57th Organic Process Research and Development Conference

About this conference

Breakfast, with thanks to Eurofins Toronto 2026 The registration desk Toronto 2026 The team ready for the first arrivals Toronto 2026 Conversation at the coffee break Toronto 2026 Between sessions Toronto 2026 A talk in progress Toronto 2026 Drinks in the brewery hall Toronto 2026 The evening reception Toronto 2026 +7More photos

Photographs from OPRD Toronto 2026.

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Confirmed Speakers

• TB

  Dr Tamas Benkovics

  Executive Director, Dicovery Process Chemistry, Eli Lilly

  Stereochemistry Innovation for Oncology Small Molecules

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  Tamas Benkovics is currently an executive director at Eli Lilly, working on the interface of Discovery and Process chemistry. He received his BS degree from Colorado State University and his PhD from the University of Wisconsin working for Professor Tehshik Yoon. His previous career stops included the process groups at Merck, BMS and Amgen.

• PV

  Dr Pablo Cabrera Ventura

  Corteva

  Development of a Kilogram-Scale Stereoselective Synthesis of a Chiral Agrochemical

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  Pablo Cabrera is a process chemist with nearly a decade of experience in the agrochemical and pharmaceutical industries. After earning his Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from the University of Michigan under Professor Melanie Sanford, he joined Dow AgroSciences (now Corteva Agriscience), where he contributed to route scouting, process development, and scale-up for several crop protection programs. In 2021, he moved to Pfizer in the process chemistry group, supporting route development and scale-up of active pharmaceutical ingredients in the immunology portfolio. Pablo rejoined Corteva in 2024 and currently focuses on implementing flow chemistry technologies for commercial manufacturing, helping drive innovation in sustainable and efficient chemical processes.

• AF

  Dr Aaron L Featherstone

  Principal Research Scientist I, AbbVie

  From Batch to Flow: Kilo-Scale Continuous Cryogenic Manufacturing Processes

• KD

  Dr Kaitlyn Flynn Durgham

  Senior Scientist, GSK

  A Green-By-Design 2nd Generation Route to Camlipixant

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  Kaitlyn Durgham is a Senior Scientist in the Drug Substance Development group at GSK. Since beginning her career at GSK in 2023, she has contributed to a range of projects, including new route exploration, commercial-ready process development, and Quality by Design studies. She has developed expertise in designing scalable biocatalytic processes and is an active member of several sustainability initiatives within her department. Prior to joining GSK, Kaitlyn received her master’s degree from the University of Wisconsin–Madison, where she studied new photochemical C–H functionalization methodology under Professor Shannon Stahl.

• JJ

  Dr Janis Jermaks

  Principal Scientist

  Process Development and Kilogram-Scale Synthesis of an Optimized Arylomycin LepB Inhibitor

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  Janis Jermaks received his Ph.D. in Chemistry at Cornell University, working on lithiated Evans enolates under Prof. David B. Collum. In 2018, he joined the group of Prof. Tristan H. Lambert as a postdoctoral associate, focusing on ring opening and ring closing carbonyl-olefin metathesis. Since 2020, Janis has been a Principal Scientist at Genentech, where he focuses on small molecule process chemistry, contributing to the development and optimization of innovative methods for pharmaceutical research and production. His expertise spans organic synthesis, reaction mechanisms, and process development.

• AG

  Aleš Gavenda

  Senior Director, TAPI R&D Czechia & Italy

  From Lab Feasibility to Gmp Manufacturing: Development of a Continuous-Flow Ozonolysis Platform for Voclosporin Production

• RK

  Dr Ray Kelly

  SR Scientist, Process Research, Boehringer Ingelheim

  Accelerating Chemical Process Development with Predictive Digital Tools at Boehringer Ingelheim

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  Ray Kelly is a Senior Scientist in process research at Boehringer Ingelheim. He received his B.S. in chemistry and computer science from the University of Miami and completed his Ph.D. in computational chemistry at Yale University supervised by Prof. Victor Batista. Ray is a member of the Digital Group in the Drug Substance NCE Department at Boehringer’s Ridgefield, CT site. His work focuses on the development and application of digital tools for accelerating early-stage process development and facilitating the implementation of innovative, sustainable chemistry. Key areas of interest include catalyst optimization and design, AI-guided experiment prioritization, and retrosynthetic planning.

