Plenary Keynote Presentations & Sessions
Monday, March 6
8:00 am Chairperson's Remarks
Edward Abrahams, PhD, President, Personalized Medicine Coalition
8:05 am 
Plenary Keynote Introduction 
Paul Beresford, PhD, Vice President
and General Manager, CDx, Diagnostics and Genomics Group, Agilent Technologies
8:15 am KEYNOTE PRESENTATION: Precision Medicine, What's So Difficult? The Interplay & Complexities of Pharmaceutical & Diagnostic Partnerships to Deliver the Promise of Precision Medicine
Sarah Hersey, MS, MBA, RAC, Vice President, Precision Medicine, Bristol Myers Squibb Co.
Numerous dynamic intricacies exist between pharmaceutical and diagnostic industries which require careful
consideration when deploying precision medicine solutions. This, coupled with technological advances and an evolving regulatory landscape, results in significant complexity. From the push to try to incorporate precision medicine earlier in drug
development, through commercialization, what are the potential opportunities as well as hurdles to overcome to enable more effective collaborations to deliver targeted therapies?
8:45 am PANEL DISCUSSION: Rx/Dx Collaborations: Strategies for Bringing Targeted Therapies to Market
Moderator: Edward Abrahams, PhD, President, Personalized Medicine Coalition
This session will explore challenges and strategies to discover and develop personalized medicines from the points of
view of both the diagnostic and pharmaceutical industries.
Panelists:
Christopher Conn, PhD, Director, Diagnostics Strategy, Amgen
Marielena Mata, PhD, Senior Director and Diagnostic Lead, Oncology Program, Pfizer Inc.
David Fabrizio, Vice President, Early Clinical Developmen, Foundation Medicine
Sarah Hersey, MS, MBA, RAC, Vice President, Precision Medicine, Bristol Myers Squibb Co.
Paul Beresford, PhD, Vice President and General Manager, CDx, Agilent
3:40 pm Chairperson's Remarks
Kevin Davies, PhD, Executive Editor, The CRISPR Journal; Author, Editing Humanity: The CRISPR Revolution and the New Era of Genome Editing
3:45 pm FIRESIDE CHAT: Sequences, SynBio, and Sailing: Three Decades of Adventure with J. Craig Venter
Kevin Davies, PhD, Executive Editor, The CRISPR Journal; Author, Editing Humanity: The CRISPR Revolution and the New Era of Genome Editing
J. Craig Venter, PhD, Founder, Chairman, and CEO, J. Craig Venter Institute
Since
his riveting publication on expressed sequence tags in 1991, which galvanized a revolution in genomics, J. Craig Venter has been a dominant figure in the world of genomics and biotechnology. As the first human to have his personal genome completely
sequenced, and as the co-founder of Synthetic Genomics and Human Longevity, he is routinely one step ahead of his peers. As we celebrate 30 years of TRI-CON, we’re thrilled to host Dr. Venter who will discuss his life, his many accomplishments,
and his vision for the future of precision medicine and the biotech industry.
4:15 pm PANEL DISCUSSION: 30 Years of Genomics Innovation and the Future of Precision Medicine
Moderator: Kevin Davies, PhD, Executive Editor, The CRISPR Journal; Author, Editing Humanity: The CRISPR Revolution and the New Era of Genome Editing
Over the past three decades, genomic medicine
has been transformed from a distant dream to a clinical reality. With patients suffering genetic diseases and cancer now cured thanks to advances in genomics, cell therapy, genome editing, and computing, the future is bright – but by no
means assured. In this TRI-CON keynote panel, we discuss the scientific highlights of an extraordinary journey for practitioners of precision medicine and anticipate where the field is headed.
Panelists:
Euan Ashley, MD, PhD, Professor, Genomics & Precision Health, Stanford School of Medicine
J. Craig Venter, PhD, Founder, Chairman, and CEO, J. Craig Venter Institute
Molly He, PhD, CEO & Co Founder, Element Biosciences
Alex Aravanis, MD, PhD, CTO, Senior Vice President, Head of Research and Product Development, Illumina
5:00 Welcome Reception in the Exhibit Hall with Poster Viewing
Tuesday, March 7
8:00 am Chairperson's Remarks
Mara G. Aspinall, Managing Director, BlueStone Venture Partners; Professor of Practice, Arizona State University; Advisor, The Rockefeller Foundation
8:05 am PANEL DISCUSSION: Big Diagnostics: 30 Years of Impact
Moderator: Mara G. Aspinall, Managing Director, BlueStone Venture Partners; Professor of Practice, Arizona State University; Advisor, The Rockefeller Foundation
Healthcare
depends on diagnostics. We all know that diagnostics is the glue that holds the healthcare together and that 70% of medical decisions are informed by a diagnostic – but does that say enough? More than 3.5 million people work in diagnostic
industry. The number of companies is at an all-time high. COVID showed the world how valuable a test can be. But with all the changes of the last few years – there have been constants – the industry’s largest players. From the
labs to manufacturers, from services to products, there are a few companies that have seen it all. In this panel, we talk to them about the good and bad, challenges and opportunities and most importantly, the impact of the last 30 years.
