EVERYTHING you always wanted to know about Digital Data Management
The PLA® Conferences offer a program that provide insights into digital laboratory transformation in addition to sharing real-world stories.
The PLA® always draws attention to the key success factors for the realisation of Digital Transformation Initiatives:
- Enable connectivity and automation for seamless access to data
- Embrace the potential of latest technologies available
- Develop people digital mindset and drive innovation
- Navigate the solutions that the lab informatics industry offers today
- Build on a vision of collaboration and partnerships with vendors

Keynote presentations & Panel Discussions
The PLA offers a program with a comprehensive storyline on how to master your edata lifecycle and what to consider when defining your strategies for digital transformation.
Learn from the experiences of industry though leaders and matter experts, discuss your own projects with them. Delve into the requirements for your processes, your people, and your data to achieve your paperless goals.

Deep Dive Product & Interactive Workshops
Our sponsors host special breakdown sessions in the form of workshops or roundtables. As subject matter experts, they bring their latest solutions (products and/or services) and share with you their experience and knowledge to support your specific needs.

Networking with the Experts
The Paperless Lab Academy® brings multiple solution providers in the exhibition hall, and offers you a good understanding of today and future tendencies. An excellent combination of well known international providers of the lab informatics industry and new companies coming with new innovative proposals.
A real showcase room with quality networking opportunities to gather deeper information with your peers, colleagues, presenters and providers.
PLA2025Europe Sponsors & Workshops
PLA2025Europe Speakers & Panellists
Cristina Román
Director of Technical Sales for the Digital Science & Automation Solutions division
Dr. Cristina Román is the current Director of Technical Sales for the Digital Science & Automation Solutions division at Thermo Fisher Scientific. Her scientific background is in Macromolecular and Physical Chemistry. With over 25 years of industry experience, Cristina specializes in digital solutions for laboratories, driving digital transformation, enhancing laboratory operations, and accelerating productivity through secure and connected platforms.
Paolo Concio
Senior Director of Global Commercial for Digital Science & Automation Solutions division
At Thermo Fisher Scientific, Paolo is our Senior Director of Global Commercial for Digital Science & Automation Solutions division, focused on spearheading initiatives that drive laboratory digital transformation. With over 25 years of experience in the LIMS industry and a multilingual command of Spanish, English, and Italian, Paolo seamlessly navigates the pharmaceutical landscape, leveraging my communication training to foster trust and confidence among our diverse clientele
Mimi Virlany Syahputri
Head of Quality Operation
Pharmacist by education. Master of Pharmaceutical Technology from Trinity College Dublin. More than 24 years working in Pharmaceutical/Chemical Industry in Multinational and Local Company.
Strong working experience in Pharmaceutical Industry especially in Quality function. In last 10 years intensively involve in continuous improvement/productivity project. Several of those continuous improvement/productivity projects were on project digitalisation.
Jens Donath
Head Project Management Quality
Highly experienced Quality Manager with strong focus on delivering results with communication skills that enable me to energize and commit people to common goals.
Roberto Castelnovo
Founder, CEO & Chief Scientific Officer
Roberto has spent his entire career in the field of laboratory information management, gaining extensive experience at Applied Biosystems in managing complex sales and service organisations to deliver solutions on an international scale. He has worked in multicultural and global environments, dealing with complex environments and collaborating with product managers, the marketing team, R&D and quality on a global level.
In 2016, the idea of founding Optima was born, as there was an obvious lack of a specialised solution for planning and scheduling lab resources. Roberto has a degree in Computer Science from the University of Milan.
Yuri de Lugt
Global Field Marketing Director
Yuri de Lugt is an accomplished Business and Sales professional with a passion for driving growth and innovation in international organizations. With extensive experience across various industries and roles, Yuri excels in identifying solutions that foster business success and customer satisfaction.
In his role as Global Field Marketing Director at Sapio Sciences, collaborates closely with the Sapio team to expand the customer portfolio and ensure exceptional customer experiences.
Devendra Deshmukh
Head of Strategy, Product Management, Marketing & Partnerships for the Digital Solutions division
Leading strategy, product management, marketing, and the creation of our partner ecosystem for the Digital Service & Automation Solution division at Thermo Fisher Scientific, with a focus on helping accelerate science and drive productivity for our life and laboratory science customers. With over 25 years of experience in managing and scaling global teams and businesses, Devendra has extensive knowledge of delivering customer-centric solutions and driving operational excellence in growth-oriented businesses.
Shaun Latham
Data Scientist
Shaun is an experienced pharmaceutical research scientist specialising in Data Science & Process Analytical Technology. now working at Zontal as Presales data scientist. Previously as senior scientist, process analytical technologies at Pfizer.
He is has a Master degree in biotechnology and bioengineering from the university of Kent, UK.
Gaia Valsecchi
Quality Control Delivery Specialist
