involved. This panel will discuss recent work in online collective systems that combine human and machine-based information processing in the biomedical space, how these systems could be applied to precision medicine, and how to
avoid some of the potential pitfalls associated with these approaches. We also discuss an information processing ecosystem designed to accelerate precision medicine research while mitigating associated complexity and resource needs.
Moderator: Allison Proffitt, Editorial Director, Bio-IT World
Panelists: Jennifer Couch, PhD, Chief, Structural Biology and Molecular Applications Branch, Division of Cancer Biology
and Citizen Science Coordinator, National Cancer Institute
Devin Krotman, Director, IBM Watson AI XPRIZE
Vani Mandava, Director, Data Science Outreach, Microsoft Research
Pietro Michelucci, PhD, Director, Human Computation Institute
Ginger Tsueng, PhD,
Scientific Outreach Project Manager, Department of Integrative, Structural and Computational Biology, The Scripps Research Institute
1:30 Bio-IT World WEST Luncheon Presentation: Accelerating the Exchange of Data in Healthcare and Life Sciences
Fred Lee, MD, MPH, Head of Health Care, Life Sciences Business Development, AWS Data Exchange, AWS
Predictive models and algorithms in healthcare and life sciences (HCLS) have emerged from the combination of patient data and advanced analytics. With machine learning and AI technologies becoming commoditized, scalable access to patient data
now throttles the build of such predictive analytics. We will discuss how the AWS Data Exchange, as a digital marketplace for data, addresses this ‘data bottleneck’ by accelerating data exchange in a regulatory compliant, economically
sustainable, and cloud-native manner.
2:05 Session Break
2:20 Chairperson’s Remarks
Michael D. Miller, Head of Science Infrastructure, Roche
2:25 AI and Computer-Aided Drug Discovery: the Hype, the Myth, the Legend
José Duca, PhD, Global Head, Computer-Aided Drug Discovery, Novartis
3:10 PANEL DISCUSSION: AI in Genomics and Precision Medicine
The AI-Enabled Drug Discovery and Development conference assembles thought leaders who will discuss Genomics and Precision Medicine, taking data from multiple -omics sources, imaging, and lifestyle data and aligning it with clinical action.
These can then be turned into clinical recommendations for disease prevention, prognosis, diagnostics, and therapeutics. Machine learning gives us the power to extract elusive indicators from the ever-increasing volume of heath information.
This information also gives us the power to make patient clusters, well beyond single etiology or prognostic indicators, and the panelists will present the promise and application of these multifactorial approaches toward curing or treating
diseases and cancers.
Moderator: Ben Busby, PhD, Principal
Scientist, DNANexus, Mountain Genomics, consultant to Johns Hopkins
University (opencravat project)
Panelists: Jenny Smith, MSc, MEd, Research Bioinformatician, Clinical Research Division, Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center
Lukasz Kidzinski, PhD, CTO, Saliency.ai, Researcher, Stanford University
Celeste Shelton, PhD, CGC, Clinical Variant Scientist & Genetic Counselor, Ariel Precision Medicine
4:25 Refreshment Break and Transition to Plenary Keynote
(please see Keynotes page for details)
4:35 Welcome Remarks
Cindy Crowninshield, RDN, LDN, HHC, Executive Event Director, Cambridge Healthtech Institute
4:45 PLENARY KEYNOTE INTRODUCTION
Thomas Westerling-Bui, PhD, Senior Scientist, Regional Business Development, Aiforia
5:00 PLENARY KEYNOTE PRESENTATION: High-Performance Medicine
Eric Topol, MD, Founder and Director, Scripps Research Translational Institute (SRTI); Author, Deep Medicine: How Artificial
Intelligence Can Make Healthcare Human Again
6:00 Grand Opening Reception in the Exhibit Hall with Poster Viewing, Speed Networking, Book Signing, and Meetup Group
7:30 End of Day
Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Download Brochure
Tuesday, March 3
7:30 am Registration Open and Morning Coffee
(please see Keynotes page for details)
8:00 Organizer’s Remarks
Cindy Crowninshield, RDN, LDN, HHC, Executive Event Director, Cambridge Healthtech Institute
8:05 NEW: Chairperson’s Remarks
Annastasiah Mudiwa Mhaka, PhD, Founder and Principal, Mawambo Lifesciences; Co-Founder, Convenor and Former President, Alliance for AI in Healthcare (AAIH)
8:10 Keynote Sponsor Introduction
Vasu Rangadass, President, CEO, L7 Informatics, Inc.