Panelists:
Dave Persing, MD, PhD, Executive Vice President, CSO, Cepheid; CSO, Danaher Diagnostics Platform
Jay Wohlgemuth, MD, CMO and Senior Vice President, R&D, Medical and Population Health, Quest Diagnostics
William G. Morice II, MD, PhD, President & CEO, Mayo Clinic Laboratories; Professor & Past Chair, Mayo Clinic Department of Laboratory Medicine and Pathology; Chair, American Clinical Laboratory Association Board of Directors
Robert Bujarski, President and COO, QuidelOrtho Corporation
Cindy Perettie, Head, Roche Molecular Labs
4:45 pm Chairperson's Remarks
Larry Kessler, ScD, Professor, Health Systems and Population Health, University of Washington; Deputy Chair, MCED Consortium
4:50 pm PANEL DISCUSSION: Evaluation and Implementation of Multi-Cancer Early Detection Tests
Moderator: Larry Kessler, ScD, Professor, Health Systems and Population Health, University of Washington; Deputy Chair, MCED Consortium
Multi-cancer
early detection promises to improve cancer diagnosis, treatment and patient care. However, introducing MCED technologies into clinical care requires evaluation and assessment of benefits and risks, potential outcomes, costs, and value. The multi-stakeholder
expert panel will address how MCED will impact clinical care, outstanding challenges in evidence generation, test reimbursement, market adoption, and equitable patient access.
Panelists:
Philip E. Castle, PhD, MPH, Director, NCI Division of Cancer Prevention, NIH
Tomasz M. Beer, MD, CMO, Multi-Cancer Early Detection, Exact Sciences
Omar Perez, PhD, Head, Medical Diagnostics, AstraZeneca
Megan P. Hall, PhD, Vice President Medical Affairs, GRAIL LLC
Hakan Sakul, PhD, Vice President and Head, Diagnostics, Pfizer
Razelle Kurzrock, MD, Professor, Medicine, Associate Director, Clinical Research, Linda T. and John A. Mellowes Endowed Chair of Precision Oncology, Medical College of Wisconsin; CMO, Worldwide Innovative Network (WIN) for Personalized Cancer Therapy
Wednesday, March 8
8:00 am Chairperson's Remarks
Tom Miller, Founder & Managing Partner, GreyBird Ventures, LLC
8:15 am KEYNOTE PRESENTATION: Failure: The Best Way to Learn
Mara G. Aspinall, Managing Director, BlueStone Venture Partners; Professor of Practice, Arizona State University; Advisor, The Rockefeller Foundation
The
thought of failure creates fear. The reality of failure creates opportunity. We must embrace failure and all it can teach. As Arianna Huffington said: “Failure is not the opposite of success – it’s part of success.” We
will discuss how to think differently about failing – how to motivate yourself and your teams.
8:30 am PANEL DISCUSSION: Diagnostics Innovation and Investment Trends
Moderator: Tom Miller, Founder & Managing Partner, GreyBird Ventures, LLC
Diagnostics
investing experts will review what is hot and what is not in the field. Technological trends and white spaces will be identified, and entrepreneurs will be given best practices to maximize chances for successful financing. The panel will also
provide guidance to founders to optimize operational success post-financing and what to do in the event of a stumble, the dreaded pivot, or in dealing with failure.
Panelists:
Ajit Singh, PhD, Partner, Artiman Ventures
Nathan Davis, Analyst, RA Capital Management
Bruce J. Tromberg, PhD, Director, National Institute of Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering, National Institutes of Health; Lead, NIH’s Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostic Technologies (RADx Tech) Program
Mara G. Aspinall, Managing Director, BlueStone Venture Partners; Professor of Practice, Arizona State University; Advisor, The Rockefeller Foundation
Nick Naclerio, PhD, Founding Partner, Illumina Ventures