Biographies
Day One – Presenters and Panelists
Ashutosh Agarwal, Ph.D., University of Miami
Dr. Ashutosh Agarwal is Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Director of
Engineering & Applied Physics at the University of Miami’s Desai Sethi Urology
Institute. He co-directs Engineering Cancer Cures and specializes in
physiologically relevant fluidic platforms, including organs-on-chips;
organoids-on-chips; live organ slices; and whole human eye perfusion,
preservation, and transport technologies. Dr. Agarwal’s Physiomimetic
Microsystems Laboratory develops microscale organ-mimicking systems for drug
testing, stem cell maturation, disease modeling, and transplant innovation.
Their NIH-funded research focuses on pancreatic islets and circulating tumor
cells using engineered tissue-chip platforms developed through
multidisciplinary collaborations.
Manuel Amieva, M.D., Ph.D., Stanford University
Dr. Manuel Amieva is a physician–scientist and Professor of Pediatrics,
Infectious Diseases and Microbiology and Immunology at Stanford University
whose research examines how bacterial pathogens colonize epithelial surfaces
and cause disease. His work focuses on Helicobacter pylori and its
role in gastric cancer. His laboratory identified key mechanisms of H. pylori
pathogenesis, including how the virulence factor CagA disrupts cell polarity
and promotes bacterial growth on epithelial surfaces. Using animal models,
human tissues, and advanced imaging technologies, his team discovered H.
pylori microcolonies deep within gastric glands, which are essential for
pathological inflammation and hyperplasia. The lab also developed innovative
microscopy techniques and organoid models to study host–microbe interactions
in human tissues.
Murat Cirit, Ph.D., Javelin Biotech
Dr. Murat Cirit is a bioengineer and co-founder/CEO of Javelin Biotech,
focused on new approach methodologies (NAMs) integrating microphysiological
systems (organ-on-chip/tissue chip) with computational modeling to improve
preclinical drug testing predictive accuracy. He is an inventor in tissue chip
and digital twin technologies. Prior to Javelin, he was founding Principal
Investigator of the NIH-funded Translational Center of Tissue Chip
Technologies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and Co–Principal
Investigator on a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency–funded
microphysiological systems program. His work bridges bioengineering and
computational biology to advance predictive platforms that enhance drug
discovery and translational research, with broad impact on pharmaceutical R&D
efficiency and safety.
Melissa Haendel, Ph.D., The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill
(UNC)
Dr. Melissa Haendel is a leader in precision health and translational
informatics at UNC, where she serves as Director and Sarah Graham Kenan
Distinguished Professor in Genetics. Trained in molecular genetics,
neuroscience, and semantic engineering, she focuses on integrating health care
systems, research data, and patient-generated information into AI-ready
formats. She is co-founder of the Monarch Initiative and the National COVID
Cohort Collaborative. By leveraging ontologies, knowledge graphs, and AI,
Monarch enables researchers to identify the most appropriate biological models
for studying human physiology and disease and is increasingly being adapted to
do the same for NAMs. Her work on Mondo Disease Ontology is being integrated
into Epic electronic health record workflows through IMO Core, enabling
rare-disease codes to be used across UNC Health’s 20 hospitals and more than
900 clinics, with broader national availability. Dr. Haendel’s research
emphasizes rare disease diagnostics, genotype–phenotype integration, knowledge
graphs, and data standards. She also contributes to international efforts to
improve data sharing and global biomedical interoperability.
Michael Helmrath, M.D., Ph.D., University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati
Children’s Hospital Medical Center
Dr. Michael Helmrath is a pediatric surgeon–scientist at Cincinnati Children’s
Hospital Medical Center and Professor in the University of Cincinnati
Department of Surgery. He serves as Director of the Center for Stem Cell and
Organoid Medicine (CuSTOM), Director of Surgical Research, and Director of the
Center for Bariatric Research and Innovation. His clinical and research
programs focus on intestinal failure, obesity, intestinal adaptation, stem
cell biology, and regenerative approaches to gastrointestinal disease. His
laboratory develops human intestinal stem cell and organoid platforms derived
from patient tissue, pluripotent stem cells, and surgical models, with the
goal of translating discoveries into therapies for children with complex
intestinal disorders. Through CuSTOM, Dr. Helmrath helps advance organoids for
personalized medicine, disease modeling, drug discovery, and regenerative
medicine. His recent work includes studies of transplanted human intestinal
organoids, immune-competent gut models, and pluripotent stem cell–derived
organoids capable of repairing damaged bowel in vivo.
Bridgett Hill, M.S., General Dynamics Information Technology
Ms. Bridgett Hill is a Data Scientist at General Dynamics Information
Technology. She is a contractor supporting the new NIH Office of Research
Innovation, Validation, and Assessment (ORIVA) and has spent the last three
years supporting the NTP Interagency Center for the Evaluation of Alternative
Toxicological Methods (NICEATM). She focuses on NAMs as potential complements
or alternatives to traditional in vivo methods. Ms. Hill published
studies using fish models to evaluate developmental neurotoxicity, chemical
exposure effects, and environmental contaminant bioactivity. Her current work
includes annotation of high-throughput screening data using structured
ontologies, mapping these assays to key characteristics of toxicants linked to
human health outcomes, and aligning information to globally recognized
harmonized reporting templates to increase regulatory readiness of data.
Donald Ingber, M.D., Ph.D., Wyss Institute, Boston Children’s Hospital and
Harvard Medical School
Dr. Donald Ingber is the Founding Director of the Wyss Institute for
Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University, the Judah Folkman
Professor of Vascular Biology at Harvard Medical School and Boston Children’s
Hospital, and Hansjörg Wyss Professor of Biologically Inspired Engineering at
the Harvard's John A. Paulson School of Engineering and Applied Sciences. He
leads interdisciplinary scientific and engineering teams that develop and
commercialize bioinspired technologies to advance health care, improve
sustainability, and address major unmet needs in biomedical research. Dr.
Ingber is internationally recognized for pioneering human organ chip
technology, a human-relevant platform designed to model physiology and
disease, accelerate drug development, support personalized medicine, and
reduce reliance on animal testing. His organ chip technology was named one of
the Top 10 Emerging Technologies by the World Economic Forum and Design of the
Year by the London Design Museum. An elected member of the National Academies
of Medicine, Engineering, and Inventors, American Institute for Medical and
Biological Engineering, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences and
internationally recognized for translational research, Dr. Ingber has authored
over 600 publications; holds 200 patents; founded 10 companies, including
Emulate Inc.; and advances AI-driven drug repurposing technologies now
entering clinical trials.
