September Falling Forward
The Transition
Suddenly, summer is over! No more long bike rides, afternoon sailing sessions, or dinners in the back yard. We have fall to look forward to and in New England, that means crisp days and colorful foliage. Fall also brings travel, and travel brings the opportunity to see you! We’re looking forward to that!
Transition is also in progress at EpiVax. I’ve been searching for the right title ever since I stepped down from EpiVax CEO-ship last year but, unlike the honorific “emeritus” that is used in academic settings, there is no such title in business. So, why not make one up? Hence, XCEO.
Nearly one year after announcing the transition to EpiVax 2.0, we thought you might like to know how it’s going. New Website! New Product offerings! and so many new faces that we can’t mention them all here but briefly:
– We’ve got a great new CEO, Rich-Henry Schabowsky, who is definitely rocking the house!
– Members of the management team are stepping up, with great results. We have a new Chief of Innovation and Technology, Guilhem Richard PhD, and a new CFO, Brad Crevier.
– We’re making data-driven decisions with the addition of Rev-Ops expert, Adam Nicotera!
– We’ve expanded our Immunoinformatics team with Jenn Calderini and Lisa Howe!
Welcome to the team Epi-Newbies! And how is your XCEO adjusting? Gradually stepping back – it’s a process! In terms of science, in my continuing role as CSO, I am busier than ever! I could not be more proud of the company that we have built, together.
Immunoinformatics Updates
The ISPRI development team has been busy this year! New Tools! New Features! and a big roll out for Class I analysis. Over the past few years, we’ve partnered with clients who are developing novel gene and cell therapies and would like to assess immunogenicity risk for their projects. As we learn more, we build Class I concepts into ISPRI.
Want to learn more about how you could use ISPRI for comprehensive Class I analysis? Sign up for our upcoming webinar!
Epi-events around the world!
For the first time ever, we’re hosting two back-to-back seminars in one of our favorite cities: Tokyo, Japan. Join us at the Westin Hotel Tokyo on Thursday, Friday or both!
The Westin Immunogenicity Seminar
First, we’ll hold the Westin Immunogenicity Seminar on Thursday, October 17th. Can you believe this is our 16th year?! This time, there’ll be a special focus on new modalities and new modeling methods for protein therapeutics. This seminar will feature speakers who are using AI and 3D modeling tools to improve protein drug development and reduce immunogenicity – this is not to be missed!
Computational Vaccinology Symposium
The day after the Westin, join us for the very first Computational Vaccinology Symposium! We’ll hear about new concepts in vaccine design due to recent advances in AI and machine learning models. Our guest speakers will share updates on vaccines developed as a result of the SCARDA effort in Japan and discuss AI platforms that are revolutionizing vaccine developments. What better way to connect with the experts and stay ahead in the world of vaccine science?
Speakers will include visionaries from the University of Tokyo, the RIKEN Center for Computational Science, Daiichi Sankyo, the National Institute of Infectious Diseases, Chonnam National University, Shionogi, EpiVax Inc., and many more.
(and let Sarah Moniz, Guilhem Richard and I know if you’d like to meet up while we’re in Tokyo!)
Cutting Edge: AI / ML & Computational Vaccinology Workshop @ ISV
From Tokyo, we’ll bring the party to Seoul for the International Society for Vaccines (ISV) Annual Congress. Our workshop, Cutting Edge: AI / ML & Computational Vaccinology will take place on Monday, Oct. 21st at 12:15 pm. Yoshimasa Takahashi of NIID Japan, Manon Cox of NextWaveBio, Prof. Chaok Seok of Seoul National University and Galux Inc., Guilhem Richard of EpiVax (the new Chief of Innovation & Technology!), and myself will discuss and demo the latest in computational vaccine design.
Amsterdam Immunogenicity and Tolerance Seminar
After a quick break for BIO Europe in Stockholm (schedule a meeting with us in the partnering app!), we’re headed to the Netherlands for the annual Amsterdam Immunogenicity and Tolerance Seminar (AIT) on November 8th at the Hilton Apollolaan!
We’ve got an amazing lineup of speakers, including Charlotte Fribert from Toleranzia, Sophie Tourdot from Pfizer, Femke Broere from Utrecht University, Peter Aaby from The Bandim Health Project, Mihai Netea from Radboud University, and Mariatheresa Coppola from HypoVax—plus more leading voices in immunology to be announced!
Want to present a poster during any of these events? Submit a brief abstract here!
