Biotech brings together medicine, AI, regenerative technologies, digital diagnostics, neuroscience, rare-disease innovation, space medicine and women-led scientific leadership. The Biotech Path is not limited to one panel or one stage - it runs across the Summit as a broader journey through the future of human health: from novel biomaterials and tissue regeneration to digital phenotyping, drug rediscovery, computational biology, CRISPR, medtech and AI-to-clinic translation. It also connects naturally with the Space Path, where the key question becomes: how far can the human body go - and what technologies will help it survive, adapt and heal under extreme conditions?

This path features leading scientists, innovators, founders, researchers and institutions from the Polish and international biotech and life-science ecosystem, including the International Institute of Molecular Mechanisms and Machines, Rezon Bio, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology, BioInMed, Sunny BioDiscovery, Stanford University School of Medicine, BioForum, Wojsiat, Cracow University of Technology, SoftServe, Pikralida, Poznań University of Technology, AGO Alliance Poland, Roche, Bayer, ESA, the German Aerospace Center, AGH University of Science and Technology, LunAres and the Polish Astrobiology Society.

A major highlight of the path is the Top 100 Women in Biotech in Poland initiative - a dedicated programme celebrating women who are shaping biotechnology, bioinformatics, synthetic biology, medical research, education, entrepreneurship and innovation. The initiative culminates at the Summit with the Top 100 Women in Biotech in Poland Gala, where the Top 10 women will be honoured for their contribution to the future of life sciences and innovation.

Biotechnology is becoming one of the key languages of the future. It is changing how we understand the body, how we design therapies, how we diagnose disease, how we regenerate tissues, how we work with health data and how we prepare humans for extreme environments — including deep space.

At the Summit, the Biotech Path shows this transformation from several angles:

• medicine becoming programmable - through CRISPR, computational biology, mRNA vaccines and AI-to-clinic translation;

• the body becoming data - through digital phenotyping, wearables, speech analysis and machine-learning-supported diagnostics;

• materials becoming therapeutic tools - through biomaterials, implant coatings, regenerative polymers and patient-specific medical technologies;

• patients becoming innovation systems - especially in rare diseases, where families and patient organisations often connect researchers, biotech companies, clinicians, regulators and funders;

• space becoming a laboratory for human health - through radiation protection, isolation, oxygen deprivation and the limits of human endurance;

• women becoming visible leaders of biotech - through the Top 100 Women in Biotech in Poland initiative.

This is a path for everyone who wants to understand where medicine, biology, AI and deep tech are really heading.

Event-by-event guide

10 June,

09:00–09:10 Engineering the Future of Medicine: Novel Biomaterials Tissue Regeneration

Stage: Sci/Eng Stage
Speaker: Dagmara Słota, Assistant, Cracow University of Technology
Agenda link: https://womenintechsummit.pl/agenda/event/engineering-the-future-of-medicine-novel-biomaterials-tissue-regeneration

This session opens the Biotech Path with a strong focus on biomaterials, tissue regeneration and personalised medicine. Dagmara Słota will present recent advances in multifunctional biomaterials and their potential applications in regenerative therapies, with particular attention to bone and osteochondral tissue regeneration.

The talk will cover bioactive bone cements, multifunctional implant coatings and advanced biomaterials for replacing bone and cartilage defects. It will also explore the role of nanotechnology in modern medicine, including the question of whether gold nanoparticles can help track the distribution of anticancer drugs in the body and support more precise targeted therapies.

This is biotech at the point where materials engineering meets medicine. It shows how the next generation of treatments may depend not only on drugs, but also on smart, bioactive, patient-specific materials designed to repair and regenerate the body.

09:35–10:15 Where Can Humans Go Next? Testing the Limits of Human Endurance in Extreme Environments

Stage: Sci/Eng Stage
Speakers: Aleksandra Rutczyńska, Senior Software Engineer, Artemis Mission, German Aerospace Center
Agata Harasymczuk, Assistant Professor at Faculty of Space Technologies, AGH University of Science and Technology
Agata Mintus, Chief Operations Officer and Science Lead, LunAres
Izabela Świca, Member of the Board, Polish Astrobiology Society
Moderator: Weronika Boguś, Co-founder, AstroYouth
Agenda link: https://womenintechsummit.pl/agenda/event/where-can-humans-go-next-testing-the-limits-of-human-endurance-in-extreme-environments

This is where the Biotech Path meets the Space Path. The panel explores how the human body and brain respond to extreme environments: isolation, pressure, radiation, oxygen deprivation and other conditions that define both deep spaceflight and life on Earth’s edges. It brings together perspectives from physiology, space technologies, analogue missions, astrobiology and human endurance research.

