Life sciences innovation moves faster when organizations stop solving the same problems in isolation. Yet many companies still tackle industry challenges, including data interoperability, emerging tech adoption, and regulatory alignment, alone, duplicating effort and slowing progress. The Pistoia Alliance exists to change that: a pre-competitive space where members co-create the standards, tools, and solutions that shape how the industry actually works.
Join this webinar to learn how the membership comes together to reduce R&D friction, influence the technical standards their teams will use for years to come, and get early access to innovations before they become industry norms. You’ll hear directly how current projects and communities are developing, and the impact that’s having on our members, plus what it could cost your organization not to be involved.
Resource Tag: Core Projects
Balancing Short-Term ROI with Long-Term Transformation
A collaborative guideline from the Change Management, UXLS, and Future Labs Evolution communities.
This guideline will focus on addressing the funding and prioritisation challenges that often delay or deprioritise foundational investments in data curation, standardisation, and infrastructure. Its goal is to help organisations balance immediate business value with long-term transformation.
Session 1 – 5 August
Topic: Introduction to the guideline, its purpose, motivations for contributing, discussion of the proposed structure, and alignment on objectives and expectations.
Moderator: Stijn Janssen, Novo Nordisk
Session 2 – 19 August
Topic: Working session – current state, sharing best practices, and key learnings.
Moderator: Bettina Knapp, Boehringer Ingelheim
Session 3 – 2 September
Topic: Define the key chapters of the guideline and assign contributors to each chapter.
Moderator: Stijn Janssen, Novo Nordisk
Session 4 – 18 September
Topic: Review and refine the draft content and chapter structure.
Moderator: Bettina Knapp, Boehringer Ingelheim
Session 5 – 7 October
Topic: Change Management perspective – how to adopt and implement the guideline within organisations.
Moderator: Change Management Steering Committee representative
Session 6 – 3 November
Topic: Review progress and agree on the agenda for the in-person working session in Boston.
Moderators: Stijn Janssen, Novo Nordisk, and Bettina Knapp, Boehringer Ingelheim
July 2026 Strategic Priorities Portfolio Update
What does the future of pre-competitive collaboration in life sciences actually look like — and how can your organization help shape it? Join us for this deep dive into the Strategic Priorities of the Pistoia Alliance, where our Portfolio team of Dr. Christian Baber and Thierry Escuider will share the thinking behind the roadmap, the problems we’re setting out to solve together, and the early signals already emerging from the work.
This isn’t just a status report. It’s an opportunity to discover where the industry’s shared challenges are headed and to have a candid conversation about how we get ahead of them. Expect frank perspectives on where AI is genuinely moving the needle in R&D versus where the hype outpaces reality, what it really takes to turn data into decisions, and why real-world data and sustainability are fast becoming central rather than peripheral concerns.
How AI is Redefining User Experience in Life Sciences
Artificial intelligence is rapidly reshaping how we design, build, and interact with digital tools in life sciences. But what does this mean for user experience and for the people at the center of these systems?
This UXLS webinar brings together leading voices from across the pharmaceutical industry to explore the evolving relationship between AI and user experience in life sciences. Through a dynamic panel discussion, we’ll examine both how AI is transforming UX practices, and how UX principles are essential to shaping effective, responsible AI-driven solutions.
Change Impact Assessment in Digital Transformation
Guest Speaker: Katharina Mayer, Management Consultant at MAIN5.
Use case presentation: Change Impact Assessment within a global Veeva Vault RIM implementation.
Setting up and running a UX Community of Practice (UX CoP)
How can life sciences organizations scale user experience effectively in complex, siloed environments?
This UXLS resource explains what a UX Community of Practice (CoP) is, why it matters, and how it connects teams working in isolation. It outlines a practical growth model, from initial setup to scaling, alongside the benefits for practitioners and organizations. It also explores what makes CoPs succeed or fail, provides guidance on how to start small and build momentum, and includes a proposal template to help articulate value internally.
Delve deeper into the unique environment in which UX unfolds for the Life Sciences and the product mindset that makes it work. The UXLS Community has published a series of articles on the topic:
Part 1: What makes UX in life sciences different — and why it matters
Part 2: Why UX teams need a product mindset, not a project mindset
Part 3: How Communities of Practice break silos and amplify UX impact
To learn more about the Pistoia Alliance UXLS Community of Experts, visit the community webpage.
What is a UX Community of Practice (UX CoP) and why does it matter?
A UX CoP is a structured community that connects UX practitioners across teams to share knowledge, standardize practices, and increase visibility of UX. In life sciences, it helps overcome silos, reduce duplicated effort, and strengthen organizational UX maturity.
How do you successfully start and scale a UX CoP?
Start with a small, motivated group and a clear value proposition. Build momentum through regular engagement, shared spaces, and leadership support. As the community grows, success depends on maintaining high-quality engagement, diverse participation, and sustainable ownership.
What impact can a UX CoP have on organizations and teams?
UX CoPs improve efficiency by sharing tools and methods, accelerate learning and onboarding, and create stronger cross-functional collaboration. Over time, they help embed UX as a strategic capability, supporting better adoption of digital tools and emerging technologies like AI.
