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
Title TBA
SESSION I – DRUG DISCOVERY TECHNOLOGIEGS
Christian Heinis, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne, Switzerland
Development of cyclic peptides for oral administration
Francesca E. Morreale, The Francis Crick Institute, UK
Hijacking protein degradation in bacteria
SESSION II – DRUG DISCOVERY TECHNOLOGIES
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
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
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?
Maarit Merla, Finnish Drug Discovery Center Ltd, Finland
Turning innovations into successful products – with Finnish Drug Discovery Center
SESSION IV – CLINICAL DRUG DEVELOPMENT
Anniina Färkkilä, University of Helsinki, Finland
Harnessing spatial biology for advancing precision medicine
David Leppert, University Hospital Basel, Switzerland
Biomarkers in drug development: getting more for less
Original artwork by Tinni Snåre