Agenda

Welcome Reception

Kick off your UNIVERSE experience by joining us for a remarkable welcome dinner in the heart of Austin, TX, where you can savor the city’s offerings while mingling with fellow attendees.

Expo Hall – Waterloo Salons – Level 5

Breakfast

Join us for a delicious breakfast as we prepare to tackle the day ahead.

Expo Hall

Keynote by Dr. Moira Gunn

In this session, Dr. Moira Gunn will provide insights on the future of precision health, encompassing precision medicine, diagnostics, cell and gene therapeutics, and the technological advancements shaping these fields in the coming decade.

Moira, Gunn, Ph.D., Host, Tech Nation + BioTech Nation Radio/Podcasts, Professor and Director of Bioentrepreneurship, University of San Francisco

General Session

LIMS in the Era of GenAI

Ray Veeraraghavan, Executive Director – Technology, Molecular Genomics & Oncology, Quest Diagnostics

General Session

Morning Coffee and Networking

Take a moment to recharge with a cup of freshly brewed coffee and chat with fellow attendees, sharing thoughts and takeaways from the morning’s engaging sessions.

Foyer

Panel Discussion: Overcoming Challenges in the Digital Transformation of Research & Diagnostics Labs

Panelists share their unique digital journeys in the transformation of their labs, their individual start and end points, the challenges along the way and what the future holds for all of us in the lab. 

Moderator:

Arvind Ramakrishnan, Vice President of Customer Solutions – Research & Diagnostics, L7 Informatics

Panelists:

Ray Veeraraghavan, Executive Director – Technology, Molecular Genomics & Oncology, Quest Diagnostics

David Sexton, Vice President of Digital Lab Systems, Harbinger Health

Brendan Arbuckle, Chief Information Officer, The Jackson Laboratory

Mike Heinz, Director of Research Operations, Genome Technology Access Center at the McDonnell Genome Institute, Washington University in St Louis

Kannan Jagamoorthy, Vice President and General Manager, Americas, Zifo 

General Session

Lunch

Join us during the lunch break for a chance to mingle, network, and recharge. As we reconvene in the afternoon, we’ll delve back into captivating subjects, enriched by the connections made over lunch.

Expo Hall

Establishing Clinical Scorecards: From Biomarker Discovery to Clinical Decision Support

The implementation of clinical cut-offs for diagnostic tests is standard practice. Many tests have single or multiple cut-offs to find the difference between normal and various stages of disease. These cut-offs are most often based on simplistic correlations between the measured analyte (biomarker) and observational clinical outcomes data. A classic example is blood glucose, where a value of <140mg/dl is normal and >200 mg/dl is diagnostic for diabetes, and changes in glucose levels can be correlated to treatment efficacy. However, more diagnostics are being developed that are based on multiple analytes or variables that can have complex interactions and complex correlations to clinical outcomes. An example is diagnostics based on multiple genetic mutations across multiple genes often used for diagnosis and prognosis of cancer. In addition, many multi-variant analyses often correlate with diseases using meta-analysis of clinical trials or real-world evidence from data sources like electronic medical records (EMRs). These newer multi-variant diagnostic tools are often too complex to establish simple clinical cut-points. In addition, given the often-complex relationships between multi-variant analysis and clinical outcomes, the clinician cannot reasonably be expected to translate the diagnostic result into a clinical decision.  To overcome these issues, many diagnostics are using AI (machine learning or deep learning) to tease out the clinical outcome relationships and then translating the relationships into a “risk score” or a clinical decision “scorecard” that is easy to interpret. In this presentation, three different examples of diagnostic scorecards will be presented. The first is a diagnostic tool that measures the resistance of an HIV patient’s virus to different antivirals based on genetic data. This was one of the original clinical decision support tools and examples of personalized medicine. The second example is a scorecard to predict the risk of kidney failure of diabetics that combines laboratory data and EMR data into a 5-year risk score. The final example is a new point-of-care tool for evaluating oral lesions. This tool combines biomarker data, cellular morphology, and subjective analysis by pathologists to generate an objective score that can guide therapeutic decisions and monitor disease progression. Each of these examples will highlight the types of data used, the AI methodology used to interpret the data, and how the final score was validated.  

Timothy Alcorn, Ph.D., Managing Director, Medical Devices, Diagnostics and Health IT, Latham BioPharm Group

General Session

Driving Digital Transformation in the Jackson Laboratory Scientific Services with L7|ESP

The Jackson Laboratory (JAX) aims to transform our research enterprise by unifying the data ecosystem that supports our Scientific Services. L7|ESP was chosen as the LIMS application to anchor this effort, largely because of its superior flexibility, supportability, and user experience as compared to its competitors. We are now nearing completion of the second year of our rollout, at which point we will have deployed L7|ESP into production to 3 of our Scientific Services and a Research Center. We present here our experience and the lessons learned with our rollout, as well as challenges that we still need to solve.

