Ankur Chaurasia

Founder and CEO, AssureDrop

Ankur Chaurasia is the Founder and CEO of AssureDrop, a biotechnology company developing a microfluidic platform that helps researchers learn more from scarce but valuable patient-derived samples by enabling up to 10× more drug-response measurements from each sample. He is focused on building the infrastructure needed to scale patient-derived drug discovery, helping researchers prioritise the most promising therapies with greater confidence.

Hanna Roetschke

Co-Founder and CTO, decyte

Dr Hanna Roetschke is co-founder and CTO of decyte, an early-stage TechBio startup leveraging data science for the early detection of immune-related diseases.

Operating at the intersection of biomedicine and data science, Hanna has established a track record in cutting-edge immuno-oncology research, created a new platform for interdisciplinary scientists. Building on that experience, she is now developing a fundamentally new approach for disease detection at decyte.

She earned her PhD from King’s College London and the Francis Crick Institute as one of the youngest graduates in the university’s history.

Lea Wenger

Co-Founder and CEO, Cyclana Bio

With a background in Veterinary Medicine and a PhD in Neuroscience from Cambridge University, Léa brings years of therapeutic research experience in both academia and industry to tackle the challenges faced in Endometriosis research.

Mark Austin

CTO, IXICO

Mark's expertise lies at the intersection of technology and neuroscience, with extensive experience in software development and AI focused on image management and analysis solutions. Mark graduated from Oxford University with a Masters in Engineering and holds a PhD in Information Engineering also from Oxford University, where he worked in the Wolfson Medical Visions Lab focused on computer vision, artificial intelligence and software development. Since joining IXICO in 2008, Mark has held various technology and development roles, playing a pivotal part in the development and evolution of the company's AI-driven platform, TrialTracker™. He leads technology strategy and initiatives to accelerate the scalability of IXICO’s Platform.

Nikolas Pontikos

Co-Founder and CEO, Eye2Gene

Internationally recognised scientist in artificial intelligence for ophthalmology, with deep expertise in bioinformatics, machine learning, with over 10 years experience in the field of genetic eye diseases. Associate Professor at the UCL Institute of Ophthalmology and former Deputy Director of Data Science at the Moorfields Eye Hospital Clinical AI Lab, he brings a strong academic and translational research background, with a proven track record publishing over 200 papers and securing over £3M in grant funding. He leads Eye2Gene’s scientific strategy and external partnerships.