Look into the future of digital science and innovation with industry leaders at the 3rd Annual Nordic Digital Science & Innovation Day.
Join us on 30 May in Copenhagen for this free to attend event that unites scientists, R&D leaders, industry experts, and thought leaders at the forefront of R&D innovation.
A first class agenda of speakers will introduce the latest trends and advancements in R&D digital transformation and hear about the latest tools and strategies being used to propel the next wave of scientific innovation.
The event is carefully curated to inspire creativity and challenge the boundaries of what's achievable in today's digital R&D age, as well as provide unparalleled networking opportunities within the Nordics community.
Over 200 people attended last year's event, and we expect similar numbers this year. As there is a seating capacity limit, please register your place soon to guarantee your place. The event is free to attend.
Lisa Kirsebom has worked for almost twenty years as a science journalist, and for the past fifteen years as a moderator.
She has a bachelor’s degree in communications from Lund University, where she also studied chemistry, physics and biology with a medical angle, including courses in pharmacology, physiology and virology.
Lisa moderates all types of meetings, from small roundtable discussions to conferences with hundreds of participants. She covers all types of topics, but has a special focus on life sciences, medicine and higher education. She has moderated events for Lund University, the Government Offices of Sweden, the European Spallation Source, SciLifeLab, Medicon Valley Alliance, and many more.
The life science sector in the Nordics has shown significant growth and potential over the past decade. Already today, the cross-border region Medicon Valley is the largest life science region in the European Union and growing. But there is potential for much more – in Medicon Valley and in the Nordics
speaker: Anette Steenberg, CEO, Medicon Valley Alliance
How will technology impact R&D in the Nordics region in years to come? Hear about the evolution of the biotech landscape and how the most innovative companies are digitising their R&D processes to fuel faster scientific discovery and more efficient drug development.
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9:20 - 9:40
The microbiome data revolution: Bridging lab insights to real-world impact
Biotech is entering a rapidly accelerated time of data generation and correlation that is unprecedented. This session delves into the microbiome, a crucial element in health and disease, and the transition from generating isolated in vitro lab data on isolated strains to a holistic, digital microbiome ecosystem. You'll also learn how to use connected datasets to revolutionise our understanding of microbiome science and health.
speaker: Adam Baker, Director of Science - Future Labs, Novonesis
9:45 - 10:05
Revolutionizing plasmid generation in drug discovery through digital R&D and automated DNA assembly
Hear practical strategies you can deploy to reduce timelines in complex plasmid production. Explore the transformative impact of digital research and automated DNA assembly techniques on accelerating plasmid generation in drug discovery and producing FAIR data. With real-life examples, you will see the significance of implementing robust processes to enhance project delivery effectiveness.
speaker: Jordi Chi, Senior Research Scientist, AstraZeneca
10:10 - 10:30
Innovating protein engineering: Making machine learning accessible and reproducible
Hear how the rise of AI and ML in biotechnology is promising a more sustainable production of food, biochemicals, fuels, medicines, and more. At DTU Biosustain, the newly-established Computational Protein Engineering group has developed ProteusAI, an intuitive app designed to serve as a bridge between complex AI/ML methodologies and practical protein research. Learn how ProteusAI can be used by all users, including those with little or no coding experience to construct diverse ML models, whilst offering Python access for experts. Find out how it supports diverse data formats including EnzymeML, fostering FAIR data principles, to enable seamless communication and iterative AI/ML modelling.
speaker: Carlos Acevedo-Rocha, Senior Researcher, DTU Biosustain
As Nordic biotechs face rising pressure to move innovations to market, process development has taken on increasing importance. This session will explore the pivotal role process development teams play in building the foundation for manufacturable products. You’ll hear from Nordic biotech leaders that have navigated digital transformations across development, with a focus on data management and accessibility, collaboration across specialized teams, and preparing for AI/ML.
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10:50 - 11:20
Panel: Top digital considerations to prepare your process development organization for what’s next in biotech and data science
In recent years, process development teams have had to continually adapt to evolving scientific modalities and process technologies. There has been massive growth in complex data generation requiring biopharma companies to rethink how they manage that data at scale. While AI is a hot topic in every industry, the massive potential for impact within biotech - from predictive insights to shortened development time - has resulted in companies racing to unlock the potential, which means structured data is now a strategic imperative.
In this panel discussion, you’ll hear from industry experts as we focus on top digital considerations for your process development teams to consider as you enter this next wave of innovation.
Moderator:
Michael Schwartz, Product Marketing Manager, Development Solutions, Benchling
Panelists:
Rita Lencastre, Head of Laboratory Advisory, NNIT
Jette Thykær, Director for Cell Therapy CMC, Novo Nordisk
Thomas Skov, Team Manager, Process Design, Novonesis
11:25 - 11:45
Balancing speed, quality and digital transformation to accelerate process development and tech transfer
In a landscape where drug development and tech transfer are rapidly evolving, strategic agility is more critical than ever. In this session, we’ll explore how technology will impact the future of process development, including how eBR can transform operations and improve efficiency. We’ll also discuss how CDMOs can balance flexibility with scale to meet the demands of clients
speaker: Watson Neto, Director of Process Transfer, MSAT, AGC Biologics
11:50 - 12:10
The benefits of a data lake for scientific data management and structured analysis in CMC biologics
Research and development of antibody therapeutics is a complex and data-intensive activity, requiring scientists to efficiently collect and analyze data. This data collection approach can either be unstructured or highly specialized which can make data access and interpretation difficult. Learn how Symphogen developed its own in-house data lake called Mimer to capture and structure scientific data for improved analysis and AI/ML applications.
speaker: Christian Skjødt, Associate Scientific Director, Process Development, CMC Data Science, Symphogen
Modern labs adopt multiple instruments and software to help them power their R&D, but disconnected systems and data can create additional bottlenecks to the workflow and burden for IT. Hear from some of the leading players in R&D IT and Data Science and the benefits they have gained from unifying the lab ecosystem, including better data management and improved collaboration.
