Biotech Future Forum
Biotechnology is key to advancing solutions in fields such as medicine, agriculture, and the food industry. Growing investments and technological advances have accelerated its prosperity and application possibilities, and as such, biotechnology will define our future world.
In this context, the Government of the Republic of Serbia and its Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution in Serbia are investing enormous efforts in the development of an ecosystem that will be stimulating for the biotechnology’s growth in our country, of which the International Conference Biotech Future Forum is a part of.
The goal of the Conference is to bring together the key drivers of development in this area in one place so that together, we can shape the progress and application of biotechnology, share knowledge, develop policies, and connect Serbia with the world biotech system. The Conference aims to become an annual gathering of the new biotech community in Serbia, positioning the country as a hub of new technologies, knowledge, and innovation.
Over the course of two days, the Conference brings together three sectors of society that have the greatest influence on the development of biotechnology – the public and private sectors, and the academic community. Topics represented at the conference include the fields of biomedicine, bioinformatics, and bioengineering, as well as environmental protection and renewable energy.
The Conference is organized in cooperation with the World Economic Forum and the United Nations Development Program (UNDP), and with the support of BIO4 Campus.
This year’s Forum was held on October 19-20, 2023, in Belgrade.
If you want to know more about the Forum, contact our team via email address: biotechff@gov.rs
The second International Conference Biotech Future Forum 2023, #BioTechBEG23 took place on October 19-20, 2023, at the Palace of Serbia in Belgrade, Serbia. The extensive conference program featured over 40 speakers and moderators from around the world. In addition to medicine and health, we introduced a new topic – green technologies and sustainable growth, within this year’s conference program.
The conference was organized by the Government of the Republic of Serbia, in collaboration with the World Economic Forum and UNDP, and with the support of BIO4 Campus. Furthermore, our esteemed partners this year were NALED, StarTech, the UK Embassy in Serbia, Novartis, and Novo Nordisk.
19 Oct Thursday
08:00 – 09:00
Registration
09:00 – 09:30
Opening ceremony
- Ana Brnabić, Prime Minister, Government of the Republic of Serbia
- Mirek Dušek, Managing Director, World Economic Forum
- Mathias Cormann, Secretary-General, Organisation for Economic Co-operation, and Development (OECD)
- Achim Steiner, Administrator, United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) – video message
09:30 – 10:00
The Crucial Role of Governments in BioTech Innovation
Moderator: Walter Pasquarelli, Advisor on tech policy
- Dr. Jelena Begović, Minister of Science, Technological Development and Innovation, Republic of Serbia
- H.E. Mohamed Bin Taliah, Chief of Government Services of the United Arab Emirates Government (UAE)
10:00 – 10:30
Investing in BioTech Innovation for Discoveries
Moderator: Walter Pasquarelli, Advisor on tech policy
- Dr. Ivan Rakonjac, Managing Director of the Innovation Fund of Serbia
- Dr. Ami Appelbaum, Chief Innovation Scientist at the Ministry of Innovation, Science and Technology and the Chairman of the Board of the Israel Innovation Authority
10:30 – 11:00
Break
10:30 – 11:00
First Guided Tour of the Startup Exhibition
11:00 – 12:15
BIO4 Campus: From research to innovation
Moderator: Nenad Paunović, Director of the Information Technologies and Entrepreneurship team, Office of the Prime Minister of Serbia
- Dr. Ana Janić, Laboratory Head, Department of Medicine and Life Sciences, Universitat Pompeu Fabra (Spain)
- Dr Milenko Cicmil, CEO of Tasca Therapeutics and Venture partner, Cure Ventures (US)
- Prof. Milan Mrksich, Vice President for Research, Northwestern University (US)
- Igor Printsev, Delivery Director, EPAM Systems (Serbia)
11:00 – 12:15
Engineering a Healthier tomorrow
Moderator & Keynote: Prof. Milica Radišić, Professor and Canada Research Chair in Functional Cardiovascular Tissue Engineering, University of Toronto
- Prof. Jeffrey Karp, Professor of Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Harvard Medical School (US) – video presentation
- Prof. Katja Schenke-Layland, Professor of Medical Technologies and Regenerative Medicine, University of Tübingen (Germany)
- Prof. Peter Loskill, Professor for Organ-on-Chip-Research, University of Tübingen (Germany)
- Prof. Sabeth Verpoorte, Professor of Pharmaceutical Analysis, University of Groningen (Netherlands)
11:00 – 11:30
Green Showroom: Biotech for Sustainable Future
Host & Keynote: Prof. Vladimir Crnojević, Director, BioSense Institute in Serbia
11:30 – 12:15
Panel discussion: Solutions for the Sustainable Future
