Agenda

The first day of the conference will explore topics around academic entrepreneurship and the essential skills needed to succeed in this area. The morning session will aim to address the challenges of turning research into viable business ventures. Topics will include securing funding, building a team, and balancing academic and business responsibilities. The evening sessions will include keynote presentations followed by round table panel discussions

 10:45 - 13:00  ▪️  Session 1  ▪️ 

 TBD 

TBD (Chair)

• Stela Taka, Co-founder & CEO, StartBio, Greece

• Leda Kourita, Physician, Entrepreneur, Investor, USA

• Simos Simeonidis, CEO and CIO, Kos Biotechnology Partners, USA

• Christina Christodoulou, Communication Coach Speakout, Greece

 13:00 - 14:00  -  Lunch Break   🍽️

 14:00 - 15:30  ▪️  Session 2  ▪️ 

 Conference Opening 

Georgios Pavlopoulos, Director of Bioinformatics, Research Professor,  IFBR - BSRC Alexander Fleming, Greece (Chair)

• Welcome Notes

• [KEYNOTE] - Spyros Artavanis-Tsakonas, Professor Emeritus, Harvard University, USA & Chair, ESETEK, Greece

  • Should Greek Biotech care about basic Science

• [KEYNOTE] - Eleni Zika, Head of Scientific Impact & Feedback to Policy at European Research Council, Belgium

  • Impact of science beyond science 

 15:30-16:00  -  Coffee Break   ☕ 

 16:00 - 17:15  ▪️  Session 3  ▪️ 

 Roundtable - Fueling Greece's Economy through Science-Industry partnership in Biotechnology   (in Greek) 

Fay Makantasi, Research Director, diaNEOsis, Greece (Chair)

• Spyros Artavanis-Tsakonas, Professor Emeritus, Harvard University, USA & Chair, ESETEK, Greece

• Eleni Zika, Head of Scientific Impact & Feedback to Policy at European Research Council, Belgium

• Aristos Doxiadis, Partner, Big Pi Ventures & Vice-Chair of ESETEK, Greece

• Harietta Eleftherochorinou, Vice President, IQVIA Innovation Hub, Greece

• Alex Tzoukas, Founder and Managing Partner, Atheneon Ventures, Greece

 17:20 - 18:20  ▪️  Session 4  ▪️ 

 Roundtable - Books Highlighting Greek Pioneers    (in Greek) 

Konstantinos Drosatos, Professor of Pharmacology & Systems Physiology, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, & President, ARISTEiA Institute, USA (Chair)

• Apostolos Gerontas, Historian of Science, Lecturer at Coburg University of Applied Sciences, Germany

  • Book: Greek Pioneers in Medical and Biomedical Sciences, 1821-2021

• Anna Grimani, Author, Journalist, Greece

  • Book: Πατριδογνωσία - 100 προσωπικότητες αναζητούν την ελληνικότητα

 08:30 - 09:30  -  Coffee   ☕ 

 09:30 - 11:00  ▪️  Session 5  ▪️ 

 Innovative therapies for human diseases 

Georgios Miliotis, Lecturer, University of Galway, Ireland (Chair)

• [KEYNOTE] - Eleftheria Zeggini, Director, Helmholtz Zentrum Muenchen, Germany

  • Translational Genomics of Complex Disease

• Maria Mirotsou, Vice President, Scribe Therapeutics, USA

  • CRISPR therapeutics: Challenges and Opportunities

• Isidore Rigoutsos, Professor, Director, Computational Medicine Center, Thomas Jefferson University, USA

  • Small RNAs (isomiRs, tRFs, rRFs, yRFs) in diagnosis, prognosis, and therapy of human diseases

 11:00-11:30  -  Coffee Break   ☕ 

 11:30 - 13:00  ▪️  Session 6  ▪️ 

 From basic research to biotechnology innovations

Leda Kourita, Physician, Entrepreneur, Investor, USA (Chair)

• [KEYNOTE] - Katerina Akassoglou, Senior Investigator, Gladstone Institutes & Professor of Neurology, UCSF, USA

  • Neuroimmune drivers of neurodegeneration: Translating basic discoveries to the clinic

