C. Oliver Kappe received his diploma- (1989) and his doctoral (1992) degrees in organic chemistry from the University of Graz where he worked with Professor Gert Kollenz on cycloaddition and rearrangement reactions of acylketenes. After periods of postdoctoral research work on reactive intermediates and matrix isolation spectroscopy with Professor Curt Wentrup at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia (1993- 1994) and on synthetic methodology/ alkaloid synthesis with Professor Albert Padwa at Emory University in Atlanta, USA (1994-1996), he moved back to the University of Graz in 1996 to start his independent academic career. He obtained his “Habilitation” in 1998 in organic chemistry and was appointed Associate Professor in 1999. Since 2011 he holds the position of Professor of “Technology of Organic Synthesis” (Organische Synthesetechnologie) at the University of Graz. He has spent time as visiting scientist/professor at e.g. the Scripps Research Institute (La Jolla, USA, Professor K. Barry Sharpless, 2003), the Toyko Institute of Technology (Toyko, Japan, Professor T. Takahashi, 2008), the University of Sassari (Sassari, Italy, 2008), the Sanford-Burnham Institute for Medical Research (Orlando, USA, 2010) and the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 2013).  The co-author of more than 300 publications, his main research interests have in the past focused on multicomponent reactions, combinatorial chemistry and the synthesis of biologically active heterocycles. More recently his research group has focused on the use of enabling and process intensification technologies for synthetic chemistry, including microwave and continuous flow processing.  For his innovative work in microwave chemistry he received the 2004 Prous Science Award from the European Federation for Medicinal Chemistry and the 2010 Houska Prize (€ 100.000) in addition to a number of other awards.

Timothy Noël currently holds a position as Full Professor at the University of Amsterdam and he is the chair of Flow Chemistry. His research interest ranges from organic chemistry to chemical engineering and encompass more specifically flow chemistry, organic synthesis and synthetic catalytic methodology development. His work received several awards, including most recently the VIDI award (2015), the Thieme Chemistry Journal Award (2016), the DECHEMA prize (2017), the Hoogewerff Jongerenprijs (2019) and the IUPAC-ThalesNano prize in flow chemistry and microfluidics (2020). He also serves as editor-in-chief of Journal of Flow Chemistry.

Dr. Andrea Adamo, CEO and founder of Zaiput Flow Technologies, is an engineer and entrepreneur with extensive experience in the development of innovative solutions in the context of fluid flows and chemical processing applications.

Dr. Adamo holds a Master of Science in Engineering from the University of Palermo, Italy and a Ph.D. in Fluid Mechanics from the University Federico II of Naples, Italy in addition to a Master of Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He was also awarded the Fulbright Scholarship.

After completing his graduate studies, Dr Adamo joined the laboratory of Prof. Klavs Jensen, first as Postdoctoral Associate and then as a Research Associate. In the Jensen group he worked on different applications of microfluidics, microchemistry and flow chemistry developing solutions in a wide range of problems and scale. He then moved on to starting Zaiput keeping a leading role on both the technical and business side.

Dr. Adrian Amador is Director of Chemistry at Snapdragon Chemistry. Adrian began his research career studying photochemistry and spectroscopy at the Georgia Institute of Technology. Adrian then moved to University of Wisconsin-Madison and earned a PhD in chemistry focusing on the development of novel photocatalytic methodologies. Upon graduating, Adrian then moved to University of Minnesota for a postdoctoral position working in the field of sustainable polymers. In 2018 Adrian joined Snapdragon Chemistry where he now leads a team of 12 process chemists developing efficient manufacturing processes for the pharmaceutical, fragrance, and agrichemical industries. Adrian’s research interests lie in the areas of the use of automation to develop more efficient workflows during process development and the extension of these technologies to enable more efficient and robust manufacturing processes for early phase deliveries. Adrian also has interests in the use of data-rich experimentation and data science to facilitate process understanding. A large part of Adrian’s group at Snapdragon Chemistry is focused on the manufacture of complex synthetic macromolecule therapeutics.

Malcolm trained as a chemist, obtaining a PhD from Imperial College in 1993.  Started work at GlaxoGroupResearch the year.  In 2000 he volunteered to lead a team that developed the equipment and thinking behind continuous manufacturing for API’s at GSK.  This led to filing the first multistage process in pharma being filed for an API in 2018; approved in 2019.

Malcolm left GSK in Oct 2019 to start a consultancy practise, advising companies how to develop and implement continuous processes.  One of Malcolm’s major clients is Phlow Corp USA.

Ansgar Brieden is the CEO of Brieden GmbH, a worldwide operating trading and consulting company specialized in the field of applied photochemistry from laboratory to commercial scale. After his studies of Business Administration at University of Marburg he worked in several companies as Sales director for North America, Europe and Asia before he founded his own Sales Agency. He gained deep knowledge in photoreactor design as sales and product manager at Peschl Ultraviolet GmbH. With his expertise, he provides solutions for dedicated photoreactors for universities, research institutes as well as customers in the chemical and pharmaceutical industry. Scientifically substantiated consultancy services as well as support in upscaling photochemical processes belongs to his core competences beside coordinating International Sales structures in photoreactor technology.

