Agenda

In part three of our Physician Innovator Series, our panelists will discuss protecting innovation in the age of artificial intelligence and explore practical approaches for safeguarding emerging technologies. In the second half, Dr. Afshin will introduce Novelna’s Physician Innovator Network.

Panelists

• Kamyar Maserrat – Foley & Lardner LLP

  Kamyar Maserrat is a Partner at Foley & Lardner LLP, specializing in intellectual property protection for emerging technologies. His work spans artificial intelligence, machine learning, big data analytics, natural language processing, large language models, and software-based business methods. Before joining Foley, he was a patent attorney at IBM and an original member of the Watson focus group, developing early AI systems leveraging language models to extract insights from unstructured data. He holds a professional education certificate in quantum computing from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

• Ashkan Afshin – Novelna Inc.

  Dr. Ashkan Afshin is Founder & CEO of Novelna, a biotech company pioneering proteomics-based diagnostics for early disease detection. A physician, epidemiologist, and entrepreneur, he previously served as an Associate Professor at the Institute for Health Metrics and Evaluation (IHME) at the University of Washington, where he led global research on diet, chronic disease, and health metrics. He has served on advisory panels for several national and international organizations, including the World Health Organization and the National Academy of Medicine. At Novelna, Dr. Afshin leads efforts to translate proteomic discovery into practical diagnostics that expand early detection and improve health outcomes globally.