Christine Allen

Professor, University of Toronto; Co-founder and CEO, Intrepid Labs
With a career spanning research and entrepreneurship, Christine’s work has helped advance the development of new drug delivery systems, including nanotechnologies and novel formulations that enhance the performance of therapies. Her integration of machine learning and robotics into drug formulation design has enabled a data-driven approach that minimizes reliance on traditional trial-and-error methods. She is also a fellow of the Canadian Academy of Health Sciences with more than 170 publications and numerous patents.
“For too long, we’ve accepted the high cost of R&D and the staggering failure rate in drug development. It doesn’t have to be this way. Technological advancements, such as AI, robotics, and data science, are transforming other industries. Why not us? We have an incredible opportunity to reimagine drug development, and we need to critically examine every stage of the drug development process to identify areas that are ripe for transformation.”