Why it matters:
The future of space exploration depends not only on rockets, satellites and engineering systems. It also depends on biology. Before we send humans farther than ever before, we need to understand how the body adapts, breaks down, protects itself and survives under extreme stress.

Best angle:
Where space tests the human body, biotech learns how to protect, repair and extend it.

10 June, 10:00–10:20

Meet us: Bayer

Stage: Career Stage
Speaker: Bogusław Tobiasz, VP, Head of Digital Hub, Bayer
Agenda link: https://womenintechsummit.pl/agenda/event/meet-us-bayer

This Career Stage session is a useful touchpoint for participants interested in the life-science, pharma and digital transformation side of biotech. Bayer’s presence connects the path with real career opportunities in a global science-driven organisation operating at the intersection of health, agriculture, data and technology.

Why it matters:
A strong biotech ecosystem needs not only researchers and founders, but also digital hubs, product teams, data experts, engineers and transformation leaders working inside global life-science organisations.

Best angle:
A career entry point for those interested in life sciences, pharma and digital innovation.

10 June, 10:10–10:30

With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility: How to Grow and Innovate in the Middle of AI Revolution

Stage: Main Stage
Speaker: Paulina Święcicka, Global Head of Data Management and Data Quality Platforms, Roche
Agenda link: https://womenintechsummit.pl/agenda/event/with-great-power-comes-great-responsibility-how-to-grow-and-innovate-in-the-middle-of-ai-revolution

This keynote belongs to the AI track, but it is highly relevant to the broader biotech and life-science story. Paulina Święcicka leads global data management and data quality platforms at Roche, where AI-driven data management, R&D software innovation, data FAIRness and data quality are essential for patient safety, scientific breakthroughs and regulatory compliance.

Why it matters:
Modern biotech and medicine increasingly depend on high-quality data. Without trustworthy, interoperable and well-governed data, there is no reliable AI, no scalable research infrastructure and no safe path from discovery to patient impact.

Best angle:
The future of biotech will be built not only in laboratories, but also on trusted data, AI systems and digital foundations for research and patient safety.

10 June, 15:35–15:45

ARTEMIS II Speaker — Anna Fogtman

Stage: Main Stage
Speaker: Anna Fogtman, Radiation Protection Operations Lead, ESA
Agenda link: https://womenintechsummit.pl/agenda/event/artemis-ii-speaker-anna-fogtman

Anna Fogtman’s keynote is another crucial bridge between Biotech Path and Space Path. As Radiation Protection Operations Lead at the European Space Agency, she helps keep astronauts safe on the International Space Station and prepares for future missions to the Moon and beyond.

Her work sits at the intersection of space medicine, radiation science, engineering and human exploration. It includes crew dosimetry, shielding, astronaut training, operational tools and international radiation protection standards.

Why it matters:
Radiation is one of the biggest biological and medical challenges of human space exploration. Space medicine is therefore one of the most extreme laboratories for the future of human health.

Best angle:
Space medicine shows what happens when human biology meets one of the most hostile environments imaginable.

10 June, 18:10–18:50

The Rewritten Body: Medicine, AI, and the End of Natural? Biotech in the Age of Breakthrough

Stage: Main Stage
Speakers:
Agnieszka Chacińska, Director, International Institute of Molecular Mechanisms and Machines
Adriana Kiędzierska-Mencfeld, CEO, Rezon Bio
Ziemowit Sławiński, PhD Student, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology
Marta Winiarska, President of the Board, BioInMed
Moderator: Magda Gacyk, Journalist & Author, Radio 357
Agenda link: https://womenintechsummit.pl/agenda/event/the-rewritten-body-medicine-ai-and-the-end-of-natural-biotech-in-the-age-of-breakthrough

This is the central Main Stage moment of the Biotech Path.

