Jonathan Gast
Markus Müllner
Markus is the CSO at Celeris Therapeutics, an AI-first drug discovery startup from Graz, Austria that aims to discover novel bivalent degraders based on our Celeris One computational platform. Prior to Celeris he was the Chief Technology Officer and head of R&D at PhoreMost, a Cambridge UK Biotech with a novel target discovery platform to drug previously undruggable targets. Markus has a background in engineering, IT and Life sciences. He has a PhD from the Medical University of Vienna (Medical Chemistry) that was followed by a postdoc at the Center for Molecular Medicine (CeMM) with BROAD institute alumni Sebastian Nijman.
Jutta Blank
Jutta holds a degree and PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Bayreuth Germany. Her postdoctoral research was on protein structure and function, first at the MRC Laboratory for Molecular Biology in Cambridge UK and subsequently at AstraZeneca in Alderley Park, UK. After four years at the Syngenta Research Centre as a group leader for target based lead discovery, she moved to Basel to join the Novartis Drug Discovery Centre. Over the years, she gained extensive experience in early Drug discovery. She is currently a director in the department of Chemical Biology and Therapeutics at Novartis in Basel.
Andreas Langer
Andreas Langer has a background in biophysics. He earned his Ph.D. from the Technical University of Munich, Germany, studying electro-switchable biosurfaces and their application in protein analysis. Andreas has 10+ years of experience in the field of molecular interactions and as Principal Scientist at NanoTemper is currently working on the continuous improvement of existing products, as well as the development of new technologies.
Jan Kröenke
Jess Newman
Jess Newman is the Senior Director of Agriculture & Sustainability at McCain Foods, the world’s largest manufacturer of frozen potato products and appetizers. Her team of agronomists and field representatives are responsible for all the vegetable crops purchased directly from farmers. They also implement McCain’s 2025 sustainability goals related to agriculture: 100% of farmers implementing regenerative practices, 25% reduction in farming CO2 emissions intensity, 15% improvement in irrigation water use efficiency in water-stressed regions, and the launch of three Farms of the Future.
Jess works remotely from her home state of Michigan and travels frequently to support her team (when covid allows).
Jess is passionate about sustainability in agricultural supply chains. Her philosophy is to meet farmers where they are and help them move along the sustainability spectrum – while creating profitability too! Talking to farmers is what energizes her. Shas worked at the United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization, Ecologic Institute, New York City Mayor’s Office of Sustainability, Booz & Company, Consultative Group on International Agricultural Research (CGIAR), and Anheuser-Busch. She holds a B.A. from Harvard, an MPA from the Harvard Kennedy School of Government, and an MBA from the MIT Sloan School of Management (with Sustainability Certificate). She loves baking bread, sci-fi/fantasy, and cats.