Advances in Drug Discovery & Development 2026

Dr. Saed Abbasi is a research faculty member at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. His work focuses on drug delivery technologies for enabling targeted therapeutics and correcting genetic disorders. His research pioneered the use of mRNA for brain gene editing and contributed to the development of less reactogenic COVID-19 vaccines, as well as advanced targeted therapies for cancer, liver, and the endometrium. Before joining Johns Hopkins, he earned his PhD in pharmaceutical sciences from Hokkaido University, Japan. He was also a recipient of the prestigious Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) postdoctoral fellowship at the Innovation Centre of Nanomedicine in Kawasaki, Japan.

Boyd Butler is a microscopy and biophysics expert specializing in high-content imaging and advanced microscopy development and commercialization. Based in Colorado, he serves as Global Product Marketing Manager for Imaging at Molecular Devices, where he leads go-to-market strategy, positioning, and competitive differentiation for imaging platforms and associated software. His background spans product and scientific leadership roles at 10x Genomics, Thermo Fisher Scientific, and Intelligent Imaging Innovations, along with directing life sciences imaging facilities in academia. Across these roles, he has worked at the intersection of imaging technology, scientific applications, and customer needs, helping researchers adopt imaging solutions that address increasingly complex biological questions. Boyd holds a Ph.D. in Biophysics/Cell Biology and an M.S. in Optical Physics.

Koh Meng Aw Yong, PhD, is Senior Market Development Manager at Lonza, where he focuses on the primary cells portfolio, including PBMCs, CD34+ hematopoietic stem cells, hepatocytes, skin, airway, and other cell systems that support drug discovery and translational research. With a background spanning oncology, immunology, cell and gene therapy, and preclinical research solutions, he brings experience across product management, strategic marketing, and scientific innovation. Koh Meng is passionate about helping researchers adopt more predictive biological models and enabling better decision-making across the discovery pipeline.

Michael L. Shuler is the Eckert Professor of Engineering, Emeritus, in the Meinig Department of Biomedical Engineering and the Smith School of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at Cornell University. He was also the director of Cornell’s Nanobiotechnology Center. Shuler holds degrees in chemical engineering (BS, Notre Dame, 1969, and Ph.D., Minnesota, 1973) and has been a faculty member at Cornell University since 1974. Shuler’s research includes the development of “Body-on-a-Chip” systems for testing pharmaceuticals for toxicity and efficacy, creating production systems for useful compounds such as paclitaxel from plant cell cultures, and constructing whole-cell models relating genome to physiology. J. Hickman and Shuler are co-founders of Hesperos, a company established to implement the “Body-on-a-Chip” system and related technology developed in Hickman’s group at the University of Central Florida. Shuler is currently the President of the company, and the technology is now being used in clinical trials. Shuler, F. Kargi, and M. DeLisa have co-authored the popular textbook Bioprocess Engineering: Basic Concepts, now in its third edition. He holds an honorary doctorate from the University of Notre Dame and has been elected to the National Academy of Engineering and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. Shuler is also a fellow of numerous professional societies.

With nearly three decades of experience in scientific software, David Gosalvez brings a rare combination of technical and domain expertise with broad knowledge across scientific use cases. He is a passionate advocate for improving the efficiency and quality of science via innovative software solutions. As head of Product Strategy, David works with scientists and IT across pharma and chemical industry to set the direction of the Revvity Signals Informatics portfolio. He also works with other scientific software vendors to integrate complimentary capabilities and AI/ML models into our solutions. As Director of Cheminformatics, he was responsible for the sustained growth of ChemDraw and Spotfire Lead Discovery. Previously, David headed the interdisciplinary Science & Technology team chartered with creating the novel data management technologies that underpinned Revvity Signals platform. David also served as Executive Director of Application Development at CambridgeSoft where he brought to market the Oracle Chemistry Cartridge and ChemBioOffice Enterprise Suite.

Amir Nasajpour is the Founder and CEO of Entropic Biosciences, a UCLA spinout advancing next-generation new approach methodologies (NAMs) for preclinical testing. Amir earned his PhD in Chemistry and Biochemistry from UCLA in Prof. Weiss's lab, with a focus on materials chemistry, where he pioneered the biomaterials research that became the foundation of ZYRALIX™. His work has been recognized nationally, including as the 2023 National Inventors Hall of Fame Collegiate Inventors Competition Graduate Runner-Up. Under his leadership, Entropic Biosciences was selected for the BioTools Innovator 2023 Cohort, received the BARDA VANGUARD 2025 Development Award, and joined the inaugural UCLA TDG Bruin Founders Cohort. The company has secured two U.S. utility patents for its core technology and is accelerating the adoption of predictive, human-relevant testing platforms across the life sciences, pharmaceutical, and consumer products industries.