Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology News

The State of AI in Drug Discovery 2025 feature image
Credit: TEK IMAGE/Getty Images and sarayut Thaneerat/Getty Images

The State of AI in Drug Discovery 2025

Credit: TEK IMAGE/Getty Images and sarayut Thaneerat/Getty Images

Panelists:

Image of Regina Barzilay, PhD

Regina Barzilay, PhD

Distinguished Professor of AI & Health
MIT Jameel Clinic

Panelist

Image of Regina Barzilay, PhD

Regina Barzilay, PhD

Regina Barzilay is a School of Engineering Distinguished Professor of AI & Health in the department of computer science and the AI faculty lead at MIT Jameel Clinic. She develops machine learning methods for drug discovery and clinical AI. Earlier in her career, she worked on natural language processing. Her research has been recognized with the MacArthur Fellowship, an NSF Career Award, and the AAAI Squirrel AI Award for Artificial Intelligence for the Benefit of Humanity. Barzilay is a member of the National Academy of Engineering, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the National Academy of Medicine. She has been a member of the MIT faculty since 2003.

Barzilay holds undergraduate degrees from Ben-Gurion University of the Negev and a PhD in computer science from Columbia University.
Image of Derek Lowe, PhD

Derek Lowe, PhD

Director in Chemical Biology & Therapeutics
Novartis

Panelist

Image of Derek Lowe, PhD

Derek Lowe, PhD

Derek Lowe is a medicinal chemist working on preclinical drug discovery in the pharmaceutical industry. He is currently the director in chemical biology & therapeutics at Novartis and has also worked at pharma companies including Vertex and Bayer on drug discovery projects against schizophrenia, Alzheimer’s, diabetes, osteoporosis, and other diseases. He is perhaps best known as the author of the popular blog In the Pipeline on drug discovery and the pharma industry, which he launched in 2002. He is also a regular columnist for Chemistry World.

An Arkansan by birth, Lowe received his BA from Hendrix College and his PhD in organic chemistry from Duke University, before spending time in Germany as a postdoc on a Humboldt Fellowship.
Image of Emma Lundberg, PhD

Emma Lundberg, PhD

Associate Professor, Stanford University; Professor
KTH Royal Institute of Technology

Panelist

Image of Emma Lundberg, PhD

Emma Lundberg, PhD

Emma Lundberg is an associate professor of bioengineering and pathology at Stanford University and serves at the director of the Cell Atlas of the Human Protein Atlas initiative in Sweden, where she is also a professor at KTH Royal Institute of Technology. At the intersection of bioimaging, proteomics, and AI, her research aims to define the spatiotemporal organization of the human proteome at both cellular and subcellular level. She aims to develop integrated models of human cells to elucidate how variations in protein localization patterns influence cellular function, ultimately enabling the simulation of cell behavior and a systems-level understanding of how biological information is spatially encoded. The Lundberg Lab is responsible for creating the Subcellular Atlas of the Human Protein Atlas database. Lundberg is passionate about engaging the public in her work through citizen science games and computational challenges.

Lundberg holds a master’s degree in bioengineering and a PhD in biotechnology from KTH Royal Institute of Technology in Sweden. She has served as secretary general of the Human Proteome Organization and holds advisory roles for numerous open-access databases and cell mapping efforts such as the CZI AI Virtual Cell, Human Cell Atlas consortium, UniProt db, Reactome db, Human Proteome Project and various pharma and biotech companies. She has been recognized twice as one of the “Top 10 Under 40” for future leaders in biopharma and omics.
Image of Bo Wang, PhD

Bo Wang, PhD

SVP and Head of Biomedical AI
Xaira Therapeutics

Panelist

Image of Bo Wang, PhD

Bo Wang, PhD

Bo Wang is SVP and Head of Biomedical AI for Xaira. He is a tenure-track assistant professor in the Departments of Computer Science and Laboratory Medicine & Pathobiology at the University of Toronto, where he is also the inaugural Temerty Professor in AI Research and Education in Medicine. He is the Chief AI Scientist at the University Health Network, the largest research hospital system in Canada. He also holds a Canadian Institute for Advanced Research (CIFAR) AI Chair at the Vector Institute.

Wang earned his PhD in Computer Science from Stanford University and has been at the forefront of developing novel AI models for biomedical research. His recent work focuses on developing foundation models for healthcare and biology, including AI-driven frameworks for genomic analysis, precision medicine, and biomolecular modeling. As a pioneer in multimodal AI, he has led efforts to create scalable, interpretable models that integrate diverse biological and clinical data, enabling more accurate disease characterization and personalized treatment strategies. His research has laid the groundwork for AI-driven innovations in drug discovery, biomarker identification, and next-generation medical diagnostics.

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Artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning partnered with big data generation at unprecedented scale is transforming the worlds of biotechnology and pharma, particularly in the arena of drug discovery. From generative AI to unlock novel drug candidates to virtual cells that gleam insights across multimodal biology, we are witnessing the cusp of an exponential curve of AI innovation that is poised to enhance and perhaps overhaul the design and validation of novel therapeutics.

In 2024, GEN debuted our virtual summit, The State of AI in Drug Discovery, which drew a record audience. This year’s summit provides a platform for an outstanding group of researchers, evangelists and entrepreneurs to showcase the latest advances, applications and challenges regarding the deployment of AI across therapeutic development. The program features many of the most exciting companies and organizations powering the AI revolution, including NVIDIA, Xaira Therapeutics, Recursion, Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Arc Institute, Generate: Biomedicines, and more!

Please join us for a dynamic program featuring:

  • A featured presentation with Bo Wang, PhD (Xaira Therapeutics) on the promise of multimodal AI for health care 
  • The democratization of small molecule drug discovery with the developers of Boltz-2, Gabriele Corso, PhD (MIT), Regina Barzilay, PhD (MIT), and Najat Khan, PhD (Recursion)
  • Evolving industry trends across the AI therapeutic landscape with Derek Lowe, PhD (Novartis and author of “In the Pipeline”), Molly Gibson, PhD, (Flagship Pioneering), and Stacie Calad-Thomson, PhD (NVIDIA)
  • Building the virtual cell with Theofanis Karaletsos (Chan Zuckerberg Initiative), Emma Lundberg, PhD (Stanford), Hani Goodarzi, PhD (Arc Institute), and Ron Alfa, MD, PhD (Noetik)
  • What’s next for AI in protein design with Surge Biswas, PhD (Nabla Bio), Tharindi Hapuarachchi, PhD (Generate: Biomedicines), and Oliver Vince, PhD (Basecamp Research)
  • Breakout sessions from our event sponsors, Revvity Signals, Benchling, and Telesis Bio.

Registration for The State of AI in Drug Discovery is entirely free.  

Guest Speakers Include

The State of AI in Drug Discovery 2025 speakers

Produced with support from:

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