Dave Mellert, Senior Director of Research IT, The Jackson Laboratory

General Session

CSI-Dx®: Metatranscriptomic Sequencing for Pathogen Detection in Synovial Fluid and Beyond, Empowered by the L7|ESP Platform

Here we introduce the cutting-edge CSI-Dx® assay, a RNA-based sequencing technique designed for detecting pathogens in disease states such as Prosthetic Joint Infections (PJIs) and Sepsis. This presentation provides a concise overview of the CSI-Dx® test system and its potential applications. Discover the outcomes of a collaborative study with Zimmer Biomet involving over 320 synovial fluid samples, showcasing the clinical efficacy of CSI-Dx® and its transformative impact on pathogen detection. This collaboration highlights the assay’s role in providing crucial insights into pathogen detection and the downstream potential for better understanding functional gene expression. 

Integral to CSI-Dx® is the L7|ESP platform, functioning as a robust Laboratory Information Management System (LIMS) and platform solution. Join us to grasp the essence of CSI-Dx’s® innovation, its clinical significance through a substantial collaborative study, and the streamlined data management offered by the L7|ESP platform.

Justin Wright, Co-Founder, Executive Vice President of Data Analytics, Contamination Source Identification (CSI-Dx)

General Session

Digitally Native Drug Discovery – How AWS Enables Scientific R&D and Commercialization

Learn how Amazon Web Services (AWS) is innovating at the intersection of science and technology with real world examples from industry leaders. AWS for Life Sciences reduces barriers to innovation by providing a curated suite of purpose-built solutions designed to help organizations develop, trial, manufacture, and commercialize therapeutics quickly and efficiently. By working to accelerate time-to-insights, increase ROI, and bring differentiated therapeutics to market faster with the most comprehensive suite of data capabilities and machine learning offerings, AWS is empowering large and small companies alike in their path to market.

Eric Zimmerman, Principal Healthcare & Life Sciences BD, Venture Capital & Startups, Amazon Web Services (AWS)

General Session

Therapeutics Solutions Made Simple with the L7 Manufacturing Package

This presentation will explore the needs and challenges in manufacturing operations management and day to day responsibilities from an end user perspective and how L7’s manufacturing package can simplify and enhance the product value streams’ execution and handoffs. Interactive discussions around L7’s therapeutics solution approach will be welcomed.

Kevin McMahon, Associate Director, Precision Therapy Solutions, L7 Informatics

Justin Paul, Senior Manager, QC Solutions, L7 Informatics

Rooms 403-404

Afternoon Coffee Networking

Enjoy a short afternoon break to refresh and refocus, preparing to dive back into our engaging sessions.

Expo Hall

From GSheets to L7|ESP

This talk will provide an overview of Nobell Foods and discuss how we are transitioning from Google-sheets based data collection to using L7|ESP. We will cover our experience during the initial implementation phase led by L7 and how we are continuing the development in-house with L7 support.

Chris Rife, Senior Data Engineer, Nobell Foods

General Session

Building Better User Experiences in LIMS via Flex View

L7|ESP provides out-of-box views for immediately interacting with configured data elements in a LIMS workflow, but sometimes more is needed. In this workshop, LIMS implementers will learn how to take advantage of L7|ESP’s “Flex View” feature to provide their users with tailored views, including using out-of-box widgets, using the Generic renderer widget to provide custom views, using the “context” object to share data between widgets, and creating re-usable custom widgets. 

Note: this session will run for 45 minutes. 

Robert Zeigler, Vice President, Product Development, L7 Informatics

Rooms 403-404

Your Waste Isn’t Wasted: Implementation of L7|ESP

Biobot Analytics is a global leader in wastewater epidemiology, founded with the goal of transforming wastewater infrastructure into real-time public health observatories. Having worked at more than 1,000 locations across all 50 US states and several countries, Biobot uses advanced data analytics to deliver insights from wastewater to improve the health of communities around the world. Separately from their infectious disease work, Biobot also analyzes wastewater for the presence of High-Risk Substances, such as opioids, to help communities better respond to substance use and implement harm reduction programming.

In order to identify which catchment areas may be at highest risk for a biomolecule or pathogen of concern (e.g., opioids, COVID, flu, monkeypox, RSV, Norovirus, etc.), a sample is collected at the wastewater treatment plant, manhole, building, etc. and sent to Biobot Analytics for chemistry and/or molecular testing. Results are released to clients, including public health officials (such as the CDC), for guidance in their responses. Biobot Analytics is implementing L7|ESP to provide chain of custody, track positive specimens during the laboratory process, and enhance workflows.

Sara Beckloff, Vice President, Lab Operations, BioBot Analytics

Kelly Wahl, Research Program Manager, BioBot Analytics

General Session

Building Scalable Orchestration Workflows Chains & Performance Tuning L7|ESP

In the fast-paced world of science and technology, science-supporting platforms must perform well and keep up with the pace of changes in the lab. L7|ESP provides tools for quickly modeling any variety of laboratory process. In this workshop, LIMS implementers will learn how to leverage these tools to model processes in a way that scales with data growth, user growth, and organization and process growth and change.

Note: this session will run for 45 minutes. 

