Date:   Mar 9, 2026 – Mar 10, 2026     |     Location:   Ft Lauderdale, FL

Overview

Each year, the Conference Forum holds the R&D Leadership Summit®, a private event for primarily senior-level R&D executives and CEOs from mid to large pharma and biotech companies, to address timely and relevant issues impacting R&D decision-making. The 2026 Summit focuses on enhancing R&D productivity in changing times.

Dr John Reed and Fred Hassan
Dr Anna Barker and Dr Laura Esserman
Dr Meeta Chatterjee and Dr David Reese

We are grateful for the support and participation from past advisors

Houman Ashrafian BM, BCh, PhD

Executive Vice President, Global Head of R&D Sanofi

Ann D Barker, PhD, FAACR

Chief Strategy Officer, The Ellison Institute

Eliav Barr, MD, EVP

Head of Global Clinical Development, Merck

Barry Balfe, PhD

CEO, ICON

Jay Bradner, MD, EVP

R&D & CSO, Amgen

Roy Baynes, MD, PhD

EVP and Chief Medical Officer, Eikon Therapeutics, Inc

Jeffrey Berkowitz

CEO and Director, Real Endpoints

Azad Bonni, MD, PhD

SVP, Global Head of Neuroscience and Rare Diseases, Roche Pharma Research & Early Development

Amitabh Chandra, PhD

Professor of Business Administration and Public Policy, Harvard University

Ron Cohen, MD

Founder and Former President & CEO, Acorda Therapeutics

Rena Conti, PhD

Associate Professor, Markets, Public Policy and Law, Boston University Questrom School of Business

Mikael Dolsten, MD, PhD

Former Chief Scientific Officer and President, Worldwide Research, Development and Medical, Pfizer Inc.

Steve Frank, MBA

Chair, Global Healthcare Investment Banking, JP Morgan

Ronny Gal, PhD

Chief Strategy and Growth Officer, Novartis

Harmony Garges, MD, MPH, SVP

Head of Development, GSK

Levi Garraway, MD, PhD

EVP, Head of Global Product Development and CMO, Genentech

Keith Gottesdiener, MD

President & CEO, Prime Medicine

Jane Grogan, PhD

EVP, Head of Research, Biogen 

Steve Harr, MD

President and CEO, Sana Biotechnology

Fred Hassan

Managing Director, Healthcare, Warburg Pincus

Rachel Haurwitz, PhD

President & CEO, Caribou Biosciences

Paul Hudson

CEO, Sanofi

Eric Hughes, MD, PhD

EVP, Global R&D and Chief Medical Officer, Teva

Daphne Koller, PhD

Founder & CEO, insitro

Roger Longman

Founder & Chairman, Real Endpoints

Johan Luthman, PhD

EVP, Head of R&D, Lundbeck

Gary Nabel, MD, PhD

President and CEO, ModeX Therapeutics and Chief Innovation Officer, OPKO Health

Clive Meanwell, MD

Chairman and Partner, Population Health Partners

Bill Mezzanotte, MD

EVP, Head of R&D, CSL

Mark McKenna, MBA,

CEO, Mirador Therapeutics

Karen Peterson

Patient Advocate

Robert Plenge, MD, PhD

EVP, Chief Research Officer, BMS 

Andy Plump, MD, PhD

President, R&D, Takeda

Sumant Ramachandra, MD, PhD

CEO & President, ImmPACT Bio

John Reed, MD, PhD

EVP, Innovative Medicine, R&D, Johnson & Johnson

David Reese, MD

EVP and Chief Technology Officer, Amgen

Alise Reicin, MD

CEO & President, Tectonic Therapeutics

Brent Saunders, MBA

Chairman and CEO, Bausch + Lomb

Michael Sherman, MD, MBA

Venture Partner, RA Ventures RA Capital Management

Alexandra Snyder, MD

Head of R&D and CMO, Generate Biomedicines

Mary Szela

CEO and President, TriSalus Life Sciences

Lambert van der Walde

SVP, Executive Director, Center for Health Care Research
UnitedHealth Group

Christopher Viehbacher

President and CEO, Biogen

George Yancopoulos, MD, PhD

Co-Founder, President & CSO, Regeneron

Tal Zaks, MD, PhD

Venture Partner, OrbiMed

Elias Zerhouni, MD

President of OPKO Health and VP; Co-founder and Chair of ModeX Therapeutics

We are grateful for the support and participation from our past keynotes

Robert Bradway

CEO, Amgen

Robert M. Davis

Chairman and CEO, Merck

Joaquin Duato

CEO and Chairman of the Board, Johnson & Johnson

Deborah Dunsire, MD

Former CEO, Lundbeck

Kenneth Frazier

Former Chairman of the Board and Former CEO, Merck & Co

Scott Gottlieb, MD

23rd Commissioner, U.S. Food and Drug Administration
CNBC Contributor

Bahija Jallal, PhD

Former CEO, MedImmune

Daphne Koller, PhD

Founder & CEO, insitro

​​​​​​​Vas Narasimhan, MD

CEO, Novartis

Lars Rebien Sorensen

Former CEO, Novo Nordisk

Brent Saunders

CEO and chairman, Bausch + Lomb

Rupert Vessey, DPhil

Chief Scientist, Executive Partner, Flagship Pioneering 

Christopher Viehbacher

President and CEO, Biogen

​​​​​​​George Yancopoulos, MD, PhD

Co-Founder, President & CSO, Regeneron

Many thanks to the executive team at ICON for all their support and to the entire speaking faculty, who brought their vast experience together to identify and collaborate over ideas that will advance therapeutics for the benefit of patients.

Our guests are as much a part of the event as our speaking faculty. Our ultimate goal is to foster a Summit environment that inspires positive change to advance R&D and to provide support for the leaders behind the movement. 

For questions about the R&D Leadership Summit, please contact Valerie Bowling at valerie@rdlsummit.com or Regina D’alesio, Communication and Logistics Manager, at regina@rdlsummmit.com