8:25 KEYNOTE PRESENTATION: AI and Big Data Strategies in Accelerating Clinical Research for Faster Rare Disease Cures
Harsha Rajasimha, MS, PhD, Founder, Jeeva Informatics Solutions, Inc.; Founder and Chairman, IndoUSrare; Co-Director, Rare Diseases
Systems Biology Initiative, George Mason University
After losing a child to a rare congenital disease, Dr. Rajasimha became determined to apply his clinical genomics data research experience to develop solutions to help accelerate clinical research leading to faster cures for rare disease.
Dr. Rajasimha will discuss his efforts in fostering collaborative bridges between patient advocacy groups and researchers in the USA and their counterparts in India to help accelerate clinical research, trials, and therapy access across
borders. The talk will include recent global initiatives to accelerate screening, diagnosis, and treatments of rare and undiagnosed diseases. He will also share work on the development of an AI-driven digital health platform to improve
clinical trial operational efficiencies while significantly reducing costs and travel burden on patients.
8:55 PANEL DISCUSSION: Applications of AI Technologies in Pharmaceuticals: Facilitating Development of Therapeutics in Treating Rare Diseases
The complex research framework involving industry, academia, and government to discover and develop new therapeutic products makes drug discovery a laborious process. With rapid strides that life sciences companies are making in the fields
of gene and cell therapies, -omics technologies, and smart molecule approaches, an urgent need exists for cost-effective, time-effective, and advanced technologies to analyze large databases of information to help develop novel therapies.
Organizations are recognizing the value of AI-based platforms and tools to leverage data to find hidden drug-disease correlations. Also, structured and unstructured data can be derived from multiple sources as never before. This panel
brings senior level experts in pharma, AI-based technology, and government to discuss the role of AI platforms and tools to establish a robust pipeline as part of drug discovery portfolio and address new therapeutic areas, including rare
diseases.
NEW: Moderator: Annastasiah Mudiwa Mhaka, PhD, Founder and Principal, Mawambo Lifesciences; Co-Founder, Convenor and Former President, Alliance for AI in Healthcare (AAIH)
Panelists: Tom Defay, Senior Director, R&D Strategy and Alliances, SPMD, Strategy, Program Management and Data Sciences, Alexion
Harsha Rajasimha, MS, PhD, Founder, Jeeva Informatics Solutions, Inc.; Founder and Chairman, IndoUSrare; Co-Director, Rare Diseases Systems Biology Initiative, George Mason University
Vasu Rangadass, President, CEO, L7 Informatics, Inc.
9:40 Refreshment Break in the Exhibit Hall with Poster Viewing, Speed Networking, Book Signing, and Meetup Group
10:40 Chairperson’s Remarks
Keith L. Ligon, MD, PhD, Associate Professor, Pathology, Harvard Medical School; Associate Pathologist and Neuropathologist, Pathology; Director, DFCI Center for Patient Derived Models, Brigham and Women’s Hospital
10:45 Translating Ten Trillion Points of Data into Diagnostics, Therapies and New Insights in Health and Disease
Atul Butte, MD, PhD, Priscilla Chan and Mark Zuckerberg Distinguished Professor; Director, Bakar Computational Health Sciences Institute, University of California, San Francisco; Chief Data Scientist, University of California Health
(UC Health)
We build and apply tools that convert trillions of points of molecular, clinical, and epidemiological data – measured by researchers and clinicians over the past decade and now commonly termed “big data” – into diagnostics,
therapeutics, and new insights into disease. Dr. Butte, a computer scientist and pediatrician, will highlight his center’s recent work on integrating electronic health records data across the entire University of California, and
how analytics on this “real world data” can lead to new evidence for drug efficacy, new savings from better medication choices, and new methods to teach intelligence – real and artificial – to more precisely practice
medicine.
11:15 Using Networks to Decode Cancer Risk
John Quackenbush, PhD, Professor and Chair, Biostatistics, Harvard TH Chan School of Public Health
Precision medicine is based on the idea that single mutations can inform our understanding of disease and response to therapy. But we know that cancer is multifactorial, with many genetic variants moderating disease and disease risk. By using
network methods, we can better understand how and why cancer develops and assess disease risk.
