AI hype, smarter science, yet the same time to market - What must change?
An evening of honest panel discussion, meaningful connections, and a Polish barbecue – for leaders shaping the future of drug discovery.
Date
6 July 2026
Welcome drink:
5:30 PM
Panel discussion
6:00-7:00 PM
Networking BBQ
7:00-9:00 PM
Reserve your place
Seats are limited. We’ll confirm your registration by email within 24 hours.
Programme
An evening in three acts
From a warm welcome to an immersive panel debate, concluding with a barbecue under the Cambridge sky. Here is your guide to the evening:
5:30 PM - 6:00 PM
Welcome drink
Welcome drinkArrive and mingle with pharma, biotech, and data science leaders from across the industry. Light refreshments provided.
6:00 PM - 7:00 PM
Panel discussion
Panel discussionFour leading voices from Jazz, Merck, Genomics England and Ardigen take on AI’s biggest unfulfiled promise: why hasn’t time to market actually shrunk?
7:00 - 9:00 PM
Networking barbecue
Networking barbecueContinue the conversation over drinks, great food, and a taste of Polish barbecue tradition. Relaxed, informal, and memorable.
Panel Discussion
AI hype, smarter science, yet the same time to market – What must change?
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Host: Jan Majta (Ardigen)
Panelists: Adrianto Wirawan (Genomics England), Bolek Zapiec (Merck Healthcare), Emanuele Loro (Jazz Pharmaceuticals)
Adrianto Wirawan, PhD
Dr. Adrianto Wirawan is a strategic leader with over 20 years of experience at the intersection of Bioinformatics, Software Engineering, and AI. As the Director of Bioinformatics Engineering at Genomics England, he leads a multi-disciplinary team of over 40 professionals, delivering national-scale computational platforms for healthcare and research. His previous roles include leadership positions at AstraZeneca, Immunoscape and Human Longevity, with a focus of building scalable bioinformatics and genomics platforms in the cloud. Adrianto holds a Ph.D. in Computer Engineering from Nanyang Technological University, Singapore where his research focused on high-performance computing in bioinformatics.
Bolek Zapiec, PhD
Bolek Zapiec works at the intersection of imaging informatics, knowledge management, and AI-driven drug discovery. At Merck, he played a key role in establishing Cell Painting, building the data infrastructure, image analysis pipelines, and phenotypic profiling workflows that enabled its routine use in pharmacological research. With a background in advanced bioimaging, he began in neuroscience at Columbia University and earned his PhD from Heidelberg University, followed by research at the Max Planck Institutes. His work has spanned neurodegeneration and axon biology, combining experimental imaging with deep learning-based analysis. Since joining Merck in 2021, he has focused on knowledge graph architecture and data strategy, integrating multi-omics, imaging, and biomedical data to develop AI-powered platforms for evidence synthesis and target discovery.
Emanuele Loro, PhD
Emanuele Loro is Associate Director of Bioinformatics where he drives computational strategy across drug discovery and development programmes. With expertise spanning multi-omics integration, biomarker discovery, and competitive intelligence, he works at the interface of data science and translational medicine to support pipeline decisions. He has a track record of building bioinformatics capabilities from the ground up, evaluating and adopting emerging technologies – including AI-driven approaches – and embedding scalable, data-informed practices across cross-functional drug development teams.
