Heidelberg, Germany 24.11.2020 – On Friday November 20, BioRN hosted its traditional annual conference in a new -but not any more unusual, digital format. Around 200 participants joint over the different plenary and networking sessions, confirming that nurturing connections within the network is now more important than ever.
With the title “Precision Technologies 4 Life”, the conference featured disruptive innovations for personalized medicine through molecular engineering and molecular profiling of diseases. Renowned scientific experts from academia and industry described high-sensitive sensors, nano-devices and other technologies that allow detailed molecular examination and identification of biomarkers.
The conference was opened by Vittoria Zinzalla (Boehringer Ingelheim) delivering a brilliant keynote lecture on how digital pathology solutions and biomarkers are essential for the molecular characterization of cancers and therefore for the development of novel antitumor therapeutics. Kai Johnsson (Max Planck Institute for Medical Research, Heidelberg and EPFL Lausanne) was the keynote Speaker for the session about Engineering new sensors to probe biology. He demonstrated how protein engineering and synthetic chemistry can be exploited to generate fluorescent and bioluminescent probes for live-cell imaging and diagnostics.
The conference was closed with a fireside chat moderated by Siegfried Bialojan (BioRN & EY): “Heidelberg is certainly a City of Science, but innovation potential does not automatically mean innovation. Professional Technology Transfer Offices and projects such as Evotec Bridges and BioLabs facilitate translation of excellent research into real innovation and value creation”. The topic was discussed with Johannes Frühauf (Founder and President, BioLabs and LabCentral), Thomas Hanke (Executive Vice President, Head of Academic Partnerships, Evotec SE), Jürgen Bauer (Deputy Managing Director, EMBLEM Technology Transfer GmbH and Board Member, Heidelberg Startup partners) and Julia Schaft (Managing Director, BioRN).
“BioRN as neutral network partner is offering to bring in industry know-how as well as the required critical mass to ultimately transform inventions into meaningful products - a serious obligation towards society”, commented Julia during the discussion.
EMBL & Cellzome, a GSK Company renewed their offer to host BioRN Annual Conference, and we hope to be able to welcome you next year in person in the outstanding ATC Building.
BioRN Annual Conference on demand.
© BioRN
About BioRN
BioRN is the science and industry cluster of the Rhine-Main-Neckar region around Heidelberg, one of Germany’s strongest biotech hubs. It is a non-profit network fostering health innovations and serving its members by creating a rich translational ecosystem as well as promoting, representing and connecting the regional innovation stakeholders. Our vision is to develop the region into a world-leading life science cluster attracting international investments and top global talent.
BioRN has more than 100 institutional members, including the top academic and research institutions, 8 global pharmaceutical companies, a large range of small and medium-sized enterprises bolstering the life science ecosystem as well as local government organizations and interest groups. www.biorn.org
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