Josh Bryson is the Head of US Medical Affairs at argenx and has been leading a large US organization since 2024.  Prior to that he spent 11 years at BMS working in various home office and field-based Medical Affairs roles, including his most recent position as VP, Head of Immunology and Neuroscience, US Medical.  Prior to BMS, Josh was co-founder at Techulon Inc., a small biotech working to develop RNA-based therapeutics, started in 2009.

Brian Kelly is the founder and principal of D2Dx Consulting, bringing over 20 years of experience in life-science and diagnostic development spanning biomarker discovery, clinical assay design, and companion-diagnostic strategy. He advises biopharma and diagnostic companies on translational and commercialization pathways that bridge scientific innovation with clinical utility. At IO360 2026, Brian will present advances from Picture Health’s AI-driven RadiOmics technology, highlighting how quantitative imaging can complement molecular biomarkers to enhance patient selection and therapeutic response prediction in immuno-oncology.

A long career in both the pharmaceutical industry and academia. He has previously been in leading positions such as Chief Medical Officer at XNK Therapeutics, Chief Scientific Officer at Novartis and Research Director at MSD. Peter has through these roles, gained extensive experience in clinical drug development, and he has also been a driving force behind several important research and development initiatives in the pharmaceutical sector.

Dr Matt Freer is a scientist and translational research specialist with a strong academic background in advanced in vitro modelling, tissue engineering, and human relevant biology. He holds a PhD from Durham University, where his research focused on the development of complex three-dimensional intestinal tissue models using scaffold-based systems, primary human cells, and functional readouts including barrier integrity, transport, electrophysiology, and advanced imaging. His doctoral and postdoctoral work provided deep technical expertise in 3D culture, immunofluorescence, confocal and light sheet microscopy, molecular biology, and human tissue handling, alongside rigorous hypothesis driven experimental design.

Following academia, Matt moved into industrial research, leading the development, validation, and application of human skin models for regulatory safety testing and disease relevant research. This included OECD compliant epidermal irritation and corrosion models, innervated skin systems incorporating neuronal lineages, and immune based assays supporting immunotoxicology and mechanism of action studies. His work bridged fundamental biology with real world decision making in preclinical research.

Matt now works as a Senior Business Development Manager at RoukenBio, supporting biotech and pharma teams designing immunology, cell-based evidence, and preclinical safety programmes. He brings a strong focus on data quality, translational relevance, and the appropriate use of human based experimental systems. Alongside his industry role, Matt serves on the Scientific Advisory Board of FRAME, contributing scientific guidance to advance non animal methods and improve the predictive power of biomedical research.

Mike Rice, MS, MBA is Senior Vice President of Lumanity's Cell and Gene Therapy pratice, specializing in strategic development of platform technologies and applications for genetically defined patient populations and broad polygenic diseases. He also co-leads the hematologic oncology and cardiometabolics practices.

He has 25+ years of experience in biotech ventures supporting new company creation and defining strategic development and early commercial strategy for academic and biotech inventions pertaining to nucleic acids, gene therapy and cellular platforms applied across monogenetic diseases and oncology. Mike studied the molecular basis of cancer at the Kimmel Cancer Institute and is recognized for his extensive intellectual property and publication portfolio pertaining to recombinational DNA repair and molecular diagnostics. Mike is a co-inventor of non-nuclease gene editing methodology currently used commercially in agricultural trait improvement and in development for therapeutic applications.

Mike holds an MBA, with a concentration in Biotechnology from the Alfred Lerner School of Business and Economics, at the University of Delaware, an MS in Molecular Pharmacology from Thomas Jefferson University and a Bachelor of Science degree in Biology from the University of Delaware. Industry positions involved translational research, strategic planning, technology transfer, finance and business development.

Mike is a Member of the Pennsylvania Biotechnology Center Advisory Council, enjoys mentoring early-stage life science entrepreneurs and is a member of ASGCT, ARM, SITC, ASCO and AHA professional societies.

Nicholas Sen, PhD, is Senior Vice President and Practice Lead for Medical Affairs Consulting at Lumanity. He partners with Medical leaders to position Medical Affairs as a critical strategic pillar of the enterprise, alongside Commercial and R&D, enabling organisations to maximise scientific leadership, stakeholder engagement, and business impact, and ultimately realise the full value of the Medical function.

