We are happy to announce the seven following renowned experts attending the 7th Edition of BBMS on the 6th of March, 2015.
Fàtima Bosch i Tubert
Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Director of the Centre of Animal Biotechnology and Gene Therapy at the Universitat Autònoma Barcelona (Spain)
Founding member of the European Society of Gene and Cell Therapy
Previously Vice-President of the European Association for the Study of Diabetes
Professor Bosch I Tubert’s research focuses on the pathophysiological causes of diabetes mellitus using transgenic animal models, and development of gene therapy approaches for this disease by in vivo tissue genetic manipulation. She is also editor of the Human Gene Therapy magazine, and member of the American Diabetes Association, American Gene Therapy Society, Spanish Gene Therapy Society and Molecular Biology Society.
Fabien Calvo
Chief Scientific Officer of Cancer Core Europe
Professor of Pharmacology at University of Paris Diderot Medical School
Physician at Saint Louis Hospital Paris
Previously Deputy Director General of the French National Cancer Intitute
Previously Director of National Alliance for Life Sciences and Health
Professor Calvo was recently named the chief scientific officer of Cancer Core Europe, a consortium of six leading European cancer centres, located in Paris, Stockholm (Karolinska), Barcelona, Amsterdam (NKI) and Heidelberg (DKFZ), as well as the Cambridge Cancer Centre. He has held further leadership positions in cancer institutes in France and Europe, and helped to launch the International Cancer Genome Consortium, a global initiative to catalogue the genetic code of 50 different cancers.
Stephen Friend
President and Co-founder of Sage Bionetworks
Previously Senior Vice President and Franchise Head for Oncology Research at Merck
Co-founded Rosetta InPharmatics and founded and co-led the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center’s “Seattle Project”
Dr. Friend co-founded Sage Bionetworks, a non-profit organization that provides the tools and environment to conduct dynamic, large-scale collaborative biomedical research. Particularly, Sage Bionetworks aims at engaging all stakeholders, especially the patients, by building tools to allow them to contribute their data and expertise. He has also been named Ashoka Fellow by Ashoka: Innovators for the Public.
Thomas Insel
Director of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH), NIH (US)
Fellow of the American College of Neuropsychopharmacology
Founded the Center for Behavioral Neuroscience and NIH-funded Center for Autism Research
Dr. Insel is Director of the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) and has overseen groundbreaking findings in the areas of practical clinical trials, autism research, and the role of genetics in mental illnesses during his tenure. He is also a member of the Institute of Medicine and is recipient of several awards including the Outstanding Service Award from the U.S. Public Health Service.
Chris Lowe, OBE
Professor of Biotechnology and Director of the Institute of Biotechnology, University of Cambridge, UK
Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering, the Royal Society of Chemistry and Institute of Physics
Professor Lowe leads a multidisciplinary group working on biopharmaceuticals, the development of novel biosensors and diagnostics, ageing and medical microbiology. He has been awarded the title of ‘Most Entrepreneurial Scientist of the UK’ and ‘BBSRC Commercial Innovator of the Year’ in 2011. He has also established 10 spin-out companies, including ProMetic BioSciences, Purely Proteins, Affinity Sensors, Ceroma, Smart Holograms, Psynova Neurotech and BioJo.
Joan Taylor
Professor of Pharmaceutics at the De Montfort University.
Member of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain and the General Pharmaceutical Council. Winner of the British Inventor of the Year’14 award (Gadget Show Live).
Professor Taylor has led the development of a fully implantable artificial pancreas for the treatment of insulin dependent diabetes and the setting up of an exercise physiology lab in DMU for the study of exercise physiology in diabetes patients. The artificial pancreas – a device featured in The Incredible Bionic Man (2013 documentary on US television and London Science Museum display) – is due to enter human trials in the next 5 years as a safe, simple, and inexpensive alternative to daily insulin injections.
Billy Boyle
Co-Founder and President of Operation, Owlstone
Dr Boyle co-founded Owlstone Nanotech Ltd in 2004. Owlstone specializes in revolutionary micro- and nanofabrication technologies for detection of minute quantities of chemical substances with applications in medicine, diagnosis, defense and industrial process control. He manages the creation and realisation of new technologies and IP for Owlstone. Dr Boyle is also active in social media and communication of Owlstone’s technology and its societal impact.