Overview
On 5 May, JLABS Singapore, in collaboration with co11ab Novena, is thrilled to be announcing our very first Science First event of the year in one of the rapidly emerging research fields worldwide: Immunology.
Join us as we dive into the current innovation landscape in Singapore and beyond, particularly in the field of immunology, with disease area expert, Dr. Terence Rooney, VP Portfolio and Asset Management, Immunology, Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine. We are honored to have Terence in this dedicated fireside chat, to share extensive knowledge and experience gained from his end-to-end involvement in immunology product pipelines. Terence holds notable breakthroughs under his leadership, including steering TREMFYA® (guselkumab) as a first-line treatment option for patients with active psoriatic arthritis in the most recent Phase 3b APEX study.
Joining in on the discussion, we have Prof. Salvatore Albani, internationally recognized rheumatologist and immunologist, and Founder & Director of the Translational Immunology Institute (TII) in Singapore. Throughout his career, Prof. Albani has received numerous accolades, including the Nature Biotechnology Outstanding Research Achievement Award and the Singapore Translational Research (STaR) Investigator Award from the National Medical Research Council. We're also excited to announce a new addition to this discourse, A/Prof. Yen Choo, Executive Director of co11ab, with us to share his insights!
Finally, after months of intensive examination of applications, we are proud to announce the awardees of the Singapore QuickFire Challenge: Precision Immunology! The Singapore QuickFire Challenge, a yearly initiative in partnership with the Singapore Economic Development Board (EDB) since 2023, has been curated to inspire groundbreaking innovations in various key disease areas in Singapore and beyond. Launched in November 2024, the Singapore QuickFire Challenge in Precision Immunology has seen diverse application submissions from across the region - all aligned with the core mission of advancing the frontier of precision medicine. Let us congratulate the Singapore QuickFire Challenge awardees together!
Following a packed and enriching session, we welcome you to stay on to exchange buzzing ideas with fellow innovators, and expand your network in Singapore's evolving life science ecosystem.
An opportunity not to be missed, register your interest now to be part of this landmark event!
*Please note that the venue has been relocated to co11ab Novena, Level 16 of Clinical Sciences Building, Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine.
*All registrations are first subject to waitlist - confirmations are based on priority and capacity. Thank you for your understanding.
*Film notice: Photography and videography will be captured during this event. Through your participation, you are granting Johnson & Johnson Innovation - JLABS consent to utilize these images and videos for promotional purposes, which may include social media, website and publication purposes. If you do not wish to be photographed, kindly inform the photographer at the event.
Schedule
Date: 05 May 2025, Monday
Time: 3:30 PM - 6:30 PM (GMT +8:00) Kuala Lumpur, Singapore
Location: co11ab Novena, Level 16, Clinical Sciences Building, Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine, 11 Mandalay Road, S308232
Speakers
Speaker's Profile:
Yen Choo, PhD, Executive Director, co11ab, NTU Singapore
Associate Professor Yen Choo is Executive Director of co11ab and Associate Professor of Stem Cell Science and Regenerative Medicine at Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine (LKC Medicine), a joint medical school of Nanyang Technological University (NTU) and Imperial College London. A/Prof Choo is a serial bioentrepreneur with over 20 years of C-level and Board experience in establishing early-stage biotechnology ventures. During this time he was responsible for day-to-day management of startups based in incubator facilities within the UK’s golden triangle, and has raised finance from both pure-play financial VCs and corporate VCs, as well as HNW angel investors. A/Prof Choo was the founder and CSO of: Gendaq - the biotechnology company that developed the zinc finger DNA-binding technology used for gene editing (acquired by Sangamo Therapeutics), Plasticell, and Progenitor Therapeutics.
Moderator's Profile:
Sharon Chan, DPhil, MBA, MPH, Vice President, JLABS Asia Pacific, Johnson & Johnson
Sharon is a passionate and respected global health leader with extensive experience in business and product development across pharmaceuticals, medical devices, vaccines and technology platforms. As VP JLABS Asia Pacific, Sharon is responsible for setting and driving the long-term growth strategy and plan for JLABS in the region, which includes JLABS, Singapore and JLABS, Shanghai. Sharon brings more than 20 years of diverse, international and life sciences experience from London, Shanghai, Beijing, Hong Kong and Singapore. Prior to joining J&J, Sharon was Head of Asia at Aeras, where she established its Beijing office for the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. In 2020, Sharon was recognized by Forbes China as one of the 50 Top Women in Science & Technology. In 2021, Sharon was given a Social Impact Leadership Award Honoree by Serica.
Speaker's Profile:
Terence Rooney, MD, PhD, Vice President of Portfolio and Asset Management, Immunology, Johnson & Johnson Innovative Medicine
At Johnson & Johnson (J&J), Terence is responsible for driving scientific leadership in the immunology disease area, overseeing innovative compounds across multiple phases of development. In his prior role at J&J as Vice President, Immunology Clinical Development, Terence led the Late Development Clinical organization, overseeing all late-stage Immunology clinical trials. Under his leadership, the team delivered many important milestones, and evolved to meet the present and future needs of our growing and complex Immunology portfolio more sustainably. Prior to his time at J&J, Terence held positions of increasing responsibility in translational/early and late clinical development at Roche and Eli Lilly, respectively. Terence received his medical degrees from the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. During 10 years of academic clinical practice at teaching hospitals in Dublin, he completed postgraduate training in Rheumatology and Internal Medicine.
Speaker's Profile:
Salvatore Albani, MD, PhD, Founder and Director, Founder and President, Co-Founder, Professor, Translational Immunology Institute, Eureka Institute for Translational Medicine, Ananda Immunotherapies, Duke-NUS Medical School
Professor Salvatore Albani is a Founder and Director of Translational Immunology Institute (TII), now recognised as an International Centre of Excellence in Translational Immunology with about 50 staff and with more than S$50 million raised. He is also a Founder and President of Eureka Institute for Translational Medicine, an international organisation focused on the advancement of Translational Medicine through research, education and policy shaping. Salvatore is well published with authorship in most of the top Journals, with achievements of IF 1270, H-index of 57, 13,700 citations (Google) and top 1% worldwide in his field (SCOPUS). Throughout his career, he has also generated a diverse portfolio of approximately 100 patents. His expertise includes PI of four IND in progress, all stemming from own inventions all the way to clinical trial. He also plays the role of a serial entrepreneur after becoming a scientific founder of Ananda Immunotherapies, a spin off from TII technology.
Speaker's Profile:
Alessandro Falcone, MD, MSc (Host), Head, JLABS Singapore, Johnson & Johnson-0739e31d-d3c3-4cbf-878b-491b7b4e0fca.png)
As Head of JLABS Singapore, Alessandro Falcone is responsible for charting the strategic direction and overseeing all portfolio and business operational activities. Before assuming this role, Alessandro held the position of Executive Director in Oncology R&D at AstraZeneca, concentrating on the clinical development of the breast cancer portfolio. Prior to that, he occupied senior R&D and commercial positions at GSK and Novartis, respectively, over the past decade. At Novartis, he spearheaded European strategy and operations, while at GSK, he led technology and partnerships for all R&D endeavors. Alessandro's career also encompasses significant experience at top life science strategy consultancies such as LEK and IQVIA, with a particular focus on international investments in the life science sector.
