2026 East-CACS Annual Conference

Parallel Session 1A: Consumer Health and Personal Care Innovation

Co-hosted with CACPA

1:25 – 2:40 PM

• Session Chair: Guangru Mao, PhD — Executive Committee Member, East-CACS
• Session Chair: Qihong Zhang, PhD — President, CACPA

• 

  Jianwen Mao, PhD

  Member of the Board of Executive Directors

  AHB

• 

  Catherine Mack, PhD

  Head of North America Medical and Scientific Affairs

  Haleon

• 

  Chunhua Li, PhD

  Vice President

  L’Oréal Research and Innovation

• 

  Guangru Mao, PhD

  Executive Committee Member

  East-CACS

• 

  Qihong Zhang, PhD

  President

  CACPA

• 1:25 – 1:40 PM

  Welcome & Introduction — Guangru Mao, PhD, Executive Committee Member, East-CACS; Qihong Zhang, PhD, President, CACPA

• 1:40 – 2:00 PM

  Observation and Reflection on the Current Dynamics of the Chemical Industry — Jianwen Mao, PhD, Member of the Board of Executive Directors, AHB

• 2:00 – 2:20 PM

  Evidence-to-Claim Translation for Consumer Healthcare: A Science-Forward Framework for Credible Consumer & Healthcare Professional Messaging — Catherine Mack, PhD, Head of North America Medical and Scientific Affairs, Haleon

• 2:20 – 2:40 PM

  New Scientific Frontiers in Cosmetics Innovation — Chunhua Li, PhD, Vice President, L’Oréal Research and Innovation

Parallel Session 1B: Medical Devices

Co-hosted with Johnson & Johnson

1:25 – 2:40 PM

• Session Chair: Yijun Lu, PhD — Director of R&D, Johnson & Johnson Medtech

• 

  Qiuwei Feng, PhD RAC

  VP Regulatory Affairs

  iRhythm Technologies

• 

  Benjamin McGovern, MBA

  Manager

  Price Waterhouse Coopers

• 

  Zachary Koulermos, BS

  Senior Director Advanced Hemostats, Global Marketing

  Johnson & Johnson Medtech

• 

  Yijun Lu, PhD

  Director of R&D

  Johnson & Johnson Medtech

• 1:20 – 1:40 PM

  Regulatory Affairs in Medical Device Industry: Shaping Innovation at the Intersection of Science, Policy, and Patients — Qiuwei Feng, PhD RAC, VP Regulatory Affairs, iRhythm Technologies

• 1:40 – 2:00 PM

  Turning Innovation into Impact: A Global MedTech Marketing Perspective — Zachary Koulermos, Senior Director Advanced Hemostats, Global Marketing, Johnson & Johnson MedTech

• 2:00 – 2:20 PM

  Speaker — Benjamin McGovern, MBA, Manager, Price Waterhouse Coopers (PwC)

• 2:20 – 2:35 PM

  Panel Discussion — Qiuwei Feng, PhD RAC, VP Regulatory Affairs, iRhythm Technologies; Zachary Koulermos, Senior Director Advanced Hemostats, Global Marketing, Johnson & Johnson MedTech; Benjamin McGovern, MBA, Manager, Price Waterhouse Coopers (PwC); Yijun Lu, PhD, Director of R&D, Johnson & Johnson Medtech

Speaker biographies & abstracts

• 

  Qiuwei Feng, PhD RAC

  VP Regulatory Affairs , iRhythm Technologies

  Regulatory Affairs in the Medical Device Industry: Shaping Innovation at the Intersection of Science, Policy, and Patients

  Qiuwei Feng, PhD, RAC, is Vice President of Regulatory Affairs at iRhythm Technologies, where she leads the regulatory affairs team in global regulatory strategy and execution for AI-enabled digital health and wearable medical devices. Dr. Feng brings over 25 years of experience across regulatory affairs and quality, with deep expertise spanning medical devices, SaMD, capital equipment, and drug–device combination products.