• PE

  Professor Keary Engle

  Scripps Research

  Air-Stable Nickel Catalysts for Synthetic Chemistry Across Scales

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  Keary graduated Phi Beta Kappa and summa cum laude from the University of Michigan, where he carried out research with Prof. Adam J. Matzger. During undergrad, he spent one summer with Prof. A. Stephen K. Hashmi at the University of Stuttgart as a DAAD RISE Fellow, and then spent the year after graduation performing research with Prof. Manfred T. Reetz at the Max-Planck-Institut für Kohlenforschung as a Fulbright Scholar and with Prof. Jan E. Bäckvall at Stockholm University as an IDECAT Exchange Fellow. He completed his graduate work jointly at The Scripps Research Institute with Prof. Jin-Quan Yu and the University of Oxford with Profs. Véronique Gouverneur and John M. Brown, earning a PhD in Chemistry and a DPhil in Biochemistry. During grad school, he also carried out summer research with Prof. Kyoko Nozaki at the University of Tokyo as an NSF/JSPS EASPI Fellow. After completing a two-year appointment as an NIH Postdoctoral Fellow with Prof. Robert H. Grubbs at Caltech, Keary joined the Department of Chemistry at Scripps Research as an Assistant Professor in the summer of 2015 and was promoted to full Professor in 2020. His research interests lie at the interface of organometallic chemistry, organic synthesis, and catalysis. Outside of the lab, Keary enjoys running long distances, eating fried chicken, drinking good beer, and spending time with his wife, son, and fur children (Hermione and Kingsley).

• SS

  Dr Scott Savage

  Scientific Director, Bristol Myers Squibb,

  Transforming Complexity into Capability: Process Development and Commercial Readiness of Dezandrodeg (BMS-986365)

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  Scott Savage is a Scientific Director in Chemical Process Development at Bristol Myers Squibb, where he leads multidisciplinary teams developing commercially viable routes and processes for APIs. He also founded and continues to head the on-boarding and training program in the Chemistry department, helping shape the next generation of process chemists.
  Over 25 years at BMS, he has advanced drug candidates from early development through commercialization, across numerous therapeutic areas. Scott’s contributions include current leadership of the drug-substance development team for the AR-LDD program, and previous development and commercialization of Onglyza (saxagliptin). His passion for API solid-state form has resulted in multiple patents and the first use of a co-crystal API in BMS history to enable isolation of a stable nitroxyl donor pro-drug, Cimlanod.
  Scott earned an M.S. in Chemistry from the University of Virginia and a B.S. in Chemistry from the University of North Carolina at Charlotte. His work has been recognized with awards from Bristol Myers Squibb and the American Chemical Society (TAOC).

• CH

  Dr Cecilia Hendy

  Senior Scientist, Merck

  Process Development of the Cyclopropyl Amine Intermediate of MK-3543

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  Cecie Hendy is a Senior Scientist in Process Chemistry at Merck's Rahway, NJ site, where she has worked for the past 3 years. Originally from Cincinnati, Ohio, she earned her B.S. in Chemistry from the College of Charleston in 2018 and completed her Ph.D. in Chemistry at Emory University in 2023 under the guidance of Professors Simon Blakey and Nate Jui. Her doctoral research focused on photoredox catalysis. Outside of lab, she enjoys reading, staying active, and exploring new things in New York City.

• CB

  Dr Christian Bold

  Chemist R&D Routefinding, Dottikon

  Process Development of the novel BRAF Inhibitor Mosperafenib

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  Christian completed his apprenticeship as a chemical laboratory technician at Novartis before studying Chemistry at ETH Zurich, where he obtained his PhD in the group of Prof. Karl-Heinz Altmann, focusing on the synthesis and biological evaluation of microtubule-modulating agents. He then joined Prof. Varinder K. Aggarwal’s group in Bristol, UK, as a postdoctoral researcher, working on the total synthesis of a complex natural product using an assembly-line synthesis approach, alongside other synthetic chemistry projects. In 2022, Christian joined Dottikon Exclusive Synthesis AG as a Process Chemist in the Routefinding team. As a laboratory leader, he works on route scouting, process design and development, collaborating closely with customers on CDMO projects from early development through scale-up.

