
IQ MPS
IQ Microphysiological Systems Affiliate
An Affiliate of the International Consortium for Innovation and Quality in Drug Development

GI (Part I)
This session will provide an overview of complex in vitro models specific to the Gastrointestinal tract and how they are being employed for safety and disease modelling. Speakers will present on two case studies: 1) predicting diarrhea incidence to oral oncology compounds and 2) modeling inflammatory bowel disease phenotype in MPS.
Date & Time
Thursday, October 31, 2024, 10:30 AM ET - 12:00 PM ET
Duration
90 minutes
Agenda
Welcome and Introduction
John Gleeson (Merck)
Abhinav Sharma (AbbVie)
Overview of GI CIVM/MPS for Safety
Mike Beshiri (AstraZeneca)
Case Study: Human Intestinal Organoids Predict Clinical Diarrhea for Small Molecule Inhibitors in the Oncology Pipeline
Mike Beshiri (AstraZeneca)
Case Study: Differentiation State of Intestinal Organoids Impacts Viability Assays and Predictive Outcome for Drug-Induced Diarrhea
Julia Co (Genentech)
Case Study: Complex In Vitro Models to Model Key Disease Mechanisms and the Impact of Therapeutic Intervention in Inflammatory Bowel Disease
Sarah Wilson (AbbVie)
Q&A / Discussion
John Gleeson (Merck)
Abhinav Sharma (AbbVie)
Moderators and Presenters
John Gleeson, PhD
Associate Principal Scientist – Exploratory Biopharmaceutics
Merck & Co.

John Gleeson is an Associate Principal Scientist in Merck’s Pharmaceutical Science and Clinical Supply division. John joined Merck in 2020 after completing his PhD (UCD; Ireland) and Postdoctoral research (Cedars-Sinai Medical Center; CA and Carnegie Mellon University: PA). He supports the pre-clinical to clinical formulation development of oral programs and de-risks clinical bioperformance issues. John leads the development of clinically predictive intestinal absorption models using conventional and complex in vitro models.

Mike Beshiri, PhD
Senior Scientist – Oncology Safety Science
AstraZeneca
Mike is a molecular/cellular biologist with a long-standing interest in cancer biology, particularly in the creation and application of preclinical models to address questions related to progression and resistance to therapy. At AstraZeneca, Mike has been working in Oncology Safety developing methods and models to evaluate and predict compound-induced intestinal toxicity.

Julia Co, PhD
Senior Principal Scientist
Genentech
Julia is a Senior Principal Scientist at Genentech in the Complex in vitro Systems group in Safety Assessment. Her team focuses on developing, implementing, and democratizing GI in vitro models and assays for drug development applications. Prior to joining Genentech in 2020, she led a group at a startup using in vitro skin models to evaluate consumer products. Julia completed her postdoc at Stanford, where she developed GI organoid systems to investigate host-microbe interactions, and her PhD in Microbiology at MIT.

Sarah Wilson, PhD
Principal Scientist - Immunology Discovery, Gastroenterology Pharmacology and Pathology
AbbVie
Sarah Wilson is a Principal Research Scientist within Immunology Discovery at AbbVie. She joined AbbVie in 2016 after receiving her PhD in Microbiology from the University of Washington, where she developed intestinal organoid models of host-microbe interactions. In her current role, Sarah leads the development and deployment of complex in vitro models to advance projects at all stages of the gastroenterology immunology discovery pipeline, with a focus on small molecule and biologic modalities.

Abhinav Sharma, PhD
Senior Scientist - Translational Human Models Lead, Dermatology/Immunology Discovery
AbbVie
Abhinav joined AbbVie in 2020 after receiving a PhD in Chemical and Biological Engineering at University of Massachusetts Amherst where he developed in vitro models of human gut to study host-microbe interactions. In the current role he is leading efforts to establish MPS models of multiple organ systems for programs within AbbVie’s drug discovery and development pipeline.