Plenary
Flavien Susanne, AstraZeneca
Title:
Flavien Susanne is Head of Chemical Development for AstraZeneca small molecule and new modalities portfolio. He has 21 years’ experience in R&D and manufacture within several pharmaceutical companies. Leading AstraZeneca Drug Substance small molecule Process Development and On Market, he is responsible of ensuring delivery of AZ portfolio for clinical and manufacturing milestones, including technical development, clinical supply and process readiness as well technology strategy.
Anna Slater, University of Liverpool
Title: Reversible chemical processes in flow
Anna Slater is a Professor of Chemistry and Royal Society University Research Fellow at the University of Liverpool. Exploiting flow processes for enhanced control of chemistry is a central theme of her work, which spans molecular materials, supramolecular chemistry, and sustainable synthesis.
Invited Speakers
Stuart James, Queen’s University Belfast
Title: Twin screw extrusion: Solvent-free, continuous flow synthesis with solid reactants
Stuart is Chair of Inorganic Chemistry at Queen’s University Belfast, He founded the field of Porous Liquids by conceptualising them in 2007 and subsequently leading the experimental demonstration of some of the first key examples. He has also pioneered in the field of mechanochemistry, with both fundamental and industrially applied work to field, particularly with regard to reaction kinetics, MOF and organic synthesis as well as scale-up through twin screw extrusion techniques (a kind of solid-state flow chemistry). He has co-founded two spin-out companies MOF Technologies Ltd. and Porous Liquid Technologies Ltd. (PLT).
Mimi Hii, Imperial College London
Title: Novel flow processes for the production of chiral compounds
I am interested in the development of catalytic reactions and associated technologies for C‑C or C‑X bond formations that are relevant to the pharmaceutical and fine chemical industries. I love to apply new engineering and data-driven approaches in our research, including flow chemistry, in situ kinetic studies to support reaction mechanisms, and process-enhancing tools. In 2019, I founded the ROAR Facility at Imperial College London White City campus, comprising of high-throughput robotic reaction platforms (batch and flow) to support data-enabled research (using Machine Learning tools, for example). In 2023, I co-led (with BASF) a successful bid for an EPSRC Prosperity Partnership: “Innovative Continuous Manufacturing for Industrial Chemicals (IConIC)”, including partners across the chemical value chain, to design innovative flow chemistry processes for R&D labs and high-value manufacturing. A new spin-out company (SOLVE) was launched in April 2024 by Imperial College London and BASF, based on novel continuous flow techniques developed in our laboratory.
Alexei Lapkin, University of Cambridge
Title:
Alexei Lapkin studied biochemistry at Novosibirsk State University and then completed his PhD in Catalytic Reaction Engineering at the University of Bath. He began his academic career at the University of Bath, focusing on catalytic reaction engineering and process intensification, then moved to the University of Warwick, shifting attention more on sustainability of chemical processes. Since 2013 he has held a position of Professor of Sustainable Reaction Engineering at the University of Cambridge.
Benjamin Martin, Novartis Pharma AG
Title: Sustainable Process R&D enabled by Continuous Manufacturing
Benjamin Martin is leading a global team of flow chemistry specialists within the chemical development department at Novartis. After studying organic chemistry, Benjamin obtained his BSc and PhD from the University of Leicester, UK. A Marie-Curie fellowship postdoc followed in the group of Professor Jean-Marie Lehn at the College de France in Paris, and subsequently he completed an industrial postdoc in the crop-protection research department of Syngenta in Basel. The move to Novartis in 2006 was quickly followed by a specialization in the emerging field of flow chemistry, and over the years he has been involved in many projects covering hazardous-, fast- and cryogenic- chemistries as well as redox reactions, all commonly showing benefits when integrated into continuous processes on industrial scale. The field has grown rapidly due to industry-academia partnerships, and Benjamin has been working at that interface for over 15 years.
Gabriele Laudadio, University of Graz
Title: Merging Automation and Electrochemistry to Accelerate Medicinal Chemistry Applications
Gabriele Laudadio received his PhD in chemistry from Eindhoven University of Technology in 2020 in the Micro Flow Chemistry & Synthetic Methodology group under the supervision of Prof. Timothy Noël. In 2021, he joined Prof. Phil S. Baran’s research group at the Scripps Research Institute as a Hewitt Foundation Fellow. Currently, Gabriele Laudadio is a University Assistant (Principal Investigator) at the University of Graz. His research focuses on technology applications in organic chemistry.
