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 Speaker Profile

Founder & CEO, Ligandal

Biography
Watsons current work focuses on AI-driven biomolecular design, creating predictive peptides and receptor-targeting ligands that are engineered to precisely deliver nanoparticles, gene-editing tools, drugs, and nucleic acids to specific cells and tissues. This approach aims to enhance therapeutic specificity, reduce toxicity, and accelerate the development of curative and preventative delivery of therapeutics. Previously, while researching at Rensselaer Polytechnic Institute, he developed gene-editing delivery platforms for guided nucleases like CRISPR and TALEN. Today, he applies AI and predictive physics to rapidly generate and evaluate novel targeting agents, mapping uncharted receptor-ligand relationships as an enabling technology for biopharmaceutical delivery systems. With over 80 pending global patents (22 approved, 6 allowed), Watsons work pioneered integrating cell surface transcriptomics, predictive targeting ligand design, and drug and gene delivery systems. He and his team aim to transform how we approach the worlds most challenging diseases, advancing the frontier of precision therapeutics and diagnostically-responsive medicine.


 Session Abstract – PMWC 2026 Silicon Valley

Track 1 - March 4 9.00 A.M.-4.45 P.M.


Track Co-Chairs:
Gad Getz, Broad Institute
Alex Morgan, Khosla Ventures

PMWC Award Ceremony Honoree
• Greg Brockman, President & Co-Founder, OpenAI
• Steve Wozniak, Co-Founder, Apple

Keynote
• Vinod Khosla, Khosla Ventures

Target Discovery: Beyond Genomics – Revealing Hidden Layers of Biology with AI
• Keynote: Stephen Quake, CZ Biohub
• Aritro Nath, City of Hope
• Massa Shoura, Phinomics
• Omar Serang, DNAnexus

Illuminating Drug Discovery: AI Models That Learn From Biology
• Erwin Estigarribia, HEADLAMP Health

Harmonizing the Data Economy: Enabling AI Across Institutions and Therapeutic Areas
• Noah Nasser, Datma

Can AI Really Create the Next Blockbuster Drug?
• James Zou, Stanford

Interpretable AI for Biomarker Discovery: Accelerating Drug Development
• Chair: Rajat Roy, PATHOMIQ INC

Closing the Loop: AI in the Messy Middle of Drug Development
• Ari Caroline, Weave Bio
• Dina Katabi, Emerald / MIT

Is AI the New Drug?
• Michael J. Kahana, Nia Therapeutics

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