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Meet Our Speakers

Keynote

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Joseph C. Wu, MD, PhD

 Director of Stanford Cardiovascular Institute;

the Simon H. Stertzer, MD, Professor

of Medicine and Radiology at Stanford University.

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Joseph C. Wu, MD, PhD is Director of Stanford Cardiovascular Institute and Simon H. Stertzer, MD, Professor of Medicine and Radiology at Stanford University. Dr. Wu received his MD from Yale University and PhD (Molecular & Medical Pharmacology) at University of California, Los Angeles. He is board certified in cardiovascular medicine. His lab works on genomics, stem cells/organoids, AI/ML, and drug discovery. The main goals are to (i) understand basic disease mechanisms, (ii) implement precision medicine for patients, and (iii) accelerate drug discovery via “new alternative methodologies” (NAMs) and “clinical trial in a dish” (CTiD) concept. Dr. Wu has published >650 manuscripts with H-index of 143 on Google scholar. He is listed as top 0.1% of highly cited researchers by Web of Science for past 7 years (2018-2024). Dr. Wu has received several awards, including the NIH Director’s New Innovator Award, NIH Roadmap Transformative Award, Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE) given out by President Obama at the White House, American Heart Association (AHA) Distinguished Scientist Award, AHA Merit Award, and Burroughs Wellcome Foundation Innovation in Regulatory Science Award. Dr. Wu serves on the FDA Cellular, Tissue, and Gene Therapies Advisory Committee. He is on the Board of the Keystone Symposia and American Heart Association. He is a past President of the American Heart Association (2023-2024). Dr. Wu is an elected member or fellow of the American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI), Association of University Cardiologists (AUC), American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE), American Association of Physicians (AAP), Academia Sinica (Taiwan), American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), Asian American Academy of Science and Engineering (AAASE), National Academy of Inventors (NAI), and National Academy of Medicine (NAM).

Keynote

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Gene Lay, MS, DVM

Founder, President & CEO of BioLegend 

Senior Vice President, Life Sciences at Revvity.

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Dr. Gene Lay is Senior Vice President, Life Sciences at Revvity. As both a scientist and a strategic business leader, Gene leads a team responsible for shaping the Company’s Life Sciences portfolio and delivering solutions that accelerate breakthrough discoveries across therapeutic areas. Gene joined Revvity as part of the Company’s acquisition of BioLegend, the company he founded in June 2002 that’s recognized as a leader in the development of high-quality antibodies for cellular immunity. He served as the President and Chief Executive Officer of BioLegend since January 2003. Gene has always been fascinated by the immune system’s ability to heal the body, and in 2023, he founded The Gene Lay Institute of Immunology and Inflammation of Brigham and Women’s Hospital, Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. Immunology and biomedical experts from the three institutions are working together to translate research discoveries into therapies for immune-related diseases rooted in chronic inflammation. Prior to founding BioLegend, Gene co-founded PharMingen, Inc., a leading life science research reagents company, in 1987, where he served as Senior Vice President of Operations. In 1997, upon PharMingen’s acquisition by Becton, Dickinson and Company (BD Bioscience), Gene continued to serve as Vice President of Operations through 2002. Gene received the 2016 EY Entrepreneur of the Year® Award in San Diego in Life Sciences and was a National Finalist in the same category. Gene received a Master of Science degree in Microbiology/Immunology from the University of Louisiana, Lafayette, and a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine (D.V.M.) from the Veterinary School at the National Pingtung University of Science and Technology in Taiwan. He holds honorary doctoral degrees from National Pingtung University of Science and Technology and National Yang Ming Chiao Tung University. The Fellow of American Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) 2025.

Panel Session

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Che-Yu Lee, PhD

Staff Bioinformatics Scientist,

Guardant Health

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Dr. Lee is a Staff Bioinformatics Scientist at Guardant Health, a precision oncology company focused on advancing cancer detection and treatment through genomic technologies. Guardant’s products span a range of clinical applications, including blood-based screening for early cancer detection, minimal residual disease (MRD) monitoring following treatment, and comprehensive biomarker profiling to guide therapy selection and predict drug response. In his role, he contributes to the development of new diagnostic assays and supports the design and implementation of bioinformatics pipelines that enable robust, scalable analysis of sequencing data. He is involved in setting up and maintaining sample quality control metrics, contributing to standard operating procedures (SOPs), and supporting regulatory activities such as CLIA validation and FDA submissions. His work also includes algorithm development, particularly in areas that aim to improve the accuracy and sensitivity of genomic variant detection and contamination analysis. He collaborates closely with wet lab teams, software engineers, and clinical and regulatory groups to ensure that the bioinformatics components of their workflows meet both scientific and regulatory standards. Overall, his focus is on delivering reliable, clinically actionable insights from sequencing data, with the goal of improving cancer care across detection, monitoring, and treatment selection.

