The European Laboratory Research & Innovation Group (ELRIG) UK today announced the keynote speakers for Drug Discovery 2023, taking place at the ACC in Liverpool from 18–19 October. Prof Janet Hemingway CBE, FRS, Founding Director of Infection Innovation Consortium (iiCON), and Dr Dave Powell, Chief Scientific Officer (CSO) of LifeArc will lead this year’s event focussing on diverse thinking and new perspectives.

The organization’s free-to-attend, flagship conference will cover a wide range of themes from ‘omics, and personalized medicine to chemistry; all focused on bringing new therapies from the lab to the patient.

Janet Hemingway is Professor of Tropical Medicine at the Liverpool School of Tropical Medicine (LSTM) and the Founding Director of iiCON, a collaborative £230 million programme bringing together academic, industry and clinical partners to help transform the discovery and supply of anti-infectives and accelerate their journey to market. She is a senior technical advisor on Neglected Tropical Diseases for the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation and has been PI on projects in excess of £370 million. Prof Hemingway was Director of LSTM from 2001 to 2019 and she was awarded a CBE for services to the Control of Tropical Disease Vectors in 2012.

Dave Powell joined LifeArc as CSO in 2022 as the next step in his 25 years in R&D. Prior to this he led the preclinical drug discovery and the phase lll antibiotic research programme at Summit Therapeutics. Dr Powell began his life sciences career at SmithKline Beecham (now GSK), gaining deep platform and project experience across numerous therapeutic areas, including neurosciences, oncology, and infectious disease. He also helped to start and then led the collaboration between GSK and the Francis Crick Institute in London.

Drug Discovery 2023 will include presentations from leaders in their fields, a trade show and exhibition, a poster competition, tech theatres focussed on robotics and automation, and sustainability practices, a host of networking opportunities and a learning zone for early career professionals.

The conference will run four parallel sessions each day focussed on: cellular technologies for drug discovery, transforming cancer drug discovery through diverse thinking and innovations, delving into the diversity of chemistry, driving molecules from concept to clinic, augmenting R&D with AI, biopharmaceutical discovery, translating ideas into therapies, hit identification and screening, and chemistry enabling drug discovery from start to clinic.

ELRIG is dedicated to delivering great scientific content with diversity and inclusivity built in, and the calibre of talks at this year’s event are testament to that. The keynote speakers are such influential and highly respected scientists in their respective fields. We are delighted to have them lead the scientific programme at Drug Discovery 2023 and support us in driving collaboration across the scientific community as we continue to grow our diverse network.”

Sanj Kumar, CEO, ELRIG UK.

It’s an honour to be presenting at this year’s Drug Discovery event in Liverpool. I look forward to connecting with thought leaders, sharing insights, and gaining new perspectives on key areas of importance in the field and future directions for novel therapeutics.”

Prof Janet Hemingway, Founding Director, iiCON.

I’m passionate about discovery innovation but also about how we can train and prepare the next generation of drug discovery scientists. So, I’m proud to be presenting at ELRIG’s flagship event this year where new ideas and technology are always to the fore, but importantly ELRIG Drug Discovery is a highly approachable conference for our younger colleagues as well.”

Dr Dave Powell, CSO, LifeArc.

For a full listing of speakers and sessions, to register or book an exhibition stand, please visit: https://www.elrig.org/portfolio/drug-discovery-2023/