Scott Lowe, Ph.D., Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center
Dr. Scott Lowe is Chair of the Cancer Biology and Genetics Program at Memorial
Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and an Investigator with the Howard Hughes
Medical Institute. Dr. Lowe began his independent research at Cold Spring
Harbor Laboratory, where his group made significant contributions to
understanding the p53 tumor suppressor, multi-step carcinogenesis, cellular
senescence, and tumor-cell drug resistance. At MSKCC, his team integrates
mouse models, genetics, and genomics to explore the interactions between tumor
cells and their environment. This work has led to new discoveries relating to
the genetic and epigenetic drivers of cancer evolution and how cellular
senescence can influence immune surveillance and be targeted therapeutically.
Dr. Lowe has mentored more than 80 trainees and received numerous honors,
including major American Association for Cancer Research (AACR) and NIH awards
and the Paul Marks Prize. He is a member of the American Academy of Arts and
Sciences, the National Academy of Sciences, and the National Academy of
Medicine, and a Fellow of the AACR.
Carolina Lucchesi, Ph.D., American Type Culture Collection (ATCC)
Dr. Carolina Lucchesi is a Principal Scientist and Head of the
Microphysiological Systems (MPS) program at ATCC (BioNexus Foundation). She
earned her Ph.D. in Cellular and Molecular Biology from the University of
Campinas and brings over two decades of experience in tissue engineering and
advanced human-relevant in vitro model systems. Dr. Lucchesi was part
of the founding technical team at the Harvard Wyss Institute that contributed
to the development and early translation of organ-on-chip technology into
industry applications. Her work integrates engineering and biology to develop
physiologically relevant in vitro systems for studying drug
absorption, metabolism, safety, and efficacy, as well as disease mechanisms.
It has resulted in patented technologies and the deployment of advanced
screening approaches, with a consistent focus on reproducibility,
standardization, and translational relevance. At ATCC, Dr. Lucchesi leads
efforts to enable the adoption of advanced 3D human-relevant models by
developing standardized, quality-controlled biological resources, harmonized
workflows, and fit-for-purpose qualification frameworks. Her work supports
shared research infrastructure by facilitating validation, benchmarking, and
consistent implementation of microphysiological systems across the biomedical
research community.
Diana Monsivais, Ph.D., Baylor College of Medicine
Dr. Diana Monsivais is a faculty member and the Santiago Ramon y Cajal Endowed
Professor in the Department of Pathology and Immunology at Baylor College of
Medicine whose research focuses on uterine biology, endometrial regeneration,
pregnancy loss, and endometriosis. Using genetic mouse models, human tissues,
and 3D organoids, her lab investigates signaling pathways involved in female
reproductive health and disease. Her group has identified previously
uncharacterized roles for TGFβ signaling pathways during pregnancy
establishment, endometrial regeneration, and endometriosis. She has built a
biobank of gynecologic tissues, fluids, cells, and organoids from patients
receiving care in the Texas Medical Center. These specimens have facilitated
identification and validation of new drug targets and drug-like molecules,
including newly developed JNK inhibitors for the treatment of
endometriosis-related pain and inflammation that have been tested in 3D
patient-derived organoids and primary endometrial stromal cells.
Brenda Ogle, Ph.D., University of Minnesota
Dr. Brenda Ogle is Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Pediatrics at the
University of Minnesota and has held leadership roles, including Head of
Biomedical Engineering, Director of the Stem Cell Institute, and Co-Chair of
the Women’s Faculty Cabinet. Her research focuses on how extracellular matrix
proteins influence stem cell behavior in cardiovascular systems. Her team
developed extracellular matrix-based bioinks for 3D printing human cardiac
muscle tissues, work highlighted by Newsweek. Dr. Ogle’s
interdisciplinary laboratory integrates stem cell biology, engineering,
cytometry, and 3D printing. Her research has received major federal and
foundation funding, and she has collaborated with industry partners, including
Medtronic and 3M. Dr. Ogle is an elected fellow of the American Institute for
Medical and Biological Engineering and the Biomedical Engineering Society. She
has served as a member of the Board of Directors of the Biomedical Engineering
Society and is a recipient of the Mullen-Spector-Truax Women’s Leadership
Award.
Sergiu Paşca, M.D., Stanford University
Dr. Sergiu Paşca is the Kenneth T. Norris, Jr. Professor of Psychiatry and
Behavioral Sciences at Stanford University and the Uytengsu Founding Director
of Stanford Brain Organogenesis Center. A physician–scientist, he studies how
the human brain develops and how neuropsychiatric diseases arise. His lab
pioneered assembloids, developed regionalized neural organoids, and created
integrated human neural circuits that model previously inaccessible stages of
brain development. These widely adopted models have advanced understanding of
neuropsychiatric disorders and led to the first clinical trial based entirely
on patient-specific stem cell models. Dr. Pasca has received numerous
international honors for his groundbreaking contributions to neuroscience and
medicine, including the Vilcek Prize, the American Philosophical Society's
Daland Prize, the Joseph Altman Award in Developmental Neuroscience, and a
Breakthrough in Life Sciences Prize.
Jason Spence, Ph.D., University of Michigan Medical School
Dr. Jason Spence is the H. Marvin Pollard Professor of Gastrointestinal
Sciences at the University of Michigan Medical School with appointments in
Internal Medicine, Cell and Developmental Biology, and Biomedical Engineering.
His lab pioneered methods to generate 3D human lung and intestinal organoids
from pluripotent stem cells and expanded these approaches to liver, esophagus,
and stomach tissues. By integrating developmental biology, single-cell
sequencing, spatial transcriptomics, patient tissue analysis, and
biomaterials, his lab advances understanding of how human tissues develop,
function, and respond to disease. Recent studies from his group have generated
pediatric lung and intestine cell atlases that link inflammation and clinical
interventions to alveolar epithelial cell states, with direct comparisons to
organoid models and diseased patient tissue. Dr. Spence also directs the Human
Organoid Core and NIH training programs and co-founded Intero Biosystems,
which commercializes scalable human intestinal organoid platforms for
preclinical drug testing as alternatives to animal models.