• Nektarios Tavernarakis, Chairman, Board Of Directors at FORTH, Professor, Medical School, University of Crete, Greece

  • Nucleophagy promotes longevity and preserves germline immortality

• Nikos Tapinos, Associate Professor at Brown University & Founder, Tinos Therapeutics

  • RNA modifications: common regulators of cancer and neurodegeneration

• Georgios Miliotis, Lecturer, University of Galway, Ireland

  • BACTRO-HIT: An engineered for purpose nanoparticle to combat invasive multidrug resistant infections 

 13:00 - 14:00 - Lunch Break   🍽️

 14:00 - 15:30  ▪️  Session 7  ▪️ 

 Precision medicine 

Georgia Kokaraki, Co-founder of BioInnovation Greece, USA (Chair)

• [KEYNOTE] - Kalliopi Trachana, Director, Market Access Illumina, USA

  • Implementing Precision Medicine in a Health System: A play of Technology, Policy, and Economics

• Antonios Tzortzakakis, Senior Consultant in Radiology, Neuroradiology & Nuclear Medicine, Karolinska University Hospital, Sweden

  • Theranostics:See what you treat and treat what you see

• Sarantis Chlamydas, Global Scientific Director of Multi-Omics, Olink Proteomics, Sweden

  • Next generation proteomics and precision medicine

• Stylianos Antonarakis, Professor of Genetic Medicine at the University of Geneva Medical School in Switzerland

  • Genomic individuality and impact in health 

 15:30 - 16:00  -  Coffee Break   ☕ 

 16:00 - 17:30  ▪️  Session 8  ▪️ 

 Developing biobanks to understand human diseases 

Zoe Cournia, Principle Investigator, BRFAA, Greece (Chair)

• Constantinos Deltas, Professor and Director of biobank.cy Center of Excellence, University of Cyprus, Cyprus

  • Biobanking and the Cyprus Human Genome Project

• Olga Tzortzatou, Attorney at Law Specialized in Data Protection & New Technologies, Head of Technology Transfer Office, BRFAA, Greece

  • Regulating Biobanking in Greece: the leeway to precision medicine? 

• Ioanna Tzoulaki, Chief Research Scientist, BRFAA, Greece

  • Uncovering disease pathways through population-based biobanks. 

• Panagiotis Katsaounis, CEO, Metabio Greece

  • Digital Biobanking; Pioneering the Next Generation with a focus on Quality Assurance 

 17:30 - 17:45  -  Bio Break  

 17:45 - 18:45  ▪️  Session 9  ▪️ 

 Roundtable - Creating biotechnology value in Greece 

Stelios Tzannis, CEO, Athens LifeTech Park (Chair)

• George Kollias, Director at Laboratory of Physiology, Medical School, University of Athens, Greece

• Konstantinos Tzortzakis, Co-Founder and CBO Anodyne Nanotech, Inc, USA

• Anta Gkelou, Partner, Sofinnova Partners, France

• TBD

On Day 3 a variety of topics in the area of Microbiome innovations will be covered, including microbiome engineering, nutrition in health and microbiome therapeutics.

 08:30 - 09:30  -  Coffee   ☕ 

 09:30 - 11:00  ▪️  Session 10  ▪️ 

 Microbiome engineering as a tool to cure diseases 

Nikos Kyrpides, Head, Microbiome Data Science, LBNL, USA (Chair)

• Denise Kelly, Investment Advisor Seventure, Emeritus Professor, UK

  • Scientific and Commercial advancements in the Microbiome Field - an investor perspective.