  Prior to joining iRhythm, she held multiple leadership roles at Johnson & Johnson, where she led global regulatory teams supporting innovation, product launches, and lifecycle management. Her work includes achieving FDA Breakthrough Device Designation for a transformative oncology technology and leading high-stakes global health authority engagement in key markets, particularly China.

  Her career is marked by consistent success in developing and executing global regulatory strategies that enable innovation, accelerate market access, and sustain long-term business growth across highly regulated and complex markets. Dr. Feng holds a PhD in Chemistry from Drexel University and is a Regulatory Affairs Certified (RAC-US) professional.

• 

  Benjamin McGovern, MBA

  Manager , Price Waterhouse Coopers

  Ben McGovern has over 10 years of experience and is part of PwC’s Quality Life Science practice. He has deep expertise across manufacturing, R&D, regulatory affairs, supply chain, quality, and IT / digital strategy in the pharmaceutical, biotechnology, and medical technology sectors.

  Ben has helped clients develop strategies involving clinical site selection, commercial product launch, go-to-market and implementation plans, regulatory and compliance frameworks, and IT implementation and quality strategies. He has managed and led projects and teams relating to standing up regulatory and medical affairs groups, federal regulatory risk-based analysis standards, contract review, compliance review audits, and expert testimony documentation, investigation, and preparation. He has also led integration planning and execution, as well as separation and disentanglement, for both global medical device and pharmaceutical companies. Additionally, Ben has hands-on experience in Agile methodology and the SDLC, including the development and management of risk registers, validation plans, implementation plans, change control, and post-go-live training documentation. He has also led several commercial due diligence projects supporting valuation assessments.

  Ben has demonstrated both domestic and international regulatory compliance experience, including GxP, ISO, FDA, EU MDR, and EU IVDR. Prior to his consulting experience in the health solutions and life science space, he was a regulatory compliance consultant at a professional engineering firm. Ben received an M.B.A. with a concentration in Health Sector Management from Duke University’s Fuqua School of Business, an M.Eng. with a concentration in chemical engineering from Villanova University, and a B.S. in Marine Science from the University of Maine.

• 

  Yijun Lu, PhD

  Director of R&D , Johnson & Johnson Medtech

  Dr. Yijun Lu serves as Director of R&D, Analytical Characterization, in ETHICON R&D, supporting the MedTech sector at Johnson & Johnson. Yijun leads the structure elucidation, polymer characterization, and chromatography & wet chemistry labs. She also oversees extractable/leachable studies for medical implants, biologics, and device/drug combination products, as well as the analytical characterization of breast implants.

  Yijun has over 25 years of experience in the chemical and medical device industries and has been with Johnson & Johnson for 23 years. She is a J&J representative and accredited US expert on the AAMI/BE Biological Evaluation Committee (US TAG for ISO/TC 194) and a key technical leader in WG 14 (Material Characterization).

  Yijun is the co-chair of the A.S.I.A. employee resource group (ERG) at ETHICON, Johnson & Johnson. She has been actively involved in J&J’s diversity and inclusion initiatives and leads efforts to develop and advance A.S.I.A. members, proactively building strong collaborations within J&J ERGs and with external Asian professional associations. Yijun received her Ph.D. in Food Chemistry from Rutgers University, her Master’s in Polymer Chemistry from Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, and her Bachelor’s in Applied Chemistry from Peking University.

Parallel Session 2A: AI in Pharmaceuticals

2:55 – 4:25 PM

• Session Chair: Ran He, PhD JD — Founding Partner, THC Lawyers

• 

  Ming Tang, PhD

  Director of Bioinformatics

  Astrazeneca

• 

  Will Ma, PhD

  Founder and CEO

  Hope AI

• 

  Vincent Wang, PhD

  Head of Innovation

  Hill Research

• 

  Yanfei Gao, MS

  CEO and founder

  Sky pharmaceutical Development

• 

  Ran He, PhD JD

  Founding Partner

  THC Lawyers

• 2:55 – 3:20 PM

  Has AI changed the Course of Drug Development? — Ming Tang, PhD, Director of Bioinformatics, Astrazeneca