Takanori Takebe, M.D., Ph.D., Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical
Center
Dr. Takanori Takebe is an Endowed Chair of Organoid Medicine and Director of
Commercial Innovation for CuSTOM at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital Medical
Center. As a physician–scientist, he specializes in gastroenterology,
hepatology, nutrition, and stem cell research. Inspired by experiences
treating liver transplant patients who lacked donor organs, his work focuses
on engineering miniature liver and multi-organ systems from human pluripotent
stem cells. Dr. Takebe’s lab develops organoids that replicate human liver
development and disease, integrating vascular, immune, and biliary components
to advance drug discovery and future transplant therapies. He has pioneered
interconnected hepato–biliary–pancreatic organ systems and received honors,
including the Japan Academy Medal and the Robertson Stem Cell Investigator
Award.
David Tuveson, M.D., Ph.D., Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory
Dr. David Tuveson is the Roy J. Zuckerberg Professor of Cancer Research and
Director of the Cancer Center at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory and also serves
as Chief Scientist of the Lustgarten Foundation, where he helps lead major
research efforts focused on pancreatic cancer. A physician–scientist
internationally recognized for pioneering pancreatic cancer models and
patient-derived organoid systems, Dr. Tuveson’s laboratory integrates mouse
models, human tumor organoids, genomics, redox metabolism, Ras signaling,
biomarker discovery, and tumor-stroma biology to better understand pancreatic
cancer and develop new diagnostic and therapeutic strategies. His work has
helped establish organoids as a precision-medicine platform for evaluating
treatment sensitivity and guiding therapeutic approaches for pancreatic
cancer. Dr. Tuveson is an elected member of the National Academy of Medicine
and the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, received the Luminary Award from
the Precision Medicine World Conference, and has also served as President of
the AACR and was elected to the AACR Board of Directors.
John Wikswo, Ph.D., Vanderbilt University
Dr. John Wikswo is the University Distinguished Professor of Biomedical
Engineering, Molecular Physiology and Biophysics, and Physics at Vanderbilt
University, where he also holds the A. B. Learned Professorship of Living
State Physics. He founded the Vanderbilt Institute for Integrative Biosystems
Research and Education (VIIBRE) in 2001 to advance interdisciplinary research
at the interface of biophysics, bioengineering, and medicine. Dr. Wikswo’s
research focuses on microfluidic technologies, organs-on-chips, stem cell
systems, and intelligent well plates for biological analysis. His team
integrates microfluidics, sensors, mass spectrometry, computational modeling,
and AI-driven automation to develop "self-driving" biological laboratories
that can accelerate discovery in systems biology, medicine, and toxicology
research. He has received two R&D 100 Awards, holds more than 50 patents, and
has made major contributions to the development of human-relevant experimental
systems that support more predictive approaches to disease modelling and
therapeutic testing.
Joseph Wu, M.D., Ph.D., Stanford University School of Medicine
Dr. Joseph Wu is Director of the Stanford Cardiovascular Institute and
Professor of Medicine and Radiology at Stanford University. Trained at Yale
University and the University of California, Los Angeles, he specializes in
adult congenital heart disease and cardiovascular imaging. His research
focuses on stem cells, organoids, genomics, AI, precision medicine, and drug
discovery, including developing "clinical trial in a dish" models. Dr. Wu has
published over 700 papers and is among the world’s most highly cited
researchers. He has received numerous major honors, including PECASE, AHA
Distinguished Scientist Award, ASCI Korsmeyer Award, Lucian Award, and
Schottenstein Prize. Dr. Wu is an elected member of the National Academy of
Medicine, American Academy of Arts & Sciences, National Academy of Inventors,
and others. He is President of the Association of University Cardiologists;
Past President of the American Heart Association; and co-founder of Greenstone
Biosciences, which advances AI-driven drug discovery.
Wolfram-Hubertus Zimmermann, Prof. Dr., Institute of Pharmacology and
Toxicology University Medical Center Göettingen
Wolfram-Hubertus Zimmermann is Professor and Director of the Institute of
Pharmacology and Toxicology at University Medical Center Göttingen. His
research focuses on stem cell–based therapeutics, therapeutic genome editing,
engineered tissues and organoids for disease modeling, and inter-organ
communication, with emphasis on heart, muscle, nervous, and connective
tissues. A pioneer in tissue engineering and pluripotent stem cell research,
he initiated the first-in-human BioVAT-HF-DZHK20 trial using engineered human
myocardium to treat advanced heart failure. As coordinator of several national
and international research consortia, Dr. Zimmermann is pushing the boundaries
of today’s pharmacological therapies towards precision medicine approaches in
inherited and acquired degenerative diseases of the heart, the brain, and the
musculoskeletal system. His track record includes more than 200 publications,
17 patents, and the founding of multiple biotechnology spin-offs.
Day One – Co-Chairs
Thomas Bell, Ph.D., National Disease Research Interchange (NDRI)
Dr. Thomas Bell is the Chief Scientific Officer at NDRI and Principal
Investigator for multiple NIH-funded projects, including the Somatic Mosaicism
across Human Tissues (SMaHT, U24), Developmental Genotype-Tissue Expression
(dGTEx, U24) and Human Tissues and Organs for Research Resource (HTORR, U42).
He has more than 20 years of experience in biomedical research and has taught
summer courses at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory for over 10 years. Dr. Bell
completed an NIH-funded training postdoctoral fellowship in the Department of
Systems Pharmacology and Translational Therapeutics at the University of
Pennsylvania School of Medicine. He holds a doctorate from the Division of
Biology and Medicine at Brown University.
Christine Happel, Ph.D., National Center for Advancing Translational
Sciences (NCATS), NIH
Dr. Christine Happel is a Program Officer in the Office of Special Initiatives
at NCATS, where she serves as a subject-matter expert in NAMs. She is the
NCATS Co-Coordinator for the NIH Common Fund’s Complement Animal Research In
Experimentation (Complement-ARIE) program and contributes to several other
Common Fund efforts. Before joining NCATS in 2019, Dr. Happel worked at Thermo
Fisher Scientific and completed postdoctoral fellowships at Johns Hopkins
University and NCI. Dr. Happel earned her Ph.D. in molecular biology and
genetics from the Lewis Katz School of Medicine at Temple University.
Christine Nadeau, Ph.D., National Cancer Institute (NCI), NIH
Dr. Christine Nadeau is a Program Director in the Division of Cancer Biology
at NCI. Her research portfolio includes Notch signaling, breast cancer
metastasis to bone, and systemic immunity. In addition, she helps facilitate
two important NCI consortia: the NCI Metastasis Research Network and the
Oncology Models Forum (OMF). The OMF is devoted to ensuring that mammalian
models used for translational cancer research are appropriate for their
intended purposes and provide reliable, informative data that can ultimately
benefit patients. The forum now encompasses a broad range of model systems,
including canine, porcine, organoid, and cell line models, in addition to many
mouse models. OMF members recently published a review in the
Journal of the National Cancer Institute describing precision
preclinical modeling to advance cancer treatment.
