This panel will delve into the ways AI is reshaping the life science industry, the job market, and company operating models. Panelists will discuss automation, upskilling, human-AI collaboration, and strategies to ensure a smooth transition for the workforce transformation.

Disclaimer: This event may be recorded, and your image and/or voice may be included in that recording. If you are uncomfortable, please be sure to turn off your webcam.  

Speaker Bios

Armaghan (Rumi) Naik, Chief Executive Officer at Avronna Incorporated

Rumi has spent two decades at the forefront of artificial intelligence research and, since 2022, has been the CEO of Avronna Inc., which is building the first general scientific intelligence. Prior to Avronna, Rumi was an Operating Partner at Flagship Pioneering and President of Metaphore Therapeutics (as FL72). Before that, Rumi was an Associate Vice President and Head of Digital at Sanofi. At Sanofi, Rumi built the team that made the first end-to-end completely AI-designed vaccines. These vaccines were clinically tested and were up to twice as efficacious as the standard-of-care influenza vaccine. Prior to Sanofi, Rumi was faculty at Carnegie Mellon, taught machine learning and biology laboratory classes, and was an accomplished molecular & cell biologist. Rumi’s PhD thesis in the automation of biological research was a watershed moment—the first time active learning drove experimentation without a human in the loop. Before his PhD, Rumi pioneered symbolic reasoning techniques while at Intel where his career spanned several volume processor generations of the Core i7 and Pentium 4. Rumi is proud to be a Bloomberg LP alumnus and contributed to the invention of the Bloomberg Fair Value of Bonds (<BVAL> on the Bloomberg Terminal). 

Stephanie Oestreich, PhD, Managing Director of the Investment Fund of the MMRF (Multiple Myeloma Research Foundation), Moderator

Stephanie is Managing Director of the Investment Fund of the MMRF and serves on the boards of the German American Business Council in Boston and the Harvard Kennedy School’s Women’s Network and is the chair of the McCloy Alumni Association. She is also on the faculty of MIT, a member of the Launchpad Venture Group, an advisor at grIP Venture Studio, to Biognosys (a Bruker company), Invitris, CART company CelineTx, Investment Fund Nekonal, and to the drug development and investment company OrangeGrove Bio and a member of the W20 Entrepreneurship task force, the official engagement group of the G20. Previously she was Chief Business Officer at Galecto (NASDAQ:GLTO), Vice President at cell therapy company Mnemo Therapeutics, a Venture Partner at RA Capital and Executive Vice President at Evotec (NASDAQ:EVO) where she built its North American investment arm and started an incubator with Samsara BioCapital. She also worked as International Business Leader at F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd. (ROG.SW), and for Novartis (NYSE:NVS) in Business Development and in Commercial. Stephanie conducted the research for her PhD in biochemistry in the lab of a Nobel Prize winner at Harvard Medical School and obtained an MPA from the Harvard Kennedy School. As a semi-professional violinist, she performs with Philharmonic orchestras in Carnegie Hall and other international venues and conducts workshops with live orchestras, demonstrating the similarities between teams and leadership in music and management.

Lori Rouleau, Partner at Truss Group LLC

Lori Rouleau is a data-driven recruiting professional with over 15 years of experience in biotech, life science, and engineering. At Truss Group LLC, she specializes in hiring top talent for critical roles that drive revenue and growth in startups and stealth mode companies. She approaches her work with energy, enthusiasm, kindness, honesty, and a sense of humor.

Marina Sirota, Professor, Acting Director and Associate Director of Advocacy and Outreach at Bakar Computational Health Sciences Institute, UCSF

Marina is currently a Professor and the Acting Director at the Bakar Computational Health Sciences Institute at UCSF. Prior to that, she worked as a Senior Research Scientist at Pfizer, where she focused on developing precision medicine strategies in drug discovery. She completed her PhD in biomedical informatics at Stanford University. Dr. Sirota’s research experience in translational bioinformatics spans nearly 20 years, during which she has co-authored over 170 scientific publications. Her research interests lie in developing computational integrative methods and applying these approaches in the context of disease diagnostics and therapeutics, with a special focus on women’s health. The Sirota laboratory is funded by NIA, NLM, NIAMS, Pfizer, March of Dimes, and the Burroughs Wellcome Fund. As a young leader in the field, she was awarded the AMIA Young Investigator Award in 2017.  She leads the UCSF March of Dimes Prematurity Research Center at UCSF as well as co-directs ENACT, a center to study precision medicine for endometriosis. Dr. Sirota is also the founding director of the AI4ALL program at UCSF, with the goal of introducing high school girls to applications of AI and machine learning in biomedicine and, more generally, leads the outreach and advocacy activities at the Bakar Computational Health Sciences Institute.

Diane Wuest, PhD, Vice President of AI & Analytics Products at Genmab, Moderator

Diane is a passionate global executive leading AI programs and digital transformation at the interface of healthcare and technology. She has built deep knowledge in biopharma and high-tech over the past 20 years to accelerate operations and deploy emergent solutions of data and digital to solve healthcare’s most difficult challenges. Diane has designed and implemented technology strategies across AI/ML, data, operations, and digital health to optimize business investments, enterprise platform capabilities, operating models, and resourcing. Currently the VP of AI & Analytics Products at Genmab, she professionalizes AI approaches into stable products and capabilities deployed within all business functions to optimize Genmab’s promise for patients. Prior to Genmab, Diane was VP of Digital R&D at Sanofi, reporting to the Chief Digital Officer, and partnered with the R&D Global Function, where she led the strategic digital transformation of R&D’s engine via technology innovation to accelerate operations and disrupt the way drugs are discovered and developed. Diane also led precision medicine programs at Aitia, a mid-size machine learning startup, where she led strategy and deployed causal inference ML/AI programs with pharma, disease foundations, providers, and technology companies to elucidate disease mechanisms, advance drug discovery and clinical development, and improve patient care. At the start of her career, Diane worked for Genentech in R&D, and her graduate work focused on building a model system of Alzheimer’s disease. Diane received her BS and PhD in chemical & biomolecular engineering from Cornell University and the University of Delaware, respectively.

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• Non-Members*: $15

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