Other Workshops / Programmes 

David has many years of experience in the pharmaceutical industry spanning drug discovery and early-phase drug development. Prior to joining Merck, he held roles as scientist and consultant in biotech startups, contract research at Curia (formerly AMRI Global), and GMP manufacturing at GSK. His professional interests are on enabling strategies for process development and manufacturing during early clinical development, including cell and gene therapies. He holds a PhD in Organic Chemistry from the Australian National University (2004) and a Bachelor of Technology (Hons) in Chemical Technology from Massey University, New Zealand.

Mayura Wagle is the Director of Investor Relations and Communications at ASLAN Pharmaceuticals, a clinical-stage immunology focused company, where she leads the communications strategy for investor and medical communities. Mayura previously served as the founding Director of Scientific and Business Operations at PairX Bio, a cancer immunotherapy biotech, where she established all operations of the startup. She successfully led the incubation and seed-stage investment of PairX Bio as an Associate at EVX Ventures, where she was also the Program Manager of the Morphosis fellowship. Mayura is an active proponent of the biotech ecosystem, having served as Vice President at Biotech Connection Singapore and is a mentor for iGEM startups in the Asia Pacific region. In 2022, she was selected as one of 100 global leaders for Global Biotech Revolution’s GapSummit conference in Cambridge. She received her PhD in immunology from the Australian National University and undertook her Bachelor of Science at the University of Sydney, UC Berkeley, and UNSW.

Vanessa is an experienced Scientist with over twenty years of demonstrated history of working in the biomedical research industry. She leverages her extensive industry knowledge and expertise to offer valuable support and guidance to budding scientist in the biotech field to help build their careers in the industry.

Vanessa holds a PhD in Stem Cell Biology (2010) from the National University of Singapore and a Bachelor of Engineering (Hons) in Chemical Engineering from The University of Queensland, Australia.