Malgorzata Ochocinska, Ph.D., Office of Strategic Coordination, NIH
Dr. Malgorzata Ochocinska is a Program Leader in the NIH Office of Strategic
Coordination, where she leads the Complement-ARIE program to accelerate the
development, standardization, validation, and use of human-based NAMs. She
recently launched the NIH–FNIH Public–Private Partnership effort to establish
the Complement-ARIE Validation and Qualification Network for NAMs Adoption and
Implementation. Previously, she served as Program Director in the
Translational Blood Science and Resources Branch in the Division of Blood
Diseases and Resources at the National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute
(NHLBI), where she launched the Trans-Agency Blood-Brain Interface Program, a
partnership between NHLBI and the U.S. Department of Defense Joint Program
Committee-6 (JPC-6) Combat Casualty Care Research Program (CCCRP), to support
collaborations between hematologists/vascular experts, neuroscientists, and
blood-brain barrier (BBB) tissue chip developers for high-risk/high-reward
research to create enhanced/modified platforms that more closely model the
human BBB.
Rebecca Roof, Ph.D., National Institute of Neurological Disorders and
Stroke (NINDS), NIH
Dr. Rebecca (Becky) Roof is a Program Director in the Division of
Translational Research within NINDS, where she oversees the Innovation Grants
to Nurture Initial Translational Efforts (IGNITE) Program. This program
supports early-stage therapy development, as well as disease model development
and validation. This includes both in vivo and
in vitro models. Prior to this role, Dr. Roof was a Program Director
at the National Institute of Nursing Research, where she managed a clinical
portfolio focusing on self-management of chronic diseases. Prior to that, Dr.
Roof was part of the NINDS Small Business Innovation Research and IGNITE
programs and was part of the launch of IGNITE. Dr. Roof earned a Ph.D. in
Pharmacology from the University of Michigan, and her postdoctoral fellowship
was in molecular neuropharmacology at NINDS.
Jason Shepherd, Ph.D., The University of Utah
Dr. Shepherd is a Professor in the Department of Neurobiology and holds the
Jon M. Huntsman Presidential Endowed Chair at The University of Utah. He
obtained his B.Sc. (Hons) in neuroscience at the University of Otago (New
Zealand), his Ph.D. in Cellular and Molecular Medicine at the Johns Hopkins
School of Medicine, and postdoctoral training at the Picower Institute for
Learning and Memory at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He is the
recipient of several awards that recognize innovative science, including the
Peter and Patricia Gruber International Research Award in Neuroscience, the
International Society for Neurochemistry Young Investigator Award, the Chan
Zuckerberg Initiative Ben Barres Early Career Acceleration Award, the NIH
Director’s Transformative Research Award, and the McKnight Foundation
Neurobiology of Brain Disorders Award. He is also a National Academy of
Sciences Kavli Fellow.
Yongjun Sui, Ph.D., Office of Research Infrastructure Programs, NIH
Dr. Yongjun Sui is a Program Officer in the NIH Office of Research
Infrastructure Programs, where she primarily manages U-series cooperative
agreement grants that support research infrastructure, model systems, and
multidisciplinary resources to advance human disease research. Previously, she
spent more than 17 years as a Staff Scientist at NCI, where she worked as a
mucosal immunologist conducting bench research on immune responses at barrier
tissues, including their roles in host defense, inflammation, and disease
pathogenesis. Her hands-on scientific experience gives her a practical
understanding of the strengths and limitations of experimental models, which
informs her current efforts to support NIH resources, integrate NAMs, and
improve the translational value of disease models.
Alice Tarantal, Ph.D., University of California, Davis
Dr. Alice Tarantal is Professor and Vice-Chair for Research in the Department
of Pediatrics, with a joint appointment in the Department of Cell Biology and
Human Anatomy, School of Medicine, and Unit Leader and Multimodal Imaging Core
Lead at the University of California, Davis, Primate Center. Dr. Tarantal
serves in leadership roles in the University of California, Davis, Clinical
and Translational Science Center and School of Medicine Stem Cell and Gene
Therapy Program, and she directs the Translational Human Pluripotent Stem Cell
Research Facility. Dr. Tarantal is the Principal Investigator and Director of
the Center for Somatic Cell Genome Editing, which provides opportunities for a
range of collaborative projects with NIH-funded investigators nationwide. Her
research program focuses on gene therapy, somatic cell genome editing, and
stem cell transplantation; prenatal onset of inherited and acquired diseases;
and innovative applications of translational in vivo imaging. She has
established a range of models, techniques, and technologies for translational
research and Investigational New Drug–enabling studies.
Day Two – Presenters and Panelists
Randolph S. Ashton, Ph.D., University of Wisconsin–Madison
Dr. Randolph S. Ashton received his B.S. from Hampton University
(Hampton, Virginia, 2002) and Ph.D. from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute
(Troy, NY, 2007) in chemical engineering under Dr. Ravi Kane. He continued to
pursue his interest in stem cells and tissue engineering as a California
Institute for Regenerative Medicine and an NIH postdoctoral fellow at the
University of California, Berkeley, Stem Cell Center in the laboratory of
Dr. David Schaffer. He is now an Associate Professor of Biomedical
Engineering and appointed as the Associate Director of the University of
Wisconsin–Madison Stem Cell and Regenerative Medicine Center. The goal
of Dr. Ashton’s research is to bioengineer human tissues that can be
used as tools or therapeutics to prevent or cure central nervous system
disorders. His laboratory currently melds state-of-the-art biomaterial
approaches with novel human neural stem cell derivation protocols to
bioengineer brain and spinal cord cells and tissue models in vitro.
In 2021, Dr. Ashton and collaborators embarked on a technology start-up,
Neurosetta LLC, to translate the lab’s innovations for developmental
neurotoxicology, neurodevelopmental disease modeling, and drug discovery
applications.