Robert Zeigler, Vice President, Product Development, L7 Informatics

Rooms 403-404

Application Ontologies – Combining public ontologies with internal standards and creating FAIR data for AI and other downstream applications

In this presentation, we will demonstrate the power of L7’s partnership with SciBite’s award winning ontology management tool, CENtree. To do this, we will cover what ontologies are, the public standards available and what the downstream use cases of these ontologies are. From there, we will explore how you can combine public ontologies with your own internal standards using CENtree thus creating what we call “application ontologies”. Finally, we demonstrate the value of creating these “application ontologies” by discussing downstream use cases like an integration with L7’s Enterprise Science Platform (ESP).

Arvind Swaminathan, Technical Consultant, SciBite an Elsevier company

General Session

Dinner

We’re thrilled to have you join us for an unforgettable dinner, embracing the vibrant flavors of Austin, TX, while enjoying the company of fellow participants.

 Punch Bowl Social

Breakfast

Indulge in a delightful morning and start your day in style by savoring a delicious breakfast.

Foyer by Rooms 403-404

State of L7|ESP: Product Overview

This session will highlight high-level features of the L7|ESP platform, focusing on what’s new for L7|ESP 3.2, including performance enhancements. This session will also set the stage for subsequent presentations on what’s new in specific parts of the application.

Robert Zeigler, Vice President, Product Development, L7 Informatics

Rooms 403-404

State of L7|ESP: What’s new in L7|ESP’s Foundational Applications

The Enterprise Science Platform is built on a foundation of processes (Protocols, Workflows, Workflow Chains in L7|ESP) and objects (Entities, Locations, Inventory Items). This session will introduce users to enhancements made to these foundational layers in L7|ESP 3.2. Attendees will learn about enhancements made to workflow execution, including performance improvements to processing to eliminate timeout errors, enhancements made to the LIMS backlog for more consistent views, and addition of container statuses.

Rooms 403-404

Managing Manufacturing Processes with the L7 MES App

Join us as we present a review of the capabilities in the new MES app that was introduced earlier this year. Learn how easy it is to manage in-flight Sample Plans, keep an eye on Specifications as the batch progresses, and pinpoint needs with the Bill of Materials. Discover the power of highlighted data entry exceptions while reviewing process data in Quality Review, and pull everything together with the final batch reports that can speed batch release decisions.

Rooms 403-404

Unlocking Seamless Scientific Research: Bridging Notes and Applications

The conundrum of efficiently organizing and tracking research notes while seamlessly integrating them with various scientific software applications has impeded progress for far too long. This presentation will dive into the numerous benefits of the L7 NOTEBOOKS app, including seamlessly connecting research notes to a growing number of scientific software applications, effortlessly crafting reusable templates, and enabling seamless collaboration within a controlled environment. Discover how L7’s integrated review process fosters a culture of rigorous assessment, elevating research to new heights through collaborative refinement.

Rooms 403-404

How to Leverage the L7|HUB to Streamline the Review Process of Scientific Digital Content Bundles?

In the rapidly evolving landscape of scientific digital content production, the challenges of tracking, identifying, and efficiently gating approved content can become a bottleneck. This pressing concern demands innovative solutions that streamline the content approval process and enhance overall productivity. This presentation will unveil a strategic approach that addresses the long-standing problem of content management by seamlessly aligning approval procedures with the scientific digital content production lifecycle.
The focus will be on the numerous benefits of the L7|HUB and the Bundle Review feature, resulting in minimized context switching, enhanced process control, and robust security measures to safeguard the production environment.

Brandon Varela, Principal – Scientific Software Products, L7 Informatics

Rooms 403-404

Implementing a successful L7|INTELLIGENCE strategy to unlock new levels of growth and innovation for your entire organization

In today’s complex life sciences landscape, gaining a competitive advantage and making informed decisions are paramount to success. This presentation explores the power of L7|INTELLIGENCE. Discover the key components of a robust L7|INTELLIGENCE strategy built around L7|ESP, including data collection and integration, data warehousing and management, and analytics and reporting.

Learn from real-life examples and understand the benefits of successful L7|INTELLIGENCE implementations across the industry, such as informed decision-making, competitive advantage, and operational efficiency. Walk away with best practices for implementing a successful L7|INTELLIGENCE strategy and unlock new levels of growth and innovation for your entire organization.

Rooms 403-404

Efficient Organization and Management of Company Resources to Stay on Track of Scientific Tasks via the Scheduling Application

Efficiency within the workplace can be significantly improved when tasks are scheduled, and resources are appropriately assessed and assigned. This presentation will review the components within the Scheduling application and demonstrate how effective planning can align teams and personnel with the processes and equipment they use. Explores the Scheduling app and its sections, including Calendar, Availability, Tasks, and Resources.

Isaac Rodriguez, Product Owner, L7 Informatics

Rooms 403-404

Closing Session and Lunch

Join us for a closing lunch, the perfect way to conclude our time together. Take a moment to connect before heading home, fueled by inspiration and connections.

Waterloo Salons 4-6