20th Medical Innovations Summit

Laura currently serves as the Executive Director for the Harvard Program in Therapeutic Science (HiTS) and the HMS Laboratory of Systems Pharmacology (LSP). HiTS is a university-wide effort to address the high failure rate of pharmaceutical development by developing new computational tools and phenotyping assays to improve our understanding of human disease and drug action.

Combining a life long interest in the mechanisms of human disease and a frustration with the human capacity for analysis of large incongruent data sets, Laura joined the Harvard Medical School Initiative in Systems Pharmacology in 2012. In July 2013, the Laboratory of Systems Pharmacology opened at HMS. The LSP employs computational biology to create new models of disease mechanisms. The HMS Laboratory of Systems Pharmacology, a shared innovation space on the Harvard Medical Quadrangle, undertakes collaborative research projects with industry and regulatory partners to co-develop methods for evaluation of drug mechanism, toxicity and efficacy.

Rune Bech is the co-founder and chairman of the award-winning health tech company Liva Healthcare. Rune Bech was one of Europe’s “dotcom front-runners” in 1998 when he co-founded NetDoctor, a leading European independent health information portal. So far, Rune has co-founded and matured three digital health companies over 22 years, with Liva Healthcare being the latest venture.

Dr Nejra van Zalk is a lecturer and researcher in psychology and human factors at the Dyson School of Design Engineering. Within the school, she is head of the Design Psychology Lab, which focuses on understanding psychological mechanisms that govern human behaviour, emotions, and decision-making processes related to designing products, services, and behavioural interventions that benefit mental health.

Her research areas include the development of psychopathology (such as social anxiety and depression) and its effects on online/offline social networks and relationships, human-technology interaction, behavioural stability and change, and emotion mapping.

Dr Habibi simplifies complex challenges and develops compelling and collaborative ways to solve them. In addition to business executive roles, he has experience in research (nano-technology and synthetic biology), product management, and high-tech consultancy (big data and fintech).

Sina has been an active member of Cambridge University Entrepreneurs (CUE) since 2010 and chaired the society in 2013-2014. CUE is the most successful entrepreneurial student society in Europe (funding over 60 start-ups worth over USD300 Million, providing over 500 full-time jobs).

Alain Nogaret is a Professor of Physics at the University of Bath, where his research focuses on quantum and nonlinear electronics.

His group has successfully developed nonlinear optimization methods for inferring the parameters of key ion channels from time series analysis of electrophysiological recordings of biological cells.

This approach has paved to way to computational models capable of predicting neuron oscillations and bioelectronic chips that emulate the electrical response of hippocampal and respiratory neurons. As implants, the biochips provide unique therapies for chronic and often fatal diseases such as heart failure the potential of which is beginning to be explored.