2026 Plenary Sessions
Join colleagues from around the world for the Discovery on Target Plenary Keynote Programs. It's the only time our entire DOT community of drug discovery professionals assembles together to learn about big-picture perspectives, innovative technologies, and thought-provoking trends from luminaries in the field.
Tuesday, September 29 | 4:50-6:05 pm
Tackling Difficult Drug Targets: Having a Modality-Agnostic & Technology-Nimble Approach
This panel brings together senior leaders from pharma and biotech to explore how a modality-agnostic strategy is enabling progress against difficult yet high-value drug targets. Panelists will highlight how emerging modalities—from chimeras and conjugates to peptides and radioligands—along with ability to leverage technology innovations is shaping drug discovery and redefining what is now druggable.
PANEL MODERATOR:
Dennis Hu, PhD, CEO, Drug Hunter Inc.
PANELISTS:
Erin Davis, PhD, Vice President, Research Business Insights & Technology, Bristol Myers Squibb
Ryan Potts, PhD, Executive Director and Head, Induced Proximity Platform, Amgen, Inc.
John Tallarico, PhD, Global Head, Discovery Sciences, Novartis BioMedical Research
Andrea Weston, PhD, Head of Discovery Biology and Pharmacology, Pfizer Inc.
David Wilson, PhD, Vice President & Global Head, Oncology Chemistry & DMPK, AstraZeneca
Wednesday, September 30 | 4:20-5:20 pm
Venture-Capitalist Insights on Trends in Drug Discovery
Panelists representing the investor ecosystem - venture capital, private equity, venture arms of pharmaceutical companies- share their thoughts and experiences working with a vast number of early and late-stage biotechnology companies and academic labs. They highlight current trends in investments for drug discovery and anticipated changes. This discussion also provides scientists an understanding of how investment strategy works and how they can secure the right funding to bring their ideas from the lab to market. There will be additional time for attendees to meet with the panelists after the session.
PANEL MODERATOR:
Daniel A. Erlanson, PhD, Chief Innovation Officer, Frontier Medicines Corporation
PANELISTS:
Chris De Savi, PhD, CSO Partner, Curie Bio
Neil Kubica, PhD, Therapeutics Division Lead, General Inception
Pengpeng Li, PhD, Principal, Lilly Asia Ventures
Thursday, October 1 | 1:35-3:00 pm
Starting Up: Translating Lab Ideas into Commercial Impact
This panel discussion brings together scientists from academia and biotech to share their stories on what it takes to translate transformative ideas into meaningful commercial outcomes. Panelists will delve into some of the critical inflection points, challenges encountered, key decisions that had to be made and their outcomes. The session will provide scientists with an understanding of what it takes to bring ideas from lab to market. There will be a dedicated time for attendees to have informal conversations with the panelists before the session begins.
PANEL MODERATOR:
Armon Sharei, PhD, Founder & CEO, Portal Biotechnologies
PANELISTS:
Sangeeta N. Bhatia, Professor, Director Marble Center for Cancer Nanomedicine, Health Sciences & Technology, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Kris Elverum, MBA, Former President & CEO, AIRNA
Parastoo Khoshakhlagh, PhD, Co-Founder & CEO, GC Therapeutics