Kara Herlihy
Senior Director, Biomolecular Sciences Magnet Biomedicine
Kara Herlihy is Senior Director of Biomolecular Discovery at Magnet Biomedicine and a seasoned drug hunter with deep expertise in preclinical discovery. She has led discovery biology, biochemistry, and biophysics teams across Frontier Medicines, New Equilibrium Biosciences, Syros Pharmaceuticals, and AstraZeneca, driving programs from hit identification through mechanism-of-action studies. Kara is known for designing high-impact assays, enabling fragment-based and antibody screening campaigns, and guiding multidisciplinary teams toward innovative solutions for complex targets. With a track record of strategic leadership and scientific creativity, she brings extensive experience in advancing novel therapeutic modalities and solving challenging discovery problems.
Seminars
Discussion Points Include:
- Explore strategies for prioritizing which biophysical assays to deploy first across diverse target classes
- Discuss how to balance high-throughput screens with deeper mechanistic assays to build confidence in early hits
- Examine how to define “confidence” in binding and progression decisions for challenging modalities, including fragments, PROTACs, intrinsically disordered proteins, and RNA-binding targets
- Share insights into managing conflicting or ambiguous data and deciding which hits to advance
This interactive, session explore the key lessons, tools, and strategies shared across the summit, and invites participants to reflect on what they will take back to their organizations. This session brings together experimentalists, computational biophysicists, and AI specialists to explore the bigger picture providing you the opportunity to have honest conversations with your industry colleagues about the biggest opportunities for biophysics to evolve across discovery, screening, and analytical development.
Key Discussion Themes:
- What did you learn that will meaningfully change your approach to biophysics, in screening, characterization, or developability?
- Which techniques, workflows, or decision-making frameworks will you apply immediately in your own programs?
- Where are the biggest gaps in current biophysical capabilities and what innovations do we want to see from vendors, academia, and internal R&D in the next 3–5 years?
- How can discovery and analytical groups collaborate more effectively to reduce friction, avoid rework, and increase translational success?
- Which complex targets or modalities remain ‘unsolved,’ and what new tools or cross-functional integrations are needed to unlock them?
Blue Sky Thinking & Audience Feedback: What does the ideal future-state biophysical toolbox look like? High-throughput? Label-free? More physiologically relevant? AI-integrated?
Beyond technical expertise, career progression in biophysics-driven drug discovery and development often depends on visibility, networking, and navigating the evolving landscape between academia, biotech, and pharma. This roundtable creates an open forum for early-career scientists to share experiences, ask questions, and gain insights from senior industry and academic leaders.
- Join a candid, interactive discussion with scientists at different career stages sharing their journeys from the bench to leadership
- Gain practical advice on transitioning between academia, biotech, and pharma, and how to build interdisciplinary expertise across biophysics, chemistry, and computation
- Discover strategies for mentorship, visibility, and professional growth to shape your long-term impact in biophysics and drug discovery.