Adam is currently the Associate Principle Scientist for Continuous Processing in AstraZeneca’s Chemical Development function. He joined AstraZeneca following his completion of a Masters in Chemical Engineering at the University of Bath in 2016 and worked as a process engineering on developing batch projects before gravitating towards the continuous processing space in 2018. Adam is now a technical leader in a dedicated, multi-skilled continuous processing team that is responsible for the identification, development and manufacture of continuous processing opportunities in AstraZeneca’s mid-phase small molecule portfolio.

Shawn has over 20 years of industrial experience in specialty chemicals, fine chemicals and pharmaceuticals.  While he has worked in a variety of technical and operations roles in his career, all of his work has been focused on the development of new technologies and products.  Shawn joined Cambrex in 2017 to launch the Engineering R&D team at the High Point site and has led the formation of the Cambrex Center of Excellence for Continuous Flow Process Development.  The efforts of the team have led to collaborations with nearly all of the Cambrex sites as well as external customers, culminating in the development and implementation of dozens of continuous flow processes.

John is inspired by the art of possibility to drive change and create enterprise value. With over 25 years of new technology, product, and business development experience across multiple industries and companies, John has built, created, and established global teams to build several business from the ground up ranging from advanced personal protective military products (including multispectral camouflage), to complex primary packaging and delivery solutions for the pharmaceutical industry enabling the delivery of sensitive biologics.

Recently, John has been leading a team of scientist and engineers to develop structured catalyst materials that enable complex heterogeneous reactions in flow.

With multiple patents to his name, John is no stranger to the challenges, capital, and efforts required to build new technologies, products, and businesses from the ground up.  Vision, coupled with collaboration, teamwork, and a make-it-happen disposition have been critical to bringing new technologies like Gore’s structured catalyst to reality.

John earned his BS degree in Polymer Chemistry from North Carolina State University, and his MBA from the University of Delaware.

SKILLS & EXPERTISE

• Experience in all stages of drug substance process development and manufacturing
• Early development
• Pilot Plant operations
• Process Safety
• Late development
• Tech Transfer
• SME in flow chemistry commercializationEXPERIENCES
• Defense Nuclear Facilities Safety Board, “continuous manufacturing” uranium processingMerck, over 20 yearsEDUCATION
  • BS Chemical Engineering MIT
  • MS Chemical Engineering Practice MIT (MIT “Practice School”)

Vanessa Kairouz obtained both her B.Sc. (2011) and M.Sc. (2015; Research Director: Andreea Schmitzer) in chemistry from Université de Montréal. She is the Director of the Center for Continuous Flow Synthesis as well as coordinator of the FRQNT strategic cluster the Center for Green Chemistry and Catalysis located at Université de Montréal. Her versatile educational background in supramolecular chemistry, catalysis, green chemistry, biochemistry, and continuous flow sciences in addition to her extensive experience in training students had led Vanessa to participate in various projects in collaboration with both academics and industrials. Recently, in collaboration with Pr. André Charette they have been awarded over 3M$ from the Québec Government to provide solutions to overcome drug shortages via on demand synthesis of active pharmaceutical ingredients (APIs) using continuous flow chemistry.

Ben obtained his chemistry from the University of Oxford and PhD in Organic Chemistry at the University of Bristol working with Professor Tim Gallagher. He then completed a postdoc at North Carolina State University with Professor Jon Lindsey before joining the Chemical Development team at AMRI in Albany, New York in 1999. At AMRI Ben worked in the kilo lab and pilot plant developing and implementing process from up to tens of kg scale. He also led a team developing routes and process for first-in-human synthesis. He was also lead chemist for reaction calorimetry, real-time analysis and automation techniques.

In 2004 Ben joined Vertex Pharmaceuticals in Boston where he focused on implementing PAT tools and developing synthesis processes for late-stage and commercial manufacture, including telaprevir for hepatitis C treatment. In 2005 Ben relocated to Vertex San Diego to set-up and lead a new process chemistry team focused on facilitating the movement of candidate molecules from Med Chem to the clinical trials, including cystic fibrosis (lumacaftor, tezacaftor, elexacaftor) and pain. During this time he gained experience in numerous aspects of drug discovery, pharmaceutical sciences, working with outsourcing partners, project and team leadership. He also chaired cross-functional scientific teams implementing advanced manufacturing techniques, such as flow chemistry, biotransformations, and photochemistry

In 2022 Ben left Vertex to set up his own consulting business which includes joining Scientific Update as Technical Associate,North America & Asia Pacific.

