PITCHDAY

Dr. Rudi Pauwels is a Belgian pharmaceutical scientist, virologist, biotech entrepreneur and Baron of Belgium whose career has moved repeatedly from scientific insight to global health impact. Trained as a pharmacist and awarded a Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Sciences with greatest distinction from KU Leuven, he was among the early researchers working on HIV at the Rega Institute in Leuven.

His early work helped create laboratory screening models that enabled the discovery of new classes of antiretroviral medicines, including phosphonate nucleotide analogues such as PMEA, from which tenofovir-based therapies would later emerge, and the first non-nucleoside reverse transcriptase inhibitors. These discoveries became part of the scientific foundation for modern HIV treatment and prevention.

In 1994, Dr. Pauwels founded Tibotec, later acquired by Johnson & Johnson, where the pipeline produced several important HIV drugs, including darunavir, etravirine and rilpivirine. He also co-founded Virco, one of the earliest companies to bring personalized medicine into HIV care through resistance-guided therapy. Together, these innovations helped transform HIV from a rapidly fatal infection into a chronic, treatable condition for millions of people, while generating major medical and economic value across the global pharmaceutical sector.

After Tibotec-Virco, Dr. Pauwels founded Biocartis at EPFL in Lausanne, developing the Idylla molecular diagnostics platform: a fully automated sample-to-result, multiplex qPCR system designed to bring actionable molecular testing closer to patients. His later work expanded into epidemic preparedness through Praesens Foundation and Praesens Care, including mobile diagnostic laboratories for outbreak response.

Today, Dr. Pauwels is extending the same systems view of biology into prevention and healthy ageing. Through Helion Biosystems, based between Switzerland and Southern Spain, he is building a platform that combines controlled-environment agriculture, ISO-6 cleanroom production, freeze-drying, nutritional science and longevity research. The aim is to create precise, sustainable, bioactive nutrition that supports human resilience before disease begins.

Across pharmaceuticals, diagnostics, epidemic response and precision nutrition, Dr. Pauwels' work reflects one central conviction: biology is an interconnected system, and the future of health will depend on treating, detecting and preventing disease with equal scientific rigor.

30 years of progressive R&D management and leadership roles in pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and IVD (In Vitro Diagnostics) industries. Versatile experience in all phases of vaccine and therapeutic drug (Rx) development, including discovery, preclinical, FIH, Phases 1-3 and post approval, and in all stages of IVD diagnostics (Dx) development including companion and complementary Dx and Rx co-development. Strategist for clinical/digital biomarker development, combinational therapies and AI-empowered drug and medical device development.

Matthew Porteus MD, PhD is the Sutardja Chuk Professor of Definitive and Curative Medicine and a Professor in the Department of Pediatrics, Institute of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine and Maternal-Child Health Research Institute at Stanford. He is clinically trained in pediatric bone marrow transplantation. He is the Director of the Stanford Center for Definitive and Curative Medicine and the co-Executive Director of the Stanford Cell and Gene Therapy GMP Facility called the Laboratory for Cell and Gene Medicine. He will serve as President of ASGCT from 2026-2027. His primary research focus is on developing genome editing as an approach to cure disease, particularly those of the blood (most notably sickle cell disease) but also of other organ systems as well. He was a scientific founder of CRISPR Tx and founder of Kamau Tx and serves on the Board of Directors of Arbor Bio and the scientific advisory boards of Biogen, Allogene, and Dispatch. He is a strong advocate for assuring that the next generation of transformative medicines reaches the global community in partnership with those communities.

30 years of progressive R&D management and leadership roles in pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and IVD (In Vitro Diagnostics) industries. Versatile experience in all phases of vaccine and therapeutic drug (Rx) development, including discovery, preclinical, FIH, Phases 1-3 and post approval, and in all stages of IVD diagnostics (Dx) development including companion and complementary Dx and Rx co-development. Strategist for clinical/digital biomarker development, combinational therapies and AI-empowered drug and medical device development.

Ryan Potts obtained his Ph.D. in Cell and Molecular Biology from UT Southwestern in 2007. In 2008 he was awarded the Sara and Frank McKnight junior faculty position at UT Southwestern Medical Center and appointed as Assistant Professor in the Departments of Physiology, Pharmacology, and Biochemistry in 2011. In 2016 his lab moved to St. Jude Children's Research Hospital where he was an Associate Member in the Department of Cell and Molecular Biology. In 2020, he moved to Amgen as Executive Director of Research and Head of the Induced Proximity Platform that is focused on empowering multi-specific, induced proximity therapeutic modalities through bold, creative science to expand the druggable genome and reimaging the future of drug discovery. In 2021, he took over leadership of Amgen's Postdoctoral Fellows Program aimed at training the next generation of industry scientists. In recognition to his important contributions at Amgen, he was promoted to Vice President in 2023 with an expanded role to oversee multiple technology focused platforms with the Research Technologies department. In 2025, his role expanded to oversee a new Research function, DATA (Discovery Science, Advanced Technologies, and AI).

Chen-En Cheng, D.V.M., M.Sc., DABT, ERT, UKRT is the Associate Researcher at the National Institutes of Applied Research, National Center for Biomodels, Taiwan. Dr. Cheng received his master's degree in veterinary medicine from the National Taiwan University, Taipei, Taiwan. He has over 20 years of experience in preclinical safety assessment and toxicology, with leadership responsibilities in strategic new drug development planning, cross-functional resource integration, and R&D management. He is currently a member of AAALAC International Council of Accreditation.