11:45 Machine Learning-Based Patient Subgroup Identification for Precision Medicine
Jie Cheng, PhD, Director, Exploratory Statistics, Abbvie
Central to precision medicine is the ability to detect patient subgroups with differential treatment effects in clinical trial datasets. These patient subgroups are defined by clinical variables and biomarkers. We will provide a brief overview
of existing methods for patient subgroup identification and then present our novel approach. The performance of our method is evaluated against other state-of-the-art methods using both simulation and real-world clinical trial dataset
12:15 pm Session Break
12:20 LUNCHEON PRESENTATION I: A Modern Molecular LIMS Built for Precision Medicine
Nabil Hafez, MS, Senior Director, Product Management, Precision Medicine, Sunquest Information Systems
1:20 Refreshment Break in the Exhibit Hall with Poster Viewing, Speed Networking, Book Signing, and Meetup Group
2:00 Breakout Discussions in the Exhibit Hall (please click here for details)
3:00 Transition to Keynote Session
(please see Keynotes page for details)
3:15 Organizer’s Remarks
Christina Lingham, Executive Director, Conferences and Fellow, Cambridge Healthtech Institute
3:20 Keynote Introduction
Allison Mallory, PhD, Director, R&D Molecular Biology, Stilla Technologies
3:35 What Does the New Era of Genomic Medicine Look Like? Effects on Patient Care, Therapeutics, and Diagnostics
20 years after the completion of the first draft of the Human Genome Project, there is compelling evidence of genomics delivering the rich promise of precision medicine. There have been major advances in the throughput and affordability
of genome sequencing, enhanced tools for genome analysis and interpretation, new paradigms for therapeutics and strong signs of clinical benefit using genome editing. But major challenges remain. In this special plenary roundtable,
three established pioneers of genomic medicine – David Haussler, Stephen Kingsmore, and Liz Worthey – offer their insights on the extraordinary advances in genomic medicine over the past 1-2 decades and share their hopes
and concerns for the future of our field.
Moderator:
Kevin Davies, PhD, Executive Editor, The CRISPR Journal, Mary Ann Liebert, Inc.
Panelists: Stephen Kingsmore, MD, DSc, President/CEO, Rady Children’s Institute for Genomic Medicine
David Haussler, PhD, Investigator, Howard Hughes Medical Institute; Distinguished Professor, Biomolecular Engineering, University of California, Santa Cruz; Scientific Director, UC Santa Cruz Genomics Institute; Scientific Co-Director,
California Institute for Quantitative Biosciences (QB3)
Elizabeth Worthey, PhD, Director, Genomic Medicine, University of Alabama, Birmingham School of Medicine
4:50 Spring Fling Celebration in the Exhibit Hall with Poster Viewing, Speed Networking, Book Signing, and Meetup Group
6:00 End of Day
Day 1 | Day 2 | Day 3 | Download Brochure
6:30 - 9:30 Dinner Short Courses*
*Separate registration required
Wednesday, March 4
6:45 am Registration Open
7:00 BREAKFAST PANEL DISCUSSION: The Time is NOW: Creating Meaningful Change for Women in the Workplace (Sponsorship Opportunity Available)
(please see Women in Science page for details)
Moderator: Robin Toft, Author of WE CAN, The Executive Woman’s Guide to Career Advancement; Founder and Chairman, Toft Group Executive Search
Panelists: Camille Samuels, MBA, Partner, Venrock
Paul Hastings, President and CEO, Nkarta Therapeutics, Inc
Teresa L. Wright, MD, Staff Physician, Medicine, San Francisco Veterans Administration
(please see Keynotes page for details)
8:00 Organizer’s Remarks
Mana Chandhok, Conference Producer, Cambridge Healthtech Institute
8:05 Chairperson’s Remarks
Joseph Ferrara, CEO, Boston Healthcare
8:10 Keynote Introduction
Fred Lee, MD, MPH, Head, Health Care, Life Sciences Business Development, AWS Data Exchange, AWS
8:25 KEYNOTE PRESENTATION: The Value and Application of Informatics in Cancer Care Delivery
Debra A. Patt, MD, Vice President, Public Policy & Academic Affairs, Medical Oncologist, Texas Oncology Cancer Center & Editor in Chief, Journal of Clinical Oncology-Clinical Cancer Informatics
8:55 KEYNOTE PANEL DISCUSSION: Pragmatic Use of Informatics in Cancer Care Delivery and Cancer Research: Big Data and AI Take on Cancer
Moderator: Joseph Ferrara, CEO, Boston Healthcare
Panelists: Mark Hulse, Chief Digital Officer, City of Hope
Debra A. Patt, MD, Vice President, Public Policy & Academic Affairs, Medical Oncologist, Texas Oncology Cancer Center & Editor in Chief, Journal of Clinical Oncology-Clinical Cancer Informatics
Kristin Beaumont, PhD, Assistant Professor, Assistant Director of Single Cell Genomics Technology Development Icahn Institute, Dept. of Genetics & Genomic Sciences, Icahn School
Ajay Shah, PhD, Executive Director & Head of IT for Translational Medicine, Bristol-Myers Squibb
Paul A. Rejto, PhD, Vice President, Head of Translational Research, Pfizer Oncology R&D
9:40 Refreshment Break in the Exhibit Hall with Poster Viewing, Speed Networking, Book Signing, and Meetup Group
10:40 Chairperson’s Remarks
Faisal Khan, PhD, Executive Director, Advanced Analytics and AI, AstraZeneca
10:45 NEW: On the Road to Genetically Validated Targets in Kidney Diseases: Computational Challenges
Thomas Tibbitts, PhD, Senior Vice President, Computational Discovery, Goldfinch Bio
Focal segmental glomerulosclerosis (FSGS) is scarring of the kidney that can lead to kidney failure. To discover genetic variants associated with FSGS, we built the Kidney Genome Atlas (KGA 1.0), which contains whole genomes (>30X)
on 23000 individuals, including 2000 cases of FSGS and other proteinuric disorders. To efficiently process and analyze this large amount of genomic data we have implemented infrastructure and pipelines on AWS and launched a web portal
to facilitate target discovery.