Anthony Atala, M.D., Wake Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine
Dr. Anthony Atala is the G. Link Professor and Director of the Wake
Forest Institute for Regenerative Medicine. His research includes the
development of the first tissue-engineered organ successfully implanted in a
human for permanent replacement, the discovery of a stem cell source from
amniotic fluid and placenta, and advances in 3D printing of tissues and
organs. He is leading national efforts using organoid/body-on-a-chip
technologies for diagnoses and personalized treatments. Eighteen applications
of technologies developed in Dr. Atala's laboratory have been used in
patients. Dr. Atala was elected to the National Academy of Medicine, to the
National Academy of Inventors, and to the American Institute for Medical and
Biological Engineering. He is a recipient of the U.S. Congress–funded
Christopher Columbus Foundation Award, the Edison Science Award, the R&D
Innovator of the Year Award, and the Smithsonian Ingenuity Award. His work was
listed twice as Time Magazine’s top 10 medical breakthroughs of
the year and was ranked by the Project Management Institute as one of the top
10 most impactful biotech projects in the past 50 years. Dr. Atala was named
by Scientific American as one of the world’s most influential
people in biotechnology, by U.S. News & World Report as one of 14
Pioneers of Medical Progress in the 21st Century, and by
Nature Biotechnology as one of the top 10 translational researchers
in the world. He is editor of 27 books and 2 journals, has published more than
900 journal articles, and has applied for or received over 300 national and
international patents.
Anna Bremser, Ph.D., Genentech Inc.
Dr. Anna Bremser is
a scientist at Genentech whose work focuses on immunology, regenerative
biology, and advanced human cell–based model systems. Trained at the Max
Planck Institute of Immunobiology and Epigenetics, she has contributed to
research exploring immune regulation, T-cell biology, and tissue
microenvironments, with publications in leading journals, including
Cell and PLoS One. At Genentech, Bremser is involved in
developing innovative experimental platforms, including organoid-based
technologies, to better understand human disease and accelerate therapeutic
discovery. Her interdisciplinary background combines immunology, cell biology,
and translational research to advance next-generation biomedical models and
precision medicine approaches.
Colleen Clancy, Ph.D., University of California, Davis
Dr. Colleen Clancy is a recognized scientific leader in precision medicine and
computational modeling. She serves as Director of the Center for Precision
Medicine and Data Sciences at the University of California, Davis, School of
Medicine, Arline Miller Rolkin Endowed Professor of Health Innovation, and
Professor in the Departments of Physiology and Membrane Biology and
Pharmacology. She is the inaugural Editor in Chief of the
Journal of Precision Medicine Health and Disease.
Robert Damoiseaux, Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles
Dr. Robert Damoiseaux is a high-throughput screening (HTS) expert and a
Professor in the Department of Molecular and Medical Pharmacology of the David
Geffen School of Medicine and Professor of Bioengineering in the Samueli
School of Engineering at the University of California, Los Angeles. His
research interests focus on the development of novel technologies for HTS and
drug discovery and development. He also directs the Molecular Screening Shared
Resource (MSSR) which is a cutting-edge facility involved in research projects
with, among others, University of California, Los Angeles, California
Institute of Technology, and the biotech and pharmaceutical industries. He
received his Ph.D. at the University of Lausanne under Dr. Kai Johnsson
(currently Director at the Max Planck Institute for Medical Research, Munich)
and then joined the Institute for Functional Genomics (GNF, Novartis) where he
was in charge of the development of the next-generation assay platform for
proteases. He authored over 100 manuscripts and patents on HTS and synthesis,
was recognized as expert author in Wiley’s Development of Therapeutic
Agents Handbook and is also an editor for Springer’s
Current Protocols in Molecular Biology. He is also a member of the
NIH study section and special emphasis panel reviewing HTS grants. His
expertise in HTS and the use of novel technologies brings him into demand for
scientific collaborations and consulting for both academia and industry.
Jennifer H. Elisseeff, Ph.D., Johns Hopkins University
Dr. Jennifer H. Elisseeff is the Morton Goldberg Professor and Director
of the Translational Tissue Engineering Center at Johns Hopkins Department of
Biomedical Engineering and the Wilmer Eye Institute with appointments in
Chemical and Biological Engineering, Materials Science and Orthopedic Surgery.
She received a bachelor’s degree in chemistry from Carnegie Mellon
University and a Ph.D. in Medical Engineering from the Harvard–MIT
Division of Health Sciences and Technology. She was a Fellow at the National
Institute of General Medical Sciences, Pharmacology Research Associate
Program, where she worked in the National Institute of Dental and Craniofacial
Research. Dr. Elisseeff is committed to the translation of regenerative
biomaterials and has founded several companies and participates in several
industry advisory boards, including the State of Maryland’s Technology
Development Corporation (TEDCO). She was elected as a Fellow of the American
Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering, is part of the National
Academy of Inventors, and was recognized as a Young Global Leader by the World
Economic Forum. In 2018, she was elected to the National Academy of
Engineering and National Academy of Medicine. In 2019, she received the NIH
Director’s Pioneer Award.
Benjamin Freedman, Ph.D., University of Washington (Day 2 Workshop
Chair)
Dr. Benjamin Freedman has studied the cell and systems biology of
vertebrate stem cells for over 20 years. He is best known for directing
differentiation of induced pluripotent stem cells into human kidney organoids,
to establish “disease in a dish” models and regenerative medicine
approaches. He has received numerous honors and awards, including the
2018 Stem Cells Young Investigator Award, the 2023 Donald W. Seldin American
Society of Nephrology Young Investigator Award, and the 2025 NIH TARGETED
Prize for Somatic Cell Genome Editing. Dr. Freedman is currently Associate
Professor of Medicine at the University of Washington, and CEO of Plurexa, a
startup biotechnology company. His research combines cell biology, medicine,
and bioengineering to understand fundamental mechanisms of disease and develop
therapies.
Liesbet Geris, Ph.D., University of Liege, Belgium
Dr.
Liesbet Geris is Collen-Francqui Research Professor in Biomechanics and
Computational Tissue Engineering at the University of Liège and KU
Leuven in Belgium. Her research focuses on the multi-scale and
multi-physics modeling of biological processes. Together with her team and
their clinical and industrial collaborators, she uses these models to
investigate the etiology of non-healing fractures, to design
in silico potential cell–based treatment strategies and to
optimize manufacturing processes of these tissue engineering constructs. Dr.