Martina Letizia Contente, University of Milan, (DeFENS)
Title:
Martina Letizia Contente is currently Associate Professor at the University of Milan. Her research focussing on waste minimization during chemical reactions has succeeded in generating ultra-efficient processes. Demonstrating that enzymes can be used as strategic tools in traditional synthesis, via protein immobilization and flow chemistry facilities she created a sustainable and robust platform for the preparation of synthetically challenging molecules spanning from bioactives, pharmaceutical building blocks as well as food ingredients.
Dominique M. Roberge, Lonza – Visp
Title: Mini-Monoplant Technology for Pharmaceutical Manufacturing with Case Studies
My bachelor and master’s degrees in chemical engineering were completed at Laval University (Quebec City, Canada) in 1996. I then obtained a doctoral degree from the University of Technology Aachen (Germany) in the field of heterogeneous catalysis in 2001. Afterwards, I joined Lonza in March 2001 and was Laboratory Head in charge of reaction engineering (calorimetry) and safety assessment. In February 2003, Lonza started a new project called Microreactor Technology where I became the Project Leader until July 2007. From August 2007 to July 2008, I worked as an Associate Professor at the University of Ottawa (Ottawa, Canada). I re-joined Lonza in September 2008 with the goal to pursue continuous-flow technology. I was responsible of business development of this technology from 2009 to 2012 and, from 2013 to 2024, Director and Head of an R&D group in API chemical Services. Since April 1, I am now leading the Advanced Chemistry Technologies group. I am also Adjunct Professor at the University of Ottawa and still supervising graduate students with their practical part of their thesis performed in Visp, Switzerland.
Stephen Born, Continuus Pharma
Title:
Bio
Jean-Philippe Krieger, Syngenta
Title:
Bio
Larry Y. Wang, PharmaBlock
Title: Continuous air oxidation & H2 reductive amination via micropacked bed technology
I am based in Nanjing, China, leading the Tech Innovation Center (TIC) of PharmaBlock group. In TIC we work on are continuous production (including continuous hydrogenation), homogeneous and heterogeneous catalysis, biocatalysis, innovative waste treatment, process safety, and data-driven R&D. I got my PhD from U of Minnesota, and BS from Peking University. Author of over 10 publications and patents. Formal name is Yuanxian Wang, I go by Larry Y. Wang.
Lucie Guetzoyan, Vernalis
Title: Continuous Flow Chemistry in the ever-changing landscape of Medicinal Chemistry
After completed her Ph.D in Paris working on porphyrins, Lucie held postdoctoral research positions at the Universities of Warwick (UK) in Biological Sciences and Cambridge (UK), where she subsequently developed her interest in Flow Chemistry while in Steve Ley’s group. She then worked for Domainex for 6 years in Medicinal Chemistry (initiating flow capabilities there), before joining the Vernalis team at the end of 2020. She is part of the Technology team, where she can combine her interests in Medicinal chemistry, Fragments, Flow chemistry and Chemical technologies.
François-Xavier Felpin, University of Nantes
Title: Optimization of Chemical Reactions on a Robotic-Flow Platform Guided by Artificial Intelligence
François-Xavier Felpin was born in France. After earning his Ph.D. at the University of Nantes (France), he pursued postdoctoral studies at The Ohio State University (USA). He began his academic career at the University of Bordeaux as an Assistant Professor. In fall 2011 he moved to the University of Nantes where he was promoted full Professor. Prof. Felpin was a junior member of the Institut Universitaire de France (2012-2017). His research interests include catalysis, material chemistry and automated flow chemistry.
Csaba Janáky, University of Szeged
Title:
Bio
Dmytro Volochnyuk, Enamine Ltd.
Title: Continuous air oxidation & H2 reductive amination via micropacked bed technology
Prof. Dr. Dmitriy M. Volochnyuk got his Ph.D. (2005) and Dr.Sci. (2011) degrees from Institute of Organic Chemistry, NAS of Ukraine. At the moment, he shares his time as Head of Biologically Active Compounds Department at this institute, Professor at Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, and senior scientific advisor at Enamine Ltd. Dr. Volochnyuk is an expert in organic synthesis, organofluorine, organophosphorus, heterocyclic, combinatorial, and medicinal chemistry. He is a co-author of more than 155 papers and 3 monograph chapters. Prof. Volochnyuk supervises and consults many research groups at Enamine Ltd. and Ukraininan academic institutions.
