Swiss–Canadian Innovation Symposium
Schwartz Reisman Innovation Campus, 108 College St, Toronto
PRiME and the Embassy of Switzerland in Canada co-hosted this symposium to celebrate 80 years of Swiss–Canadian diplomatic relations. The full-day event convened leaders from academia, industry, and government across both nations to explore advances in AI-driven precision oncology and drug discovery, with the goal of catalyzing cross-border collaboration.
The program featured four thematic sessions: Innovations in Biomarker Discovery and Systems-Level Proteomics; Computational Frontiers in Oncology; Advancements in Precision Delivery Innovation Platforms; and the AI/ML Revolution in Drug Design. Keynote speakers came from ETH Zürich, EPFL, the University of Toronto, Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, and the Lunenfeld-Tanenbaum Research Institute, among others.
The afternoon closed with a startup lightning-pitch competition and an industry fireside chat, "Beyond Hype: Real-World Applications of AI/ML in Pharma and R&D," featuring Birgit Schoeberl (VP & Global Head Data42, Novartis) and Richard Bonneau (VP & Global Head AI for Drug Discovery, Roche), moderated by Rami Hannoush (Versant Ventures), followed by an evening networking mixer.
Held at the Schwartz Reisman Innovation Campus, the event was supported by Diamond sponsor the Embassy of Switzerland, Platinum sponsors Roche and Novartis, and Gold sponsor Genome Canada.