• Petros Giannikopoulos, Director, Interventional Genomics Unit, Innovative Genomics Institute, USA

  • Scaling CRISPR-Based Therapies to Address the Global Burden of Rare Mendelian Disorders

• Alexandra Sakatos, Co-Founder & CEO, Ancilia Biosciences, USA

  • Deciphering and targeting the virome 

• Nikos Kyrpides, Head, Microbiome Data Science, Lawrence Berkeley National Lab, USA

  • The Human Gut Virome

 11:00 - 11:30  -  Coffee Break   ☕ 

 11:30 - 13:00  ▪️  Session 11  ▪️ 

 Microbiome-based solutions for Food industry 

Soula Tassou, Research Director ELGO-DIMITRA, Greece (Chair)

• George-John Nychas, Emeritus Professor at Agricultural University of Athens, Greece & Distinguished Professor, Shandong Agricultural University, China

  • Microbiome applications and technological hubs as solutions to minimize food loss and waste

• Panagiotis Skandamis, Professor, Agricultural University of Athens, Greece

  • Exploring food microbiome for controlling and assessing food quality and safety

• Soula Tassou, Research Director ELGO-DIMITRA, Greece

  • Harnessing the potential of microbiome of fermented foods to modulate gut microbiota

• Fady Mohareb, Professor, Cranfield University, UK

  • • Bridging the Divide: Uniting Food, Gut Microbiome, and Genotype for Optimal Health

 13:00 - 14:00 - Lunch Break   🍽️

 14:00 - 15:30  ▪️  Session 12  ▪️ 

 One Health, One Future: Innovative Strategies for Global Health 

Alexander Rosado, Professor, Biociences, KAUST, Saudi Arabia (Chair)

• [KEYNOTE] - Raquel Peixoto, Chair, Marine Science Program and Associate Professor, KAUST, Saudi Arabia

  • Customized Medicine for Corals and Wildlife

• Alex Probst, UA-Ruhr Professor, Environmental Metagenomics Chair, University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany

  • Ecosystem health of rivers - a microbiome perspective

• Nassos Typas, Group Leader, Co-chair, Infection Biology and Microbial Ecosystems Transversal Themes, EMBL, Germany

  • Understanding the interactions of medication and the human gut microbiome
• George Paraskevakos, Executive Director at International Probiotics Association
  • Next generation probiotics and their enumeration technologies

 16:00 - 17:30  ▪️  Session 13  ▪️ 

 Empowering Creativity - Strategies for Fostering Innovation 

Athina Oikonomidou Life Sciences Bus Dev & Tech Transfer Expert, COO ResQ Biotech, Belgium (Chair)

• Fireside Chat:

  • Stathis Kalyvas, Gladstone Professor of Government and fellow of All Souls College at Oxford, UK

  • Angelos Chaniotis, Professor in the School of Historical Studies, Institute for Advanced Study, and President of KOMVOS-NODE, USA

• Supporting the Startup Ecosystem:

  • Alex Tzoukas, Founder and Managing Partner, Atheneon Ventures, Greece

  • Simos Simeonidis, Founder, CEO & CIO, Kos Biotechnology Partners, Chairman of the Board & Co-Founder, Delsona Therapeutics

  • Roula Bachtalia, Head of egg, Eurobank, Greece

 17:30 - 17:45  -  Bio Break 

AI is revolutionizing all aspects of human life, including the development of therapeutics and diagnostics. Day 4 includes sessions that will cover topics in these areas.

 08:30 - 09:30  -  Coffee   ☕ 

  09:30 - 11:00  ▪️  Session 15  ▪️ 

 AI-driven Drug Discovery & Development 

Georgios Pavlopoulos, Director of Bioinformatics, Research Professor,  IFBR - BSRC Alexander Fleming, Greece (Chair)

• [KEYNOTE] - Maria Chatzou-Dunford, Founder & CEO, LifeBit, UK

  • From Population Genomics to Drug Discovery

• Maria Georganaki, Director of Product, Intelligencia AI, Greece

  • De-Risking Drug Development With AI
• Minos Matsoukas,  Assistant Professor of Computational Chemistry, UniWA & Co-founder CloudPharm, Greece
  • Leveraging cheminformatics and machine learning towards drug repurposing and future pharmaceuticals
• Zoe Cournia, Director of Research , BRFAA &  VP CADD molab.ai, Greece 

  • Using Physics-Based and Machine Learning Approaches for Efficient Drug Discovery

 11:00 - 11:30  -  Coffee Break   ☕ 

 11:30 - 13:00  ▪️  Session 16  ▪️ 

 Drug development & Clinical Trials 

Greg Roumeliotis, Vice President Of Global Business Development at Orgenesis Inc. USA (Chair)

