Boston Session Special Lecture
Affiliation

Name of Speaker

Title

Biogen Japan Inc

Shinichi Torii

Introduction for new drug development based on Neuroscience research

Born in June, 1960
March, 1984 Graduated from Gifu College of Pharmacy
March, 2002 Ph.D degree from Molecular Biology from Tokyo University,
Graduate School
April, 1984～ Janssen Pharmaceutical K.K.
April, 2007～ Celgene Corporation
April, 2010～ Olympus Corporation
January, 2011～ Olympus Biotech Corporation (Boston, USA)
June, 2014～ Head of R&D, Biogen Japan Inc.
April, 2017～ President & Representative Director, Biogen Japan Inc.
November, 2018～ President & Representative Director, Biogen Japan Inc.
(Daihyo Torishimariyaku Kaicho)

Shinichi joined Biogen Japan in June 2014 to establish and lead its R&D
function in Japan as part of Biogen’s ‘Tri-Hub’ research and development
model. He brings his depth knowledge and experience in both academia andthe industry to leverage the world-class scientific innovation of Biogen. Prior toBiogen, he spent many years as a researcher in academia and expanded hiscareer path into the pharmaceutical and medical device industries including
Janssen Pharmaceutical and Olympus Biotech. In his past experiences,
Neurology research and development including MS, Alzheimer’s diseases andgrowth factors, NGF and BDNFs are one of his scientific interests as not only
“bench to bed” but also “bed to bench” collaborations with Japanese basicand clinical researchers.

Boston Session Pitch Presenters
123Affiliation

Name of Speaker

Title

biolabs

Christine Kressirer, PhD,BioLabs, the experience of a biotechnology company in a shared-laboratory facility

1998-2002 Colorado State University BioChemistry,Microbiology
2007-2010 Ludwig-Maximilians University Munich, Doctor ofPhilosophy,(Ph.D),Pharmaceutical Biology andNatural Sciences

2011-2018 The Forsyth Institute
Final title - Director of Core and Laboratory services
2018~Site Director, Tufts Launchpad Biolabs

UCHU Biosensors, Inc.

Intraoral Health Monitor

Daniel Weinstein

Co-Founder, CEO of UCHU Biosensors, Inc.
2014 - Researcher, Dana Farber Cancer InstituteStudied anti-aptotic cell signaling pathways for drug development2015 - Researcher, Tufts Sackler School of Biomedical Sciences
Grew artificical skin from iPS cells to study chronic wound healing

2016 - Summer Researcher, Technion Institute of Technology
Characterized and validated response of nanoscale opticalbiosensors
2018 - Graduated cum laude with a BSBME (bachelors of science inbiomedical Engineering)from Tufts University School of Engineering

Mytide Therapeutics

High-throughput Peptide Manufacturing for Therapeutic Research and Drug Discovery

Dale A. Thomas III

2013 B.S. Maine Maritime Academy, Valedictorian2013 American Bureau of Shipping Fellowship2014 MEngM, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
2019 PhD, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
2019 Cofounder, Mytide Therapeutics

45DropGenie

Alison Hirukawa

Automating gene editing using a digital microfludics platform

2011 MSc, Medical Genetics, University of British Columbia, Vancouver,Canada

2017- PhD, Biochemistry, McGill University, Montreal, Canda
2018- Co-founder, Chief Product Officer, DropGenie, Boston MA

North Shore InnoVentures

Innovate faster, Climb higher

Christopher R.C.Ilsley

Chris is the President and CEO of NSIV. As a leader in the Boston innovation
NSIV is an accredited ‘soft landing’ facility for the International Business Incubator
ecosystem Chris and the team at North Shore InnoVentures (NSIV) are actively
Association (InBIA). This accreditation validates that NSIV has a robust and supportive
services and program to help international companies to enter the Boston and North
involved in supporting innovation-driven companies to realize and deliver impact.
Not only does NSIV support companies through start of the art lab facilities; but, also, American life science community. Chris moved to Boston as Head of Science andInnovation at the British Consulate Boston, from Cambridge, UK, where he worked asimportantly, with business and leadership support through programs, services,an advisor to UK companies looking identify and develop international partnershipcommunity partnerships and mentoring.
opportunities.

