RExPO24: Bringing together the leading voices in Systems Medicine, AI and Drug Repurposing
The 3rd edition of our international series of conferences dedicated to Systems Medicine, Artificial Intelligence and Drug Repurposing took place in Munich on 3-5 July 2024.
Hosted at Die Macherei, the design offices located at the heart of the Bavarian capital, this year’s edition welcomed 111 attendees from all over the world — from Spain and the UK, all the way to Australia and the US. Professors, researchers, clinicians, policy-makers, startup founders and patient representatives gathered in Munich for the 3-day conference to meet with some of the leading voices driving the current paradigm shifts in medicine.
Throughout 10 sessions, a total of 40 speakers stepped on the stage to introduce the latest research and innovation shaping the medical, pharmaceutical and healthcare landscapes. Moreover, attendees got the chance to enjoy an Honorary Lecture by David Cavalla, one of the pioneering figures in drug repurposing, and meet the next generation of drug researchers through the 10 poster presentations given by young investigators.
Unveiling the forces behind drug repurposing — from rare disease research to computational data science
For the first day of the conference, we paired up with the Bavarian Biotech Cluster Development (BioM) for a handover session, which marked the end of their BayOConnect Forum for Biotech & Life Science and the beginning of RExPO24. BioM’s Ralf Huss passed the mic to our conference co-chairs, Harald Schmidt (REPO4EU Project Coordinator & Professor at Maastricht University) and Jennifer Martin (Professor at University of Newcastle) to lead the way into the first session of the conference, dedicated to exploring the potential of AI & Drug Repurposing for Precision Medicine.
The second day of RExPO24 opened up with a full session and panel discussion focused on one of the biggest topics currently being discussed in medicine and healthcare globally: rare diseases. Following an introduction from Monica Ensini, Scientific Officer at European Health and Digital Executive Agency (HaDEA), the speakers shed light on the importance of involving rare diseases in all drug repurposing efforts; according to many attendees, it was particularly inspiring to hear directly from patient organizations on how they’re driving further action and awareness on behalf of the more than 300 million people who live with a rare disease worldwide.
The following sessions of Day 2 covered a wide spectrum of topics related to scientific innovation in medicine and healthcare, including: alternative therapies for cancer patients, the use of multi-omics data and Artificial Intelligence for personalized medicine, and so much more! As one of the official sponsors for this year’s conference, AstraZeneca led a session focused on the value of clinical data for the advancement of precision medicine, spotlighting how their Open Innovation programme is bridging the gap between academia and industry research. To close the day, our session on regulatory and reimbursement challenges for drug repurposing opened a window into some of the most crucial questions currently being tackled: How can we break the market-entry barriers for repurposed drugs to bring them to the patients?
RExPO24 finished on its third day with the last three sessions of the conference: the first one presented novel diagnosis and treatment strategies for neurodegenerative and neuromuscular diseases following a systems medicine approach; the last two explored how we can foster transdisciplinary collaborations to ensure we reach a sustainable and robust framework for mechanism-based drug repurposing, and the role of EU Research Infrastructures in bringing us closer to this ambitious goal.
All the conference abstracts are now available on Drug Repurposing Central, REPO4EU’s online open-access platform powered by ScienceOpen.
A new dawn for interdisciplinary collaborations: introducing the Drug Repurposing Journal
One of the key aspects of the RExPO conference series is networking, bringing people together from across the entire medical and healthcare ecosystem to exchange knowledge and inspire new collaborations that can bring along positive change to patients, clinicians and researchers.
In light of this philosophy, and taking advantage of having so many peers gathered in the same room, we were thrilled to launch the inaugural edition of our Drug Repurposing Journal. Created in collaboration with ScienceOpen, the aim is to provide an interdisciplinary and cross-sectional overview of the various fields of research and applied sciences that work together in drug repurposing projects – and hopefully empower many new ones!
Sounds interesting?
Learn more about this exciting milestone in this blog article by ScienceOpen
Introducing DrugRxiv: A Preprint Server Tailored for the Drug Repurposing Community
About DrugRxiv
DrugRxiv is a pioneering preprint server specifically designed for the drug Rrepurposing community, and one of the key collections under Drug Repurposing Central, our publishing portal. DrugRxiv serves as an open community resource, enabling researchers to share early-stage results in the field of drug repurposing easily and openly.
A preprint is an early version of a scientific manuscript and also a powerful tool that authors can now share publicly online before undergoing formal peer review. This practice, a cornerstone of Open Science, accelerates the spread of research findings, fostering open access and peer review. In general, preprints can be posted:
- before article submission to encourage open reviews and improve the paper’s quality before it is officially submitted,
- at the point of submission to a journal to make results available during the sometimes long peer review process, or
- at the time of publication as a postprint to make an open access version available.
The DrugRxiv submission system is uniquely equipped with automated checks to ensure scientific rigor and originality. SciScore evaluates the scientific quality, while Crossref performs similarity checks, aligning with the Open Science Strategy outlined for REPO4EU. Although currently funded and managed by REPO4EU, DrugRxiv is accessible to all researchers within the drug repurposing field.
Looking for a Premier Publishing Portal for Drug Repurposing Research?
Created as a joint enterprise by REPO4EU and ScienceOpen, Drug Repurposing Central is the premier publishing portal for researchers specializing in drug repurposing, network medicine and precision healthcare. Our portal provides a comprehensive list of resources collating the latest research, and offers multiple publication channels, including preprints, journal articles, conference abstracts, reports, and books.
DrugRxiv, as a cornerstone within Drug Repurposing Central, enhances the portal by allowing researchers to share preliminary findings rapidly. This unique collection supports the drug repurposing community by providing a dedicated space for early results, fostering collaboration and innovation.
Researchers can actively participate in sharing and discussion within an open review environment, powered by ScienceOpen’s innovative discovery infrastructure. Developed under the Horizon Europe project, REPO4EU, which aspires to establish a European Platform for Drug Repurposing with global outreach, Drug Repurposing Central offers unparalleled access to publishing and reading resources at no cost. This portal is steadfast in its commitment to advancing Open Science, ensuring the utmost integrity of research outputs through consistent use of persistent identifiers and XML standards.