• Maria Karasarides, Former Vice President, Early Assets & Biomarkers, WW Medical Oncology, Bristol Myers Squibb, USA

  • Defining MRD in Solid Tumor Malignancies, ctDNA and beyond

• Stelios Tzannis, CEO, Athens LifeTech Park, Greece

  • The Impact of Strategic Decision making in Early Drug Development

• Vered Caplan, CEO, Orgenesis, USA

  • Unlocking and Advancing the Value Of Autologous Cell Therapies via Point-Of-Care Manufacturing

• Nicolas Christoforou, Head of Cardiology, Alexion Pharmaceuticals / AstraZeneca Rare Disease, USA

  • Development of Genomic Medicines for the Treatment of Rare Genetic Diseases

 13:00 - 14:00 - Lunch Break   🍽️

 14:00 - 15:30  ▪️  Session 17  ▪️ 

 AI in Biotechnology 

Michalis Hadjithomas, Co-founder of BioInnovation Greece (Chair)

• [KEYNOTE] - Stavros Papadopoulos, Founder & CEO, TileDB, USA

  • The AI Database for Multiomics

• Vassilis Pitsikalis, Founder, CSO, Deeplab AI, Greece

  • Machine learning advances in interdisciplinary bio applications 

• Christos Tryfonas, Co-founder & Chief Architect, Aisera, USA

  • GenAI copilots for the Biomedical Industry

• Yiannis Kourmpetis, Founder & CEO, Siftlink, Switzerland
  • AI-assisted targeted innovation and patent strategy in the pharma and nutraceutical industry 
• Christina Koutsoumpa, AI Manager, EY, Greece
  • AI in medical imaging

 15:30 - 16:00  -  Coffee Break   ☕ 

 16:00 - 17:30  ▪️  Session 18  ▪️ 

 AI Breakthrough Innovations 

Grigoris Amoutzias Professor of Bioinformatics Department of Biochemistry and Biotechnology, University of Thessaly, Greece (Chair)

• [KEYNOTE] - Angela Spatharou, Senior Partner and Leader, EMEA Healthcare & Life Sciences, IBM Consulting, USA

  • GenAI on Life Sciences and the Pharmaceutical Sector

• Michail Bletsas, Director of Computing, MIT Media Lab, USA

  • An overview of AI in life sciences
• Stergios Anastasiadis, General Partner, Genesis Ventures, Greece
  • Machine Learning in biotech from infrastructure and data to applications. 
• Theodora Varvarigou, Professor, Computer Science, NTUA, Greece
  • AI for Health and Security

 17:30 - 17:45  -  Bio Break  

 17:45 - 18:45  ▪️  Session 19  ▪️ 

 Roundtable  -  Scaling Innovation in Life Sciences with AI 

Maria-Christina Grelloni, Head of Growth at Endeavor, Greece (Chair)

• Maria Chatzou-Dunford, Founder & CEO, LifeBit, UK

• Michalis Papadakis, Co-founder & CEO, Brainomix, UK 

• Dimitrios Skaltsas, Co-founder & CEO, Intelligencia AI, USA

• Angela Spatharou, Senior Partner and Leader, EMEA Healthcare & Life Sciences, IBM Consulting, USA

Day 5 will feature discussions and roundtable sessions on the role of various forms of capital in fostering innovation and supporting the development of biotech startups.

 08:30 - 09:30  -  Coffee   ☕ 

 09:30 - 11:30  ▪️  Session 20  ▪️ 

 Connecting Biotech Startup companies with investors 

Irinna Vavaletskou Palaiologou. Healthcare Portfolio Lead, Endeavor Greece, Greece (Chair)

• Dimitrios Adamos, Co-founder and CTO of Cogitat, UK

• Ioannis Gkouzionis, Co-founder, Aesthisis Medical, UK

• George Eleftheriou, Founder & CEO, Feel Therapeutics, UK

• Alexia Polissidis, Co-founder & CEO, Anacalypsis Therapeutics, Greece

• Nikos Tapinos, Founder, Tinos Therapeutics, USA

• Ioannis Tsamardinos, Co-founder & CSO of JADBio, Greece

Funds and Angel Investors attending: 