With more than 15 years’ experience in life sciences strategy consulting across both commercial and medical domains, Nicholas has guided global pharma and emerging biotech companies through pivotal value‑inflection points, from early‑stage development to competitive launches. His work focuses on designing future‑fit Medical Affairs operating models, embedding capabilities that secure evidence‑based influence, and aligning scientific, clinical, and commercial priorities to maximise both patient and business outcomes.

Nicholas is recognized for supporting Medical leaders transform Medical Affairs from a reactive support function into an integrated strategic engine that drives enterprise value.

He earned his PhD in Molecular Genetics from Imperial College London, following postdoctoral research in medical genetics.

Dr. Leena Gandhi is a thoracic oncologist with a focus on immunotherapy and early drug development. She received her PhD from the UC Berkeley and her MD from New York University. She was a faculty member at Dana-Farber Cancer Institute where she developed multiple investigator-initiated trials with associated correlative studies to help define biomarkers of response.  She also led pivotal studies demonstrating the utility of PDL1 as a biomarker for efficacy of anti-PD1 agents in lung cancer and the value of combining immunotherapy and chemotherapy in the treatment of non-small cell lung cancer.  Dr. Gandhi has served as the Director of Thoracic Medical Oncology at New York University and as Vice President of Immuno-Oncology Development at Eli Lilly leading the early development of novel immuno-oncology agents across cancer types before returning to Dana-Farber in 2020, where she was the founding director of the Center for Cancer Therapeutic Innovation, a cross-malignancy novel therapeutics hub.  She joined NextPoint Therapeutics in 2023 as CMO where she oversees translational and clinical development of therapeutics targeting the novel B7-H7 checkpoint axis.

Wes Martz has spent 25 years in the industry with a focus on Patient Recruitment and Site Feasibility over the past 20+, having helped to develop the service offering for ePharmaSolutions (ePS) in the late 2000s/early 2010s. ePS being a pioneer in eClinical systems in addition to Patient Recruitment service provider, Wes Martz was an obvious choice for WCG Clinical, who acquired ePS in 2014, to oversee the newly formed partnership with TrialX in 2016-17 to champion its Patient Recruitment Management Platform as it expanded its offering from Academic Research Organization implementations to enterprise deals with leading Pharma companies. In 2023, he joined TrialX directly as its Senior Director, Client Services and now leads their team of Client Services professionals and acts as a primary liaison between TrialX’s client partners and Product Team to continue to develop the industry’s first and leading Patient Recruitment Management Platform, TrialX Connect, with one of the company’s primary goals, Customer Delight, as his priority.

With 20 years of experience in clinical research, Krista Goedel has worked in various roles, ranging from recruitment study coordinator to monitor to project manager across pharmaceutical, device, and immunoassay studies. Currently, she works as a Digital Content Creator for SanofiStudies.com, a website designed to help patients learn more about clinical trials and explore opportunities to participate.

Amy Comstock Rick, JD, is CDER’s Associate Director for Rare Disease Strategy and the Director of Strategic Coalitions for FDA’s Rare Disease Innovation Hub (the Hub). She serves in a cross-cutting role across FDA’s Center for Drug Evaluations and Research (CDER) and Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research (CBER) to facilitate implementation of the Hub. She also works closely with both centers to develop and carry out a rare disease strategic agenda. Ms. Rick, with support from staff in CBER’s and CDER’s rare disease programs, is the Hub’s primary point of engagement for parties external to FDA.

Most recently, Ms. Rick served as Principal Consultant at Leavitt Partners, focusing on health policy matters, with a primary focus on rare disease and medical product development. Before Leavitt Partners, she served as President and Chief Executive Officer of the Food and Drug Law Institute (FDLI), a non-profit organization dedicated to providing an innovative, open, balanced exchange of ideas and viewpoints across the field of food and drug law. Before joining FDLI, Ms. Rick was Chief Executive Officer of the Parkinson’s Action Network.Ms. Rick also served as President of the Coalition for the Advancement of Medical Research and on the Boards of Directors for Research America, the National Health Council, and the American Brain Coalition.

Ms. Rick had previous federal service as a career attorney at the U.S. Department of Education in 1988, focusing primarily on the field of government ethics. She was the Senate-confirmed Director of the U.S. Office of Government Ethics from 2000 to 2003 and Associate Counsel to the President in the White House Counsel’s Office from 1998 to 2000. She received a bachelor of arts degree from Bard College and a juris doctor degree from the University of Michigan.