Speaker

Dr. Bettina Ernst is a biotech entrepreneur and investor. She has been investing in healthcare companies for the past 10 years. She also serves on the board of several early-stage biotech companies, on the board of the Swiss Biotech Association, and as a member of the advisory board of the Swiss Entrepreneur Fund and of the Innovation Council of Innosuisse. Bettina is a co-founder of two biotech companies. Prior to her investment and entrepreneurial activities, she worked for 10 years in fundamental immunology in the US (Scripps Research, San Diego, CA) and in Europe. Bettina holds a PhD in immunology and an undergraduate degree in natural science from the Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zurich.

Dr. Frank Fan is the founder of Legend Biotech, the cell therapy company with the highest market capitalization globally. In 2017, Dr. Fan developed CarvyktiTM, a groundbreaking CAR-T therapy that achieved curative outcomes and was co-developed with Johnson & Johnson for global commercialization. By 2025, CarvyktiTM generated approximately $2 billion in revenue, marking it as the first Chinese-originated blockbuster drug to penetrate the global market. Recognized by Endpoints News as one of the “Top 20 Most Influential Biopharma R&D Leaders Worldwide,” Dr. Fan also received China’s National Science and Technology Progress Award (First Prize) in 2024. CarvyktiTM earned nominations for the prestigious Galen Prize, widely regarded as the “Nobel Prize of Pharmaceuticals.” In 2022, Dr. Fan transitioned to establish Wondercel Therapeutics, where he successfully pioneered a low-cost universal cell technology platform for the treatment of cancers.

Professor Feng Yibin has been recognized as one of the top 1% highly cited researchers globally by Clarivate Analytics ESI for eight consecutive years since 2017. In 2024, he received the honor of “Global Highly Cited Researcher,” placing him in the top 0.1% worldwide. He has published over 630 papers. Additionally, Stanford University has listed him among the top 2% of scientists globally for 2022-2024. According to the 2024 AD Scientific Index, Professor Feng ranks 7th worldwide and 1st in Hong Kong in the field of Complementary and Integrative Medicine.

George Fu Gao has been a key leader in the public health field, making remarkable contributions to research and discovery through basic research, clinical evaluation and advocacy. He has made many remarkable contributions to the scientific field of control and prevention of emerging infectious diseases. He obtained his DPhil degree from Oxford University, UK and did his postdoc work in both Oxford University and Harvard University (with a brief stay in Calgary University). Gao worked in Beijing Agricultural University (1986-1991), Oxford University (2001-2006), Institute of Microbiology, Chinese Academy Sciences (2004-2008, Director-General). China CDC (Director-General, 2017-2022), National Science Foundation of China (Vice-President, 2018-2022). Gao is a member (academician) of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS), an international member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences (NAS), a foreign member of the U.K. Royal Society (RS), a member of the German National Academy of Sciences Leopoldina, a fellow of African Academy of Sciences and a fellow of The World Academy of Sciences (TWAS).

Dr. Abby Gao is the Deputy Head of DEFTA Partners Hong Kong and oversees the operation of the Hong Kong based activities. She works as an investor in a wide range of biotech areas in Hong Kong to identify the advanced technology with potential, work closely with researchers, and help the tech-based startup grow. Before DEFTA, she worked in Hong Kong Science and Technology Parks Corporation (HKSTP) promoting development and commercialization of innovative technology in therapeutic area and facilitating the business development of biotech companies in Hong Kong. Before moved to Hong Kong, Dr. Gao was trained as a scientist with Ph.D. in Chemistry and worked in Merck Sharp & Dohme focusing on drug discovery in the U.S..

Chris Giffin’s career in biotechnology has spanned 40 years, including 16 years with biotechnology pioneer Amgen where he held roles in research, human resources, business development and corporate development. During his tenure in human resources, Chris led the company’s recruitment activities during some of the company’s most dramatic periods of growth as it evolved from a biotechnology research and development organization into a fully-integrated pharmaceutical company. As a result, his recruitment responsibilities spanned the spectrum of the company’s operations including research, clinical development, manufacturing, and commercialization. As a business development executive with Amgen, Chris played a leadership role in the evaluation and negotiation of multiple corporate collaborations and partnerships focusing on both product and technology opportunities. Following Amgen and prior to Bench, he held executive management positions with two privately held biotechnology companies, where he played a leadership role in business development and financing activities. With Bench, Chris leads executive recruitment and advisory services focused on C-level and Board roles for a broad range of life sciences clients, including biotechnology, pharmaceuticals, instrumentation, and medical devices. Chris holds a B.S. degree in Microbiology from the University of Oklahoma, and an M.S. degree in Cell Biology from the University of California, Riverside.