• DW

  Dr Darren Whitaker

  Associate Director, Takeda

  Data Rich Hydrogenation Development

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  Darren Whitaker is an Associate Director in Synthetic Molecule Process Development at Takeda with a background in process engineering, automation, modelling, and digital manufacturing systems. His work centers on applying advanced technologies and data-driven methodologies to improve development and manufacturing operations across pharmaceutical small molecules.

• LZ

  Dr Lara Zetzsche

  Principal Scientist, Amgen

  Early-Phase Implementation of Biocatalysis in Manufacturing Routes

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  Lara Zetzsche is a Principal Scientist at Amgen, where she leads the biocatalysis group within Amgen’s Process Development organization. She established enzyme evolution and high-throughput biocatalyst screening capabilities at Amgen and has supported the implementation biocatalytic transformations in manufacturing routes for multiple small molecule drugs in Amgen’s pipeline. Lara earned her Ph.D. in Chemical Biology from the University of Michigan, where she engineered enzymes for selective biaryl coupling reactions.

• PW

  Dr Patrick Wen

  Senior Research Scientist in Process Chemistry, Prelude

  Process Development of PRT3789, a SMARCA2 Degrader

• MG

  Dr Mason Alexander Guy

  Senior Scientist, Automation, Pfizer

  Autonomous, Medium Throughput Experimentation for Process Development

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  Mason began his studies at the University of Ottawa with Professor Deryn Fogg studying the kinetic impact of pyridine ligands olefin metathesis catalysts. He then completed his studies at the University of British Columbia under Professor Jason Hein. His thesis work focused on the integration of automation in organic synthesis, with a focus on automating process analytical technologies to facilitate feedback-controlled decision making. He is now working for Pfizer Inc as a Senior Scientist of Automation in the Automation and Robotics group, helping build automated solutions to accelerate process development.

• TW

  Dr Tyler Wilson

  Senior Principal Scientist, Gilead

  Enabling Negishi Cross-Coupling for the Safe Scale-Up of a Drug Substance Intermediate

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  Tyler Wilson earned a B.S. in Chemistry from Boise State University and a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from the University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign under Professor Scott Denmark. His doctoral research focused on the application of silyl ketene imines in Lewis base-catalyzed carbonyl addition reactions. He then completed postdoctoral research with Professor John Hartwig at the University of California, Berkeley, where he developed iridium- and rhodium-catalyzed methods for the enantioselective C–H silylation of arenes.

  Tyler joined Gilead Sciences in 2013 and is currently a Senior Principal Scientist in Process Chemistry. As a team lead, he collaborates across disciplines to deliver robust and scalable manufacturing processes for small-molecule therapeutics. He has over 13 years of experience in process chemistry and has contributed to the development of programs spanning all stages of development, from preclinical research through commercialization. His interests include process analytical technologies (PAT), control strategy development, and the application of data-driven approaches to accelerate process development and commercialization.

• JT

  Dr John Tucker

  Executive Scientific Director, Neurocrine Biosciences

  Title of talk - to be confirmed

Registration Fees

Fees exclude VAT where it applies. Contact us if you have a question about booking.

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What Attendees Say

Venue

Venue

Bahia Resort Hotel

Address

998 W Mission Bay Dr
San Diego
CA 92109
United States

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More Information

Sponsorship Opportunities

We have several sponsorship opportunities still available for this conference. These include networking and reception sponsorship.

Your company logo with link to your website would appear here and for premium sponsorship such as networking and reception, adjacent to the conference pages as well.

See out sponsorship section on the advantages that sponsorship can bring to your business.

Here is what our Sponsors said in 2026

"The conference was a success and your team were wonderful hosts. I had positive feedback from everyone. The talks were great, the coffee and lunch sessions were well organized. It is a nice sized conference were you can meet everyone over the 3 days. I cannot think of any suggestions for improvements; everything went well. Thank you to you and your team!"

 

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