• 3:20 – 3:45 PM

  AI-powered adaptive clinical trial design — Will Ma, PhD, Founder and CEO, Hope AI

• 3:45 – 4:25 PM

  Panel Discussion — The future of pharmaceutical in the AI era — Ming Tang, PhD, Director of Bioinformatics, Astrazeneca; Will Ma, PhD, Founder and CEO, Hope AI; Vincent Wang, PhD, Head of Innovation, Hill Research; Yanfei Gao, MS, CEO and founder of Sky pharmaceutical Development; Ran He, PhD JD, Founding Partner, THC Lawyers

Speaker biographies & abstracts

• 

  Ming Tang, PhD

  Director of Bioinformatics , Astrazeneca

  Has AI Changed the Course of Drug Development?

  Ming Tommy Tang is a computational biologist with over 14 years of experience in genomics, epigenomics, and single-cell transcriptomics. He earned his PhD from the University of Florida, trained at MD Anderson, and held non-tenure-track faculty roles at Harvard and Dana-Farber. At AstraZeneca, he leads epigenetics bioinformatics for oncology. A former wet-lab biologist, Tommy is passionate about open science and helping biologists gain computational skills. With over 130K followers across social media platforms, he aims to transform bioinformatics education. Learn more at divingintogeneticsandgenomics.com.

• 

  Will Ma, PhD

  Founder and CEO , Hope AI

  AI-Powered Adaptive Clinical Trial Design

  Will Ma is the Founder and CEO of HopeAI, a Mayo Clinic Platform Accelerate company on a mission to bring hope to patients through AI-accelerated clinical development. HopeAI has developed AI teammates that combine clinical insights with statistical innovations, enabling faster and more precise clinical trials. Prior to founding HopeAI, Will had over 10 years of experience in clinical development, including roles as a statistician at Sanofi and BMS and as a faculty member at Moffitt Cancer Center. Will is also a serial entrepreneur who co-founded Learnta, an AI learning company, and grew it to over 1,600 learning centers.

• 

  Vincent Wang, PhD

  Head of Innovation , Hill Research

  Vincent Wang (Wang Yongheng), PhD, is Head of Innovation at Hill Research, where he primarily conducts research in AI/agents for science. He participated in Google DeepMind’s work on medical and pharmaceutical foundation models, including TxGemma, small-molecule foundation models, and the MedGemma medical model.

  In early 2024, he built the world’s first Bioinformatics Copilot. He was subsequently selected for the MIT–Novo Nordisk AI Postdoctoral Fellows Program, which selects approximately 10 researchers worldwide each year. He previously conducted postdoctoral research at MIT CSAIL and the Broad Institute of MIT and Harvard, and later won first place at the Agentic AI Hackathon hosted by MIT’s AI Lab.

  Before entering the field of AI/agents for science, Dr. Wang spent many years conducting biomedical engineering research in targeted drug delivery, peptide synthesis, cell therapy, and gene therapy, with research experience at institutions including MIT, Yale, and Harvard. Before pursuing his PhD at the University of California, Davis, he also gained exposure to biotech venture capital investment, building an early foundation in biomedical innovation, technology transfer, and commercialization. His future goal is to advance cloud-native foundation models and agents for biomedical sciences, with the aim of automating biomedical research, data analysis, and scientific workflows.

• 

  Yanfei Gao, MS

  CEO and founder , Sky pharmaceutical Development

  Yanfei Gao is the Founder and CEO of SKY Pharmaceutical Development, an AI-enabled CRO specializing in cross-border drug development between the US and China. With over 20 years of experience in biostatistics and global drug development, she supports biotech companies in advancing innovative programs through integrated statistical and regulatory strategies.

  SKY partners with both US- and China-based biotech companies, providing end-to-end biometrics services with a strong focus on biostatistics and statistical programming, while also offering strategic consulting to navigate cross-border clinical development, regulatory alignment, and global asset positioning.