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13:00 - 13:20
Balancing the needs of scientists and IT to foster innovation while maintaining company cybersecurity protocols can pose significant challenges.
Research and development (R&D) entities must continuously innovate to thrive whilst IT plays a crucial role in supporting business innovation as well as safeguarding the organization against cyber threats. Join this session to examine prevalent IT security hurdles encountered in a laboratory environment and explore strategies for enabling user requirements without compromising organizational security.
speaker: Ludovic Tranholm Otterbein, Vice President – Head of IT, Zealand Pharma
This session will share learnings from Lundbeck’s R&D digitalisation journey. Hear how Lundbeck seamlessly integrated notes, results, and collaborative knowledge sharing on a dynamic, cross-functional platform to unify the lab ecosystem for end-to-end data management and improved collaboration. In addition to the learnings and best practices from this initiative, you will get the latest on Lundbeck’s R&D digitalisation program to advance scientific discovery.
speakers: Freja A. K. Olsen, Solution Architect, Lundbeck and Jean Louis Honeine, Technical Solution Consultant, Benchling
13:50 - 14:10
Digitalizing R&D at Novonesis, from centralized tools to collaborative platforms
The transition from centralized tools to collaborative platforms is not just a change in technology, but a cultural shift towards a more interconnected and dynamic R&D ecosystem.
Discover how this evolution is empowering Novonesis to automate routine tasks, enhance collaboration, and fuel growth with data-driven insights. Specifically, explore how it facilitates democratizing development, broadening participation in lab data capture automation to streamline research processes and improve the accuracy and efficiency of data collection.
speaker: Vignir Isberg, Senior Department Manager, R&D Data Management, Novonesis
Hear from leading innovators within the Nordic life sciences ecosystem as they share the exciting developments and progress they are making in achieving improved scientific outcomes and partnership opportunities across the region.
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13:00 - 13:20
Unlocking the potential of CD40 agonistic antibodies in metastatic pancreatic cancer treatment stands as a pivotal breakthrough. Discover how Alligator has leveraged the lessons of mitazalimab and merged them with cutting-edge digital technologies to advance the next era of CD40 candidate drugs, like Neo-X-Prime®.
speaker: Laura von Schantz, Chief Technology Officer, Alligator Bioscience AB
Learn about the Women's Health Initiative launched by the BioInnovation Institute Foundation (BII) in 2022 to strengthen innovation in women’s health, a historically neglected and underfunded area of high unmet medical needs. Explore the challenges of supporting innovation within a fragmented ecosystem and hear about BII's strategic approach. From fostering early-stage startups to cultivating expert networks and forging diverse partnerships, see how BII is catalyzing change and driving the development of life-saving solutions for women's health.
speaker: Johanna Roostalu, Director, Women’s Health, BioInnovation Institute
Hear how Evaxion and DTU’s transformative 3 year PhD project took an innovative approach to drive a successful robotics implementation. Exavion will also share insights on how it navigated the complexities of integrating multiple automated systems alongside advanced molecular biology techniques to chart new frontiers in research and technology integration.
speaker: Anders B. Sørensen, Research and Discovery Director, Evaxion
How will AI shape the future of scientific discovery? Get insight from industry visionaries who are pioneering AI lab innovation as they share how they’re building an AI-ready data foundation and using the latest tech to accelerate R&D.
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14:40 - 15:00
Harnessing AI for Protein Structure Prediction: The development of the AlphaFold model and its implications for research in biology
The field of Artificial Intelligence (AI) has seen tremendous breakthroughs that manifested in the AlphaFold model, an AI system developed by DeepMind, which addresses the long-standing challenge of predicting protein structures from amino acid sequences, known as the "Protein Folding Problem." This talk traces the evolution of AlphaFold, from its initial version in January 2020 to the latest AlphaFold 3, highlighting its significant advancements and impact on biological research. The discussion includes a high-level overview of machine learning principles, emphasizing the importance of datasets in developing accurate AI models. The Protein Data Bank (PDB), with its extensive collection of protein structures, exemplifies the critical role of high-quality data in training machine learning models. The presentation also explores the computational innovations behind AlphaFold, such as the use of transformer architectures and diffusion techniques. Additionally, it underscores the necessity for digitizing laboratory data and maintaining rigorous, comprehensive datasets to facilitate future AI-driven discoveries.
speaker: Vaibhav Bhardwaj, Scientific Solutions Consultant, Benchling
15:05 - 15:25
Navigating AI in drug discovery: Strategies and opportunities for Nordic biotechs
Join this session to hear how small and mid-sized biotech companies in the Nordics are leveraging AI and big data in drug discovery, and how companies can assess the potential impact of AI on their business to make strategic decisions, build core capabilities and partnerships, and phase value-creation.
speaker: Emma Jappe Lange, Senior Consultant, Biobridge Partners
15:30 - 15:50
Empowering scientists through the fusion of generative AI and digital skills
Marie Helene will introduce and define Generative AI, distinguishing between its capabilities and limitations, to help us navigate the opportunities and challenges it presents for biotech research. Learn about LEO OpenAI and how LEO provides opportunities to become AI literate.
speaker: Marie Helene Andersson, Corporate Data Partner, LEO Pharma
Learn more about Benchling at benchling.com
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Covid-19 Policy
The health and safety of our attendees is extremely important to us. We are closely monitoring the situation in Copenhagen. All events will be equipped with hand sanitizer, masks, and will follow applicable local public health guidelines at the time of the event. Unless required by local health agencies, masks will be optional.