Dr. Jennifer R. Grandis is a physician scientist who is interested in the impact of gender on career development in medicine and science. Her cancer research is focused on elucidating and targeting key signaling pathways and genomic alterations in head and neck cancer with the goals of enabling precision medicine studies. She has leveraged her access to head and neck cancer patients and their biospecimens to optimize translational research studies that include developing novel therapies in the laboratory for clinical application as well as generating and interrogating relevant preclinical models to determine the underlying mechanism of clinical findings. In her institutional roles at the University of Pittsburgh and since 2015, at UCSF, she has facilitated collaborations between clinicians and investigators with an emphasis of developing a robust research infrastructure to support clinical and translational cancer studies. She has published over 400 papers in the peer-reviewed literature and been continuously funded by the NIH since joining the faculty in 1993. Dr. Grandis is an elected member of the American Society for Clinical Investigation the Association of American Physicians.

Founder and CEO of Shuimu, Chunlong Guo leads the company, a pioneer in advancing AI driven cryo-electron microscopy (cryo-EM). Under his stewardship, Shuimu built the largest CryoEM platform on this planet with 8 300kv CryoEM’s and has broken global monopolies by developing TOTEM 300s, a 300kv CryoEM flagship model, achieving 1.4A resolution, while ensuring data security—critical for life science research and drug discovery. Guo drives end-to-end innovation, from developing the proprietary SMART cryo-EM computing platform (boosting structural analysis efficiency) to building global supply chains. He also fosters strategic collaborations, establishing R&D bases and open structural biology platforms with universities, accelerating next generation AI driven cryo-EM adoption.

Guo Jiguang, Ph.D., is an associate professor and master’s supervisor at the School of Basic Medical Sciences, Hebei University. His main research areas include the pathogenesis of Parkinson’s disease and therapeutic drugs. Received a bachelor’s degree in Biology from the University of Science and Technology of China in 2001, a Doctor of Science degree from Shanghai Institutes for Life Sciences, Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2009, and a visiting scholar at UCLA in 2016. He has presided over one project funded by the National Natural Science Foundation of China and several provincial-level projects, and participated in 973, 863 and several national-level projects. Published works such as “Pathogenic Biology”, and published more than ten SCI papers in international journals such as Cell Research, Genome Biology, and Peer J at home and abroad, and won the second prize of Science and Technology Progress of Baoding City.

Professor Yike Guo is the Provost of the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, Chair Professor in the Department of Computer Science and Engineering as well as the Department of Electronic and Computer Engineering, and also Director of the Hong Kong Generative AI Research and Development Centre. He is a world-renowned computer scientist who has led several large-scale AI and data science research projects in Hong Kong, Mainland China, the UK and other European countries. He was the Founding Director of the Data Science Institute at Imperial College London, one of its seven Global Institutes, as well as the Vice President (Research and Development) at Hong Kong Baptist University. He is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering (FREng), a Member of Academia Europaea (MAE), Fellow of the Hong Kong Academy of Engineering Sciences (FHKEng), Fellow of the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (FIEEE), Fellow of the British Computer Society (FBCS), and Fellow of the Chinese Association for Artificial Intelligence (FCAAI).

Professor Guo was awarded the Outstanding Contribution Award of the 2022 Wu Wenjun Artificial Intelligence Science and Technology Award, which is considered to be the highest award for Chinese AI science and technology. In 2025, Professor Guo was selected by Sing Tao News Corporation Limited and the Leader of the Year 2024 Selection Committee as the winner of the “Leader of the Year 2024 (Education/ Professions/ Technology & Innovation Category)”. This election has been held since 1994 and aims to recognise leaders who have made significant contributions to Hong Kong, Mainland China, and the world.