Agenda 2022

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With almost six million suspected deaths worldwide and counting, the ongoing COVID-19 pandemic has been one of the deadliest disasters in human history. Once its global spread and destructive force became clear at the beginning of 2020, scientists around the world raced to develop a vaccine to stop the novel virus in its tracks and save millions of lives. Prof. Özlem Türeci, Co-Founder and Chief Medical Officer of BioNTech, is a physician, immunologist, cancer researcher and company founder. With her husband Ugur Sahin, she has pioneered a number of fields including cancer antigen discovery, individualized on demand customized mRNA cancer vaccine approaches and other types of immunotherapies which are currently in clinical development. Along with her team at BioNTech, she developed one of the first mRNA-vaccines for effectively preventing COVID-19. Türeci will share her perspective on how to turn innovations into medicines by showcasing the development of the mRNA vaccine technology.

Significant historic events since the Big Bang appear to be occurring more frequently as time goes on. Interestingly, it seems like subsequent intervals between these events are shrinking exponentially by a factor of four. This process looks like it should converge around the year 2040. The last of these major events can be said to have occurred around 1990 when the cold war ended, the WWW was born, mobile phones became mainstream, the first self-driving cars appeared, and modern AI with very deep artificial neural networks came into being. In this talk, I’ll focus on the latter, in particular, the “miraculous year of deep learning 1990-91” when our team layed foundations of the most cited neural networks. I’ll discuss how in the 2000s this has begun to impact billions of human lives, how the timeline predicts the next big event to be around 2030, what the final decade until convergence might hold, and what will happen in the subsequent 40 billion years. Take all of this with a grain of salt though.

The lecture will address the challenges posed by the world’s growing and more demanding population. The challenges are of two kinds: those stemming from the growing pressure we’re collectively imposing on the biosphere; and those caused by misapplication of ever more powerful technologies.

In 1972 The Limits to Growth was the first report to model our planet’s interconnected systems and make clear that if growth trends in population, industrialisation, resource use and pollution continued unchanged, we would reach and then overshoot the carrying capacity of the Earth at some point in the next one hundred years. 50 years on, we are experiencing the real impact of the encroachment of humanity on these limits through COVID-19, climate change and conflict and more than ever we need to stop pursuing growth at all costs and instead take a holistic approach and move towards wellbeing economics.

Modern Al was inspired by brain research more than 60 years ago. Neuroscience has moved forward since, now allowing the mapping of neuronal circuit architecture at ever increasing scale and pace. While this progress requires modern Al to succeed, there is the justified hope that connectomes from cognitively capable animals will inform modern approaches to artificial intelligence that may overcome the limitations of energy and label inefficiency in concurrent Al.

Maria Leptin will talk about the importance of investing in bottom-up, frontier research, the relationship between science and technology, the importance of international cooperation in science, how we can assess excellent research and her experiences during her first six months as President of the European Research Council.

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Although natural products comprise 60% of the small molecule therapeutics market, numerous challenges arise in conventional natural products-based drug discovery and production. Recent breakthroughs in the field of synthetic biology have demonstrated how to use microorganisms such as brewer’s yeast to make plant-derived medicines that match the most complicated known biosynthetic pathways found in nature. The ability to engineer self-replicating, precision chemical factories that build natural product-inspired scaffolds from the atoms up, will accelerate the discovery of new medicines while scaling bioproduction of existing essential medicines.

The implementation of constitutional dynamics in chemical entities points to the emergence of adaptive and evolutive chemistry, towards systems of increasing complexity.

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Project Debater is the first AI system that can meaningfully debate a human opponent. The system, an IBM Grand Challenge, is designed to build coherent, convincing speeches on its own, as well as provide rebuttals to the opponent’s main arguments. In February 2019, Project Debater competed against Harish Natarajan, who holds the world record for most debate victories, in an event held in San Francisco that was broadcasted live world-wide. In this talk I will tell the story of Project Debater, from conception to a climatic final event, describe its underlying technology, and discuss how it can be leveraged for advancing decision making and critical thinking.

Even when scientists are excited about their work and public audiences are curious about their science, there are often barriers to connecting them. For the scientists this may relate to weak communications skills, lack of understanding of their audiences, few incentives for undertaking this work, failure to understand the importance of engagement or a lack of opportunity. It is critical to consider strategies for overcoming these challenges and providing access to science for all.

In ribosomes, the site for peptide bond formation, the PTC, is located within a highly conserved internal pocket made exclusively of rRNA. The high conservation implies its existence irrespective of environmental conditions and indicates that it may represent a prebiotic RNA machine, which could be the kernel around which life originated. Lab constructs imitating this pocket possess capabilities for peptide bond formations, thus indicating that a molecular prebiotic bonding entity still exists and functions within ribosomes of all living cells. In contrast, specific structural features of ribosomes related to genetic diseases, or in antibiotics resistant pathogens are being used as bases for next generation therapeutics.

