Confirmed Speakers

Elodie obtained a PhD in Neurogenetics in Paris and while pursuing research as a postdoc at UCL, London she got involved in the creation of the Pint of Science festival in 2013. She created the French branch in 2014 and after 4 years of working in research and Pint of Science simultaneously, she decided to leave research and become a science communicator.

She is now the international director for Pint of Science, but is also involved in various science communication projects as a freelancer and is passionate about helping scientists to share their love of science with the public.

Her mission is to make science accessible to everyone, everywhere.

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Prof. Dr. Anna K. H. Hirsch obtained her M. Sci. from the University of Cambridge and received her Ph.D. from the ETH Zurich in 2008 under Prof. F. Diederich. Subsequently, she joined the group of Prof. J.-M. Lehn at the Institut de Science et d’Ingénierie Supramoléculaires (ISIS) in Strasbourg as an HFSP postdoctoral fellow, before taking up a position as assistant professor at the Stratingh Institute for Chemistry at the University of Groningen in 2010 where she was promoted to associate professor in 2015.

In 2017, she became head of the department “Drug Design and Optimization” at the Helmholtz Institute for Pharmaceutical Research Saarland (HIPS) and full professor at Saarland University. Her work focuses on target-based anti-infective drug discovery, recognised by numerous prizes such as the Innovation Prize for Medicinal Chemistry of the GdCh/DPhG.

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Elodie obtained a PhD in Neurogenetics in Paris and while pursuing research as a postdoc at UCL, London she got involved in the creation of the Pint of Science festival in 2013. She created the French branch in 2014 and after 4 years of working in research and Pint of Science simultaneously, she decided to leave research and become a science communicator.

She is now the international director for Pint of Science, but is also involved in various science communication projects as a freelancer and is passionate about helping scientists to share their love of science with the public.

Her mission is to make science accessible to everyone, everywhere.

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Prof. Dr. Anna K. H. Hirsch obtained her M. Sci. from the University of Cambridge and received her Ph.D. from the ETH Zurich in 2008 under Prof. F. Diederich. Subsequently, she joined the group of Prof. J.-M. Lehn at the Institut de Science et d’Ingénierie Supramoléculaires (ISIS) in Strasbourg as an HFSP postdoctoral fellow, before taking up a position as assistant professor at the Stratingh Institute for Chemistry at the University of Groningen in 2010 where she was promoted to associate professor in 2015.

In 2017, she became head of the department “Drug Design and Optimization” at the Helmholtz Institute for Pharmaceutical Research Saarland (HIPS) and full professor at Saarland University. Her work focuses on target-based anti-infective drug discovery, recognised by numerous prizes such as the Innovation Prize for Medicinal Chemistry of the GdCh/DPhG.

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Zaneta Nikolovska-Coleska, M.S., Ph.D., Professor of Pathology, Director of Molecular & Cellular Pathology Graduate Program, Associate Director of Program in Biomedical Sciences at the University of Michigan. Dr. Nikolovska-Coleska received her BS in Pharmacy (1987) and MS and PhD in Pharmaceutical Chemistry (1993 and 1999 respectively) from University Ss. Cyril and Methodius, Skopje, North Macedonia. She held the position of Assistant Professor in the Department of Pharmaceutical Chemistry at her alma mater university and completed her postdoctoral training at the University of Michigan, under the guidance of Prof. Shaomeng Wang.

Dr. Nikolovska-Coleska joined the faculty of the Department of Pathology as a tenure-track Assistant Professor (2008), and was promoted to the tenured Associate Professor in 2015 and Professor in 2021. Dr. Nikolovska-Coleska serves as the Director of Molecular & Cellular Pathology (MCP) graduate program, Associate-Director of the doctoral Program in Biomedical Sciences (PIBS) at the University of Michigan Medical School, and co-Director of T32 NIH/NIGMS Training Program in Translational Research. Her research is focused on validating and targeting protein-protein interactions, chemical genomics, and development of small-molecule inhibitors as targeted cancer therapies, focusing on apoptotic pathways and epigenetics.

Dr. Nikolovska-Coleska has published more than 85 papers in peer-reviewed scientific journals, more than 100 meeting abstracts, and holds more than 15 international and US patents and patent applications. Prof. Nikolovska-Coleska has received numerous awards including, New Investigator Award from Leukemia Research Foundation, Innovator Award from Harrington Discovery Institute and AACR-Bayer Innovation and Discovery Award. She is a member of the RSC Chemical Biology editorial board and chair of the NIH study section Mechanisms of Cancer Therapeutics A (MCTA).

Prof. Nikolovska-Coleska is currently the President for the International Chemical Biology Society (ICBS) and a member of the Board of Directors.

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Radka obtained her PhD from Vienna University of Technology in 2007 where she worked on the asymmetric synthesis of lactones using a combination of chemical and biocatalytic approaches. She received an Erwin-Schroedinger Fellowship and spent 1 year of postdoctoral study at York University in the UK, exploring the development of novel biocatalysts for organosilane chemistry. In 2009, Radka moved to University of Greifswald, Germany as a senior postdoctoral fellow to develop a high-throughput screening approach for in vivo selection and cell sorting, with the primary goal of identifying novel enantioselective enzymes.

In 2011, she transitioned to industry with a one year role at a lab focused on supporting chemists at GSK to take advantage of biocatalytic technologies (Novacta), prior to directly joining Chemical Process Development at GSK, UK as Project leader responsible for the development and implementation of new biocatalytic technology in both pre- and post-commercialisation routes. Since Dec 2016, Radka is leading the Bioreactions group in Global Discovery Chemistry at Novartis Institute for Biomedical Research in Basel.

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Wendy Young is a biotechnology, pharma, and life sciences executive and board advisor with more than 25 years of experience in the discovery and development of innovative new medicines for patients. Wendy has held key senior roles at Genentech, Celera Genomics, and Johnson & Johnson Company.

Prior to joining MPM, Wendy was the Senior Vice President at Genentech where she actively built and led the small molecule drug discovery organization. Under her leadership, more than 25 clinical candidates, in the areas of oncology, immunology, neurology, and anti-infectives, progressed into development. Additionally, Wendy led the BTK discovery program and is co-inventor of fenebrutinib which is currently in Phase 3 trials for multiple sclerosis. Prior to joining Genentech, Wendy held roles of increasing scientific leadership at Celera Genomics and Scios, a J&J company. Wendy is an inventor and/or author on more than 70 published patents and manuscripts.

Known for her strong passion and contributions within the scientific community, Wendy has been involved with the American Chemical Society (ACS) for 20 years. In 2017, she was elected as the ACS National Chair of the Medicinal Chemistry Division (MEDI), and she currently serves as an associate editor of The Journal of Medicinal Chemistry. In 2018, Wendy was inducted as an ACS Fellow for her lifelong service to chemistry, society and medicine, and in 2019 highlighted as “One of the Top 20 Women in Biopharma” by Endpoint News. In 2020 she was awarded the prestigious Earle B. Barnes Award for Leadership in Chemical Research Management.

Wendy earned her Ph.D. from Princeton University, having studied in the laboratories of Edward C. Taylor. At Princeton, and in collaboration with Eli Lilly, Wendy worked on folate analogs as antitumor agents and Alimta® was an outcome of this collaboration. Thereafter, as an American Cancer Society Fellow, she performed post-doctoral studies in the laboratories of Samuel Danishefsky at Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center and was part of the team that completed the total synthesis of Taxol®.

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