Implementing Digital Analytical Methods: Foundation for Laboratory Automation, Frictionless Tech Transfer, and AI-Driven Innovation
Webinar Overview
Digitizing analytical methods is more than a technical upgrade, it is a foundational step toward fully automated laboratories and AI-enabled decision-making in pharmaceutical and biotech R&D. By moving from manual transcription to standardized, machine-readable methods, organizations unlock new possibilities for greater data integrity, end-to-end workflow orchestration, advanced analytics, and predictive modeling. But achieving this requires more than technology adoption: it demands careful planning, cross-functional alignment, and a clear strategy for regulatory compliance and change management.
This panel will focus on the practical realities of implementation and the long-term opportunities it creates. Discussion topics will include:
- What should be included in a machine-readable digital analytical method (materials, equipment, lab instructions, parameters, calculations, references, etc.)?
- Strategies for integrating machine-readable methods with workflow orchestration, robotics, automated sample handling and instrument data systems.
- Preparing data pipelines to support AI/ML applications such as predictive method optimization, anomaly detection, and autonomous lab orchestration.
- How to pilot and scale digital analytical methods within existing IT and informatics ecosystems. Where are the opportunities to “rethink” the current methods transfer process?
- Managing organizational change: educating staff, adapting SOPs, and building trust in digital systems.
- Navigating regulatory and data-integrity expectations as methods transition into digital, automated environments.
Attendees will leave with a roadmap for not only implementing digital analytical methods today but also leveraging it as a steppingstone toward the labs of the future, where automation and AI amplify productivity, compliance, and scientific discovery.
This event was originally hosted by the Community for Analytical Measurement Science (CAMS) as part of FutureLab: Chemistry in the Digital Age Online Webinar Week. To learn more about CAMS, visit CAMS-UK.
Thursday, October 16th, 2025
09:00 EDT | 14:00 GMT
Speakers
Vincent Antonucci
Product Line Leader at Merck & Co
Vincent Antonucci has spent >30 yrs in pharmaceutical R&D in scientific, regulatory, and digital leadership roles at Merck & Co, Inc. Vinny has been an active participant in pre-competitive collaborations that merge science, technology, and digital standards for ~15 yrs and is passionate about the impact these collaborations can have when industry works closely together on the right problems. Currently, Vinny is co-chair of Allotrope Foundation, a not for profit organization whose mission is to accelerate scientific innovation through application of public semantic data standards to real world problems in the life sciences. The goal is to consistently contextualize, structure, and represent data within and across data domains to robustly connect data and reduce time to insights.
Azzedine Dabo
Senior Principal Scientist at GSK
Azzedine Dabo is a Senior Principal Scientist at GSK with focus in chromatography separation techniques including reverse phase HPLC, UPLC, Insilco modelling and machine learning retention time prediction in the pharmaceutical industry and presented his work at over 30 conferences globally. Azzedine holds a BSc in Biological chemistry from Aston University (Birmingham, UK), M.Sc. in Analytical Science and Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry from University of Warwick (Coventry, UK) and currenting studying and Global MBA at Warwick Business School (Coventry, UK). He also a member of Analytical Science Community Council of the Royal Society of Chemistry.
Dr. Gang Xue
Senior Director at Johnson & Johnson
Dr. Gang Xue is Senior Director at Johnson & Johnson, where he currently leads the Global Data Integration & Modeling within the Therapeutic Development & Supply function. He earned a B.S. in Chemistry and a B.E. in Computer Science from Tsinghua University, followed by a Ph.D. in Analytical Chemistry from Iowa State University. Dr. Xue's team is dedicated to harnessing digital technology to drive CMC innovation, transforming the development and delivery of life-changing medicines. They focus on building comprehensive end-to-end data infrastructure to facilitate data-driven product and process development, utilizing structured data capture, semantic data aggregation, and advanced data analytics. Another key focus for Dr. Xue's team involves implementing a cross-modality PAT strategy, which supports both process design space exploration during development and advanced process control in manufacturing. As a founding member of the Allotrope Foundation, Dr. Xue has also contributed to a number of data standardization and ontology development initiatives such as Allotrope Foundation Ontology (AFO), Pistoia IDMP and the CMC Process Ontology projects. Before his current role, he garnered over 20 years of experience in Analytical Development, Lab Informatics, and Lab Automation, having worked as a Scientific Director at Amgen and as an Associate Research Fellow at Pfizer.
Dr. Mark Sleeper
Principal Scientist at GSK
Dr. Mark Sleeper is a Principal Scientist in GSK’s Digital Analytical Platforms Team (DAP-US) specializing in Data Standardization and Surfacing, Ux Development, and Dashboard Visualizations. He earned his Ph.D. in Chemistry from Duke University and went on to spend several years conducting pharmaceutical method development and validation. Mark currently works with the DAP US and UK teams to improve data acquisition, surfacing, and analysis on GSK’s global Open-Access HPLC fleet through software-based automation. He is also the Business System Owner for GSK’s implementation of ZONTAL’s Methods DB which is currently deployed to the Open-Access fleet.
Wolfgang Colsman
CEO at ZONTAL
With nearly 30 years of visionary leadership, Wolfgang Colsman serves as the Chief Executive Officer of ZONTAL, a pioneering enterprise platform for information lifecycle management and digital archiving. Under his guidance, ZONTAL has emerged as a leader in scalable digital solutions, revolutionizing information management across industries. Prior to founding ZONTAL, Wolfgang held key leadership roles at OSTHUS, where he served as the Chief Innovation Officer and Chief Technology Officer for over two decades. At OSTHUS, he spearheaded digitalization initiatives, driving innovation and shaping the company’s trajectory as a vendor-agnostic service provider.
In addition to his corporate leadership, Wolfgang has played a pivotal role in advancing industry-wide standards through his technical leadership at the Allotrope Foundation and the Pistoia Alliance Methods Hub project. His contributions have helped establish interoperable frameworks and collaborative ecosystems that accelerate innovation, improve data accessibility, and drive digital transformation across the life sciences and beyond. Wolfgang’s tenure in executive roles underscores his commitment to technological advancement and strategic growth, making him a respected figure in the digital landscape.
Anna Codina, Ph.D.
Senior Director Strategy and Business Development, SciYAnna has a degree in Chemistry and a Ph.D. in Protein NMR from the University of Barcelona, Spain. She undertook her post-doc in protein NMR at the MRC Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge, UK, and following that worked in the Analytical R&D department of Pfizer for seven years, becoming proficient in low level impurity structure elucidation, reaction monitoring, qNMR and the preparation of regulatory documentation. She received a Pfizer Worldwide Achievement Award for the implementation of reaction monitoring by NMR in an open access environment.
She joined Bruker in 2011 and had different roles since including Material Characterisation Laboratory Manager, Product Portfolio Manager and for several years was in charge of driving the Biopharmaceutical business at Bruker BioSpin. Anna recently moved to SciY as Senior Director of Strategy and Business Development.