  Prior to founding SKY, Yanfei held statistician roles at global pharmaceutical companies including Merck and Roche, and at Biohaven’s China subsidiary. Her experience spans early-stage development to late-stage registration and strategic transactions, giving her a practical perspective on how to accelerate development timelines and create value in a global context.

Parallel Session 2B: Career Development Workshop

2:55 – 4:25 PM

• Session Chair: Jiatong Liu, PhD — Consultant, THC Lawyers
• Session Chair: Lijuan Wang, PhD — Head of Small Molecule DMPK, Alexion (AstraZeneca Rare Disease)

• 

  Amy Spinney, MBA

  Global Director of Product Management

  Fresenius Medical Care

• 

  Junchi Lu, PhD

  Associate Director

  Bristol Myers Squibb

• 

  Vivian Li, PhD

  Investor

  K2VC

• 

  Sherry Song, PhD

  Principal Scientist

  Merck

• 

  Jiatong Liu, PhD

  Consultant

  THC Lawyers

• 

  Lijuan Wang, PhD

  Head of Small Molecule DMPK

  Alexion, AstraZeneca Rare Disease

• 

  Jaclyn Lee, GPHR, SHRM-SCP, MS

  Future of Work Practitioner | Career Development Strategist | AI & Talent Ecosystem Builder | Founder | Speaker

  Founder, D-I-C-E Consulting, iHub

• 2:55 – 3:15 PM

  Be Intentional: Make Your Value Seen — Amy Spinney, MBA, Global Director of Product Management, Fresenius Medical Care

• 3:15 – 3:35 PM

  Beyond the Black Box: How to Build AI That Scientists, Executives, and Regulators Can Actually Trust — Junchi Lu, PhD, Associate Director, Bristol Myers Squibb

• 3:35 – 4:25 PM

  Mini Talk and Panel Discussion — Amy Spinney, MBA, Global Director of Product Management, Fresenius Medical Care; Junchi Lu, PhD, Associate Director, Bristol Myers Squibb; Vivian Li, PhD, Investor K2VC; Sherry Song, PhD, Principal Scientist Merck; Jaclyn Lee, GPHR, SHRM-SCP, MS, Founder, D-I-C-E Consulting, iHub; Jiatong Liu, PhD, Consultant, THC Lawyers

Speaker biographies & abstracts

• 

  Amy Spinney, MBA

  Global Director of Product Management , Fresenius Medical Care

  Be Intentional: Make Your Value Seen

  In this talk, Amy will reframe networking as a strategic tool for career growth, not transactional relationship-building. The session will offer practical insights on visibility, self-advocacy, and purposeful connection to help mid-career professionals develop a stronger voice, build authentic relationships, and be more intentional about how their value is seen — while lifting others along the way.

  Amy Spinney is a strategic business and marketing leader currently serving as Global Director of Product Management at Fresenius Medical Care. She has over 20 years of experience across life sciences and medical technology. As a first-generation immigrant who built her career across China and the U.S., she is passionate about helping other professionals strengthen their voice, elevate their visibility, and lead their careers with intention.

• 

  Junchi Lu, PhD

  Associate Director , Bristol Myers Squibb

  Beyond the Black Box: How to Build AI That Scientists, Executives, and Regulators Can Actually Trust

  AI is already inside drug development — in supply chain intelligence, demand forecasting, and multi-agent workflows shaping billion-dollar decisions. But capability alone isn’t enough. The harder problem is trust: building AI systems that scientists can interrogate, executives can act on, and that hold up under the scrutiny of a rapidly evolving regulatory environment.

  Drawing on hands-on experience building AI agents for global supply chain network intelligence and strategic analytics in the pharmaceutical industry, this session argues that trustworthy AI is not a compliance problem — it’s a design problem. The properties that make an AI system genuinely usable — traceability, guardrails, audit trails, defined failure modes — are the same properties the industry is now being asked to demonstrate. The organizations ahead of this curve aren’t the ones waiting for regulation to arrive; they’re the ones that built trustworthy systems because it was the only way to get them used.

