Li Feng in Conversation with Academician Shao Feng: First In Class in China | Last 2 Days to Register
How can basic biomedical research better connect with industry?
In this moment of recurring COVID-19 outbreaks, we are more aware than ever of what biopharma means for every individual and for society as a whole. Today, we received welcome news — Pfizer and BioNTech announced that their COVID-19 vaccine is more than 90% effective.
Yet breakthroughs are unfolding across far more than just vaccine R&D. Internet healthcare, diagnostic consumables, frontier biotech — progress is accelerating in all of these fields. We want to step into this great era of biopharma innovation alongside more of you.
Since late October, we've been running the "FreeS Fund 2020 Biopharma Summit." So far, we've held three live online sessions covering China's drug innovation landscape, the latest advances in AI and computational drug discovery, and frontier biotech moving in tandem with hardware.
This Sunday, November 15, marks our fourth summit session. We're honored to welcome academician Shao Feng — a member of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and a biochemist — for an in-person conversation with FreeS Fund's founding partner Li Feng on the topic First In Class in China. They'll explore:
- How should we assess the state of basic biotech research in China?
- What changes has Shao observed in the biotech field since returning to China more than a decade ago?
- What is the groundbreaking significance of Shao's research, and what did the research process look like?
- How can basic research in biopharma better connect with industry?
Scan to reserve your spot now 👆
This event offers both offline and online participation. Deep-dive interactive sessions are available only at the Beijing in-person venue. Entrepreneurs and researchers in biopharma are welcome to register. (Those who previously signed up for the offline event, please fill out the form again to confirm your attendance.)
/ Speaker Profile: Shao Feng /
Dr. Shao Feng received his B.S. from Peking University's Department of Technical Physics in 1996, his M.S. from the Institute of Biophysics at the Chinese Academy of Sciences in 1999, and his Ph.D. from the University of Michigan Medical School in 2003. He completed postdoctoral training at Harvard Medical School from 2004 to 2005. Recruited by the National Institute of Biological Sciences, Beijing in 2005, he is now a senior investigator and Associate Director there.
Dr. Shao is one of the most accomplished international scientific leaders in innate immunity and pyroptosis. His work has fundamentally shaped our understanding of how the body defends against bacterial infection. He made original discoveries of entirely new receptors and signaling pathways through which the innate immune system recognizes and combats pathogenic bacteria, systematically elucidating their precise molecular mechanisms and establishing the foundational theoretical framework for cytosolic antibacterial innate immune recognition. In the field of inflammation and immunity, he was the first to identify gasdermin D as the key substrate protein of pyroptosis, redefining the very concept of pyroptosis. He went on to reveal that pyroptosis is a major cause of the toxic side effects of cancer chemotherapy drugs, and — by activating pyroptosis directly at tumor sites — made the groundbreaking discovery that pyroptosis can induce potent anti-tumor immune activity.
His research has dramatically advanced the field. In particular, his recent work on the Gasdermin family of proteins has opened an entirely new direction in inflammation and immunity research, while also providing novel approaches for drug development targeting inflammatory diseases including sepsis and colitis, as well as for tumor immunotherapy. This has attracted significant attention from the pharmaceutical industry both in China and abroad. On January 27 and May 6, 2020, biotech startups Quench Bio and Ventus Therapeutics announced $50 million and $60 million Series A financings respectively, to develop anti-inflammatory and anti-tumor drugs targeting innate immune pathways — with Gasdermin family proteins in the pyroptosis pathway among the hottest targets.
Dr. Shao has published over 100 academic papers in these research areas, including 20 in the three top-tier journals Nature, Science, and Cell (17 as corresponding author after his return to China). He serves as an editor or editorial board member for multiple academic journals including eLife and Cell Host & Microbe, and as a reviewer for Nature, Science, Cell, Immunity, and others. His research has twice been selected for the Ministry of Science and Technology's "China's Top Ten Scientific Advances." He has also received numerous prestigious international and domestic awards.
/ Why We Strongly Recommend You Attend /
In biopharma, we're seeing more and more outstanding Chinese scientists and researchers conducting innovative work from right here in China — and Shao Feng is among the foremost. Shao's lab leads the world in research on the inflammatory mechanisms from inflammasomes to pyroptosis, with the academic community calling it "possibly the most important discovery in this field in recent years."
We believe that in the global race among biopharma scientists to develop new drug targets, China will see ever more innovative breakthroughs — developing transformative new medicines to address unmet clinical needs. Going forward, we're optimistic that these "China-based" biopharma products, grounded in original breakthrough science, will achieve global reach and become the next generation of "First In Class" drugs — generating commercial returns while creating enormous social value.
Come explore innovation opportunities in biopharma with Shao Feng.
Only 15 offline spots remaining 👆 (Those who previously signed up for the offline event, please fill out the form again to confirm your attendance.)
Agenda
- Time: Sunday, November 15, 4:00–6:00 PM Beijing Time
- Location: To be shared upon registration confirmation (online participants will receive details via email)
- Schedule: Feng & Shao in conversation (4:00–5:00 PM); in-depth Q&A (5:00–5:30 PM); light dinner and networking (5:30–6:00 PM)
Conversation Highlights
- How should we assess the state of basic biotech research in China?
- What changes has Shao observed in the biotech field since returning to China more than a decade ago?
- What is the groundbreaking significance of Shao's research, and what did the research process look like?
- How can basic research in biopharma better connect with industry?
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