Mr. Koji Machida was born in Yamaguchi, Japan. After graduating from the Graduate School of Hiroshima University in 2010, he has been working as a process chemist at Kaneka Corporation, a Japanese chemical company, for 13 years. His mission is to establish a safe and efficient manufacturing process for small molecule APIs and their intermediates. He has been involved in the technical development of flow chemistry since 2015 and has extensive experience in flow reactions, including hazardous reactions, gas-liquid reactions, and photochemical reactions. Recently, he has been working on the development of continuous crystallization technology and is leading a project to install a continuous crystallization system.

Gabriela Grasa Mannino is the Pharmaceutical Continuous Manufacturing (PCM) Programs Director, Advanced Manufacturing technologies at USP. In this position, Gabriela is leading growth activities and initiatives related to services and solutions to the life science industry with a focus on advanced manufacturing technologies (AMT), pharmaceutical continuous manufacturing (PCM), and other value-added products and services.

Gabriela has about 20 years of industry experience in various R&D, Innovation, and Commercial roles with focus on developing and commercializing novel and efficient products, technologies, processes, and services for the manufacturing of APIs and fine chemicals intermediates. Gabriela is co-author of over 50 scientific publications and patents. She received her B.S. and M.Sc. degrees in chemistry from the University of Bucharest and her Ph.D. in Organometallic Chemistry and Catalysis from the University of New Orleans.

Alexander Peschl is the CEO of Peschl Ultraviolet, the market leader for design and production of highefficient scalable photoreactors. He has over 38 years of experience building laboratory, pilot and commercial scale ex certified photoreactors, irradiation units, as well as special quartz glass. He works for major manufacturers of fine chemicals and pharmaceuticals world-wide as a recognized specialist for applied photochemistry. He owns several patents for photoreactors and lamp technology and his knowledge is part of many publications. His newest invention is a technology where LEDs are submerged into non-conductive highly transparent, chemically inert thermofluid, which enables the availability of high efficient LED photoreactors up to 5kW power consumption. This innovative LED technology leads to savings of up to 90% of CO₂ in comparison to gas discharge light sources in commercial scale photoreactors.

Dr. Srividya Ramakrishnan earned her B.Tech. in Chemical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, and Ph.D. from Princeton University, USA. Prior to joining Dr. Reddy’s, she worked at Unilever Research followed by Bristol-Myers Squibb in New Jersey. She currently heads API Process Engineering at Dr. Reddy’s Laboratories in Hyderabad.  Her group is responsible for the scale-up of chemical processes from lab to plant and includes specialized sub-functions such as flow technology, polymorph screening, particle engineering. PAT, and modeling. She has presented her research at international conferences, and has several patents and publications to her credit. She also has an additional role as Chief Diversity Officer at Dr Reddy’s.

John started his industrial career at Rhone-Poulenc (formerly RTZ chemicals) in Avonmouth- Bristol, working on fluorination technology, before gaining a chemistry degree and organic chemistry PhD at the University of Bath in 1995. He then did postdoctoral research at the University of Sheffield before joining the process chemistry group at Oxford Asymmetry working on route development and optimization, scale-up and custom synthesis.

In 1999 John joined Vertex Pharmaceuticals (Europe) in the discovery chemistry department, spending a number of years working in oncology and inflammation therapeutic areas. He then formed a scale-up group to support synthesis of pre-clinical candidate molecules and intermediates and in 2010 oversaw construction and commissioning of a new kilo lab facility. In 2012 John was appointed to head of process chemistry for Vertex (Europe), overseeing synthesis of compounds for preclinical toxicology assessment, designing safe, scalable synthetic routes and working with external vendors and global CRO’s to deliver key intermediates and develop new enabling technologies. He was also responsible for developing chemistry for cGMP synthesis of early phase clinical material.

John joined Scientific Update in August 2018 as Scientific Director. He is involved in delivering & developing training events and advising on scientific content for the conference programme. He also leads the consultancy arm of the business and has a keen interest in scientific writing and communication.

Jenson joined Pfizer in Groton as a chemist in 2018 and is responsible for process development in both batch and flow for compounds in late and early-stage clinical development. He works closely with the Flexible API Supply Technologies (FAST) group that advances continuous manufacturing technologies for small molecules at Pfizer. Prior to this, he completed his post-doctoral studies with Frank Gupton at the Medicines for All Institute and worked a couple of years as a process chemist for Evonik in Indiana.

Nima is a consultant on advanced manufacturing and modeling and simulation applications in Bio/pharmaceutical and fine chemical industries. His area of expertise covers Process development, process simulation, particulate matters, process design, and advanced manufacturing.

Prior to starting his consultancy firm (Procegence), Nima was a research scientist with the US Food and Drug Administration. He was appointed as a member of an expert team for advancement of emerging technologies to modernize pharmaceutical manufacturing. With more than 15 years of diverse experience in different industries, he has worked at R&D, process design, and MSAT sections. He received his PhD from The University of Sydney, Australia. Nima was a postdoctoral research associate at MIT, and Novartis-MIT Center for Continuous Manufacturing.