Dr. Manfred Stapff is a physician, clinical pharmacologist, and pharmaceutical industry leader with over 30 years of experience in internal medicine, clinical research, and drug development. He has held senior roles at Merck & Co., Forest Laboratories (now Allergan), and LG Chem, specializing in clinical development, regulatory affairs, and global medical operations. As Chief Medical Officer at TriNetX, he helped build the world’s largest real-world data (RWD) research network. He is author of the book “Real World Evidence Unveiled” and host of the podcast “The Real World Evidence Perspective." His expertise spans clinical trials, drug development, regulatory affairs, quality management, and real-world studies.

Giulia Ghibellini, PhD is a leader with over 20 years of experience in drug development across multiple disciplines. Her expertise spans across early and late-stage clinical pharmacology, translational medicine, regulatory strategy, formulation development and patient engagement and advocacy. A dynamic communicator and coalition builder, she has founded nonprofits and businesses, led interdisciplinary teams, and influenced key decisions through proactive engagement with health authorities and executive stakeholders.

She has also cultivated strong advocacy experience in the disability and neurodevelopmental fields, both personally and within corporate environments. At Teva, Giulia leads the Patient Engagement Framework, a function she built from the ground up by leveraging her strategic thinking, resilience, and cross-functional leadership.

George Dorsett is Senior Vice President of Sales, Marketing and Growth at Clariness being responsible for commercial strategy, messaging and account governance. With around 12 years of experience leading commercial teams across patient recruitment and life sciences, he has worked in more than 100 indications and across 40+ countries. He is a strong advocate for fusing a patient-first approach with data-driven logic to drive better outcomes.

Dong Geng, PhD is a seasoned biopharmaceutical executive with over 27 years of experience in translational sciences and biologics development, particularly in the field of immuno-oncology. Since joining Legend Biotech in October 2018, Dr. Geng has taken on increasingly strategic leadership roles, currently overseeing global early-stage development and preclinical development.

At Legend, Dr. Geng is responsible for preclinical development, nonclinical safety, clinical pharmacology, clinical biomarker and translational medicine. She has played an instrumental role in advancing the company’s R&D pipeline from a research-centric stage to clinical stage development, helping to drive organizational growth and integration across regional and global portfolios. Dr. Geng earned her Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Boston College. Prior to joining Legend, Dr. Geng held senior scientific and leadership roles at leading biopharma companies including Johnson & Johnson, Bristol Myers Squibb, Eli Lilly, and Merck. Her career contributions include numerous successful IND submissions and BLA filings.

As CEO at Weave, Brandon Rice is responsible for setting the company’s strategy and direction, leading overall execution against those plans, and fueling the company’s growth through financing. A committed product fanatic, he also leads Product and genuinely enjoys it, viewing product as inseparable from Weave’s direction and identity as a product-first company.

Brandon has spent his career building companies with the goal of maximizing positive impact on human life through ambitious, pragmatic applications of technology to problems people care about. Along the way, he has consistently sought out and often found kindred spirits to share the journey. At Weave, he is focused on driving a radical shift in drug development by fostering an era of knowledge-driven, document-less development and communication powered by AI.

Cherika Carr is a Site Engagement Lead at AstraZeneca and a results‑driven Clinical Research Professional with 15 years of experience spanning oncology and multiple therapeutic areas. She brings proven expertise in clinical operations, site management, CRA mentorship, and regulatory compliance, developed across CROs and pharmaceutical/biotech environments. Cherika excels at leading cross‑functional clinical teams, fostering high‑performing site partnerships, and optimizing site performance to drive operational efficiencies and high‑quality trial execution. Her approach integrates data‑informed decision making with proactive risk management, ensuring timelines are met, budgets are protected, and patient safety and data integrity remain paramount.

In her current role, she advances site strategy and engagement frameworks that accelerate study start‑up, enhance enrollment, and strengthen investigator and coordinator experience. A committed mentor, Cherika cultivates CRA capability through structured coaching and best‑practice sharing, elevating consistency, and compliance across study portfolios.

Cherika holds a Master of Science in Clinical Research and Product Development and is a Certified Clinical Research Associate (CCRA). She is passionate about building collaborative ecosystems that translate scientific innovation into measurable patient impact, and she advocates for continuous improvement to streamline trial delivery and expand access to cutting‑edge therapies

Behtash Bahador is the Senior Director of Community Engagement & Partnerships at the non-profit organization CISCRP, and holds a Master of Science in Health Communication from the Tufts University School of Medicine. Since 2014, he has collaborated with a range of stakeholder groups to establish and implement patient- and public-centric initiatives across the life-cycle of drug and treatment development. This has included supporting the development of regulatory and cross-disciplinary best practice guidelines, operationalizing key elements of evidence-based public health programing into research engagement activities, and always keeping the needs of patients, participants and the public at the forefront of his work.

