Archives: Speakers

Dr Kenton Zavitz has over 25 years of biotechnology and pharmaceutical experience with involvement in all aspects of the industry from drug discovery and clinical development through to pre-commercialization. Prior to joining Cambridge Cognition, Kenton served as Chief Scientific Officer for New Mexico-based biotech Zocere Inc. where he worked on developing a neuroprotectant drug designed to combat brain injury resulting from stroke. He has served on the Scientific Advisory Board for Exonate Limited, a start-up founded in 2013 at the University of Nottingham. From 1998 to 2012, Kenton worked at Myriad Pharmaceuticals, Inc. in Salt Lake City and served in a variety of roles including Senior Director of Clinical Affairs, Chief Scientist of the tarenflurbil clinical development program (an investigational drug for the treatment of Alzheimer’s disease, developed through Phase 3), Director of Neurodegeneration Therapeutics Discovery and Director of Strategic In-licensing and Scientific Evaluation. Kenton received his PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from The Sloan-Kettering Division of the Weill Cornell Graduate School of Medical Sciences in New York City. He was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the UCLA School of Medicine and was awarded fellowships from the Leukemia Society of America and the Jane Coffin Childs Memorial Fund for Medical Research.

Dave Berry is a Principal Data Scientist at PPD/Thermo Fisher Scientific, where he leads the development of advanced machine learning models to optimize clinical trial operations. With a diverse background in data science, computational biology, and bioinformatics, Dave has a proven track record of innovating at the intersection of life science and artificial intelligence. His work focuses on leveraging generative AI, large language models, and machine learning to drive operational efficiency and transformative solutions in clinical research.

Dr. Yavorsky has been involved in over 80 Phase II-IV trials in clinical trials, schizophrenia, bipolar disorder, depression, Alzheimer’s disease, anxiety, and Parkinson’s disease. Dr. Yavorsky is part of several working groups of the International Society for Clinical Trials Methodology (ISCTM) and co-chairs the Rapid-Acting Antidepressants (RAAD) working group. This group is tasked with developing novel psychometric instruments to measure change in clinical trials with psychedelic and other rapid-acting compounds. Findings from the working group were recently published in a special issue of Frontiers in Psychiatry focusing on ketamine treatment (Yavorsky et al., 2023). He regularly lectures on the topic of psychedelic research and is currently involved in clinical trials using DMT, MDMA, ketamine, and other compounds for the treatment of indications such as Alcohol Use Disorder, PTSD, treatment resistant depression, and bipolar disorder. Dr. Yavorsky is the Chief Scientific Officer of Valis Bioscience, a company focused on measurement and safety in clinical trials with psychedelic and other compounds. When not engaged in clinical trials Christian, who fancies himself a garagiste of sorts, can be found attempting to synchronize finicky carburetors on vintage cars, sometimes watching rocket launches from his back yard in Cape Canaveral, or enjoying time spent with his daughters and family.

Dr Sanne Verhoork is a Lead Scientist in Biosynth’s Peptide Division. After completing her degree in Bio-Pharmaceutical Sciences at Universiteit Leiden (NL) she pursued her PhD in peptide chemistry at Liverpool John Moores University (UK). During her PhD studies, being faced with the toxic chemicals used, as well as the quantity of waste being generated, an interest in sustainability and ‘greener’ alternatives was awakened. Since joining Pepscan in 2020, and subsequently Biosynth, she has played an active role in investigating and implementing ‘green’ chemistry within the Peptide Division.

Peter Timmerman, Head of Peptide Science at Biosynth, joined the group following the acquisition of Pepscan in 2022, where he had served as chief scientific officer since 2001.

He drives advancements in protein mimicry for peptide drug discovery programs. Timmerman is the inventor of CLIPS technology and previously held a chair as a Professor at the University of Amsterdam. He obtained his Chemistry degree from Vrije Universiteit (Amsterdam) and earned his PhD cum laude from the University of Twente. Timmerman has co-authored over 80 scientific papers and holds more than 10 patents.