Program (The Agenda)
DAY 1.Wednesday , July 1st 2026
Setting the Vision
16:00–16:30
Registration & Welcome Coffee
16:30–16:45
Welcome Addresses (10–15 min total)
- Dragan Ljutić, Rector, University of Split
- Jessica Blitt, Canadian Ambassador to Croatia
- Tomislav Šuta, Mayor of Split
- Blaženko Boban, Prefect, Splitsko-Dalmatian County
- Eduard Vrdoljak, President of Croatian Oncological Society
- EC representative (TBC)
- Davor Miličić, Fellow of the Croatian Academy od Sciences and Arts (HAZU)
- Radovan Fuchs, Minister of Science and Education of the Republic of Croatia (TBC)
Opening Remarks
Igor Stagljar, Director of The Barret Foundation Drug Discovery Lab, University of Toronto, ON, Canada
Vision for AI-Driven Biomedicine and the Goals of the Symposium
17:00–18:00
Opening Keynote
Prof. Ewan Birney Executive Director of the European Molecular Biology Laboratory (EMBL), Hinxton (UK) and Heidelberg (Germany)
Genomics, Imaging, and AI: Three Technologies Transforming Research and Human Health
18:00–18:15
Discussion & Q&A
18:30–20:30
Welcome Reception & Networking Dinner
DAY 2 – Thursday , July 2nd 2026
Industry → Academia → Integration
Morning Session (09:00–13:00)
AI in Pharma, Drug Discovery & Clinical Translation
09:00–09:30
Birgit Schoeberl, Vice President and Head of Data42, Novartis, Cambridge, MA, USA
Beyond Silos: How Data Integration and AI Accelerate Drug Development
09:30–10:00
Marija Tadin-Strapps, Vice President of Drug Discovery, Pfizer, Boston, MA, USA
AI in Drug Discovery
10:00–10:30
Coffee Break
10:30–11:00
Fethallah Benmansour, AI/ML Data Science Lead (a.i. Head), Roche, Basel, Switzerland
How AI Is Making Clinical Trials Faster and More Likely to Succeed
11:00–11:30
Rune Linding, NATO DIANA Challenge Manager, Eastern Flank, Tallin, Estonia
Biosolutions and Battle-Informed Innovation for a Resilient Europe
Round Table 1 11:30-12:45
Academia Meets Industry: From Algorithms to Impact
Moderator: Rima Al-awar, Vice Provost, New York University (NYU), Abu Dhabi, UAE
Panelists – Academia
- Ewan Birney (EMBL)
- Walter Kolch (UCD / Systems Biology Ireland)
- Anna Goldenberg (SickKids / University of Toronto)
- Jonathan Chernoff (Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia, PA, USA)
Panelists – Industry
- Andrew Aiginin (Insilico Medicine)
- Marija Tadin-Strapps (Pfizer)
- Birgit Schoeberl (Novartis)
- Adrijana Vinter (Selvita)
Discussion themes:
- Where AI truly adds value vs. hype
- Translating academic AI into industry pipelines
- What makes academia–industry collaborations succeed—or fail
13:00–14:30
Lunch Break
Afternoon Session (14:30–17:00)
Core Science: AI Foundations & Cancer Biology
14:30–15:00
Poncho Meisenheimer, Vice President of R&D, Promega Corporation and Director of Chemistry, Usona Institute in Madison, WI, USA
AI-Enabled Platforms and Enabling Technologies
15:00–15:30
Gaudenz Danuser, Co-Director and Head of Computational Biology, Institute of Human Biology, Roche, Basel, Switzerland
AI’s Take on Cancer
15:30–16:00
Coffee Break
16:00–16:30
Igor Stagljar, Director of The Barret Foundation Drug Discovery Lab, University of Toronto, ON, Canada
The Journal of Molecular Biology sponsored lecture:
From algorithms to medicines: AI, quantum computing and new frontiers in cancer research
16:30–17:00
Anna Goldenberg, Varma Family Chair in Biomedical Informatics and Artificial Intelligence at SickKids Hospital, ON, Toronto, Canada
Deploying AI in Healthcare
17:00-17:15
Networking Break
17:15-21:00
Poster session
Evening (19:00–21:30)
Formal Dinner with Invited Speakers & Sponsors
(Zrno Soli, Split | ~20–30 participants)
DAY 3 – Friday, July 3rd 2026
Policy, Defence, Start-ups & Europe’s Future
Morning Session (09:00–10:30)
09:00–09:30
Andrew Aiginin, Generative Biologics Product Manager, Insilico Medicine, Abu Dhabi, United Arab Emirates
From Software to Experiments to Drugs: How Generative AI, Automation, and Global Partnerships Accelerate Drug Discovery
09:30–10:00
Walter Kolch, Director of Systems Biology Ireland, Conway Institute at University College Dublin, Ireland
The Disease and Therapeutics (Elsevier) sponsored lecture:
Deciphering Cancer Using AI
10:00-11:30
Round Table 2
Start-ups, Policy & Europe’s AI Future
Can Europe Compete in AI-Driven Biomedicine?
Moderator: Adrijana Vinter, Global Head of Drug Discovery, Member of the Management Board, Selvita Group, Poland
Panel Members:
- Gaudenz Danuser (Roche)
- Rune Linding (NATO)
Poncho Meisenheimer (Promega)
Rima Al-Awar (NYU Abu Dhabi)
Jonathan Chernoff (Fox Chase Cancer Center, Philadelphia, PA, USA)
Selected discussion topics:
- Europe vs. US vs. China: structural advantages and blind spots
- Can start-ups survive without early Big Pharma involvement?
- Data access, regulation, and trust: barriers or opportunities?
- Defence, health, and dual-use AI technologies
- What would it take for Europe to build a “biomedical AI champion”?
- Why Europe is strong in science but weak in turning AI into scalable biomedical businesses
- can Europe’s CRO ecosystem become a competitive advantage in AI-driven drug discovery?
- does Europe’s risk culture (public funding, accountability, fear of failure) slow down true AI innovation?
11:30-120:00
Closing Session
Wrap-up & Outlook
Key messages and take-home points
13:00–15:00
Lunch at MedILS with the Mayor of Split Tomislav Šuta, Prefect Blaženko Boban and and Rector of University of Split Dragan Ljutic