Karen Robertson, University of Nottingham
Title:
Karen Robertson is an Assistant Professor in the Faculty of Engineering at the University of Nottingham, UK. She completed her PhD at Imperial College London in 2012. Afterward, at the University of Leeds, she focused on developing new corrosion inhibitors and improving in vivo test methodology for the oil and gas industry. In 2013, she joined the EPSRC, where she focused on crystal engineering techniques for agrochemical optimization and the development of lab-based flow crystallizers. In 2018, she joined the Advanced Materials Research Group (AMRG) as an Anne McLaren Fellow. Her research primarily involves the development of milli-fluidic technologies with integrated inline analysis for the control and understanding of self-assembly systems.
José Alemán, Universidad Autónoma de Madrid
Title: Exploring Photo-, Electro- and Organo-catalysis for Sustainable Synthesis
José Alemán defended his Doctoral Thesis in 2006 in the field of asymmetric synthesis under the supervision of Prof. García Ruano. After completing a postdoctoral stay with Prof. Jørgensen (2006-2008) in the field of organocatalysis, he joined the Department of Organic Chemistry at UAM as a Ramón y Cajal researcher and was later promoted to Associate Professor and Full Professor in 2023. He has been awarded various research prizes, such as the Lilly Prize for the best doctoral student (2005), the award for the best Doctoral Thesis at UAM (2006), the Sigma-Aldrich Award for Young Researchers of the RSEQ (2013), the Lilly Young Researcher Award (2015), and the José Barluenga-RSEQ Medal (2022). His research focuses mainly on asymmetric catalysis and catalytic materials, and he is the author of 220 scientific publications. He has supervised 25 Doctoral Theses, more than 40 Bachelor’s and Master’s theses, and has secured 18 projects in various competitive calls. Since 2021, he has been the Director of the Advanced Institute of Chemical Sciences-Universidad Autonoma de Madrid; in 2022, he was appointed Deputy Director of the Department of Organic Chemistry, and since 2024, he is Vice President of the Organic Chemistry section of the Spanish Royal Chemistry Society.
Andrea Adamo, Flow Technologies
Title: Enhanced, Scalable, Continuous Heterogenous Catalysis
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 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. He had a key design role in the context of the Pharmacy on Demand and Molecules on Demand projects sponsored by the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA). Dr. Adamo developed the technology at the core of Zaiput, he currently serves as the Innovation Advisor at Snapdragon Chemistry and as an advisor to OnDemand Pharmaceuticals.
Heidrun Gruber-Woelfler, Graz University of Technology
Title:
Assoc.Prof. Heidrun Gruber-Woelfler studied technical chemistry at Graz University of Technology, Austria with a focus on chemical engineering. After her PhD dealing with organometallic catalysis and molecular modelling, she did her Post-Doc in the area of continuous processes for the synthesis and purification of active pharmaceutical ingredients. In 2010 she was awarded with an Elise-Richter project by the Austrian Science Fond (FWF), which is a Career development funding for highly qualified female scientists, and started afterwards a tenure track at Graz University of Technology. Since 2014 she is the head of the research group “Continuous Synthesis and Processes” at the Institute of Process and Particle Engineering (http://ippt.tugraz.at/), Graz University of Technology and since 2016 the deputy head of this institute. After external research stays in the groups of Volker Hessel at TU Eindhoven and of Alastair Florence at CMAC, Glasgow, she finished her habilitation (venia docendi) in the field of Pharmaceutical Engineering in 2018.
Heidrun Gruber-Woelfler is key researcher at the Research Center Pharmaceutical Engineering (RCPE, (http://www.rcpe.at/) GmbH. and since July 2017 the Deputy Director of the Center of Continuous Flow Synthesis and Processing (CCFlow) in Graz. Her current projects with industrial partners and funded by national and international agencies deal with flow chemistry, heterogeneous (bio)catalysis and continuous processes, as well as reactor design including additive manufacturing, real-time analyses and self-optimization.
Flash Presentations-Industrial Session
Microfluidics Innovation Center – TBD: Title
Knauer wissenschaftliche Gerate GmbH – TBD: Title
Flowid B.V. – Kevin van Eeten: Title
Fluitec AG – Alain Georg: Title
Vapourtec Ltd – TBD: Title