Graduated in Chemistry from the University of Pavia in 2016. After several years of experience as a Quality Control Laboratory Analyst in the pharmaceutical field, at the third-party laboratory LabAnalysis starting in
2016, and then at Lusochimica Lodi, a company of the Menarini Group. From 2020 she focused particularly on laboratory activities supporting the execution of analyses: instrumental and software qualifications, procedural writing, and method validation. Since May 2024, she has been Quality Control Delivery Specialist in the Corporate Menarini team.
Francesca Maienza
Head of Corporate Quality Control
Francesca hold the position of Head of Corporate Quality Control at the Menarini Group . Previously, she assumed the role of Chemical Lab Quality Control Manager in Italfarmaco, Milano plant. In the following years her career in the field of quality control advanced, first as QC Analytical Validation Manager and then as QC Manager for various companies, such as Roche Segrate, Farmila-Thea Settimo Milanese, Teva Nerviano.
Francesca graduated in Chemistry in Milano and obtained a doctorate in Organic Chemistry at the ETH in Zurich.
Frank Sicherl-Birk
Program Lead Digital Lab @ RDS R&D
Frank is nowadays the Global R&D Program Lead Digitalisation at Roche Diagnostics. Previously Director Chemistry R&D Process Technologies with focus on process development and mid to large scale synthesis.
Previously project lead of eLN implementation.
Jean-Michel Romnee
maître de recherches / Research manager
Since the lates 90´s, he is involved in the implementation and management of quality systems (ISO17025, GLP, ISO17043, …) within the various units. Jean-Michel is involved in setting up a digital platform for the overall management of CRAW´s activities, whether in the form of certified or non-certified services, research activities or the management of plant and other collections.
Daniele Fraioli
Group Industrial Operations Pharma Manufacturing SPC Direction. QC Manager
Daniele Fraioli has a degree in Industrial Chemistry from the University of Milan. He has more than 25 years of experience in Pharma regulated industry, most of them as Quality Control responsible. He collaborate also with the University of Milan and Pavia. Currently, inside Recordati Pharma Manufacturing SPC Direction, he is responsible of the Quality Control of Milano Plant.
Nessa Carson
Associate Principal Scientist. Digital Champion
She aims to inspire collaboration between diverse functional teams for mutual benefits. To this end, she is working regularly with other departments including IT, discovery sciences, sourcing, and others. Creating bespoke, interactive data visualizations to effectively communicate dependent variable (multi)parameter relationships.
Samantha Pearman-Kanza
Senior Enterprise Fellow
Samantha is a Senior Enterprise Fellow at the University of Southampton, and a Pathfinder Lead on Process Recording for the Physical Sciences Data Infrastructure Initiative. She is part of the AIChemy Hub Team (run out of Imperial College London and the University of Liverpool), working on process recording and data management, and also coordinate the Future Blood Testing Network run out of the University of Reading.
Christine Mladek
Head of Global QC Network Management
Christine has extensive experience in leading different teams and extensive experience in analytics and quality control (also as an auditor and consultant). Christine has also experience in quality assurance, regulatory affairs and project management. Actually, she is Head of global QC Network Management (Human Pharma) at Boehringer Ingelheim.
Gabriele Magarò
Solution Engineer
Gabriele Magaro’ is a Solutions Engineer at Sapio Sciences, helping Scientists streamline their workflows. Over the last 6 years he has been using his extensive experience gained in the lab within Drug Discovery programs to support organizations in getting more value out of their data and obtain results faster. Gabriele holds a master’s degree in Chemistry from the University of Rome “La Sapienza” and has built up more than a decade of experience in Drug Discovery programs in CNS, inflammation and infectious diseases.
Alessio Tremolada
IT Laboratory Solutions Consulting & Innovation Manager
Alessio´job experience started in the laboratories where he liked to execute and innovate the analytical chemistry processes. He spent more than 20 years in SGS moving from lab technician, to manager for the Environmental laboratory business in Italy, to global technical manager for the same division, adding also the responsibility of business IT manager. When SGS started one of the most important IT program for the company, named “Digital Laboratory” Alessio had the role of Global Process Owner for the about 1.000 laboratories operating many sectors.
Carlos Emilio Rosas
Global Business Development Manager, Software Solutions
With an industrial engineering education and a keen interest in processes, software, and facilitation; he focuses on solutions for Data Governance, Data Integrity, workflow guidance and efficiencies. He helps businesses and their laboratories to reach the Paperless Lab goals by integrating benchtop instruments into the lab ecosystem with LabX as part of its Digital Transformation. He is member of a team providing consulting, seminars, and training on solutions that support Data Integrity within the Production, QC and R&D environment.
Gunnar Zoch
Master Data Lead Global LIMS
Gunnar Zoch is today the Master Data Lead Global LIMS at Lonza Visp and previously Innovation Manager. Focus on digitalisation projects in the QC labs with automation support, ranging from lab planning software implementations, programming apps for everyday use to worldwide prototype robotic projects.
Bob McDowall
Director
An analytical chemist with 50 years of experience, including working in the pharmaceutical industry for 15 years and afterward working for the industry as a consultant for 29 years. Bob has been involved with the automation of laboratories since 1980 and has over 35 years experience of validation of computerized systems and is the author of a book on the validation of chromatography data systems. His latest book is Data Integrity and Data Governance….

