Matt Smith joined BioMed Realty last year as the Director for Leasing accountable for the approximate 1m sft UK portfolio. In his previous role, he was responsible for the running of a multi-asset multi-sector UK commercial real estate portfolio valued at £1 Bn on behalf of institutional investors and oversaw the creation of the London office of a pan-European Real Estate asset management company as Managing Director. He has over 15 years extensive experience in leasing, acquisition, valuation and asset management functions and received his Batchelor of Engineering Degree at the University of Leeds, his Post Graduate Diploma from London South Bank University and is a Chartered Surveyor

Peter Coates has been working in the Commercial Real Estate sector for 18 years and specialises in the sale, joint venture structuring and financing of investment and development assets. Peter has been based at Eastdil Secured for the last 5 years where he is a Director in the European business. Peter has been leading the Eastdil Secured Life Sciences business for the last three years and has worked on a number of transactions in the sector including most recently the recapitalisaiton of The Knowledge Factory (£185 million) and Harwell Campus (£250 million).

Jeffrey R. Zynda, leads Perkins + Will’s Boston Science Practice and is Regional Science Practice Leader for the Northeast Region and Europe. Embracing the concept of Convergence, Jeff’s work represents highly adaptable future-focused research and development environments for academic institutions, commercial science companies and federal governments globally. From private corporations to public institutions, his knowledge is broad and deep, providing his clients with targeted solutions to design challenges that explore the intersection between high-technology and exceptional design. Jeff is widely known for his innovative approaches to laboratory design, the advancement of supporting technologies, and his ability to lead clients toward “next generation” designs. His leadership and insight spring from the programming, planning, design, and construction of more than 8.5 million square feet of research space in the United States and Europe. This experience has provided Jeff with a clear understanding of each client’s scientific needs, and the talent to translate those needs into novel research design ideas. As an internationally recognized leader in the laboratory, vivarium and biocontainment design community, Jeff has been a frequent lecturer on these topics at AALAS, Tradeline, FELASA, and R&D. He has also been a key contributor to the development of national standards and guidelines as a design committee member at the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Jeff is currently leading the design of the Bayer Research Innovation Collaborative laboratory, Beam Therapeutics R&D Headquarters, LabCentral’s Bio-process Center, Bluerock Therapeutics Headquarters as well as Columbia University’s Strategic Science Masterplan and Trinity College Dublin’s Trinity at Grand Canal Quay Masterplan.

Joanne heads up the Life Sciences practice for CBRE in UK and EMEA. She has over 20 years of consulting and commercial experience in the Life Sciences sector. Prior to CBRE, she was a member of the Life Sciences Advisory Leadership Team in Ernst & Young (EY) Joanne has worked with many Pharma, Biotech and Med Tech companies, supporting their strategic business agenda and helping them succeed in the rapidly changing healthcare environment. She has experience operating across many disciplines including: Strategy Consulting, M&A, Commercial Consulting, Operating Model Redesign and Digital Transformation. In CBRE, Joanne works with both our occupier and investor clients, helping them to understand the changing sector dynamics to inform their real estate investment, portfolio and workplace strategies.

Mahdi joined PATRIZIA in January 2020 as Head of Investment Strategy and Research, overseeing PATRIZIA’s investment strategies, research and performance analytics. He works closely with the CIO in crafting PATRIZIA’s House View and serves on PATRIZIA’s Investment and Executive Committees. Previously, Mahdi worked at LaSalle as Board Member where he led the European strategy and research team and served on LaSalle’s Debt & Special Situations and private equity real estate investment committees. Mahdi held leading roles at AEW, MSCI IPD, ESSEC Business School, and Caisse des Dépôts. He is also a regular keynote speaker. Mahdi holds a Ph.D. in Economics and Finance from EHESS (France), a Masters in Financial Economics of Dauphine University, and is an active member MSCI IPD, INREV, EPRA and the RICS.

As chief executive of ULI Europe, Lisette van Doorn is responsible for the development of the Institute’s activities across the region, including its renowned pan-European conferences and over 250 local meetings and events across 14 countries. She is responsible for working with ULI’s staff both locally and globally to deliver more high profile content and reports; coordinating Advisory Services panels and Urban Plan; and expanding the Institute’s thought leadership across Europe. Van Doorn joined ULI in January 2015 from LIRE, her own consultancy business, which advises international institutional real estate investors and fund managers on strategy, organisational optimisation and portfolio structuring. Prior to this, van Doorn was country manager for CBRE Global Investors where she managed a €1.6bn portfolio of assets in Italy and fund manager of two shopping centre funds (€ 1.3 billion) with assets in Spain, Portugal and Italy. Before joining CBRE Global Investors, van Doorn was founding chief executive for INREV, the European association for Investors in Non-Listed Real Estate Vehicles for four and a half years. Van Doorn started her career at ING Investment Management, where she held account manager and assistant controller positions before being made managing director of research & strategy for ING Real Estate Investment Management Europe.