ELRIG UK announces Steve Bates and Dr Anderson Ryan as keynote speakers at Research and Innovation 2024
Key topics include oncology, antimicrobial resistance, mass spectrometry, proteomics and animal free drug discovery
21 Feb 2024
The European Laboratory Research & Innovation Group (ELRIG) UK has announced the keynote speakers for its upcoming Research and Innovation conference. Steve Bates OBE FMedSci, CEO, BioIndustry Association (BIA) and Dr Anderson Ryan, Co-founder and Head of R&D and Drug Development, FasT BioPharma will lead this year’s event which will focus on accelerating drug discovery.
The event will bring together scientists, researchers and entrepreneurs to discuss how emerging biology and innovative technologies are pioneering the medicines of tomorrow and helping to enable the next generation of therapeutics. It will comprise of four main sessions covering animal-free technologies, oncology drug discovery, tackling antimicrobial resistance as well as advances in mass spectrometry techniques and proteomics.
Steve Bates leads the BIA, the UK’s trade association for innovative life science companies. A strong advocate of partnership working, Steve champions sector collaboration with research charities and academia, and is committed to next-generation talent and developing the skills needed for the sector to progress. He serves on the UK Government’s Life Sciences Council and Vaccine Taskforce as well as the UK Biosecurity Leadership Council. Steve has helped enable effective industrial incentives, like the Biomedical Catalyst, and forged links for the sector across the USA, Europe and China. Before joining the BIA, Steve worked for Genzyme and was advisor to the UK Government of Tony Blair. He was appointed an OBE for services to innovation in 2017 and became a Fellow of the Academy of Medical Science in 2020.
Dr Anderson Ryan is the scientific co-founder of FasT BioPharma, an oncology-focussed start-up, where he leads the R&D programme. Prior to this he served as VP Head of Oncology at Mission Therapeutics, Head of Translational Science at Medicines Discovery Catapult and worked in a number of roles at AstraZeneca, including leading translational science programmes across a broad range of preclinical and clinical oncology indications. Anderson was previously a lecturer in cancer studies at the University of Manchester, and Associate Professor and Senior MRC Group Leader in the Department of Oncology at the University of Oxford, investigating new therapeutic approaches in lung cancer. He has trained more than 20 post-graduate students, published over 200 scientific papers and 12 patents, and acts as an oncology/drug-development reviewer for key funders, including CRUK, UKRI and Innovate UK.
ELRIG will be launching the TechBio Breakthrough Zone at Research and Innovation 2024. The new exhibition space provides young companies with the opportunity to present their technology and connect with potential customers and collaborators.