JD Alvarez, MD, PhD is a medical pathologist with over 17 years of experience in oncology drug development. He is currently the Global Head of Companion Diagnostics at Daiichi Sankyo. His team delivers companion diagnostics for all R&D projects. Dr Alvarez previously held leadership roles at GSK and Janssen where his teams developed multiple companion diagnostics critical for oncology drug approvals. Dr Alvarez has also led biomarker laboratories supporting all phases of pharmaceutical discovery and clinical development and driven innovative approaches like digital pathology and liquid biopsy technologies to advance biomarker science. Dr Alvarez obtained an MD and a PhD from the Washington University School of Medicine and completed pathology training at the Hospital of the University of Pennsylvania.

Sarah Warren, PhD is a Senior Director in Corporate Development at Gilead Science where she leads Search & Evaluation for the Kite cell therapy pipeline. Prior to joining Kite in 2022, she built and led the Translational Sciences team at NanoString technologies working on multiplexed RNA and spatial biology platforms for diagnostic and research applications, and she collaborated with investigators across academia, biopharma, nonprofit, and government. She got her start in industry and a founder and Director of Research at Oncofactor Corp, developing therapeutics targeting novel immune checkpoints. Dr. Warren received her PhD in immunology from the University of Washington. She serves as a director-at-large for the Society of Immunotherapy of Cancer, is a mentor for the Creative Destruction Labs computational health stream, and is a section editor for Molecular Pathology at the Journal of Translational Science.

As Chief Medical Officer of Signant Health, Dawie’s deep expertise across multiple therapeutic areas, multinational development leadership, and experience in associated commercial growth support the expanding impact of the Signant Science and Medical team. With over twenty years of experience combining medicine and business, Dawie oversees Signant's scientific and operational strategies.

Kali is a board-certified fellowship-trained ophthalmologist/cornea surgeon, physician scientist and pharmaceutical industry (CMO/clinical development) executive with a career spanning >30 years in Ophthalmology. She has a decade of clinical practice (7 years in academia and 3 years in private practice). Also, a decade in academia and lab research (PhD /post doc in glaucoma/faculty set up own stem cell therapy lab) in Ophtha & CNS neurodegenerative diseases (inherited retinal dystrophies, glaucoma, Parkinson’s disease, cerebellar ataxia) & ocular surface stem cells; assistant professor of ophthalmology at Univ of Pennsylvania for 4 years. The last >11 years, she has been leading as Chief Medical Officer or Clinical development expert multiple clinical trials for gene therapy, cell therapy & LMW programs in inherited retinal dystrophies, age related macular degeneration, ocular surface diseases & glaucoma, strategy, pipeline building and evaluations of companies (DD) in Pharma at Novartis for >8 years and Biotech (Tenpoint, Adverum Biotechnologies,  Diorasis Therapeutics) for >3 years. Currently, she is the principal of Innoviama consulting company, working as fractional CMO for Diorasis Therapeutics, evaluating companies for Venture Capital companies and in relevant projects. She has also completed a business post-bac degree at Wharton U Penn with MBA courses. Kali lives in the Boston area with her husband and is passionate about traveling, swimming, sailing, and dancing.

Victor Goldmacher, CSO of ImmuVia Inc., was a faculty member at Harvard Medical School/DFCI before joining ImmunoGen as a founding scientist. During his 30-year tenure at ImmunoGen, he spearheaded the discovery of three FDA-approved anti-cancer biologics—Kadcyla, Sarclisa, and Elahere—revolutionizing the ADC field and discovered the two major cell death suppressors encoded by Cytomegalovirus. After leaving ImmunoGen and recognizing the central limitations of ADCs, he co-founded ImmuVia, where he has led the development of the next generation of anti-cancer therapeutics beyond ADCs, Cancerlysins TM . ImmuVia’s first drug candidate, IMV-M, demonstrated that selective induction of apoptosis without cytotoxic compounds is possible, paving the way for a groundbreaking new class of therapeutics.

Andrew K Joe, MD joined Mestag Therapeutics as the Chief Medical Officer and current Advisor responsible for the oversight of clinical and regulatory strategy and execution. Prior to Mestag, Dr Joe was the CMO of Meris NV, where he led the development of BIZENGRI® for the treatment of NRG1+ lung cancer and pancreatic cancer, resulting in Merus’ first Biologics License Application approval by the FDA and two Breakthrough Therapy Designations. He also led the development of petosemtamab in head and neck cancer and opened two registrational randomized Phase 3 trials, after completing Phase 1/2 trials and receiving Breakthrough Therapy Designation. Prior to Merus, Dr Joe led the Immuno-Oncology program at Sanofi which included co-development of LIBTAYO® with Regeneron in skin, lung and other cancers. Dr Joe was an Executive Director at Merck, Sharp & Dohme Corp where he led the KEYTRUDA® New Indications Development Team in obtaining the first tumor histology-agnostic drug approval, in Microsatellite Instability-High (MSI-H) cancer, and the first immuno-oncology drug approval in a gynecological malignancy (cervical cancer). Prior to Merck, he was a Senior Medical Director on the ZYKADIA® in ALK+ lung cancer development team at Novartis Pharmaceuticals, as well as an Associate Medical Director and Medical Director on the ZELBORAF® in BRAF-mutant melanoma development team at Hoffman-La Roche. Prior to industry, he was an Assistant Professor of Medicine at Columbia University Irving Medical Center, where he maintains a faculty appointment. Dr Joe earned his MD from Mount Sinai School of Medicine in New York, and he received his BS from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Elizabeth George is Head of Patient Diversity at Labcorp and leads a team focused on advancing health equity leveraging Labcorp’s expertise with diagnostics, clinical trial recruitment and data. Ms George is passionate about enabling equitable outcomes for underserved populations by increasing access to clinical trials, therapeutics, diagnostics, and screening. She has led strategies and solutions to ensure science guides the selection of clinical trial participants at Labcorp and GSK.