One in two people will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime. We have seen progressively reduced cancer mortality with >50% survival at ten years for cancer patients overall. But many cancers continue to show poor outcomes. We have seen the strong impact of genome sequencing (including now incorporating  liquid biopsy) leading to the exciting era of personalised medicine based on predictive biomarkers. But only around 9% of patients with metastatic cancer have actionable molecular targets allowing treatment with precision medicine and only around 5% receive such treatments. Many cancer driver proteins are technically hard to drug – notably numerous transcription factors – and so far only 5% of the cancer genome has been drugged. Immmunotherapy with T cell checkpoint inhibitors is highly effective in some patients but we lack biomarkers to predict patients who will benefit. Tumour heterogeneity and the ability to adapt, evolve and become drug resistant is the major challenge we face. I will describe progress towards extending the drugged cancer genome, including tackling hard-to-drug targets. I will stress the importance of more robust target validation. I will emphasise the use of high-quality chemical probes for functional annotation of the genome and target validation, alongside powerful orthogonal technologies such as RNA interference and CRISPR/Cas9 knockout/editing. I will illustrate the importance of selectivity of chemical probes and drugs (on-target versus off-target effects) and how we can control or exploit polypharmacology. I will illustrate the above points using examples from the 20 drug candidates we have discovered since 2005, with twelve of these entering clinical trial, and will describe how these approaches will allow us to overcome or limit cancer adaption, evolution and drug resistance.

Keynote Lecture by Prize Winner 2022

The climate crisis is dire, and our expert team of climate scientists and analysts understand its root cause – and how to solve it. We invite conference attendees searching for the answers to “What can I do to help?” to attend our presentation and recognize the case for climate ACTION. You’ll hear an inspiring and thought-provoking discussion facilitated by Jacquelyn Francis, featuring some of the organizations that have won the Keeling Curve Prize in previous years. Jacquelyn will announce the 2022 winners of the prize, that are all paving the way to a livable future.

Spin based properties, applications, and devices are commonly related to magnetic effects and to magnetic materials. However, we found that chiral organic molecules act as spin filters for photoelectrons transmission, in electron transfer, and in electron transport. The new effect, termed Chiral Induced Spin Selectivity (CISS), was found, among others, in bio-molecules and in bio-systems. It has interesting implications for the production of new types of spintronics devices and on electron transfer in biological systems. Our findings shed new light on enantio-specific interactions and it opens the possibility to construct novel methods for enantio-separation.

Ask Me Anything Circle

The nature of computation was first identified by Alan Turing in the 1930’s. He and von Neumann, among other pioneers of computing, soon sought to formulate aspects of biology in those terms. In retrospect, Darwin’s theory of evolution, can also be viewed as a computational principle, one that remarkably makes no specific mention of physics, chemistry, ecology, or any other specifics of the physical embodiment of life. The question we ask in this talk is how our current understanding of computation can help advance our understanding of biology, and in particular, neuroscience and evolution. In neuroscience the emphasis will be on quantitative accounts of how cortex could perform the large number of cognitive tasks that a human can perform in a lifetime, with the limited resources that appear to be available. In evolution, the emphasis will be on a quantitatively accounting of the apparent speed of evolution

A roundtable on AI and society, touching on issues including AI and healthcare, AI ethics, and human-AI interactions.

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Showcasing the unique market and technological opportunities of the private space sectors as well as it’s challenges as a startup in Europe. 

Methods and instruments to visualize atoms and molecules were discovered in the past century, undergo further rapid development, and revolutionize the life sciences and medicine. They are an essential, often founding step in the discovery and refinement of novel therapies and medicines. Cage-forming proteases, the proteasome, DPP8/9 and DegP are very significant drug targets and will serve for illustration.

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Funding research arising from independent curiosity lays the foundations for rapid yet reliable results, not only in the field of vaccine development but also in relation to other research requirements of the future. The pandemic clearly demonstrates that the best way to prepare for new and unforeseeable societal challenges – be they bio-medical or other – is to generate knowledge repositories that are not yet related to specific problems but rather to open questions. Funding such research proves to provide the best means possible for political action in an ever more complex world.

G protein coupled receptors (GPCRs) conduct the majority of transmembrane responses to hormones and neurotransmitters, and represent the largest class of drug targets for the pharmaceutical industry; however, there are many obstacles to the discovery and development of safe and effective drugs for specific GPCR targets. The goal of research in my lab has been to characterize the structure and mechanism of activation of GPCRs by applying a spectrum of biochemical and biophysical methods. I will discuss challenges in GPCR drug discovery, and the potential impact of structural biology and other scientific advances on future drug discovery efforts.