The panel explores a major technology-driven shift already transforming medicine. Gene editing has moved from concept to regulated medicine, while biology is becoming increasingly computable. The conversation will touch on CRISPR, CASGEVY, AlphaFold 3, personalised mRNA cancer vaccines, computational biology, bioprocess engineering, medtech and AI-to-clinic translation.

The key question is not whether biotech will change medicine. The key question is which code-to-cure breakthroughs will reach patients first — and what Europe must do to help build that future, rather than simply import it.

Why it matters:
This panel brings together the strongest themes of the entire path: AI, biology, medicine, regulation, clinical translation and the future of the human body. It is the Summit’s core conversation about biotech as a force capable of rewriting how medicine works.

Best angle:
When biology becomes computable, medicine starts becoming programmable.

10 June, 19:00–19:45

Top 100 Women in Biotech in Poland Gala

Stage: Main Stage
Speakers / participants:
Krzysztof Bojanowski, CEO, Sunny BioDiscovery
Agnieszka Chacińska, Director, International Institute of Molecular Mechanisms and Machines
Agnieszka Czechowicz, Assistant Professor, Stanford University School of Medicine
Joanna Liliental, Executive Director, Stanford University School of Medicine
Adriana Kiędzierska-Mencfeld, CEO, Rezon Bio
Aleksandra Kubica-Misztal, CEO, BioForum
Bianka Siwińska, President, Perspektywy Education Foundation
Joanna Wojsiat, Science Educator, Wojsiat
Agenda link: https://womenintechsummit.pl/agenda/event/top-100-women-in-biotech-in-poland-gala
Top 100 initiative: https://womenintechsummit.pl/top-100-women

The Gala is the visibility and recognition highlight of the Biotech Path. It celebrates the Top 10 Women in Biotech in Poland, selected from the broader Top 100 list, and honours women shaping the future of biotechnology, bioinformatics, synthetic biology and medical research.

The wider Top 100 initiative recognises women working across the biotech sector: leaders, innovators, entrepreneurs, researchers, educators and advocates. It aims not only to honour their achievements, but also to inspire future generations to pursue careers in science, research and innovation.

Why it matters:
The future of Polish biotech is not abstract. It has names, faces, institutions, companies, laboratories and real achievements. The Gala turns that ecosystem into a visible story of leadership, excellence and impact.

Best angle:
The future of Polish biotech has names, faces and women leading it.

11 June, 09:00–09:15

Multimodal Digital Phenotyping of Human Health Across the Lifespan

Stage: Sci/Eng Stage
Speaker: Daria Hemmerling, R&D Expert, SoftServe
Agenda link: https://womenintechsummit.pl/agenda/event/multimodal-digital-phenotyping-of-human-health-across-the-lifespan

This session shows how data and technology can help us understand health not only in the doctor’s office, but also in everyday life. Daria Hemmerling will explain how multimodal digital phenotyping captures subtle signals from the human body by combining data from wearable devices, immersive environments and speech analysis.

The talk will include studies analysing children’s speech at the level of individual sounds to better understand communicative development, as well as work on heart sounds supported by machine learning to help detect congenital defects at an early stage.

Why it matters:
This is the future of diagnostics: more continuous, more accessible, more data-informed and more human-centred. It shows the body as a source of signals that can be interpreted through AI, sensors and interdisciplinary research.

Best angle:
The body becomes a data source — and diagnostics may become continuous.

11 June, 09:20–09:35

Your Neurons Don’t Care About Being Smart

Stage: Sci/Eng Stage
Speaker: Ziemowit Sławiński, PhD Student, Nencki Institute of Experimental Biology
Agenda link: https://womenintechsummit.pl/agenda/event/your-neurons-dont-care-about-being-smart

This talk connects neuroscience, biology and AI. It starts from a simple but powerful idea: neurons are not trying to be “smart”; they are trying to stay alive. They fire, adapt and balance their own chemistry. Intelligence emerges as a side effect when billions of cells do their biological housekeeping at the same time.

The talk traces the journey from molecules to minds to machines and asks what biological neurons and artificial neural networks still have to teach each other.

Why it matters:
Biotech is increasingly linked with neuroscience, computation and AI. This session helps participants understand the living biological foundation behind one of the most influential metaphors in modern technology: the neural network.

Best angle:
Before machines became “neural”, biological neurons had already mastered adaptation, complexity and survival.

