Program
Thursday, 28 August 2025
Marjo Kaartinen, Rector, University of Turku
Opening words and presentation of the Elias Tillandz publication prize
KEYNOTE LECTURE
Nathanael S. Gray, Stanford University, USA
Molecular glues to induce cancer cell death
SESSION I – DRUG DISCOVERY TECHNOLOGIEGS
Chairs: Olli Pentikäinen and Paola Moyano Gómez
Christian Heinis, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland
Development of cyclic peptides for oral administration
Pankaj Singh, University of Turku, Finland
MDisco: Platform for rational macrocycle discovery
Francesca E. Morreale, The Francis Crick Institute, UK
Hijacking protein degradation in bacteria
Laura Kauppi, University of Turku, Finland
Protein stability sensing probes for early-stage drug discovery
Jelena Gnjatovic, University of Turku, Finland
Novel solutions for improved B cell lymphoma disease models and treatment
SESSION II – DRUG DISCOVERY TECHNOLOGIES
Chairs: Reko Leino and Jessica Rosenholm
Carmen Galan, University of Bristol, UK
Sweet solutions to tackle antimicrobial resistance: Towards the development of new glycan-based diagnostic tools
Hélder A. Santos, University Medical Center Groningen; University of Groningen, The Netherlands
Polysaccharide-based nanoformulations for myocardium infarction therapy: RNA-applications for mending the broken hearts
Mikko Airavaara, University of Helsinki, Finland
Phenotypic in vitro modeling of Parkinson’s for drug development
Teemu Junttila, Genentech, Research Oncology, USA
Synthetic immunity through T Cell bispecifics: overcoming barriers in solid tumor targeting
Friday, 29 August 2025
SESSION III – OVERCOMING VALLEY OF DEATH
Chairs: Jukka Westermarck and Phuong Doan
Richard Marais, Oncodrug Ltd, UK
Setting up a biotech company after 35 years in academia
Silvia Marsoni, IFOM ETS The AIRC Institute of Molecular Oncology, Italy
Timing is everything: Can understanding tumor biology help overcome the drug development dead zone?
Kiesha Rice, Misvik Biology, Finland
Pan-cancer ex vivo trials illuminate responses to novel drugs
Maarit Merla, Finnish Drug Discovery Center Ltd, Finland
Turning innovations into successful products – with Finnish Drug Discovery Center
SESSION IV – CLINICAL DRUG DEVELOPMENT
Chairs: Maija Hollmén and Laura Airas
Anniina Färkkilä, University of Helsinki, Finland
Harnessing spatial biology for advancing precision medicine
Parul Singh, University of Turku, Finland
Charting HNSCC vulnerabilities using molecular and functional profiling
Saara Koskela, University of Turku, Finland
Immunotherapy prognostication biomarkers at the dendritic cell – CD8+ T cell interface
Petri Bono, Faron Pharmaceuticals, Finland
Targeting immunosuppression in cancer: Bexmarilimab phase 2 results
David Leppert, University Hospital Basel, Switzerland
Biomarkers in drug development: getting more for less
Original artwork by Tinni Snåre