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Quantum computing is experiencing explosive growth, with both research activity and investment at record levels. However, large-scale quantum computers may still be some time off. This talk will cover the important milestones reached and challenges that lie ahead on the path to building a quantum computer. I will also discuss near-term quantum technologies and opportunities that have arisen from quantum computing research, specifically in the area of measurement and spectroscopy. In the 1950s the invention of the silicon integrated circuit opened the path towards ever increasing computing power that has changed the way we live, work and communicate. We are now entering a new age of quantum computing that opens horizons for solving global challenges related to human health and climate change. Although the concepts underpinning quantum computing are radically different from those of existing computing, it could be that the silicon microchip, now reimagined, could again provide the platform for this new technology of enormous global significance.

The discussion will focus on issues that threaten the future of humanity, including our apparent inability to take meaningful action in the face of obvious dangers. It may also emphasize a Southern perspective.

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For thousands of years people have wondered, “Are there planets like Earth?” “Are such planets common?” “Do any have signs of life?” Today astronomers are poised to answer these ancient questions, having recently found thousands of planets that orbit nearby Sun-like stars, called “exoplanets”. Professor Sara Seager, one of the world’s leading experts on this search for Earth-like planets and life beyond Earth, will share the latest advances in this revolutionary field.

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Leading innovation is not about being a visionary leader; it is about building the culture and capabilities required for people in your organization to collaborate and do innovative problem-solving time and again, In this session Professor hill will share highlights of her 15 years of research on exceptional leaders of innovation and what you can do to increase the and innovation in your organization.

Through the extensive R&D of organic light-emitting diodes (OLEDs) for more than 30 years, plenty of well-elaborated novel organic optoelectronic materials and device architectures have been extensively developed, resulted in the unique commercial utilization of OLEDs for cutting-edge smartphones, large-area TVs, and further new future display applications by taking advantage of light-weight and flexibility. From the aspect of materials science, the creation of novel light-emitting materials in OLEDs has been the central issue aimed at high electroluminescence quantum efficiency (EQE). Starting from the development of conventional fluorescence materials (1st generation) during 1990-2000th, the room-temperature phosphorescence (2000-) (2nd generation) and thermally activated delayed fluorescence (TADF) (2012-) (3rd generation) continuously pioneered the novel possibilities of organic emitters, resulted in not only high-performance OLEDs but also enriched organic photochemistry. In recent days, there have been a wide variety of studies on TADF-OLEDs because of the unlimited possibilities of TADF molecular design. Further, hyperfluorescence (HP)-OLEDs have been developed since they can realize the compatibility of high efficiency and narrow spectral width, which is ideal for practical display applications. Here we report our recent cutting-edge HP-OLEDs demonstrating high OLED performance by optimizing host, TADF, and terminal emitter (TE) molecules1-3). In particular, we focus on the blue-emission, which is capable of showing narrow FWHM and high EL quantum yield. Blue HP-OLEDs based on two new TEs are fabricated, resulting in high external quantum efficiency (EQE) of over 20%, high color purity, and high brightness. By analyzing the transient PL characteristics of the HP-OLEDs, we found the presence of efficient FRET between TADF-assistant dopant (TADF-AD) and TE molecules. Further, transient EL analysis confirmed that a smaller EHOMO difference between TADF-AD and TE efficiently helps to decrease hole trapping inside the emitting layer, hence resulting in a lower efficiency rolloff and a longer operational device lifetime. This report provides a designing principle for a TADF and TE in HP-OLEDs with well-matched energy levels, leading to efficient FRET and no significant carrier trapping. In my talk, I will mention the importance of charge transfer (CT) phenomenon in designing high-performance organic luminescent molecules in OLEDs. Also, CT issues play a crucial role in maximizing the device operation. Further, I will outlook the prospect of advanced CT technologies. References: [1] C-Y. Chan et al., Nature Photonics, 15, 203 – 207 (2021). [2] Y-T. Lee et al., Advanced Electronic Materials, 7, 4, 2001090 (2021). [3] M. Tanaka et al., ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, 12, 45, 50668 – 50674 (2020).

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Extracellular vesicles (EVs) are a unique mode of intercellular communication capable of incredible specificity in transmitting signals involved in cellular function, including germ cell maturation. Spermatogenesis occurs in the testes, behind a protective barrier to ensure safeguarding of germline DNA from insults in the environment. Outside the testes and following DNA compaction, further sperm cell maturation occurs in the epididymis. Here, we report the novel ability of reproductive tract EVs to transmit information regarding stress in the paternal environment to sperm, ultimately altering fetal development. Using the artificial reproduction technique, intracytoplasmic sperm injection, we found that sperm incubated with EVs collected from stress-treated epididymal epithelial cells produced offspring with significant changes in neurodevelopment and adult stress reactivity. Proteomic and transcriptomic assessment of these secreted EVs showed dramatic changes in protein and miRNA content long after stress treatment had ended, supporting a lasting cellular programmatic change in response to chronic stress. Thus, EVs are a normal part of sperm maturation, and also perform additional roles in intergenerational transmission of paternal environmental experience.