Geris is scientific coordinator of the Prometheus platform for Skeletal Tissue
Engineering (50+ researchers). She has edited several books on computational
modeling and tissue engineering. She has received 2 prestigious ERC grants
(starting in 2011 and consolidator in 2017) to finance her research and has
received several young investigator and research awards. She is a former
member and chair of the Young Academy of Belgium (Flanders) and member of the
strategic alliance committee of the Tissue Engineering and Regenerative
Medicine Society. She is the current executive director of the Virtual
Physiological Human Institute and in that capacity she advocates the use of
in silico modeling in healthcare through liaising with the clinical
community, the European Commission and Parliament, regulatory agencies (EMA,
FDA) and various other stakeholders. Besides her research work, she is often
invited to give public lectures on the challenges of interdisciplinary
research, women in academia, and digital healthcare.
Daniel H. Geschwind, M.D., Ph.D., University of California, Los
Angeles
Dr. Daniel H. Geschwind is the Gordon and Virginia MacDonald
Distinguished Professor of Human Genetics, Neurology and Psychiatry at the
University of California, Los Angeles. In his capacity as Senior Associate
Dean and Associate Vice Chancellor of Precision Health, he leads the Institute
for Precision Health (IPH) at the University of California, Los Angeles, where
he oversees campus precision health initiatives. In his laboratory, his group
has pioneered the application of systems biology methods in neurologic and
psychiatric disease, with a focus on autism spectrum disorders (ASD) and
neurodegenerative conditions. His group made major contributions to
identifying genetic causes of ASD and defined the molecular pathology of
autism and other psychiatric disorders using gene network analysis. He has led
pioneering studies extending these integrative genomics methods to elucidate
the mechanisms by which genetic risk for neuropsychiatric disease impacts
brain development and function. In addition to having served on multiple
scientific advisory boards, including the Faculty of 1000 Medicine, the
Scientific Advisory Board for the Allen Institute for Brain Science, the NIMH
Advisory Council and the NIH Council of Councils, he currently serves on the
editorial boards of Cell, Neuron and Science. He
has received several awards for his laboratory’s work and is an elected
Member of the American Association of Physicians and the National Academy of
Medicine.
Linda Griffith, Ph.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Dr. Linda Griffith is the School of Engineering Professor of Teaching
Innovation and Professor of Biological and Mechanical Engineering at the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT). An internationally recognized
leader in tissue engineering and regenerative medicine, her research focuses
on developing human tissue models and microphysiological systems to study
complex diseases, including endometriosis, inflammatory disorders, and cancer.
Dr. Griffith has been a pioneer in integrating engineering principles with
cell biology to create advanced in vitro platforms that improve drug
development and precision medicine. A member of the National Academy of
Engineering, National Academy of Medicine, and American Academy of Arts and
Sciences, she is widely recognized for her contributions to biomedical
engineering and translational research.
Kimberly Homan, Ph.D., Genentech Inc.
Dr. Kimberly Homan
is a Senior Director and Distinguished Scientist at Genentech, and she runs
the Complex In Vitro Systems lab, a core group focused on employing
new predictive tools to enhance clinical translational outcomes. She has prior
experience holding key leadership positions in two biotech startups, one of
which she co-founded while in graduate school at The University of Texas at
Austin. Prior to that, as a co-appointed postdoc at Roche and at the Wyss
Institute in Harvard, Dr. Homan invented methods to bioprint human tissues and
use them to model drug disposition, mode of action, and safety. Dr. Homan
holds a B.S. degree in chemical engineering and Ph.D. in biomedical
engineering. She is also a former United States Marine Corps officer and
veteran.
Christopher Hughes, Ph.D., University of California, Irvine
Dr. Christopher Hughes is a Chancellor’s Professor of Molecular
Biology & Biochemistry and Professor of Biomedical Engineering at the
University of California, Irvine (UCI). A leading vascular biologist, his
research focuses on angiogenesis, tissue engineering, and the development of
innovative “body-on-a-chip” technologies that model human organs
and diseases for drug discovery and precision medicine. Since joining UCI in
1996, Dr. Hughes has held numerous leadership roles, including Chair of the
Department of Molecular Biology & Biochemistry and Associate Dean for
Research and Innovation. He is also the founder and Chief Scientific Officer
of Aracari Biosciences and a Fellow of the American Association for the
Advancement of Science (AAAS).
Albert Hwa, Ph.D., National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney
Diseases, NIH
Dr. Albert Hwa is a Program Director in the Division of Diabetes,
Endocrinology, and Metabolic Diseases at the National Institute of Diabetes
and Digestive and Kidney Diseases (NIDDK). His grant portfolio encompasses
research on the development and regeneration of the pancreatic endocrine
compartment, as well as the application of these findings to stem cell
differentiation and regenerative medicine. He oversees projects
employing microphysiological systems to model type 1 and type
2 diabetes, and participates in the Human Islet Research Network
(HIRN), a collaborative initiative dedicated to understanding the loss of
functional beta cell mass in type 1 diabetes
and identifying strategies to restore it. He also serves as a
project scientist for the Integrated Islet Distribution Program and the Human
Tissues and Organs for Research Resource, both of which supply primary human
materials to the broader research community. Prior to joining NIDDK, Dr.
Hwa served as Operations Director for the Center for Cell-Based Therapy for
Diabetes at Joslin Diabetes Center and as a Lecturer at Harvard Medical
School. His research there centered on human induced pluripotent stem cell
derivation, the manufacturing of autologous stem cell–derived islet
cells, and cell transplantation methods. Before Joslin, he was Director of
Discovery Research at JDRF, where he developed and managed research
initiatives in beta cell replacement, bioengineering, stem cell research, and
beta cell imaging. Dr. Hwa received his B.S. in chemical engineering from
Cornell University and his Ph.D. in biological engineering from the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Raphael Isokpehi, Ph.D., Office of Data Science Strategy (ODSS), DPCPSI,
OD, NIH
Dr. Raphael Isokpehi is a Health Scientist Administrator (Program
Officer) in the NIH Office of Data Science Strategy (ODSS). His portfolio
includes projects within the Training, Workforce Initiatives, and Community
Engagement team, with an emphasis on strengthening institutional data science
capacity, advancing data science readiness, and translating data capabilities
into research, workforce, and operational impact. Prior to joining NIH, Dr.
Isokpehi held faculty and leadership positions in biology, bioinformatics, and
data analytics at Jackson State University and Bethune-Cookman University. He
also served as a National Research Council Senior Research Associate at the
Turner-Fairbank Highway Research Center, Federal Highway Administration, U.S.
Department of Transportation, where he applied data science and big data
approaches to infrastructure asset management and pavement performance
research.
