On October 25, 2025, the 2025 World Laureates Forum (WLF) Life Sciences Conference, jointly organized by the Shanghai Lingang Science and Technology Innovation Development Foundation and Shanghai Jiao Tong University (SJTU), was successfully held at the Lingang Center. As a core component of the World Laureates Forum, this year’s conference, themed “AI-Enabled New Paradigms for Drug and Therapeutics Development,” brought together leading scientists, medical experts, and young researchers from across the globe to explore revolutionary pathways in life sciences.
01 Gathering of World-Leading Minds
The conference was co-chaired by: K. Barry SHARPLESS, two-time Nobel Laureate in Chemistry (2001 & 2022) and Professor at The Scripps Research Institute; Professor DING Kuiling, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) and President of Shanghai Jiao Tong University; Professor FAN Xianqun, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Engineering (CAE), Vice President of SJTU, and Dean of the School of Medicine; Professor E Weinan, Academician of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and Chief Advisor of the SJTU School of Artificial Intelligence.
The conference was hosted by Academician FAN Xianqun, bringing together dozens of senior scientists from around the world and over a hundred outstanding young scholars and students for a high-level, cross-disciplinary exchange.
During the opening ceremony, Professor SHARPLESS and Academician DING delivered keynote remarks.
Professor SHARPLESS emphasized that “the integration of artificial intelligence with traditional drug discovery is revolutionizing medicine, creating a leap from design to development and enabling precision-targeted therapies.”
Academician DING highlighted that AI is becoming a transformative force reshaping research and medical technology development. He stressed that SJTU remains committed to fostering an innovation ecosystem integrating artificial intelligence, medicine, and fundamental sciences to drive scientific translation and technological breakthroughs.
02 Sparks of Scientific Dialogue
During the Keynote Forum, several internationally renowned experts shared frontier research insights and future perspectives.
Academician E Weinan delivered a keynote speech titled “AI-Enabled Scientific Research Infrastructure.” He argued that AI is pushing scientific research paradigms into a new phase, and building AI-driven scientific infrastructure is now imperative.
Speakers also included: Scott D. EMR, Professor at Cornell University and Laureate of the 2025 WLA Prize in Life Science or Medicine; Jeffery FRIEDMAN, 2019 Wolf Prize Laureate, 2020 Breakthrough Prize Laureate, and Member of the WLA Prize Selection Committee for Life Science or Medicine; Professor HONG Liang of Shanghai Jiao Tong University; Wesley I. SUNDQUIST, 2025 WLA Prize Laureate in Life Science or Medicine and Professor at the University of Utah; Professor WU Peng of The Scripps Research Institute; Professor ZHANG Kang, Dean of the Institute of Eye Health and Disease at Wenzhou Medical University.
In the Keynote Roundtable Forum, Academician E Weinan, Professors FRIEDMAN, SUNDQUIST, EMR, and ZHANG Kang engaged in an in-depth discussion centered on how AI can genuinely advance future drug discovery and therapeutic development.
They explored themes such as, the credibility of scientific data, the relationship between mechanistic understanding and AI predictions, and the challenges of scaling AI-driven systems.
The roundtable was moderated by Professor ZHANG Ya, Deputy Dean of the SJTU School of Artificial Intelligence and Executive Deputy Director of the Institute of Medical Artificial Intelligence. The session featured dynamic intellectual exchanges and incisive insights, making it a true feast of high-level academic debate.
03 Illuminating the Power of Youth
In the evening, the Innovation Case Sharing Session was co-hosted by Professor Michael LEVITT, 2013 Nobel Laureate in Chemistry and Professor at Stanford University; and Professor MA Jianpeng, Director of the Institute for Multi-Scale Research of Complex Systems at Fudan University, Leading Scientist of the Shanghai Artificial Intelligence Laboratory, and Founder of ABOPharma.
Six young scientists and medical experts presented outstanding innovations on the theme “AI-Enabled Teams and Projects in Drug and Therapeutics Development.”
After the presentations, Professor LEVITT delivered concluding remarks, highly praising the creativity and practical significance of each case. He also shared insights on the broad prospects and future development directions of AI applications in medicine.
This session continued the World Laureates Forum’s longstanding tradition of valuing young scientists, offering them a rare opportunity to engage in direct dialogue with global scientific leaders.
As a co-organizer of the conference, the Shanghai Lingang Science and Technology Innovation Foundation leveraged its strengths to infuse the event with distinctive Lingang characteristics.
Anchored in the strategic vision of the Lingang Science and Innovation City, the conference drew deeply on the outstanding academic resources of Shanghai Jiao Tong University to build a world-class platform connecting top scientists, medical experts, and innovation leaders. The intellectual collision during the event sparked numerous cross-disciplinary collaboration prospects.
Through the glass façade of the Lingang Center, the light of science continues to illuminate the road to the future, just as Professor SHARPLESS remarked,
“The world we strive for is one in which everyone has access to healthcare.”
Source: Shanghai Jiao Tong University
