📍 1 Triton Square, London NW1 3BF
Join us for the official wrap reception of London Life Sciences Week, hosted by Venture Café London and the Knowledge Quarter.
Bringing together researchers, innovators, industry leaders and investors from around the globe, this special evening will celebrate the people and partnerships shaping the future of life sciences.
From groundbreaking discoveries to the collaborations bringing science closer to patients, expect inspiring conversations, live showcases and plenty of opportunities to connect with the people driving innovation across the sector.
Full speaker line-up coming soon!
Powered by Advanced Research + Invention Agency
In partnership with the Knowledge Quarter
Join us as part of London Life Sciences Week to explore how research, startups and innovation can connect Japan with global ecosystems. Meet pioneering Japanese university-linked startups and hear perspectives from Japan, the UK and Boston on turning research into global impact.
Agenda:
-
5:00 PM – Welcome Remarks
-
5:10 PM – Startup Showcases
-
5:30 PM – Panel Discussion on International Life Sciences Collaboration
This session will be delivered in collaboration with NINEJP. You can learn more about their work here.
There will be meaningful networking opportunities throughout the night, accompanied by a selection of refreshments and activities.
Meet the Innovators. We're excited to welcome a brilliant lineup of startups innovating in Life Sciences.
- Axiom Therapeutics: Axiom Therapeutics uses a physics- and machine learning–driven platform to rationally design covalent drugs against previously undruggable targets in oncology and neurology.
- Oppilotech: Oppilotech leverages AI-driven computational models of bacteria to develop first-in-class antibacterial therapies and provide partnership services targeting antimicrobial resistance.
- Plurify: Plurify develops non-genomic RNA tools to streamline cell and gene therapy manufacturing, enabling scalable, controllable multi-gene expression and in-bioreactor cell purification.
- Gramics Bio: Gramics Bio engineers synthetic DNA sequences to enable durable, re-dosable non-viral delivery of therapeutic DNA payloads for genetic diseases.
- Microsol: Microsol accelerates the formulation of inhaled medicines by integrating single-particle measurement hardware with machine learning and simulation tools.
- Merkaloop: An online marketplace that offers new and pre-owned laboratory equipment at discounts of up to 80% below retail.
Step away from the rush of the working world and immerse yourself in the soothing world of herbs. Join us for an intimate, hands-on tea blending workshop led by the community herbalists at Hackney Herbals.
During this calming session, you’ll explore a vibrant selection of organically grown, locally sourced dried botanicals. Learn about the traditional uses, flavor profiles, and restorative benefits of diverse herbs, and craft your own bespoke tea blend to bring a moment of everyday calm into your routine.
Welcome remarks from Venture Café London, British Land and The Knowledge Quarter
The UK is not short of brilliant science. It is short of places where a discovery, the trial that tests it and the NHS service that administers it sit within the same few streets. In the Knowledge Quarter, this journey forms the foundation of our life sciences ecosystem: a genome is read, a target is validated, a therapy is built and a patient is treated.
This panel puts them on one stage. What can Europe, and indeed other parts of the world, learn from an ecosystem built like this one?
Jodie Eastwood is CEO of London’s Knowledge Quarter, a consortium of knowledge creators within a one mile radius of Kings Cross. KQ Partners include over 100 academic, cultural, research, scientific and media organisations large and small: from the British Library and University College London to Universal Music, British Museum, Francis Crick Institute and Google. The aim of the KQ is to encourage all kinds of knowledge seekers to make the most of the partners’ combined resources. To break down barriers and stimulate dialogue, to create new friendships, new connections and new knowledge through a sense of shared purpose and possibility. Jodie has been working within the Knowledge economy for the past 20 years, with roles at the British Library, Creativeworks London, Queen Mary University of London, London Metropolitan University and the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry. She strongly believes that knowledge exchange breeds innovation, fruitful networks and creative interaction. Jodie specialises in leading complex multi stakeholder partnerships, brokering relationships and creating spaces for ideas sharing and innovation.
Edith Heard, PhD, FRS is a British scientist. She graduated from Cambridge University in 1986, specialising in genetics, and then carried out her PhD at the Imperial Cancer Research Fund, working on gene amplification mechanisms in cancer.
She moved to the Pasteur Institute in Paris in 1990, as a postdoc, which is where she began her studies on the epigenetic process of X-chromosome inactivation. In 2000 she spent a year at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in the USA as a visiting scientist, before moving to the Institut Curie in 2001, where she was director of the Genetics and Developmental Biology Department. In 2025, Edith joined the Crick as our Chief Executive Officer.