Georgette Jones, Ph.D., National Cancer Institute, NIH
Dr. Georgette Jones earned her Ph.D. in molecular, cellular, and
developmental biology from The Ohio State University in 2010 and completed
postdoctoral training in the National Cancer Institute (NCI) Mouse Cancer
Genetics Program. After earning tenure and promotion to Associate Professor at
Hood College, she returned to the NCI community as a Scientific Project
Manager in the Laboratory Animal Sciences Program (LASP) at
NCI–Frederick. Her interdisciplinary training spans cancer
genetics, genomics, model development, and molecular signaling. More
recently, she expanded her expertise to include microbiome and gnotobiotic
science, translational cancer research, and preclinical drug safety toxicology
and safety pharmacology using both in vitro and in
vivo approaches. She currently serves as the Scientific Program
Director for the LASP and supports the Toxicology and Pharmacology Branch in
the Division of Cancer Treatment and Diagnosis. In 2025, she co-authored the
proposal establishing the NIH Standardized Organoid Modeling (SOM) Initiative
and serves as the Scientific Program Director for its
In Vitro Program.
Angela Koehler, Ph.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Dr. Angela
Koehler earned her bachelor's degree in biochemistry and molecular biology
from Reed College in 1997. In 2003, she finished her doctorate in chemistry
from Harvard University and became an institute fellow at the Broad Institute,
where she served as the director of transcriptional chemical biology in the
Chemical Biology Program. She was also a project leader in the NCI Cancer
Target Discovery and Development Center at the Broad Institute aimed at
targeting causal cancer genes with small molecules. Dr. Koehler joined the
Koch Institute in 2014 and was appointed faculty lead of the MIT Health and
Life Sciences Collaborative in 2025. She is the director of an NCI
Next-Generation Chemistry Center focused on drug discovery for cancers of
childhood driven by oncofusions. Awards include being named a Genome
Technology Young Investigator and a Broad Institute Merkin Fellow. She has
also received the Ono Pharma Foundation Breakthrough Science Award, the
Novartis Lectureship in Chemistry, the AACR-Bayer Innovation and Discovery
Award, a National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER Award, and the Junior Bose
Award for Excellence in Teaching. Dr. Koehler has founded four
biotechnology companies: Ligon Discovery, Kronos Bio, 76Bio, and Samori Bio.
She serves on scientific advisory boards for Kronos Bio, Photys Therapeutics,
and Vicinitas Therapeutics. She also advises Pfizer, Atlas Ventures, Flagship
Pioneering, and Two River Ventures. The Koehler Lab has received research
funding from Bayer, GSK, Janssen Pharmaceuticals, Ono Pharmaceuticals, and
Pfizer. She serves on the joint steering committee for the Broad-Bayer
Oncology Alliance. Finally, she serves on the board of The Engine Accelerator.
Reinhard Laubenbacher, Ph.D., University of Florida
Dr.
Reinhard Laubenbacher is an interdisciplinary research scientist working at
the interface of the quantitative, life, and medical sciences, with 25 years
of experience in this field. Before that, he pursued a research career as a
theoretical mathematician. His scientific expertise ranges from medical
digital twins to theoretical and computational systems biology. His work uses
a variety of data science and modeling and simulation tools, including
mechanistic modeling, machine learning, and AI techniques, as well as a range
of techniques from theoretical and applied mathematics. Since 2020, he has
been Dean’s Professor of Systems Medicine in the Department of Medicine
at the University of Florida (UF), Gainesville, and Director of the Laboratory
for Systems Medicine, with affiliate appointments in the UF Departments of
Mathematics and of Structural Genomics and Microbiology. Prior to joining the
University of Florida in 2020, Dr. Laubenbacher served as Director of the
Center for Quantitative Medicine at the University of Connecticut and
Professor of Computational Biology at The Jackson Laboratory for Genomic
Medicine in Farmington, Connecticut. He currently serves as President of the
Society for Mathematical Biology. He has over 250 publications, and his
research program has been funded continuously for the last 25 years by grants
from NIH, NSF, and the U.S. Department of Defense.
Douglas Lauffenburger, Ph.D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology
Dr. Douglas Lauffenburger is Ford Professor of Bioengineering in the
Departments of Biological Engineering, Chemical Engineering, and Biology at
MIT. He was the founding Head of the Department of Biological Engineering at
MIT and served in that capacity from 1998 until 2019. He is an affiliate of
the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at MIT, the Ragon Institute
of MGH/MIT/Harvard, and the MIT Center for Gynepathology Research. Before
joining MIT, he had previously been on the faculty of the University of
Pennsylvania (1979-1990) and the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
(1991-1994). The Lauffenburger research program centers on systems biology
approaches to cell-cell communication and cell signaling in pathophysiology,
emphasizing translational application to therapeutics discovery and
development in cancer, pathogen infection, and inflammatory diseases. More
than 130 doctoral students and postdoctoral associates have undertaken
research education under his supervision. He is a member of the National
Academy of Engineering and American Academy of Arts & Sciences, and a
fellow of the American Association for Advancement of Science and the American
Scientific Affiliation. Dr. Lauffenburger has served as President of the
Biomedical Engineering Society, Chair of the College of Fellows of American
Institute for Medical & Biological Engineering, on the Advisory Council
for the National Institute of General Medical Sciences, and as a co-author of
the 2009 National Research Council report A New Biology for the
21st Century.
María Rodríguez Martínez, Ph.D., Yale
University
Dr. María Rodríguez Martínez is an Associate
Professor of Biomedical Informatics & Data Science at Yale School of
Medicine and a member of the Center for Systems and Engineering Immunology.
Her research integrates AI, protein modeling, and immunology to develop
interpretable and generative deep learning approaches for modeling adaptive
immune receptors. Her work combines protein language models, structure
prediction, immune repertoire sequencing, and multimodal datasets to study
sequence–structure–function relationships in T- and B-cell
receptors, with applications in autoimmune disease, vaccine design, and
immunotherapy. Before joining Yale, she spent a decade at IBM
Research–Europe, where she led the Computational Systems Biology team
and coordinated interdisciplinary consortia focused on computational modeling
for personalized cancer medicine. Her broader work spans machine learning for
computational biology, immune repertoire dynamics, and structure-based
prediction of biomolecular interactions.
