The Life Sciences Industry Conference 2026 has announced six additional speakers, bringing senior expertise across pharmaceutical manufacturing, regulatory affairs, digital manufacturing, drug delivery and AI to its programme focused on applying AI across life sciences operations.

Brendan McGrath, Conference Chair and former Site Head and VP Manufacturing at WuXi Biologics Ireland, brings extensive pharmaceutical leadership experience to the conference. McGrath was WuXi Biologics Ireland’s first employee and served as Managing Director, following senior roles across Organon, Schering-Plough and MSD.

Meg Leahey, Senior Director, Global CMC Biologics at Sanofi, brings more than 20 years of experience in biotech CMC and clinical regulatory affairs across multiple therapeutic areas. Her expertise spans regulatory strategy, compliance and mentoring, with earlier roles at MSD, Pfizer and Bristol Myers Squibb.

Dr Hisham Al-Obaidi, Associate Professor of Pharmaceutics & Translational Drug Delivery at the University of Reading, brings an interdisciplinary perspective spanning pharmaceutical sciences, digital health and AI. He is also a practising Advanced Clinical Pharmacist Practitioner in the NHS, an inventor on several patents and an editorial board member for PLOS Digital Health.

Domhnall Carroll, Chief Executive Officer at Digital Manufacturing Ireland, has led the organisation since 2021, establishing and scaling it as a national centre of excellence for advanced manufacturing transformation. He previously led Siemens’ Digital Industries business in Ireland, covering manufacturing automation, software and digital services and supporting data driven Industry 4.0 solutions.

Tom Quinn, Vice President and Site Head at Novo Nordisk Production Ireland, leads the company’s multi-product biopharmaceutical facility in Athlone. With more than 30 years in the sector, Quinn has held senior leadership roles spanning general management, business transformation and operations across major manufacturing organisations.

Cormac Byrne, Head of Digital at APC / VLE, leads the iAchieve Business Unit and its digital products for pharmaceutical development and manufacturing. His work focuses on applying digital technologies and AI across CMC and pharmaceutical development, alongside the trust, context and adoption challenges associated with AI.

The six newly announced speakers join the line-up of 19 total speakers, bringing expertise across pharmaceutical operations, quality, digital transformation, engineering, research and AI. William Fahey, Data Science Lead at Pfizer, has also been named keynote speaker, with further speakers still to be announced.

Taking place on 22 October 2026 at the Crowne Plaza, Santry, the conference will focus on AI applications across manufacturing, quality, supply chain, digital transformation and process optimisation. Its four themes cover responsible AI, scaling AI from pilot to production, people and organisational change, and the AI ready enterprise.

Visit the official Life Sciences Industry Conference 2026 website to book your place and explore the full AI manufacturing agenda.