11 June, 10:00–10:15

Innovative Therapies Through Drug Rediscovery

Stage: Sci/Eng Stage
Speaker: Joanna Lipner, Co-founder, Managing Director, Pikralida
Agenda link: https://womenintechsummit.pl/agenda/event/innovative-therapies-through-drug-rediscovery

This session focuses on drug rediscovery: the idea that some of the most promising therapeutic breakthroughs may begin by looking again at existing compounds. Instead of always searching for entirely new molecules, biotech can also re-examine, repurpose and develop known compounds into new therapeutic opportunities more efficiently and strategically.

Why it matters:
Drug rediscovery is a pragmatic and powerful model of biotech innovation. It can shorten development paths, reduce risk and open new therapeutic possibilities by using what science already knows in smarter ways.

Best angle:
Sometimes the next therapy is hidden in what science already knows.

11 June, 10:50–11:00

More than biodegradable: How advanced polymeric materials are shaping the future of healthcare and sustainability

Stage: Sci/Eng Stage
Speaker: Monika Dobrzyńska-Mizera, Assistant Professor, Poznań University of Technology
Agenda link: https://womenintechsummit.pl/agenda/event/more-than-biodegradable-how-advanced-polymeric-materials-are-shaping-the-future-of-healthcare-and-sustainability

This presentation explores the role of polymer materials in both biomedical technologies and sustainable packaging solutions. In the healthcare context, it focuses on polymeric-based materials used for implantation systems, including their biocompatibility, resorbability and precisely tailored mechanical and functional properties.

These features enable the development of patient-specific solutions for regenerative medicine and next-generation medical devices.

Why it matters:
The future of medicine will depend not only on molecules and algorithms, but also on materials. Advanced polymers can support regenerative medicine, improve implant systems and help create medical devices that are more functional, personalised and sustainable.

Best angle:
Advanced polymers connect regenerative medicine, medical devices and sustainability.

11 June, 16:30–16:45

Do rare diseases happen often? One-person pharma: Why Patients Are Rewriting Innovation

Stage: Sci/Eng Stage
Speaker: Aldona Chmielewska, President, AGO Alliance Poland
Agenda link: https://www.womenintechsummit.pl/agenda/event/do-rare-diseases-happen-often-one-person-pharma-why-patients-are-rewriting-innovation

This is one of the most powerful human-impact sessions of the Biotech Path. Aldona Chmielewska will speak about patient-led innovation and the growing role of patients and families as agile innovation hubs.

After hearing the word “incurable”, she founded AGO Alliance Poland and began operating as a one-person “pharma company”: connecting researchers, biotech companies, regulators, clinicians and patient communities to accelerate access to treatments for ultra-rare diseases.

Why it matters:
In rare diseases, time is the scarcest resource. This talk shows biotech not as an abstract industry, but as a system that can be pushed, accelerated and rebuilt by patients and families who cannot afford to wait.

Best angle:
In rare diseases, patients are becoming innovation systems.

Recommended route through the Biotech Path

Full Biotech Path

10 June

• 09:00 — Engineering the Future of Medicine: Novel Biomaterials Tissue Regeneration

• 09:35 — Where Can Humans Go Next? Testing the Limits of Human Endurance in Extreme Environments

• 10:00 — Meet us: Bayer

• 10:10 — With Great Power Comes Great Responsibility: How to Grow and Innovate in the Middle of AI Revolution

• 15:35 — ARTEMIS II Speaker — Anna Fogtman

• 18:10 — The Rewritten Body: Medicine, AI, and the End of Natural?

• 19:00 — Top 100 Women in Biotech in Poland Gala

11 June

• 09:00 — Multimodal Digital Phenotyping of Human Health Across the Lifespan

• 09:20 — Your Neurons Don’t Care About Being Smart

• 10:00 — Innovative Therapies Through Drug Rediscovery

• 10:50 — More than biodegradable: Advanced polymeric materials

• 16:30 — One-person pharma: Why Patients Are Rewriting Innovation

The strongest message

Biotech at the Summit is not just about laboratories. It is a story about the rewritten body, programmable medicine, AI-driven discovery, regenerative materials, digital diagnostics, rare diseases and space medicine.

Follow the Biotech Path to see how cells, code, data, materials and human endurance are shaping the next era of healthcare — and how women are leading that future.