Archives: Speakers

Prasanna Rao is a distinguished AI practitioner and industry thought leader, currently serving as the Chief Products and Innovation Officer at Saama. With over 30 years of experience in information technology and analytics, including more than a decade in healthcare and life sciences, Prasanna brings a wealth of knowledge and expertise to his role.

Previously, as Global Head of AI/ML, Clinical Data Sciences at Pfizer Research & Development, Prasanna worked closely with stakeholders, vendors, business SMEs, machine learning developers, and data scientists to foster innovation and advance the adoption of AI in clinical data sciences. His tenure at IBM Watson as a Watson Solution Architect was marked by significant achievements in implementing AI systems for a diverse range of clients.

An accomplished speaker, Prasanna regularly presents at major industry conferences, including SCDM, DIA, SCOPE, DPharm, Tufts University CSDD, and Outsourcing Clinical Trials (OCT). He is also the holder of an IBM patent titled “Monitoring Clinical Research Performance,” further cementing his status as a leading authority in leveraging technology for clinical development in the pharmaceutical industry. Prasanna continues to drive transformative advancements in AI and machine learning, delivering groundbreaking solutions to accelerate clinical research and development.

Steve Warner, PhD, is the Senior Vice President, Head of Translational Research & Medicine – Oncology at Sumitomo Pharma America. He specializes in small molecule drug discovery, new screening platforms in drug discovery, and translational research focusing on cancer therapeutics. He is an expert in the discovery of novel cancer agents, with experience spanning organizations including the University of Arizona, the Translational Genomics Research Institute, SuperGen Inc, the Huntsman Cancer Institute. Dr. Warner co-founded Tolero Pharmaceuticals in 2011, which was acquired by Sumitomo Pharma in 2017. Throughout these experiences, Dr. Warner has led drug discovery projects that have produced ten first-in-human clinical compounds and has published dozens of peer-reviewed publications and patents from multiple drug discovery projects.

Viola Cereda is passionate and deeply immersed in the study of beer and data. She is an active member of the Italian Society of Sensory Sciences. As Sensory Team Coordinator at VINHOOD, she leads the interpretation of sensory data to uncover actionable insights. She specializes in supporting beer industry partners with data-driven strategies tailored to consumer taste preferences

Quentin Horgan, MSc, BSc, is the Director of the Drugs and PharmSource databases at GlobalData. His primary responsibilities include reviewing and updating drug information presented on GlobalData’ s drug and manufacturing module, as well as the maintenance of data quality through quality control and timely client support alongside continuous database enhancement. Quentin is also involved in the producing of analytical reports and insights on a range of areas including drug manufacturing, drug development, drug approval, and market trends. He has a firm understanding of all aspects of the pharmaceutical market, drug development, drug manufacturing, and marketing. Quentin holds an MSc in Drugs Discovery and Pharma Management from University College London and a BSc in Biochemistry from the University of Sussex.

Marc Ebben, started as Strategic Customer Manager Food & Beverage at Adven in January 2024, focussing on connecting with major manufacturers in the Food & Beverage industry. Before joining Adven he has been active in the renewable energy business before for 4 years at Unisun Energy as Business Development Manager of large scale solar and battery projects in Europe and for almost 20 years in the packaging industry in various sales, business development, plant management and director roles. He started his journey in the packaging industry with Kappa (Smurfit Westrock nowadays) and followed by Weidenhammer Packaging, later Sonoco, before moving to Stora Enso and Corex (part of VPK).

Passionate about sciences and technologies, Christine studied bioengineering at the Catholic University of Louvain (UCL) in Belgium. After having held several roles in the pharma industry, mainly in Clinical Data Management and Data Surveillance, she took over the role Team Lead Centralized Monitoring at UCB. The team is responsible for Central Monitoring activities, using Key Risk Indicators (KRIs), Quality Tolerance Limits (QTLs) and Central Statistical Monitoring tools to detect data anomalies and trends at study, site, and study participant level.

Manan Trivedi, PhD, is a clinical and regulatory project management leader with 15+ years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry, specializing in global clinical trial submissions, regulatory compliance, and process optimization.

As ASSOCIATE DIRECTOR & EU CTR PROJECT LEAD at UCB Biopharma, he spearheads the end-to-end implementation of the EU Clinical Trial Regulation (EU CTR), ensuring streamlined regulatory pathways, cross-functional coordination, and operational efficiencies. His leadership in transitioning trials from CTD to CTR has positioned UCB as an industry front-runner in regulatory compliance.