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Chao-Yuan (Amy) Huang

Director & CEO,

Topmunity Official

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Biotech entrepreneur and venture capital leader with over 25 years of experience in life science investment and drug development. As former fund manager at Taian Technology, the only venture capital firm in Taiwan exclusively focused on biotech and pharmaceuticals, I achieved an average return of 5x and IRR of 67%. Currently serving as CEO of Topmunnity Therapeutics, a platform-driven biotech company developing tumor-selective ADCs, CAR-T cell therapies, and AI-generated antibodies. Proven success in company building, deep-tech R&D leadership, capital raising, and advancing novel immuno-oncology assets from concept to preclinical stage.

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Prairie Lin, MBA

Associate Marketing Director,

Excelxis

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Prairie Lin is a biopharma commercial leader with over a decade of experience across the U.S. and Asia. With a proven track record of launching and growing brands in oncology, neuroscience, and nutrition, she brings deep expertise in brand strategy, lifecycle management, and patient-centered execution. Her career spans the full spectrum of the healthcare industry—from startups to mid-sized companies like Exelixis to global pharmaceutical leaders such as Genentech, Abbott, and Eli Lilly. Like a conduit between scientific innovation and real-world impact, she has held roles in sales, marketing, commercial strategy, and pricing—giving her a 360-degree perspective on how to build and scale brands in complex markets. She has led multiple successful product launches, blending strategic thinking with frontline execution to drive meaningful results. Now based in the San Francisco Bay Area, she holds an MBA from Northwestern University’s Kellogg School of Management and a BBA from National Taiwan University. As a proud Taiwanese professional, she is passionate about giving back—sharing her journey and lessons learned to inspire and empower the next generation of Taiwanese talent pursuing careers in healthcare.

Moderators

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Linya Wang, PhD

Senior Staff Scientist,

Head of Cell Biology,

Twist Bioscience

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Dr. Wang is a microbiologist and cell biologist. She is now working as a Staff Scientist at Twist Bioscience, which focuses on GPCR assay development and therapeutic antibody drug discovery that can be applied to immunotherapy, cell therapy, and target therapy. Prior to entering industrial field, she received her Ph.D. in Microbiology at National Taiwan University College of Medicine, and worked in Institute of Molecular Biology at Academia Sinica, Taiwan. She then finished her postdoctoral training in Molecular Microbiology and Immunology at University of Southern California, USA.. She has also been involved in National Taiwan University Alumni Association as the President of Young Professional Group, Taiwanese Junior Chamber of Commerce as the Board of Director, Southern California Taiwanese Biotechnology Association as the President, and Bay Area Taiwanese Biotechnology Association as the President.

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Jessica Chang

Scientist II,

AbbVie

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Jessica is currently a Scientist II at AbbVie in South San Francisco, where she works on biomarker assay development to support clinical trials as part of the Precision Medicine CDx team. She enjoys collaborating across teams and is passionate about driving innovation in personalized medicine. Outside of work, Jessica loves participating in various events and networking activities, both professionally and in her personal life. She is excited to join BATBA and connect with others in the biotech community.

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Wei-Chieh Mu, PhD

Business Development Manager,

Biocytogen

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Wei-Chieh is a Business Development Manager at Biocytogen, a global biotechnology company dedicated to accelerating drug discovery and development through proprietary mouse models and advanced gene targeting techniques. With a strong foundation in aging research, Wei-Chieh earned her Ph.D. in Endocrinology from UC Berkeley, where she investigated the mechanisms of aging and metabolic disorders, specifically blood and neural stem cell aging, and fatty liver disease. During her postdoctoral research at the Buck Institute, she harnessed next-generation sequencing and machine learning to deepen the understanding of aging. Outside of work, Wei-Chieh enjoys participating in diverse activities and exploring new opportunities to connect with others.

©2024 by Bay Area Taiwanese Biotechnology Association, BATBA

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