• Stergios Anastasiadis, General Partner, Genesis Ventures, Angel Investor, Greece

• Aristos Doxiadis, Partner, Big Pi Ventures, Greece

• Iraklis Kounadis, Founder, Neweleven Capital, Greece

• Georgios Papadopoulos, Angel Investor, Founder of Atypon, USA

• Simos Simeonidis, Founder, CEO and CIO, Kos Biotechnology Partners, USA

• Andreas Stavropoulos, Partner Threshold Venture, USA

• Katerina Stroponiati, Founder, Brilliant Minds, USA

• Alex Tzoukas, Founder and Managing Partner, Atheneon Ventures, Greece

 11:30 - 12:00  -  Coffee Break   ☕ 

 12:00 - 13:00  ▪️  Session 21  ▪️ 

 Roundtable - Empowering the Hellenic Biotech Entrepreneurship 

Panagiotis Karampinis, Managing Director, Endeavor Greece, Greece (Chair)

• Andreas Stavropoulos, Partner Threshold Venture, USA

• Simos Simeonidis, Founder, CEO & CIO, Kos Biotechnology Partners, Chairman of the Board & Co-Founder, Delsona Therapeutics, USA

• Nick Kalliagkopoulos, Partner BigPi, Greece

• Michael G. Gialouris, President & Managing Director ASOFIN Management S.A., Greece

 14:00 - 14:45  ▪️  Session 22 ▪️ 

 Session Opening 

Konstantinos Drosatos, Professor of Pharmacology & Systems Physiology, University of Cincinnati College of Medicine, & President, ARISTEiA Institute, USA (Chair)

• Konstantinos Drosatos, Nikos Kyrpides, Giorgos Nounesis

  • Theme Introduction

• [KEYNOTE] - Mike Romanos, Associate Dean for Enterprise, Faculty of Medicine, Imperial College, UK

  • Exploiting Bioscience Innovation for Medical and Commercial Impact

 14:45 - 15:45  ▪️  Session 23  ▪ 

 Roundtable - Designing Profitable Structures of Synergy in Health-Biotechnology-Economy 

Constantine Stratakis, Research Director, Human Genetics & Precision Medicine, FORTH, Greece (Chair)

• Athina Oikonomidou, Life Sciences Bus Dev & Tech Transfer Expert, COO ResQ Biotech, Belgium

• George Kaliviotis, Vice President and Head of Product Supply, FUJIFILM Diosynth Biotechnologies, USA

• Lina Nikolopoulou, Managing Director, MINDVIEW Strategy & Research, Greece

• Theodoros Kofidis, Head, Department of Cardiac, Thoracic and Vascular Surgery, National University Hospital, Singapore

 15:45 - 16:15  -  Coffee Break   ☕ 

 16:15 - 17:15  ▪️  Session 24  ▪️ 

 Roundtable - Attracting investments 

Sotirios G. Stergiopoulos, President & CEO, A2A Pharmaceuticals, USA (Chair)

• Panos Vardas, Professor, Coordinator of Heart Section, Ygeia Hospital Network (HHG), Greece

• Giorgos Tsetsekos, Francis Professor and Dean Emeritus, Drexel University's LeBow College of Business, USA

• Julia Tseti, President & CEO, UniPharma, Greece

• Mata Charokopou, Senior Director, Head of Marketing & Launch Strategy for Eastern Europe at UCB

 17:15 - 17:30  -  Bio Break   

 17:30 - 18:30  ▪️  Session 25  ▪️ 

 Roundtable - Development Tools 

Haris Antoniou, Founder and CEO, Maritime Leasing Ltd, and Codrus Capital AG, & Board Member of KOMVOS-NODE, Greece (Chair)

• Anna Panagopoulou, Director, European Research Area & Innovation, European Innovation Center, Belgium

• Marianna Nathanail, European Investment Bank (EIB) Institutional Affairs Officer for Greece and Cyprus, Greece

• Dimitrios Verelis, Director, Green Banking, Development Programs, Piraeus Bank, Greece

 18:45 - 19:00 

• BioInnovation Greece

  • Conference Closing Remarks

 ▪️ Conference Adjourns ▪️