Archives: Speakers

Sonia Lwoff has a BsC degree in Chemistry from the Autonoma University in Madrid and a master’s degree in clinical trials by Pharmaceutical Association in Madrid. She has over 19 years of experience in research. Sonia has developed her career in Clinical Operations, from the CRA level through various management positions to leading global Clinical Operations teams in several regions. Sonia’s therapeutic area expertise includes Oncology, Neurology and Psychiatry, Rare Diseases, Gastroenterology, and Immunology (PID) among others. She is currently the Director of Clinical Operations in EU, working on timely and high-quality delivery in projects, process improvement, and expanding Rho’s footprint in EU.

Maris Veldre earned his BSC and PT degrees from the Medical Academy of Latvia and later studied for an international MPH at University of Kuopio, Finland. He has over 24 years of experience in the industry, both at CRO and Pharma companies holding regional and global management positions in clinical operations and strategic sourcing. Prior to his tenure at Rho, Maris managed clinical operations at Dokumeds, a mid-sized European CRO, operating in over 30 countries. Under his leadership, the company expanded into new geographic regions both within and outside Europe, thus significantly increasing capabilities and the company’s strategic footprint. Currently, Maris serves as a strategic partner to Rho operations, overseeing project delivery in Europe and helping Rho deliver high-quality global programs.

Myriam Golembo is VP Regulatory Affairs at BiomX, a microbiome drug discovery company developing customized phage therapies that seek and destroy harmful bacteria in chronic diseases. Myriam holds a PhD in Molecular and Developmental Genetics from the Weizmann Institute and has over 20 years’ experience in the biotech industry. Prior to BiomX, she was VP Regulatory and Clinical Operations at a company developing immunotherapy for cancer and viral disease, and VP Product Development at a company developing new formulated antibiotics for ear, nose and throat. Previous to these, she served as Director of Products Development at Protalix, a company developing and marketing FDA approved recombinant therapeutic proteins with clinically improved profiles produced in a plant cell-based protein expression platform, where she focused in regulatory and clinical development of products targeting orphan indications, for USA and EU.

Barbara Argibay brings over 15 years of experience in Data and Research to her position as Vice President, General Manager – Data Division at Anju Software. She leads the Anju Data Division, overseeing TA Scan and data sciences product development, engineering, operations, and business development. Barbara’s education and experience makes her an irreplaceable member of the Anju Software team, empowering life sciences companies through the power of data and innovation.

Throughout her career, she has been involved in diverse roles where data-driven strategies paired with actionable insights had a remarkable impact on research and clinical operations. With high commitment to excellence, at the core of Barbara’s experience lies the ability to understand market challenges and push the status quo to drive positive change within the life sciences industry. As people leader, Barbara has nurtured a culture of trust, collaboration, and innovation, fostering a high-performing and engaged team.

Barbara holds a PhD in Medicine, with honors cum laude and special mention to Extraordinary PhD award, MS and BSc in Physics by the University of Santiago de Compostela.

Kaite Paul is the Product Manager for Research and Life Sciences at EMIS Health, where she works to explore how data and technology can be harnessed to increase the participation of primary care in research and deliver fast, diverse and effective recruitment to trials. Prior to EMIS, Katie was Chief of Staff at a medical technology start-up and a consultant in Accenture UK’s Health team, advising on NHS digital, data and cybersecurity strategy.

Biography of Marie Meima

Marie Meima studied at the Utrecht University and obtained a master degree in Toxicology and Environmental Health. She is working as a Research Scientist at the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research TNO and as a Visiting Scientist at the University Medical Center Utrecht, the Netherlands. Past and current research topics include risk assessment of occupational exposure, emergency risk assessment of food contamination, and food allergen risk assessment and risk management. During the past years, she focuses more on the effects of food on immune health and leads a major research program targeting at the development and application of advanced data science approaches to identify food compounds modulating (the risk) of inflammatory diseases, a collaboration between TNO and the University Medical Center Utrecht.

Biography of prof. dr. Geert F. Houben

Geert Houben (Biologist, Board Certified Toxicologist) is Principal Scientist Food Allergy and Immunotoxicology at the Netherlands Organisation for Applied Scientific Research TNO and Full Professor Food-borne Risk Factors for Allergic and Inflammatory Diseases at the University Medical Center Utrecht (UMC Utrecht) and the Faculty of Medicine of the Utrecht University, the Netherlands. He is or was a member of tens of expert groups, advisory boards and committees in the area of (risk assessment in) toxicology, food safety, immunotoxicology and food allergy. Among others, he was a member of the WHO/IPCS Expert Group for the Harmonized Guidance Development for Immunotoxicity Risk Assessment, the Ad hoc Joint FAO/WHO Expert Consultation on Risk Assessment of Food Allergens, and several Health Council committees of the Netherlands.
Prior to his current positions, he has had various research and management positions at TNO and various research positions at the Utrecht University and the UMC Utrecht. Geert has had the managerial and scientific responsibility for the TNO Food Safety research and services for many years prior to choosing to focus on his scientific career since 2014.

Ms Bauer is our VP of Ag, Consumer and Retail in North America at Global Data.  She comes to us with a wealth of Ag knowledge and unique perspective as she continues to be involved with her family’s dairy, forage, corn and soybean farm in the Upper Midwest USA.  Since the inception in 1982, their farm has been recognized for numerous awards that marked progress and success.  The two they are most proud of are recognition as Minnesota Milk Producer of the year and having bred, raised and exhibited a World Dairy Expo Class Winner.

Paula’s unique perspective will provide insights on U.S. agricultural practices and the “why” behind those.

• Commitment animal husbandry
• Commitment to soil health
• Commitment to responsible use of resources
• Commitment to our employee partners and communities
• At the end of the day…..What’s the motivation?