Kimberly Schluns joined Kite Pharma in October 2020 and currently leads strategic initiatives to advance next-generation CAR-T cell therapies across multiple disease areas. Prior to Kite, Kim served as an Associate Professor in the Department of Immunology at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center (MDACC), where she spent over 15 years building and directing an independent research program. Her work focused on the mechanisms governing CD8 T cell differentiation during viral infections, inflammation, lymphodepletion, and within solid tumors. Her laboratory also explored the role of IL-15 in the development of NK cells, intestinal T cells, and invariant T cells. Kim’s deep expertise in the therapeutic applications of IL-15 in immuno-oncology has been widely recognized and leveraged through industry collaborations and consultations. Kim earned a B.S. in Physiology from the University of Illinois and a Ph.D. in Cell Biology from Loyola University Chicago. She completed her postdoctoral training at the University of Connecticut Health Science Center under Dr. Leo Lefrancois, where she investigated the roles of IL-7 and IL-15 in CD8 T cell differentiation and homeostasis.

Jennifer Bordeaux, Ph.D. is a strategic leader with over a decade of industry experience in digital pathology. As Associate Director of Digital Pathology Solutions at Navigate Biopharma Services, she leads a team of scientists driving the adoption of multiplexed fluorescence immunochemistry assays to support clinical trial programs. Her expertise spans assay development, image analysis, and biomarker validation, with a strong focus on operational efficiency and scientific innovation. Jennifer earned her Ph.D. in Experimental Pathology from Yale University, where her research centered on biomarker validation in breast cancer using AQUA technology. She is a published author and frequent presenter in the field of quantitative pathology. 

Tad has over 15 years of startup experience dedicated to creating scientific markets for novel instrumentation platforms that span basic research, drug discovery and clinical applications. Prior to joining RareCyte, Tad has held similar positions at Biodesy, Inc. and DVS Sciences, and was Director of Biology at Amnis Corporation. Tad completed his B.A. in Biochemistry from the Univ. of Texas at Austin, Ph.D. in Immunology from UT Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, and post-doctoral training at Immunex Corp. in Seattle. 

Angie Beyer, MBA, PMP, is an accomplished scientist and strategic executive with nearly 25 years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry. As a rare disease patient and advocate, Angie offers a unique blend of patient and professional perspectives. Her expertise lies in patient-centric innovation, advocacy, and operational excellence. Currently, as the Director of US Patient Partnerships in Pfizer's Medical Evidence Development group, she leads the development and implementation of patient engagement strategies across R&D, ensuring that patient insights are integrated throughout the medicine lifecycle.

Angie's diverse career includes roles in research and development, where she co-invented two clinical candidates, manufacturing, commercial operations, and portfolio governance, granting her a broad enterprise-wide perspective. She is renowned for her ability to connect and inspire teams, deliver innovative solutions, and drive cross-functional collaboration to champion initiatives that improve patient access and outcomes.

Angie earned a BA in Chemistry from the University of San Diego and completed MA coursework in Chemistry at San Diego State University. She holds an MBA from Lake Forest Graduate School of Management and is set to graduate with an MS in Global Health from Northwestern University School of Professional Studies in Spring 2026. Additionally, she is a PMP-certified Project Manager with certifications in Change Management, Business Analytics, and Strategy and Execution.

Michael Curran, PhD is Professor of Immunology and Co-Founder of Oncology Research for Biologics and Immunotherapy Translation (ORBIT) at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center (MDACC) in Houston, Texas. He is also Co-Leader of the Hepatocellular Carcinoma (HCC) SPORE Project 1: Targeting the PD-1 Pathway in HCC and Co-Leader of the HPV-Related Cancers Moon Shot, both at MDACC.

Dr. Curran received a PhD from Stanford University, where he trained in the laboratory of Dr. Gary Nolan and was awarded the McDevitt Prize for the best graduate thesis. Dr. Curran was the first recipient of the prestigious American Cancer Society Levy Fellowship to fund his postdoctoral studies in the lab of Dr. James P. Allison.

While pursuing his postdoctoral studies at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Dr. Curran published several influential manuscripts describing how T-cell co-stimulatory pathways could be modulated, in tandem, to mediate immunologic rejection of melanomas in mice. Dr. Curran described how combination blockade of the T‑cell co‑inhibitory receptors CTLA‑4 and PD‑1 promoted the rejection of most murine melanomas. This work supported the launch of a phase 1 clinical trial in which more than 50% of patients with metastatic melanoma experienced objective clinical responses—a result so unprecedented that this became the first FDA‑approved immunotherapy combination. In addition, his subsequent immunologic studies of 4‑1BB agonist antibodies earned him the Society for Immunotherapy of Cancer’s prestigious Presidential Award. The Curran Laboratory seeks to discover the underlying mechanisms of immune resistance in some of the most immune-excluded tumors, pancreatic and prostate adenocarcinoma and glioblastoma, so that rational therapeutic interventions can be developed to restore the T‑cell infiltration and sensitivity to T‑cell checkpoint blockade.