11:15 NEW: PANEL DISCUSSION: Partnering for AI Startups and Pharma
Topics to be Discussed:
- Meeting expectations, what is good for both sides
- How we can facilitate the transformation of pharma R&D
- Best practices
Moderator: Annastasiah Mudiwa Mhaka, PhD, Founder and Principal, Mawambo Lifesciences; Co-Founder, Convenor and Former President, Alliance for AI in Healthcare (AAIH)
Panelists:
Joseph Szustakowski, PhD, Vice President of Translational Bioinformatics, Informatics & Predictive Sciences, Bristol-Myers Squibb
Jonathan Allen, PhD, Computational Scientist, ATOM Consortium
Christopher Willis, PhD, Lead IT Business Partner, Precision Medicine, BMS
Gini Deshpande, PhD, Founder & CEO, NuMedii, Inc.
12:00 pm NEW: PANEL DISCUSSION: Recruiting Data Scientists
Given the massive expansion of Data Science and the consequent need for experts in this area across all industries, there is a massive competition to find and source the talent required. How can we identify, recruit and retain the best
data scientists? What are the pitfalls and challenges to avoid and success stories we can learn from?
Moderator: Faisal Khan, PhD, Executive Director, Advanced Analytics and AI, AstraZeneca
Panelists: Mustaqhusain Kazi, Head of Personalized Healthcare, Pharma Informatics, Genetech
Zahra ‘Nasim’ Eftekhari, Senior Manager, Head of Applied AI and Data Science, City of Hope
José Duca, PhD, Global Head, Computer-Aided Drug Discovery, Novartis
12:15 pm Session Break
12:50 Enjoy Lunch on Your Own
1:20 Refreshment Break in the Exhibit Hall with Last Chance Poster Viewing, Speed Networking, Book Signing, and Meetup Group
2:00 Chairperson’s Remarks
Geraldine A. Van der Auwera, PhD, Director of Outreach and Communications, Data Sciences Platform, Broad Institute
2:05 Fake It ‘til You Make It (Reproducible): Synthetic Data Resources for Genomics
Geraldine A. Van der Auwera, PhD, Director of Outreach and Communications, Data Sciences Platform, Broad Institute
The computational reproducibility of published biomedical research is limited by data access restrictions, affecting not just researchers who wish to reuse published analysis code, but also tool developers and educators who lack suitable
example data for testing and training. We present: 1) a prototype pipeline that wraps established open-source data simulation tools to generate publicly shareable synthetic sequence data at any scale; and 2) a plan to develop community
resources.
2:35 Drug Targets with Genomic Support: A Genomics-based Strategic Framework for Improving Target Discovery and Accelerating Drug Development
Justin Wade Davis, PhD, ACOS Research Fellow, Director, Computational Genomics, Genomics Research Center (GRC), AbbVie
Despite strong vetting for disease activity, only 10% of candidate new molecular entities in Ph1 clinical trials are approved. Analyzing historical data, Nelson et al. 2015 concluded pipeline drug targets with human genetic evidence of
disease association are twice as likely to lead to approved drugs. We extend this using updated data, test prospectively whether genetic evidence predicts future successes, and introduce statistical models adjusting for target and
indication-level properties.
3:05 Close of Conference
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