Agenda

Day 1 | Tuesday 10 March 2026

10.00 - 10.50 Morning Plenary

Welcome from IBioIC and BBIA: Mark Bustard, CEO, IBioIC, Jen Vanderhoven, CEO, BBIA

Keynote address: Hannah Boardman, Director for Technologies, Growth & Security, Department for Science, Innovation and Technology

Mark Maslin, Pro-Vice Provost, UCL Climate Crisis Grand Challenge: ‘How biotech can help save our planet’

10.50 - 11.50 Session 1 Rebuilding tomorrow's world with biology

This session will explore how we can make everyday items - from cosmetics to concrete - using biology rather than fossil resources.

Chair: Fiona Mischel, Associate Director of Strategic Development, Holiferm

Speakers:

• Russ Tucker, CEO, Twig Bio: ‘Using AI to bring biotech to beauty’

• Jonathan Edmunds, Sustainability Director, Woodly: ‘Scaling cellulose; a sustainable and high-performance alternative to fossil-based plastic’

• James MacDonald, CEO, Solena Materials: ‘Next generation sustainable fibres for market-leading apparel’

• Alex Neves, CEO, Clean Food Group: ‘Function-specific, sustainable oils and fats, from food waste’

11.50 - 12.15 Fireside Chat

Getting novel bio-based products to market.

12.15 - 12.35 Tomorrow’s World Showcase Pitches

• Katherine Manshreck, Senior Sustainability Strategist, Shellworks: ‘Collaborating with nature at scale.’

• Mark Dorris, Founder & CEO, Mercel Ltd

• Tim Corcoran, Co-founder & CEO, Deep Blue Biotech: ‘Photosynthetic manufacturing to regenerate the planet’

12.35 - 14.00 Networking lunch and poster observation

14.00 - 15.00 Session 2 Feeding the future with biotechnology

This session will look at the factors influencing the adoption of alternative protein.

Chair: Imran Afzal, CEO, NAPIC

Speakers:

• Dr Sonja Billerbeck, Bezos Centre: ‘The promise of alternative proteins’

Panel - Overcoming public perception; regulation; competition for land, formulation:

• Derek Stewart, Director, Advanced Plant Growth Centre, Co-Director, NAPIC, The James Hutton Institute

• Will Milligan, Founder and CEO, Extracellular

• Evangelos Katsoulis, Senior Policy Advisor for Cell-Cultivated Product Sandbox, Food Standards Agency

Tomorrow’s World Showcase:

• Alberto Fiore, Professor of Food Chemistry, Abertay University

• Vincent Farrelly, CEO, Niskus Biotech

• Kiran Gathani, Strategy and Operations Associate, Cyanocapture

• Patrick Hickey, Kingdom5Foods

15.00 - 15.30 Session 3 Levelling Up with Biotech: Launchpads Driving Regional Transformation

This session will take a look at the impact of the UKRI Innovate UK Launchpad programme and the Net Zero projects it has supported.

Chair: Alex Blackshaw, Scottish Enterprise

Speakers:

• Alisha Fuller-Armah, BlazeBalm

• Jonathan Hughes, Pennosan

• Barbara Correia, East England Agri and Food CMO

• Alex Speakman, EVA Biosystems

• Rhian Hayward, Aberinnovations

• Sofia Alexiou, Grampian Growers

• Sam Patterson, Impact Solutions

15.30 - 16.00 Coffee break

16.00 - 16.55 Session 4 Tomorrow’s healthy planet

Who's in the loop? - Water is the lifeblood of the circular economy and this session will focus on how it sits in a continuous renewal with waste, soil and ecosystems. 

Chair: Professor Frederic Coulon, Director, EBIC

Speakers:

• Elise Cartmell, Chief Scientist, Scottish Water: ‘Water as the Mirror of System health’

• Pete Vale, Carbon & Circular Economy Architect, Severn Trent: ‘Full Circle: Bio-solids back to Land’

• Cindy Smith, Professor of Environmental Engineering and Microbiology, University of Glasgow

• Andrew Sullivan, Principal Policy Officer, SEPA

16.55 - 17.15 Day 1 wrap up and prizegiving

18.00 - 20.00 Evening Reception at the City Chambers