- Dr. Jelena Begović, Minister of Science, Technological Development and Innovation, Republic of Serbia
- Dr. Dragan Lončar, Full Professor and Associate Dean at the Faculty of Economics, University of Belgrade
12:15 – 13:30
Family photo & Lunch
12:15 – 13:30
Startup Exhibiton Open Doors
13:30 – 14:00
Keynote talk
- Prof. Timothy Lu, Professor at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) & Co-Founder and CEO, Senti Biosciences (US)
13:30 – 14:00
Break
14:00 – 15:15
Data & AI: Accelerating Biotechnology’s Potential
Moderator: Dr. Branka Rakić, Senior Researcher, Institute for Artificial Intelligence in Serbia
- Dr. Guruduth Banavar, CTO and Head of Discovery AI, Viome – video message (US)
- Dr. Alex Aliper, President, Insilico Medicine (US)
- Prof. Miroslava Čuperlovic-Culf, Senior Research Officer, National Research Council Canada (Canada)
- Dr. Lu Zheng, Head of Value Based Partnerships and Digital Health, Europe & Canada, Takeda (Switzerland)
14:00 – 15:15
Unleashing the Potential of Genetic Medicine
Moderator: Jelena Bojović, Director, C4IR Serbia & Program Director, NALED
- Dr. Ning Li, Vice President, BGI Group (China)
- Dr. Mark Bale, Consultant in genomics, policy and bioethics & Interim Director, HSE’s National Genetics and Genomics Office (UK)
- Prof. Yang YE, Deputy Director General, Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica (China)
- Dr. Branka Zukić, Full Research Professor, Institute of Molecular Genetics and Genetic Engineering, University of Belgrade
14:00 – 14:15
Book presentation: ‘Proximity’ by Prof. Robert C. Wolcott, Co-founder and Chair, World Innovation Network (TWIN Global)
14:15 – 15:15
Panel discussion: The Role of Science and Innovation in Sustainable Agriculture, Environment and Energy
- Dr. Jelena Begović, Minister of Science, Innovation and Technology Development, Republic of Serbia
- Dubravka Đedović Handanović, Minister of Mining and Energy, Republic of Serbia
- Ivana Popović, Secretary of State in the Ministry of Serbia Agriculture, Forestry and Water Management of
- Sandra Dokić – Secretary of State, Ministry of Environmental Protection of Serbia
15:15 – 16:15
Bridging Borders: Serbia’s Biotechnology Footprint
Moderator: Prof. Robert Wolcott, Co-founder, and Chair, World Innovation Network (TWIN Global)
- Prof. Zoran Obradović, Distinguished Professor and a Center director, Temple University (US)
- Dr. Nataša Skoko, Head of Biotech Development Unit, ICGEB (Italy)
- Dr. Staša Stanković, Strategy Consultant, Genomics for Drug Discovery, AstraZeneca (UK)
- Prof. Vladimir Brusić, Professor in Computer Science, University of Nottingham Ningbo (China)
- Dr. Vladimir Cmiljanović, Chairman and CEO, Swiss Rockets (Switzerland)
15:00 – 16:15
Second Guided Tour of the Startup Exhibition
Tour Team: Ana Mitić Radulović, Project Coordinator for Circular Economy, UNDP & Uroš Anđelković, Project Management Officer, NALED
Startups that participated in the exhibition:
White Lemur; Eko Bio Invest; BioCombact; Energy Cube; Solagro; HerbElixa; Belinda Animals; DiaSolution; Bifrost Bioplastic; Cropt
16:15 – 16:45
Keynote talk
Fireside chat: Moderator Prof. Robert C. Wolcott, Co-founder and Chair of The World Innovation Network – TWIN Global
- Dr. Reshma Shetty, Co-Founder, Ginkgo Bioworks (US)
16:45 – 17:00
Signing Ceremony of a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Government of the Republic of Serbia and Ginkgo Bioworks
17:00 – 18:00
Networking Cocktail
20 Oct Friday
08:45 – 09:00
Registration
09:00 – 12:00
WEF Bioeconomy Workshop (By invitation only)
- Chair: Brynne Stanton, Thematic Lead in Bioeconomy, Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution, World Economic Forum (Switzerland)
- Jayesh Ranjan, Principal Secretary of I&C and IT Departments, Telangana Government (India)
- Christopher Yates, Project Fellow – bioeconomy, World Economic Forum (Switzerland)
- Rebecca Donaldson, Project Fellow – bioeconomy, World Economic Forum (Switzerland)
- Nenad Paunović, Director of the Information Technologies and Entrepreneurship team, Office of the Prime Minister of Serbia
12:00 – 12:15
Break
12:15 – 14:15
GA4GH Community meeting (By invitation only)
- Chair: Dr. Thomas Keane, Team Leader for the European Genome Phenome Archive (EGA) and the European Variation Archive (EVA), EMBL-EBI (UK): Global Alliance for Genomics and Health in 2023
- Ning Li, Vice President of BGI Group (China): China’s efforts in genomics
- Dr. Branislava Gemović, Project Manager at the Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution in Serbia and Researcher at the Vinča Institute of Nuclear Sciences, University of Belgrade (Serbia): Genetic and Biomedical Data Registry in Serbia
14:15 – 15:30
Lunch
The first International Conference Biotech Future Forum, #BioTechBEG22 was held on October 20-21, 2022, at the Palace of Serbia in Belgrade, Serbia. The Conference welcomed over 600 participants and speakers from 30 countries around the world, with a primary focus on the topics of biotechnology, bioinformatics, and bioengineering, with a special emphasis on medicine and healthcare.