  For scientists and engineers navigating the AI era, this talk offers a practical reframe: your domain expertise is not a threatened skill. It is the irreplaceable guardrail layer that no model can replace — and the most valuable thing you can bring to the intersection of AI, science, and business strategy.

• 

  Vivian Li, PhD

  Investor , K2VC

  Dr. Vivian Li holds a PhD in Biomedical Sciences from The Chinese University of Hong Kong and an MBA from Johns Hopkins University, with a distinguished background bridging science and business on a global scale. She conducted postdoctoral research at the University of Pennsylvania and worked in drug development at GlaxoSmithKline, gaining expertise in drug discovery, IND-enabling studies, and biomarker development.

  Transitioning into early-stage biotech investment and business development, Dr. Li now leverages her scientific expertise, strategic vision, and deal-making skills to accelerate the commercialization of groundbreaking innovations. She is actively evaluating early-stage biotech and platform-driven drug discovery opportunities. With incubation experience, she can support team building, vendor selection, fundraising, and licensing. She also has portfolio companies exploring investment, BD, or newco collaboration.

• 

  Sherry Song, PhD

  Principal Scientist , Merck

  Sherry Song is a Principal Scientist in Merck’s regulatory CMC department and is responsible for developing regulatory CMC strategies for projects from First-in-Human (FIH) studies to post-approval commitments. Sherry holds a B.S. in Chemistry from the University of Science and Technology of China (USTC) and a Ph.D. from Texas A&M University.

  With over 25 years of experience at Merck, Sherry has contributed to the development and commercialization of various products. In addition, she served as the 2023 Chair of the Analytical Leadership Group (ALG) within the International Consortium for Innovation and Quality (IQ) and as 2024–2025 co-lead of Merck’s Asia Pacific Association (APA) NJ chapter. Prior to Merck, Sherry worked at the National Center for Environmental Health (NCEH) under the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC), developing analytical assays for testing tobacco-specific nitrosamines.

• 

  Jaclyn Lee, GPHR, SHRM-SCP, MS

  Future of Work Practitioner | Career Development Strategist | AI & Talent Ecosystem Builder | Founder | Speaker , Founder, D-I-C-E Consulting, iHub

  Jaclyn Lee is an award-winning workforce innovator and talent strategist working at the intersection of AI, career development, leadership, and the future of work. Recognized as a 2025 Innovate 100 Honoree and an Outstanding 50 Asian Americans in Business recipient, she brings over 20 years of experience spanning Fortune 100 companies, global consulting, nonprofit leadership, and cross-cultural workforce development across the U.S. and Asia Pacific. Her background bridges enterprise HR transformation, talent strategy, and emerging workforce ecosystems, with initiatives led across organizations including AIG, MassMutual, and MetLife.

  As Founder of D-I-C-E Consulting, Jaclyn advises organizations, leaders, and communities navigating workforce transformation in the age of AI, helping individuals and institutions rethink talent, leadership, career mobility, and human potential in an increasingly technology-driven world. She is also the founder of iHub, an award-winning 501(c)(3) NextGen talent incubator dedicated to empowering Gen Z and emerging talent through AI literacy, storytelling, innovation, and leadership development. Since 2020, iHub has connected students, educators, industry professionals, and community leaders to build future-ready pathways across technology, communication, and human-centered problem solving.

  Jaclyn is the creator of initiatives including the Gen Z Masterclass for Young Leaders & Speakers, HR on Duty, and the iHub AI Innovation Bootcamp powered by IBM SkillsBuild — bridging education, workforce readiness, career development, and social impact through experiential learning and ecosystem collaboration. Her expertise spans future workforce strategy, AI-enabled talent development, leadership transformation, people analytics, organizational culture, and inclusive ecosystem building. A sought-after speaker and ecosystem connector, she has presented at universities, professional associations, nonprofits, corporate ERGs, and community organizations, inspiring audiences to navigate career transitions, embrace future-ready skills, and lead with both innovation and humanity.