Data Driven Innovations – November 11 & 12, 2025
Address: Convene One Boston Place, 201 Washington Street, Boston, MA 02108
Join us at our annual USA conference, in Boston, where new ideas are sparked and new initiatives are activated thanks to the power of collaboration.
Polite notice, if you are unsure of your membership status, please email comms@pistoiaalliance.org for confirmation. If you are not a member your registration will not be accepted.
Our Sponsors
For sponsorship and attendance opportunities contact catherine.maskell@pistoiaalliance.org or download the Boston Sponsorship pack here
Agenda
Day 1: Tuesday November 11
| Time | Event | Details |
|---|---|---|
| 13:30 | Badge Collection and Coffee at The Convene | |
| 13:45 – 14:00 | Introductions | Becky Upton |
| 14:00 – 14:30 | Keynote Presentation | tbc |
| 14:30 – 15:00 | Keynote Presentation | Steven Winig, Novartis |
| 15:00 – 15:45 | Coffee Break and Networking | Sponsored by Digital Science |
| 15:45– 16:15 | Keynote Presentation | Jagat Adhiya, Bayer |
| 16:15 – 16:45 | Science to Supply – How We Are Driving Parallel Opportunities across Research, Pre-Clinical, CMC, Manufacturing and Supply. | Julie Huxley Jones, Vice President, Business Engagement and Technology for Research, Preclinical and BSMO, Vertex Pharmaceuticals |
| 16.45 – 17:00 | Sponsored Research | Copyright Clearance Center |
| 17:00 – 19:30 | Networking Drinks at The Dagny Hotel |
Day 2: Wednesday November 12
| Time | Event | Details |
|---|---|---|
| 09.00 – 09:30 | Badge Pick Up | |
| 09:30 – 09:45 | Welcome | Becky Upton, President, Pistoia Alliance |
| 09:45 – 10:45 | Morning Stream Sessions |
|
| 10:45 – 11:30 | Coffee Break and Networking | |
| 11:30: – 13:00 | Morning Stream Sessions |
|
| 13:00 – 14:15 | Lunch | |
| 14:15– 15:15 | Afternoon Stream Sessions |
|
| 15:15 – 16:00 | Coffee Break and Networking | |
| 16:00 – 17:15 | Afternoon Stream Sessions |
|
| 17:30 | Conference Closes |
In-Depth Agenda Day 2
Morning Stream Sessions
Stream 1 – Agentic AI and Human Agency
As AI models in general and agents in particular become more capable the question of where and how they should be used grows in importance. When do we want humans in the loop checking AI decisions rather than models augmenting human intelligence?
Hosts: Christian Baber, Rob Gill and Vladimir Makarov, Pistoia Alliance
- 09:45: Opening Remarks including portfolio update by Christian Baber, Chief Portfolio Officer, Pistoia Alliance
- 10:00: Are Agents All We Need? Hendrik Luuk, Senior Director of NLP, Pfizer
- 10:15: Elsevier
- 10:30: Speaker Q&A
- 10:45: Coffee break
- 11:30: Chaithanya Bandi, Genetech
- 11:50: Rancho BioSciences
- 12:10: Pharma and Vendor Case Study
- 12:30: Speaker Panel and Key Takeaways
Stream 2 – Beyond the Cage
In this session we will explore the scientific shift toward alternative methods in drug development, focusing on the 3Rs principle: Replacement, Reduction, and Refinement.
We will focus on some of the latest innovative approaches
Hosts: Thierry Escudier and Veronique Francois, Pistoia Alliance
- 09:45: Opening Remarks including portfolio update by Thierry Escudier, Pistoia Alliance
- 10:00: Minimal Metadata Set for In Vivo Data, Stefano Gaburro, Scientific Director, Tecniplast & Chris Butler, Research Fellow / Director, Abbvie
- 10:20: Novel Alternative Methods: Review of Existing Methods, Alastair King, Head of Biology, Eurofins
- 10:40: Speaker Q&A
- 10:45: Coffee Break
- 11:30: Novel Alternative Methods: A View from Pharma, Jessica Treadway, Senior Research Scientist, Abbvie
- 11:50: Novel Alternative Methods: The Road Map of Expansion, Jon McCord, PCRM
- 12:10: IVP Project, Zifo Technologies & Chris Butler, Research Fellow / Director, Abbvie
- 12:30: Speaker Panel and Key Takeaways
Afternoon Stream Sessions
Stream 3 – Smart Data
Whether directly or through models, data drives decisions and leads to smarter, more efficient R&D. However, much of our data is not in a useable form. How do we create, format and manage our data to ensure that we can get the most value from it?
Hosts: Christian Baber and Birthe Neilssen, Pistoia Alliance
- 14:15: Opening Remarks by Christian Baber, Chief Portfolio Officer, Pistoia Alliance
- 14:30: FAIR – Genta Spahiu Pina, Pfizer
- 14:45: Vendor / Pharma Case Study – DataVid
- 15:00: Speaker Q&A
- 15:15: Coffee Break
- 16:00: Data FAIRy – Tim Ikeda, Astrazeneca
- 16:20: Amino Data
- 16:40: Pharma General Ontology- Rama Balakrishnan, Roche
- 17:00: Speaker Q&A / Panel Discussion
- Close
Stream 4 – Fast Forward Late Stage Development
In this session we will explore the transformative role of digital technologies in accelerating the late-stage drug development process. It will highlight how digital trials and leveraging real-world data enable more efficient, scalable, and patient-centric research.
Hosts: Thierry Escudier, Pistoia Alliance and Aditya Tyagi, Pistoia Alliance
- 14:15: Opening Remarks by Thierry Escudier, Pistoia Alliance
- 14:30: Pharma Speaker
- 14:45: Parexel
- 15:00: Speaker Q&A
- 15:15: Coffee Break
- 16:00: Pharma Speaker
- 16:20: Pharma Speaker
- 16:40: Speaker Panel
- 17:00: Key Takeaways
- 17:15: Close