6Genomic Expression

Gitte Pedersen

Scientist/CEO with a mission to cure cancer. Started Genomic Expression together withher brother, after her parents were diagnosed with cancer.
The company raised $8M to conduct 4 clinical trials focusing on women cancer first.
OneRNA™ finds the best drug for the patient and the best patient for the drug bysequencing RNA.
Genomic Expression was in the top 10 of the XTC, also won the Lyfebulb and theEUTop50 award, and presented at the European Parliament and UN in New York.

78Cellanyx Diagnostics

Guy L. Fish

Title: OneRNA™: a paradigm shift to truly individualized treatment
Prior to Genomic Expression, Gitte advised a number of SMEs of biotech as well as theDanish Ministry of Foreign Affairs with deal resume +$1B.
Gitte Pedersen has a master in Chemical Engineering and a bachelor in International
Trade. She recently joined Pipeline Angels and made her first angel investment.

Stratifying indolent from aggressive cancers: it’s the biology, not the histology

1988-1992 Solo-Practice, Internal Medicine
1995-1999 The Boston Consulting Group, USA
1999-2000 Sanford Bernstein, Equities Analyst, NY, NY
2000-2001 Ivy Consulting Enterprises, Health Care Consulting, Boston, MA
2001-2002 Collagenesis, a tissue engineering firm, Boston, MA
2002-2007 Fletcher Spaght, Inc, Health Care Consulting, Director

2004-2010 Massachusetts Board of Registration in Medicine, MD Licensing
Board,Chairman of Licensing
2010-2016 Dubai Health Care City Licensing Board, Chairman of Board
2005-2018 Fletcher Spaght Venture, Health Care Venture Capital, Vice President
2007-2019 Fletcher Spaght, Inc., Health Care Consulting, Senior Vice President
2019
Cellanyx Diagnostics, CEOThrive Bioscience, Inc.

Analytics, AI & Automation in Cell Culture & Stem Cell Culture

Thomas Forest Farb-Horch

Mr. Farb-Horch is CEO and President of Thrive Bioscience (Boston, Massachusetts) which provides (NASD: EXAS), Fair Isaac (NYSE: FIC), Redwood Trust (NYSE: RWT), HNC Software (acquired by Fair
instruments and software tools for the automation of cell culture and stem cell culture, aIsaac), Retek Systems (acquired by Oracle) and Saf-T-Med (acquired by Becton Dickinson).
neglected yet critical area for biomedical research. Thrive has raised $20M to-date, has filed 46
patent applications and is in beta testing of its first of a family of instruments with Harvard Stem
Mr. Farb-Horch has served as President, COO and/or in the senior management of numerous
Cell Institute, Massachusetts General Hospital and Stanford University Stem Cell Core and others. companies, including Thrive Bioscience, Inc., Indevus Pharmaceuticals and Cytyc.
Mr. Farb-Horch has actively participated in the founding of over 10 life sciences, artificial
intelligence and software companies and has had four exits with one billion dollars or more.
He has founded and served on the Boards of numerous companies, including Exact Sciences

9

Biobot Analytics, Inc
2011
2014
2017
2017

10Canairy
2015
2016-2019
2018
2019

11

Noriko Endo

B.Eng. in Civil Engineering, University of Tokyo, Japan
M.Sci. in Environmental Engineering, Massachusetts institute ofTechnology,USAPhD in Environmental Engineering, Massachusetts institute ofTechnology, USA
Spatial Epidemiologist and Product Manager, Biobot Analytics, USARayees Rahman

Leveraging wastewater as a window into population health.
Dr. Endo is as engineer who works at the intersection of environmentalengineering and public health. She has extensive field experiences inAfrica, Asia, and North America on health-related projects, such as
malaria transmission, human metabolomics, and antimicrobial resistance.

App based mangement of respiratory disease using cough sounds and machine learning

BS, Biology, Hunter CollegePhD Candidate, Computational Biolgy, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai
Co-founder: A.I.chemy, A.I. based drug discovery platform
CEO and Co-Founder of Canairy; Biotechnology Start up

PORTAL INSTRUMENTS, INC.
2008
2008-20112011-2014
2014-

Mr. Farb has also been a Trustee for numerous non-profit organizations including North Shore
InnoVentures (an incubator/accelerator in the Boston area), Dana Farber Cancer Institute andAsia America Chamber of Commerce. Mr. Farb is a graduate of Harvard University.

Andrew Coats

BS Mechanical Engineering
Cambridge Consultants, Medical Device EngineerFractyl Inc., Surgical Device for Diabeaties, Engineer
present Portal Instruments, VP Engineering

Innovation in Drug Delivery: Needle-Free Auto-Injector