Speakers
Linda Bedenik
Rebecca Godfrey
Adam Laing
Christopher Reynolds
James MacDonald
Innovation showcase
Come and hear from 5 of the most exciting organisations working in this space as they walk us through their achievements, and how they will change the landscape. Vote for the one you think will have the greatest impact to give them a chance to speak again in the final plenary session.
Dr Rebecca Godfrey is the COO at ExpressionEdits, a Cambridge-based biotechnology company optimizing protein expression using AI and proprietary intronization technology. At ExpressionEdits Rebecca provides leadership and strategic direction to all business, financial and operational aspects of the organisation, leading on all commercial partnership activities.
Rebecca’s extensive track record of building highly successful organizations, teams, and systems, covers all stages of the product lifecycle, across a wide variety of therapeutic modalities and in all regions worldwide, including emerging markets. Rebecca has held Director level roles at Eisai and AbbVie and the role of Global Head Regional PV Excellence at Roche. Rebecca’s most recent roles include COO at healthtech start-up, OKKO Health, and Research Chief of Staff for the clinical-stage gene therapy biotech, Freeline Therapeutics (now Spur Therapeutics).
Rebecca also serves as Chair of the Board of Teens Unite fighting cancer and is author of the best-selling book ‘The Leadership Vaccine: Drive innovation, increase efficiency and build resilience in highly regulated industries’.
Adam is co-founder and CEO of IMU Biosciences, a London based immune precision immunology company. Focusing on measuring the immune system at massive depth and at unprecedented scale, IMU have developed the technical and analytical approaches required to understand the immune system at the level of the individual patient and are committed to leveraging this understanding to improve therapies though precision medicine. Adam is a systems immunologist with a background in immunogenetics and human immune monitoring. Adam obtained a BSc in immunology from Newcastle university before completing a PhD in Transplant immunology from King’s College London. In 2012 Adam joined professor Adrian Hayday’s lab at the Francis Crick Institute and King’s College London where his work focused on delivering ambitious large scale systems immunology programs and has published a number of high impact papers in the field and ultimately to the founding of IMU Biosciences in 2021.
James is the CEO and co-founder of Solena Materials Limited, an IP spin-out from Imperial College London where he developed the technology in his position as a Research Fellow. With a Physics degree from Imperial and a research background in protein structure and synthetic biology, James is leading Solena in commercialising computationally-designed synthetic protein fibres. Using computational design, deep learning, and automation, the company aims to accelerate bespoke materials development. James has industry experience, having worked for a multinational consultancy. He also serves on the Bioindustry Association's Engineering Biology Advisory Committee, offering a blend of technological and commercial insights.
Zahra Jawad is the Founder/CEO of Creasallis, an antibody-engineering company improving the penetration of antibody-based drugs into solid tumours. The team have demonstrated this in under 12 months In vivo with a pre-seed VC lead round of $1 million, and are now raising a seed round of $6 million close to closing. This technology can be used to make novel therapeutics or enhance existing antibodies. Creasallis is based in Babraham, Cambridge.