Dr. Martin Brenner, DVM, Ph.D. is Chief Executive Officer and Chief Scientific Officer of iBio ( https://ibioinc.com/team/martin-brenner-dvm-ph-d/ ), a biote…

Dr. Sean Tucker, Ph.D. is the Founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Vaxart Inc. ( https://vaxart.com/ ), a clinical-stage biotechnology company developing…

Dr. Jessica Sacher, Ph.D. is Co-Founder of Phage Directory ( https://phage.directory/ ), a global network of phage researchers from more than 80 countries, w…

Dr. Marianne Holm, MD, Ph.D. is Vice President of the Infectious Diseases Program area, at the Novo Nordisk Foundation ( https://novonordiskfonden.dk/en/ ) w…

Dr. Laura Aguilar, MD, Ph.D. is Chief Medical Officer at Diakonos Oncology ( https://www.diakonosoncology.com/ ), a clinical stage immuno-oncology company de…

Science, Policy And Advocacy For Impactful And Sustainable Health Ecosystems — Dr. Catharine Young, Ph.D. — fmr. Assistant Director of Cancer Moonshot Policy and International Engagement, White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (OSTP)

Dr. Catharine Young, Ph.D. recently served as Assistant Director of Cancer Moonshot Policy and International Engagement at the White House Office of Science and Technology Policy (https://www.whitehouse.gov/ostp/) where she served at OSTP to advance the Cancer Moonshot (https://www.cancer.gov/research/key-i… with a mission to decrease the number of cancer deaths by 50% over the next 25 years.

Dr. Young’s varied career has spanned a variety of sectors including academia, non-profit, biotech, and foreign government, all with a focus on advancing science.

Dr. Young previously served as Executive Director of the SHEPHERD Foundation, where she championed rare cancer research and drove critical policy changes. Her work has also included fostering interdisciplinary collaborations and advancing the use of AI, data sharing, and clinical trial reform to accelerate cancer breakthroughs.

Dr. Young’s leadership in diplomacy and innovation includes roles such as Senior Director of Science Policy at the Biden Cancer Initiative and Senior Science and Innovation Policy Advisor at the British Embassy, where she facilitated international agreements to enhance research collaborations.

Molecular Nutrition In Health, Well-Being & Longevity — Dr. Courtney Millar, Ph.D. — Marcus Institute For Aging Research, Hebrew SeniorLife / Harvard Medical School

Dr. Courtney Millar, Ph.D. (https://www.marcusinstituteforaging.org/who-we-are/profiles/courtney-millar-phd) is an Assistant Scientist at the Hinda and Arthur Marcus Institute for Aging Research, Hebrew SeniorLife, and Instructor in Medicine, Harvard Medical School and Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center.

Dr. Millar is a research scientist devoted to improving health and well-being of older adults through dietary interventions and her current research aims to test the ability of anti-inflammatory dietary strategies that promote both physical and emotional well-being in older adults.

Dr. Millar received her PhD in molecular nutrition at the University of Connecticut, where she developed a deep understanding of the relationship between dietary bioactive components and metabolic disease.

Dr. Millar’s post-doctoral fellowship focused on training related to conducting both nutritional epidemiological analyses and clinical interventions.

Lessening the severity and impact of influenza — dr. gregg C sylvester, MD — chief health officer, CSL seqirus.

Dr. Gregg Sylvester, MD is Chief Health Officer and Vice President, Medical Affairs, at CSL Seqirus (https://www.cslseqirus.us/our-company/leadership/gregg–… one of the world’s largest influenza vaccine companies.

Dr. Sylvester has led CSL Seqirus Medical Affairs since 2016, overseeing the global team that scientifically differentiates company’s vaccines by generating Real World Evidence and presenting CSL Seqirus research to national vaccine recommending organizations.

Dr. Sylvester has extensive experience in the pharmaceutical industry, government and patient care.