Change Management Journey in 2025
Agenda
- Introduction of the Steering Committee members and participants
- 2025 Journey presentation – DeAnna Zacherl (Executive Director- R&D IT Portfolio Management and Operation, Eli Lilly)
- Workstream 4 – overview and outcomes – Dana Karen (DK) Ciccone (Consulting Delivery Excellence, Kalleid)
- Open discussion about 2025 activities
- Voting – priorities for change management in digital transformation in the coming 12 months
Elevating Organizational Change Management in Pharma and Life Sciences
This whitepaper summarizes insights from the Pistoia Alliance Change Management Community’s 2025 activities, highlighting why organizational change efforts in pharma and life sciences often stall and outlining practical, human-centered best practices and a roadmap to strengthen and sustain effective change management for digital transformation.
Lab of the Future: Presentation of 2025 Survey Results (Japanese Subtitles)
Now in its third year, the Lab of the future survey is a collaboration between Pistoia Alliance and Lab of the Future Congress (Open Pharma Research) bringing together unique insights into how the life sciences R&D environment is evolving.
Within this webinar we will provide valuable insights to the community, highlight key industry touch points, and showcase a unique view of the 2025 data to foster discussions that helps the audience to navigate change and identify opportunities.
Speakers
- Becky Upton, President, Pistoia Alliance
- Christian Baber, Chief Portfolio Officer, Pistoia Alliance
- Mark Fish, VP & GM of Digital Lab Solutions, Thermo Fisher Scientific
- Joshua Lally, Conference Producer, Open Pharma Research
- James Whitham, CCO, Amino Data
現在3年目を迎える「Lab of the Future Survey」は、Pistoia Alliance と Lab of the Future Congress（Open Pharma Research）による共同プロジェクトであり、ライフサイエンス分野のR&D環境がどのように進化しているかについて、他にはない洞察を提供しています。
本ウェビナーでは、コミュニティにとって価値ある知見を共有するとともに、業界における重要な接点を明らかにし、2025年のデータを独自の視点で紹介することで、変化を乗り越え、機会を見出すための議論を促進します。
登壇者
- ベッキー・アップトン
Pistoia Alliance 会長 - クリスチャン・ベイバー
Pistoia Alliance 最高ポートフォリオ責任者 - マーク・フィッシュ
サーモフィッシャーサイエンティフィック
デジタルラボソリューションズ担当 副社長兼ゼネラルマネージャー - ジョシュア・ラリー
Open Pharma Research
カンファレンスプロデューサー - ジェームズ・ウィッサム
Amino Data
最高商業責任者（CCO）
AI Isn’t the Product, the User Experience Is (Japanese Subtitles)
Brought to you by the AI workstream of the UXLS community
In pharma R&D, UX design is the difference between an AI breakthrough that changes how scientists work and a promising model that never leaves the lab.
Exploring how the future of AI in pharma R&D depends not just on the technology itself, but on the experience of the people using it, this webinar brings together voices from the pharmaceutical industry, software creators, and UX professionals. The discussion will focus on humans at the core of AI adoption and how considered design transforms AI from a promising tool into a breakthrough that scientists and businesses can truly embrace.
こちらは、UXLSコミュニティの AI ワークストリームがお届けします。
製薬 R&D において、UX デザインは「科学者の働き方を変える AI のブレークスルー」と「研究室から出られない有望なモデル」を分ける重要な要素です。
本ウェビナーでは、AI の未来がテクノロジーそのものだけでなく“それを使う人の体験”に左右されるという視点から、製薬業界、ソフトウェア開発者、UX の専門家が集まり議論します。AI 導入の中心にいる“人”に焦点を当て、熟慮されたデザインが AI を単なる有望なツールから、科学者や企業が真に受け入れられるブレークスルーへと変える方法を探ります。
EQIP – Enhanced Questionnaire for Instrument Procurement
EQIP (Enhanced Questionnaire for Instrument Procurement) is designed to provide a standardized, centralized format for capturing the core information pharmaceutical companies need to evaluate laboratory instruments. This includes data on:
- IT architecture compatibility
- Integration capabilities
- Regulatory support
- Data security and connectivity
This unified questionnaire fosters stronger vendor relationships by clearly communicating pharma-specific needs.
Please contact anca.ciobanu@pistoiaalliance.org for any questions or feedback regarding EQIP.
EQIP White Paper
EQIP initiative – a standardized approach to gathering and sharing key technical and digital compatibility information across the pharmaceutical and vendor landscape. This white paper outlines the current state of industry practices, the problems this initiative addresses, and the value it brings to both the pharmaceutical industry and its vendors.
This initiative was developed by the Steering Committee of the Future Labs Evolution Community, a cross-company collaboration fostered by the Pistoia Alliance and composed of representatives from nine leading pharmaceutical organizations: GSK, MSD, Merck Healthcare KGaA, CSL, Vertex, Takeda, Johnson & Johnson, Novartis, and Novo Nordisk.