Speaker Profile
Ph.D., Dual PhD., CEO and CSO, Phinomics
Biography
Massa Shoura is the CEO and CSO of Phinomics, a company unlocking circular DNA; a master driver of oncogenesis and drug resistance that remained invisible for decades. Phinomics' proprietary technology captures circular DNA at 100× higher resolution, integrating it with transcriptomics, epigenetics, and proteomics through ML/AI to discover transformative cancer therapies targeting the once-undruggable. With dual Ph Ds in Molecular Biology and Biomedical Engineering, Massa brings over a decade of expertise in DNA topology, biophysics, and genomics. During her postdoctoral fellowship at Stanford University in Nobel Laureate Dr. Andrew Fire's lab, she developed groundbreaking tools for isolating and characterizing circular DNA, earning prestigious fellowships including the Arnold O. Beckman Fellowship and securing two granted patents. As a Forbeck Scholar, she advanced cancer genomics by uncovering the role of oncogenic circular DNA amplification. She also spearheaded the sequencing and publication of Pfizer and Moderna COVID-19 vaccine mRNAs, showcasing her commitment to global health. At Phinomics, Massa leads the development of first-in-class precision oncology therapies by building and mining the only virtual cell model constructed from matched normal-cancer datasets that integrate circular DNA with orthogonal multi-omic data, revealing previously hidden druggable targets and therapeutic strategies.
Session Abstract – PMWC 2026 Silicon Valley
Track Chair:
Alex Morgan, Khosla Ventures and Gad Getz, Broad Institute
PMWC Award Ceremony
• Steve Wozniak, Apple
• Greg Brockman, OpenAI
Fireside Chat
• Vinod Khosla, Khosla Ventures
• Greg Brockman, OpenAI
Target Discovery: Beyond Genomics – Revealing Hidden Layers of Biology with AI
• Chair: Cindy Lawley, Olink
• Aritro Nath, City of Hope
• John Quackenbush, Harvard
• Massa Shoura, Phinomics
• Omar Serang, DNAnexus
Foundation Models of Human Cancer Biology to Predict Clinical Outcomes
• Ron Alfa, Noetik
Mechanistic Modeling of the Human Immune System: A Data-Integrated Approach to Target and Biomarker Discovery
• Liat Dassa, CytoReason
Biological Foundation Models: Harmonizing Data to Accelerate Drug Discovery
• Vitalay Fomin, Numenos
From Prediction to Translation: AI and In Vivo Validation to Improve Drug Development Success
• Gabriel Musso, BioSymetrics
Interpretable AI for Biomarker Discovery: Accelerating Drug Development and Advancing Precision Medicine
• Chair: Shivanni Kummar, PATHOMIQ
• Dale Muzzey, Myriad Genetics
• Sanoj Punnen, University of Miami
• Mark Burkard, UI
Can AI Really Create the Next Blockbuster Drug? Closing the Loop from Drug Discovery to Development
• Chair: Amar Das, Guardant Health
• Ari Caroline, Weave Bio
• Dina Katabi, Emerald/MIT
• Andrei Georgescu, Vivodyne
• James Zou, Stanford
Gemini Digital Twins Accelerate Precision Medicine
• Collin Hill, Aitia
Scaling Rare Disease Discovery with AI: From Genomic Data to Therapeutic Insights
• Lisa Gurry, GeneDx
Limited Sample Models for Faster Lead Discovery, High Accuracy, and Regulatory Grade AI
• Lalin Theverapperuma, Expert Intelligence
Enabling Targeted Precision Drug & Gene Delivery with Predictive AI
• Andre Watson, Ligandal
Is AI the New Drug or the New Therapeutic Modality
• Chair: Alex Morgan, Khosla Ventures
• Michael J. Kahana, Nia Therapeutics
• Marc Tessier-Lavigne, Xaira