Edith's laboratory focuses on epigenetic processes in mammals, with a particular interest in chromosome biology and the role of non-coding RNAs, chromatin structure and nuclear organization, in the establishment and maintenance of differential expression patterns during development and in disease. She became an EMBO member in 2005, was awarded the CNRS Gold Medal in 2024, the CNRS Silver Medal in 2008 and elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2013.
Geraint is UCL’s Vice-Provost (Research, Innovation & Global Engagement), responsible for providing vision and academic leadership for UCL’s portfolio of £3.61bn in research & innovation grants, £3.06bn of external investment in start-ups and spinouts over the last five years, and more international collaborative research publications with the world’s top five knowledge producing economies than any other UK university. He is a non-executive director of UCL Business, one of the world’s leading technology transfer companies, of the Francis Crick Institute and of the Alan Turing Institute, the UK’s national AI institute.
Previously he served as Dean of Life Sciences at UCL and as a Senior Scientific Advisor at Google DeepMind. With over 380 publications and 40,000 citations, his research career has focused on understanding the neural basis of consciousness using functional neuroimaging. His work has pioneered the application of multivariate machine learning techniques to neuroimaging data; he is a co-founder of hologen.ai. Geraint was awarded the Royal Society Francis Crick medal in 2007 and elected Fellow of the UK Academy of Medical Sciences in 2010.
David transitioned to Genomics from IQVIA, a Fortune 500 corporation specialising in Human Data Science. During his tenure at IQVIA as Senior Vice President and a member of the Global Executive Leadership Group, he led the Commercial Engagement Services Division, driving advancements in patient and commercial engagement through the application of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and advanced data analytics. His prior leadership roles at IQVIA include overseeing Biotech Commercial teams across Europe and directing business development initiatives for Real World Evidence throughout the U.S., EMEA, and Asia Pacific regions.
Earlier in his career, David held diverse leadership and advisory positions within various healthcare-focused enterprises.
Genomics has been listed on The Sunday Times 100 Tech, ranking Britain’s fastest-growing private technology companies, for two consecutive years, in 2025 and 2026; as well as named BBC Business of the Year 2026 on its ‘The Bottom Line’ programme, succeeding Rolls-Royce.
Head of Campuses at British Land
📍 1 Triton Square, London NW1 3BF
Join us for the official wrap reception of London Life Sciences Week, hosted by Venture Café London and the Knowledge Quarter.
Bringing together researchers, innovators, industry leaders and investors from around the globe, this special evening will celebrate the people and partnerships shaping the future of life sciences.
From groundbreaking discoveries to the collaborations bringing science closer to patients, expect inspiring conversations, live showcases and plenty of opportunities to connect with the people driving innovation across the sector.
Full speaker line-up coming soon!
Powered by Advanced Research + Invention Agency
In partnership with the Knowledge Quarter
Join us as part of London Life Sciences Week to explore how research, startups and innovation can connect Japan with global ecosystems. Meet pioneering Japanese university-linked startups and hear perspectives from Japan, the UK and Boston on turning research into global impact.
Agenda:
-
5:00 PM – Welcome Remarks
-
5:10 PM – Startup Showcases
-
5:30 PM – Panel Discussion on International Life Sciences Collaboration
This session will be delivered in collaboration with NINEJP. You can learn more about their work here.
There will be meaningful networking opportunities throughout the night, accompanied by a selection of refreshments and activities.
Meet the Innovators. We're excited to welcome a brilliant lineup of startups innovating in Life Sciences.
- Axiom Therapeutics: Axiom Therapeutics uses a physics- and machine learning–driven platform to rationally design covalent drugs against previously undruggable targets in oncology and neurology.
- Oppilotech: Oppilotech leverages AI-driven computational models of bacteria to develop first-in-class antibacterial therapies and provide partnership services targeting antimicrobial resistance.
- Plurify: Plurify develops non-genomic RNA tools to streamline cell and gene therapy manufacturing, enabling scalable, controllable multi-gene expression and in-bioreactor cell purification.
- Gramics Bio: Gramics Bio engineers synthetic DNA sequences to enable durable, re-dosable non-viral delivery of therapeutic DNA payloads for genetic diseases.
- Microsol: Microsol accelerates the formulation of inhaled medicines by integrating single-particle measurement hardware with machine learning and simulation tools.
- Merkaloop: An online marketplace that offers new and pre-owned laboratory equipment at discounts of up to 80% below retail.
Step away from the rush of the working world and immerse yourself in the soothing world of herbs. Join us for an intimate, hands-on tea blending workshop led by the community herbalists at Hackney Herbals.