Brian Paegel, Ph.D., University of California, Irvine
Dr. Brian Paegel is a professor at the University of California,
Irvine, where he holds appointments in the Department of Pharmaceutical
Sciences, Chemistry, and Biomedical Engineering. He also serves as Associate
Dean of Research in UCI’s School of Pharmacy & Pharmaceutical
Sciences. His interdisciplinary work bridges chemistry, engineering, and
pharmaceutical science, with a focus on advancing technologies for modern drug
discovery. Dr. Paegel earned his B.S. in chemistry from Duke University in
1998 and his Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley,
in 2003. His research interests include drug discovery, miniaturization,
microfluidics, combinatorial chemistry, and DNA-encoded libraries. Through his
laboratory, he works on next-generation drug discovery technologies aimed at
expanding the ability to identify small-molecule probes and therapeutic leads,
including for targets traditionally considered difficult or
“undruggable.” His academic distinctions include an NIH NRSA
Postdoctoral Fellowship, an NIH Pathway to Independence Award, an NIH
Director’s New Innovator Award, an NSF CAREER Award, and NIH MIRA
support. He is affiliated with graduate programs in Biomedical Engineering,
Chemistry, and Pharmacological Sciences, and is a member of the American
Chemical Society
Jeffrey Savas, Ph.D., Northwestern University Feinberg School of
Medicine
Dr. Jeffrey Savas received his B.S. in biochemistry from the University
of California, Santa Cruz, earned his Ph.D. from New York University School of
Medicine, and completed postdoctoral training at The Scripps Research
Institute. He joined the faculty at Northwestern University Feinberg School of
Medicine in 2015 and is currently a tenured Associate Professor. The Savas
laboratory studies protein biology in the nervous system, with a particular
focus on how failures in protein quality control disrupt synaptic function,
contribute to neurodegeneration, and accelerate aging. Current projects
investigate impaired synaptic vesicle machinery proteostasis in
Alzheimer’s disease pathogenesis, tau-mediated presynaptic dysfunction
during the cellular phase of Alzheimer’s disease, the role of long-lived
proteins in development and aging, and strategies to enhance cochlear proteome
fidelity to prevent noise-induced hearing loss.
D. Lansing Taylor, Ph.D., University of Pittsburgh
Dr. D. Lansing Taylor is a pioneering cell biologist, entrepreneur, and
systems pharmacology researcher recognized for transforming modern drug
discovery through the development of high-content screening technologies. He
is a Distinguished Professor and former Director of the Drug Discovery
Institute at the University of Pittsburgh, where his work focuses on human
microphysiological systems, quantitative systems pharmacology, and advanced
“organ-on-a-chip” platforms for disease modeling and therapeutic
development. Over his career, Taylor has founded multiple biotechnology
companies, including Cellomics and Cellumen, helping bring innovative
cell-based technologies into mainstream pharmaceutical research. His
contributions have significantly advanced translational medicine, predictive
toxicology, and the development of human-relevant alternatives to animal
testing.
Martin Trapecar, Ph.D., Johns Hopkins University
Dr.
Martin Trapecar is an Assistant Professor at the Johns Hopkins University
School of Medicine whose research sits at the intersection of immunology,
bioengineering, and systems biology. He is known for developing advanced human
“organ-on-a-chip” and microphysiological systems that model
interactions between the gut, liver, brain, and immune system to better
understand such complex diseases as inflammatory bowel disease; metabolic
disorders; and neurodegenerative conditions, including Parkinson’s
disease. Dr. Trapecar earned his Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from the
University of Maribor in Slovenia and completed postdoctoral training at the
Gladstone Institutes/UCSF and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. His
work aims to uncover how disruptions in tissue and immune communication
contribute to human disease and to advance more predictive models for
precision medicine.
Alexander Tropsha, Ph.D., The University of North Carolina at Chapel
Hill
Dr. Alexander Tropsha is K.H. Lee Distinguished Professor at the UNC
Eshelman School of Pharmacy, and the Research Fellow at the Renaissance
Computing Institute (RENCI), UNC-Chapel Hill. His main research interests are
in the area of Data Science with applications to drug development; chemical
safety predictions, including computational and combinatorial NAMs methods;
and materials science. He has authored or co-authored over 350 peer-reviewed
research papers, reviews, and book chapters, and his studies have been
supported by all major federal funding agencies in the United States. He is an
elected Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological
Engineering (AIMBE) and a consultant to several technology and drug discovery
companies.
Michael Wells, Ph.D., University of California, Los Angeles
Dr. Michael Wells is an Assistant Professor in the UCLA Department of
Human Genetics. He earned a B.S. in biological sciences from the University of
Notre Dame in 2008 and a Ph.D. in neurobiology from Duke University in 2015
under the guidance of Dr. Guoping Feng. In 2021, he completed his postdoctoral
training in the laboratory of Dr. Kevin Eggan at Harvard University and the
Broad Institute. Dr. Wells’ research focuses on discovering the disease
mechanisms underlying neurodevelopmental disorders of genetic and
environmental origin using human stem cell–derived neural models and
cerebral organoids. His work has been published in such high-impact journals
as Nature, Cell, Neuron, and
Cell Stem Cell and has been funded by the NIMH, Simons Foundation,
Burroughs Wellcome Fund, and California Institute for Regenerative Medicine.
Dr. Wells’ lab specializes in the construction and analysis of "cell
villages," which involve the co-culturing of many genetically distinct human
cell lines in shared in vitro environments. This platform enables
high-throughput molecular and cellular phenotyping across dozens to hundreds
of donors under conditions that minimize technical variation. Dr. Wells’
team is currently using this system to identify the genetic and molecular risk
factors underlying neurotoxicants, viral infections, and adverse drug
reactions, as well as to decipher the dynamic disease mechanisms contributing
to autism and intellectual disability.
Joseph Wu, M.D., Ph.D., Stanford University
Dr. Joseph
Wu is Director of the Stanford Cardiovascular Institute and Professor of
Medicine and Radiology at Stanford University. Trained at Yale and UCLA, he
specializes in adult congenital heart disease and cardiovascular imaging. His
research focuses on stem cells, organoids, genomics, AI, precision medicine,
and drug discovery, including developing “clinical trial in a
dish” models. Dr. Wu has published over 700 papers and is among the
world’s most highly cited researchers. He has received major honors,
including PECASE, AHA Distinguished Scientist Award, ASCI Korsmeyer Award,
Lucian Award, and Schottenstein Prize. Dr. Wu is an elected member of the
National Academy of Medicine, American Academy of Arts & Sciences,
National Academy of Inventors, and others. He is President of the Association
of University Cardiologists, Past President of the American Heart Association,
and co-founder of Greenstone Biosciences. He has received major honors from
the NIH, AHA, and others, served in national leadership roles, and co-founded
Greenstone Biosciences to advance AI-driven drug discovery.