Ms George is a strategic leader with proven experience leading large cross functional digital transformational initiatives to transform clinical trials. She has a deep knowledge of pharmaceutical R&D processes and her expertise spans leading and developing transformative business strategies and managing all phases of project lifecycle from conception through product launch. Ms George is a thought leader and has been invited to speak at numerous conferences.

Matt Reaney has spent much of his life in and around the healthcare system. He is a son, spouse and parent of remarkably resilient people who live with chronic diseases that involve significant self-management, and he is passionate about helping them use their voices to inform healthcare decisions. It was with this in mind that he embarked on his first role in Patient-Centered care and Patient-focused research more than 20 years ago. He has held positions in pharmaceutical companies, universities, charities, consultancies and hospitals since – sometimes simultaneously – advocating for the patient voice to be heard in intervention design and testing, and in clinical care decision-making.

In his role at IQVIA, Matt sets scientific direction for the Patient Centered Solutions team and oversees a variety of qualitative and quantitative research projects and patient-focused communication activities. Alongside this role, Matt maintains a variety of other positions including Expert in Residence at the University of Oxford, Scientific Advisory Council member at Breakthrough T1D, Co-chair of the Study Endpoints Committee at the DIA and Guest Lecturer at the Royal Holloway University of London. He is a Chartered and Practitioner Health Psychologist and a Chartered Scientist. He has a PhD and MSc in Health Psychology and a BSc in Psychology and has been awarded a Fellowship by the Royal Society of Medicine, a Fellowship by the Royal Society of Public Health, and an Associate Fellowship by the British Psychological Society.

Jade Dennis is a global clinical development leader with 25 years experience across Phase I-IV trials within Pharma/Biotech with a focus on co- designing clinical research with patients and HCPs, enabled via innovative approaches to trial design and AI/ML powered data insights.

Nick Langevin is a regulatory affairs strategy leader with more than 25 years’ experience in medical device and pharmaceutical product development. At Boehringer Ingelheim, Nick works with cross-functional teams to bring new therapeutic options to those living with ophthalmology and mental health conditions.

Nick’s past roles include United States region regulatory lead and several positions within toxicology, project management, manufacturing and quality assurance. He holds a MS in Biology, is an alumnus of the University of California San Francisco Regulatory Sciences program, and is certified as a regulatory professional by the Regulatory Affairs Professional Society and as a project manager by the Project Management Institute.

In terms of patient-centric medical development, there have been many career-shaping influences for Nick. Starting in the 2010s, the rise of the PFDD meeting series from FDA and Advocacy Groups represented a true shift in thinking. Upon joining Boehringer Ingelheim in 2020, seeing patient focus segments at the beginning of project and departmental meetings provided motivation and purpose to his work. Attending a Patients as Partners meeting in 2022, hearing Jen Horenjeff speak about patient-centeredness with such energy and passion only fueled his fire more. Colleagues such as Keri Yale have had a significant impact on realizing how we (medical product developers) can truly think with the patient in mind throughout the product lifecycle, actively listening to them and actually incorporating what we hear into the project and the product.

Dr Rohini Sen is a dedicated advocate for patient experience data (PED) with over a decade of expertise in patientcentered outcomes research, especially within oncology and rare diseases. As the Director of Patient Centered Outcomes Research (PCOR) Oncology HEOR at AbbVie, she spearheads cross-functional collaboration to weave patient insights into the oncology drug development fabric. Rohini’s commitment to prioritizing patients was recently recognized with the prestigious AbbVie CAN Impact Award, celebrating her success in integrating PED early in oncology trials. She has an impressive track record of creating innovative clinical outcome assessments (COAs) that enhance patient engagement and facilitate productive FDA and EMA regulatory interactions.

As an active participant and presenter at renowned conferences such as DIA, ISOQOL and ISPOR, Rohini champions the pivotal role of PED in drug development. Her professional journey includes influential roles at Takeda Pharmaceuticals, where she served as Associate Director of Global Evidence and Outcomes for Rare Diseases and Neuroscience. She holds a PhD in Psychometrics and an M.S. in Statistics from the University of Connecticut, alongside a BS in Mathematics from Bryn Mawr College. Her research interests span sensor-based digital endpoints, psychometrics, observational research, real-world evidence and instrument design.

Rohini’s unwavering dedication focuses on advancing the generation of PED in alignment with evolving industry standards and trends.

Hollie Schmidt is the Vice President of Scientific Operations at Accelerated Cure Project for Multiple Sclerosis. She cochairs the Research Committee of iConquerMS, a virtual participatory research network for MS established to perform and support patient-centered research in MS. In this role she works to promote patient engagement throughout the research process and to develop research collaborations on topics of interest to people with MS. She founded and leads the MS Minority Research Engagement Partnership Network, a multi-stakeholder initiative aimed at promoting racial and ethnic diversity in MS research studies, and is the co-leader of the iConquerMS RIDE (Research Inclusion, Diversity and Equity) Council.

Hollie has an MS in Management, as well as a BS and MS in Materials Science and Engineering, all from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She serves on the Institutional Review Board of Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center, is a board member for the International FOP Association, and is Secretary for the Multiple Sclerosis Coalition. Before joining Accelerated Cure Project, Hollie’s endeavors included co-founding two software companies where she gained an appreciation of the imperative to center new product designs on the needs and preferences of the end user. She brings an entrepreneurial spirit and a love of discovery, collaboration and inclusivity to solving problems and achieving breakthroughs in partnership with the MS community.