During this calming session, you’ll explore a vibrant selection of organically grown, locally sourced dried botanicals. Learn about the traditional uses, flavor profiles, and restorative benefits of diverse herbs, and craft your own bespoke tea blend to bring a moment of everyday calm into your routine.
Welcome remarks from Venture Café London, British Land and The Knowledge Quarter
The UK is not short of brilliant science. It is short of places where a discovery, the trial that tests it and the NHS service that administers it sit within the same few streets. In the Knowledge Quarter, this journey forms the foundation of our life sciences ecosystem: a genome is read, a target is validated, a therapy is built and a patient is treated.
This panel puts them on one stage. What can Europe, and indeed other parts of the world, learn from an ecosystem built like this one?
Jodie Eastwood is CEO of London’s Knowledge Quarter, a consortium of knowledge creators within a one mile radius of Kings Cross. KQ Partners include over 100 academic, cultural, research, scientific and media organisations large and small: from the British Library and University College London to Universal Music, British Museum, Francis Crick Institute and Google. The aim of the KQ is to encourage all kinds of knowledge seekers to make the most of the partners’ combined resources. To break down barriers and stimulate dialogue, to create new friendships, new connections and new knowledge through a sense of shared purpose and possibility. Jodie has been working within the Knowledge economy for the past 20 years, with roles at the British Library, Creativeworks London, Queen Mary University of London, London Metropolitan University and the London Chamber of Commerce and Industry. She strongly believes that knowledge exchange breeds innovation, fruitful networks and creative interaction. Jodie specialises in leading complex multi stakeholder partnerships, brokering relationships and creating spaces for ideas sharing and innovation.
Edith Heard, PhD, FRS is a British scientist. She graduated from Cambridge University in 1986, specialising in genetics, and then carried out her PhD at the Imperial Cancer Research Fund, working on gene amplification mechanisms in cancer.
She moved to the Pasteur Institute in Paris in 1990, as a postdoc, which is where she began her studies on the epigenetic process of X-chromosome inactivation. In 2000 she spent a year at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory in the USA as a visiting scientist, before moving to the Institut Curie in 2001, where she was director of the Genetics and Developmental Biology Department. In 2025, Edith joined the Crick as our Chief Executive Officer.
Edith's laboratory focuses on epigenetic processes in mammals, with a particular interest in chromosome biology and the role of non-coding RNAs, chromatin structure and nuclear organization, in the establishment and maintenance of differential expression patterns during development and in disease. She became an EMBO member in 2005, was awarded the CNRS Gold Medal in 2024, the CNRS Silver Medal in 2008 and elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2013.
Geraint is UCL’s Vice-Provost (Research, Innovation & Global Engagement), responsible for providing vision and academic leadership for UCL’s portfolio of £3.61bn in research & innovation grants, £3.06bn of external investment in start-ups and spinouts over the last five years, and more international collaborative research publications with the world’s top five knowledge producing economies than any other UK university. He is a non-executive director of UCL Business, one of the world’s leading technology transfer companies, of the Francis Crick Institute and of the Alan Turing Institute, the UK’s national AI institute.
Previously he served as Dean of Life Sciences at UCL and as a Senior Scientific Advisor at Google DeepMind. With over 380 publications and 40,000 citations, his research career has focused on understanding the neural basis of consciousness using functional neuroimaging. His work has pioneered the application of multivariate machine learning techniques to neuroimaging data; he is a co-founder of hologen.ai. Geraint was awarded the Royal Society Francis Crick medal in 2007 and elected Fellow of the UK Academy of Medical Sciences in 2010.
David transitioned to Genomics from IQVIA, a Fortune 500 corporation specialising in Human Data Science. During his tenure at IQVIA as Senior Vice President and a member of the Global Executive Leadership Group, he led the Commercial Engagement Services Division, driving advancements in patient and commercial engagement through the application of artificial intelligence, machine learning, and advanced data analytics. His prior leadership roles at IQVIA include overseeing Biotech Commercial teams across Europe and directing business development initiatives for Real World Evidence throughout the U.S., EMEA, and Asia Pacific regions.
Earlier in his career, David held diverse leadership and advisory positions within various healthcare-focused enterprises.
Genomics has been listed on The Sunday Times 100 Tech, ranking Britain’s fastest-growing private technology companies, for two consecutive years, in 2025 and 2026; as well as named BBC Business of the Year 2026 on its ‘The Bottom Line’ programme, succeeding Rolls-Royce.
Head of Campuses at British Land