Prior to joining CSL Seqirus, Dr. Sylvester led Medical Affairs teams at Pfizer and Merck involved in the worldwide launches of vaccines including Gardasil (Human Papillomavirus Vaccine), Prevnar 13 (Pneumococcal Conjugate Vaccine) and Trumenba (Meningococcal Group B Vaccine).

Microbes, Ecology And Medicine — Dr. Sean M. Gibbons, Ph.D. — Associate Professor, Institute for Systems Biology (ISB)

Dr. Sean Gibbons, Ph.D. is Associate Professor at the Institute for Systems Biology (ISB — https://isbscience.org/people/sean-gibbons-phd/?tab=biography where his lab investigates how the structure and composition of evolving ecological networks of microorganisms change across environmental gradients, with a specific focus on how ecological communities in the gut change and adapt to individual people over their lifespans (i.e. host genotype, host development and host behavior) and how these changes impact human health (https://gibbons.isbscience.org/). His lab develops computational and experimental tools for investigating host-associated microbial communities to explore the interactions between ecology, evolution and ecosystem function, applying these insights to develop personalized interventions for improving human health and well-being.

Dr. Gibbons received his PhD in biophysical sciences from the University of Chicago in 2015, dual-advised by Jack Gilbert and Maureen Coleman. His graduate work focused on using microbial communities as empirical models for testing ecological theory.

Dr. Gibbons completed his postdoctoral training in Eric Alm’s laboratory in the Department of Biological Engineering at MIT from 2015–2018. His postdoctoral work focused on developing techniques to quantify individual-specific eco-evolutionary dynamics within the human gut microbiome.

Dr. Gibbons was awarded a Fulbright Graduate Fellowship to study microbiology and synthetic biology at Uppsala University in Sweden, where he earned a master’s degree in 2010. His PhD work was supported by an EPA STAR Graduate Fellowship. Upon joining the ISB faculty in 2018, his startup package was supported, in part, by a Washington Research Foundation Distinguished Investigator Award.

Controlling Sepsis, ARDS And Other Life Threatening Inflammatory Diseases — Prof. Dr. Niels Riedemann, MD, Ph.D. — CEO, InflaRx

Prof. Dr. Niels Riedemann, MD, Ph.D. is Chief Executive Officer and Founder of InflaRx (https://www.inflarx.de/Home/About-Inflarx/Team~Niels-C.-Riedemann~.h… a biopharmaceutical company focused on applying its proprietary anti-C5a and C5aR inhibitors to the treatment of life-threatening or debilitating inflammatory diseases with high unmet medical need.

Prof. Dr. Riedemann has over 15 years of experience in the biotech industry and drug development, as well as over 20 years of experience in complement immunology research. He founded InflaRx in 2007 and has served as Chief Executive Officer since inception of the company. He has been instrumental in and led numerous private and public financing rounds of the company and has been the responsible lead for its Nasdaq IPO in 2017. He is named inventor on several internationally granted core patents of InflaRx.

As physician, Prof. Dr. Riedemann was appointed Vice Director (“Leitender Oberarzt”) of Intensive Care Medicine, and led a 50-bed University ICU unit for over 6 years at Friedrich Schiller University, Jena, Germany until 2015. Before that, he received his board certification as General Surgeon upon completion of his surgical fellowship at MHH (Hannover Medical School, Germany) in 2007 where he also received his habilitation (equivalent to Ph.D.) and where he still holds an Adjunct Professorship (APL Professor). He spent three years as postdoctoral research fellow at the University of Michigan, USA until 2003. He received his medical training at Albert Ludwig University (ALU), Freiburg, Germany, and Stanford University, USA and graduated as Dr. med. (equivalent to M.D.) from ALU in 1998.

Prof. Dr. Riedemann’s research has been awarded with several national and international awards. He has received extensive extra-mural funding and published over 60 peer reviewed scientific publications in highly ranked journals. He has served as a member on a Board of Directors and a Scientific Advisory Board of two large scientific governmental funded programs. He currently serves as Co-Chair of the Health Politics working group of Bio-Deutschland and he serves as member of the board of trustees for the German Sepsis Foundation.