The Conference was officially opened by the Prime Minister of the Government of the Republic of Serbia, Ana Brnabić, and the President of the World Economic Forum, Børge Brende. During the event, they officially presented the Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution in Serbia as a joint initiative.
20 Oct Thursday
08:30 – 09:30
Registration & Coffee
09:30 – 10:00
Opening remarks & Launch of the C4IR Serbia
- Ana Brnabić, Prime Minister of the Government of the Republic of Serbia
- Børge Brende, President of the World Economic Forum
- Achim Steiner, Administrator of the United Nations Development Programme – video message
10:00 – 11:00
Leadership Panel: Building a Biotech Nation
Opening remarks: Omar Sultan Al Olama, Minister of State for Artificial Intelligence, UAE – video message
Moderator: Marta Arsovska Tomovska, Advisor to the Prime Minister of Serbia
- Branko Ružić, First Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Education, Science and Technological Development, Serbia
- Yves Iradukunda, Permanent Secretary at the Ministry of ICT and Innovation, Rwanda
- Khalfan Juma Belhoul, CEO of Dubai Future Foundation, United Arab Emirates
- Dr. Fabio Scano, WHO Representative, Serbia
11:00 – 11:30
Break
11:30 – 12:30
Parallel sessions
Data Session: Data Science in Biotechnology
Moderator and chair of the session: Dr. Nevenka Dimitrova , VP Data Science and Data Services at the GlaxoSmithKline
- Dr. Mihailo Jovanović, Director of the Office for IT and eGovernment, Serbia
- Dr. Ali Taha KOÇ, Head of the Digital Transformation Office, Türkiye
- Dr. Branka Rakić, Senior Researcher, Institute for Artificial Intelligence, Serbia
- Dr. Milan Petković, Head, AI & Data Science at the Philips Company, Netherlands
Deep-Dive Session: How we do it?
Moderator: Kelly McCain, Head of Healthcare Initiatives, World Economic Forum
- Jeedigunta Satyanarayana, Chief Advisor at the Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution India
- Jelena Bojović, Director of the Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution Serbia
- Joris Cyizere, Acting Managing Director of the Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution Rwanda
- Marcos Vinícius de Souza, Director of the Centre for the Fourth Industrial Revolution Brazil
- Dr. Yehudit Cohen, Scientific Director at MIDGAM – Israel National Biobank for Research, Israel
12:30 – 14:00
Family photo & Lunch break
14:00 – 14:30
Keynote Talk
Prof. George Church, Founding Core Faculty & Lead of Synthetic Biology at the Wyss Institute at Harvard University; Professor of Genetics at Harvard Medical School and Professor of Health Sciences and Technology at Harvard and the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT); Director of the National Institute of Health Center of Excellence in Genomics Science – online
14:30 – 15:30
Parallel sessions
Academia session: Biotechnology – How is it shaping our future?
Moderator and chair of the session: Dr. Jelena Begović, Director of Institute of Molecular Genetics and Genetic Engineering (IMGGE) and Full Research Professor
- Dr. Charles Ruranga, Director of the African Centre of Excellence in Data Science, Rwanda
- Dr. Claudia Vickers, Chief Scientific Officer at Eden Brew, Australia
Kiren Naidoo, CEO of Zdravlje A.D. and Founder of Frontier Pharma, UK - Martin Mössler, Managing Director of Science Park Graz, Austria
- Dr. Nataša Skoko, Head of Biotechnology Development Unit at International Centre for Genetic Engineering and Biotechnology, Italy
Business session: Accelerating innovation
Moderator and chair of the session: Prof. Robert C. Wolcott, Co-Founder and Chairman of The World Innovation Network (TWIN) and Adjunct Professor of Innovation at Booth School of Business at University of Chicago & Kellogg School of Management at Northwestern University
- Dan Vahdat, CEO of Huma, UK
- Gloria Seibert, Founder & CEO at Temedica, Germany
- Dr. Milan Obradović, Senior Global Scientific Director Integrated Healthcare Solutions, Global Medical Affairs at Roche, Switzerland
- Dr. Ulrich A.K. Betz, Vice President Innovation in Merck, Germany
- William Moss, CEO of Seven Bridges Genomics, USA
15:30 – 16:00
BIO4 Campus Presentation
Dr. Jelena Begović, Director of Institute of Molecular Genetics and Genetic Engineering (IMGGE) and Full Research Professor
Nenad Paunović, Director of the IT and Entrepreneurship team in the Office of the Prime Minister of Serbia
16:00 – 16:30
Keynote Talk
Dr. George Yancopoulos, Co-founder, President and Chief Scientific Officer of Regeneron Pharmaceuticals & President at Regeneron Research Laboratories – online
16:30 – 16:35
End of the Forum
21 Oct Friday
09:00 – 10:30
World Economic Forum’s C4IR Meeting (closed)
Round table discussion of the Centers for the 4th Industrial Revolution
11:00 – 14:00
Site visits (closed)