HOTEL NH MILANO 2
WHERE
Strada di Olgia Nuova, Segrate
eMail:nhmilano2@nh-hotels.com
Tel:+39 02 21751
Website: www.nh-hotels.com/en/hotel/nh-milano-2
DISTANCES
Nearest Metro Station Cascina Gobba
Nearest Bus Stop 925
20 minutes taxi from Linate Airport
WHEN
PLA2025 Europe starts on March 18 2025, 09:30 am to March 19 2025, 16:00 pm.
Event Checkin desk opens from 16:00 to 20:00 on March 17 and from 08:30 on the event days.
EVENT BADGE IS REQUIRED AT ALL SESSIONS

ROOM BOOKING
Benefit of the special discount for PLA2025Europe Attendees
Note: Hotel Discount available for limited time : https://www.nh-hotels.com/en/event/pla-conference-2025-europe
Alternatively Contact: nhmilano2@nh-hotels.com | tel number: +39 02 21751
Reasons to attend
- A 2-day conference about digital lab transformation strategies and enhancing your company digital mindset
- A 2-day conference about listening, learning, interacting with industry leaders and executives from international companies who share their experiences and strategies
- A content-rich, non-commercial plenary session
- Multiple interactive workshops and panel discussions
- Excellent opportunities to network, interact and learn
- A unique opportunity to connect with key software and service solution providers
- Free registrations for visitors
Reasons to sponsor
- Solid international reputation
- Exhibition & sponsored workshops opportunities
- 90% of attendees involved in a digitalisation project
- 80% of attendees with budget allocated
- 75% of attendees actively looking for new solutions
- Multiple Open Networking Sessions
- Possibilities to own and lead a one-hour workshop, product intro session, round table discussion
- Active promotions of our partners activities through the WW PLA community
- Collaboration for additional marketing activities along the year
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