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DHL Life Sciences & Healthcare Forum 2026

The Future of Healthcare Logistics

Life Sciences & Healthcare is at a turning point, where resilience, agility, and innovation are mission critical. Cost pressures, shifting regulations, and rising patient expectations demand supply chains that are smarter, faster, and built for change.

If you manage complex global supply chains in pharma, or medical devices, this is the forum to connect, challenge assumptions, and shape what’s next.

  • May 19/20, 2026
  • Hyatt Regency Boston Harbor| 101 Harborside Drive, Boston, MA 02128

Request an Invite

If you have any questions contact LSHC.communcations@dhl.com

Speakers

Visit our speaker page for more information. 

Claudia Roa - Host

Global Sector President, Life Sciences and Healthcare - DHL CSI

Raphael Chin-Fo-Sieeuw

Vice President, Life Sciences and Healthcare Americas - DHL CSI

Laurie Lanoue

Office Managing partner – Montreal - McKinsey

Tom Whitehead

President and Co-founder - Emily Whitehead Foundation 

Dr. Matthias Winkenbach

Director of Research - MIT Center for Transportation and Logistics

Luis Manel

Vice President of Global Logistics Solutions - BMS

Thijs Hulstman

Sr. Director Digital Transformation Office and Global Customer Account Management - DHL Supply Chain

Nate Tedford

Head of Foundry - Boston - Ginkgo Bioworks, Inc

Agenda

Agenda Day 1

12:00 – 13:00 | Arrivals, Registration, Business Lunch & Exhibition
Connect with senior Life Sciences & Healthcare leaders as the Forum opens, with time for informal discussion, peer exchange, and networking over lunch.

13:00 | Conference Opening & Welcome

Plenary: Navigating What’s Now

An executive-level discussion on how leaders are adapting supply chains to advanced therapies, regulatory complexity, and changing global conditions, and the priorities now shaping resilience, continuity, and patient access.

·       DHL Health Logistics - Claudia Roa, DHL Group

·       Medical Devices - Punit Menon, Medtronic

·       Customer Panel Discussion - Medtronic, Fizer, DHL

15:15 | Breakout Sessions

Focused discussions across eight parallel tracks, designed to explore key operational priorities, sector-specific challenges, and practical approaches with peers and DHL experts: Breakout session descriptions below.

17:15 – 17:40 | Plenary: Health Technology

A look at how emerging technologies and AI are being applied across manufacturing, planning, and logistics, and what this means for the future performance of healthcare supply chains.

18:30 | Evening Networking Dinner

A highlight of the Forum, the dinner will be a memorable close to Day 1, offering the opportunity to connect with peers and DHL leadership in a relaxed atmosphere.

 

Agenda Day 2

08:00 – 09:00 | Breakfast & exhibition

Start the second day with breakfast, networking, and time to continue conversations across the exhibition area.

09:00 | Welcome back & opening session

Plenary: Shaping What’s Next

A forward-looking discussion on how Life Sciences & Healthcare leaders are preparing supply chains for increasing regulatory complexity, accelerating innovation, and evolving patient needs.

·       LSH Industry Outlook - Laurie Lanoue, McKinsey & Company

·       Future Supply Chains - Matthias Winkenbach, MIT Center of Transport and Logistics

·       Customer Panel Discussion - BMS, Cytiva, McKinsey & Company, MIT Center of Transport and Logistics

11:15 – 12:00 | Breakout Sessions

A second round of breakout sessions, descriptions below.

12:20 | Digital Transformation - Thijs Hulstman, DHL Group

An executive perspective on how digital transformation is reshaping logistics operations for the healthcare sector.

12:45 | Plenary: We Care - Tom Whitehead, Emily Whitehead Foundation

A closing keynote highlighting the real-world impact of logistics in healthcare. Through the story behind the Emily Whitehead Foundation, the session demonstrates how reliability, coordination, and timing in supply chains support access to life-saving treatments and therapies.

13:10 | Closing, Business Lunch & Exhibition 

Agenda Day 1

12:00 – 13:00 | Arrivals, Registration, Business Lunch & Exhibition
Connect with senior Life Sciences & Healthcare leaders as the Forum opens, with time for informal discussion, peer exchange, and networking over lunch.

13:00 | Conference Opening & Welcome

Plenary: Navigating What’s Now

An executive-level discussion on how leaders are adapting supply chains to advanced therapies, regulatory complexity, and changing global conditions, and the priorities now shaping resilience, continuity, and patient access.

·       DHL Health Logistics - Claudia Roa, DHL Group

·       Medical Devices - Punit Menon, Medtronic

·       Customer Panel Discussion - Medtronic, Fizer, DHL

15:15 | Breakout Sessions

Focused discussions across eight parallel tracks, designed to explore key operational priorities, sector-specific challenges, and practical approaches with peers and DHL experts: Breakout session descriptions below.

17:15 – 17:40 | Plenary: Health Technology

A look at how emerging technologies and AI are being applied across manufacturing, planning, and logistics, and what this means for the future performance of healthcare supply chains.

18:30 | Evening Networking Dinner

A highlight of the Forum, the dinner will be a memorable close to Day 1, offering the opportunity to connect with peers and DHL leadership in a relaxed atmosphere.

 

Agenda Day 2

08:00 – 09:00 | Breakfast & exhibition

Start the second day with breakfast, networking, and time to continue conversations across the exhibition area.

09:00 | Welcome back & opening session

Plenary: Shaping What’s Next

A forward-looking discussion on how Life Sciences & Healthcare leaders are preparing supply chains for increasing regulatory complexity, accelerating innovation, and evolving patient needs.

·       LSH Industry Outlook - Laurie Lanoue, McKinsey & Company

·       Future Supply Chains - Matthias Winkenbach, MIT Center of Transport and Logistics

·       Customer Panel Discussion - BMS, Cytiva, McKinsey & Company, MIT Center of Transport and Logistics

11:15 – 12:00 | Breakout Sessions

A second round of breakout sessions, descriptions below.

12:20 | Digital Transformation - Thijs Hulstman, DHL Group

An executive perspective on how digital transformation is reshaping logistics operations for the healthcare sector.

12:45 | Plenary: We Care - Tom Whitehead, Emily Whitehead Foundation

A closing keynote highlighting the real-world impact of logistics in healthcare. Through the story behind the Emily Whitehead Foundation, the session demonstrates how reliability, coordination, and timing in supply chains support access to life-saving treatments and therapies.

13:10 | Closing, Business Lunch & Exhibition 

What You Will Experience

Join senior executives to explore how leading organizations are turning logistics into a strategic advantage. We’ll tackle everything from AI-driven networks and sustainable strategies to geopolitical challenges and evolving freight markets, because these aren’t trends; they’re realities shaping business today.

Strengthening Resilience Through Diversification

Discover how Life Sciences & Healthcare leaders from Pharma and Medical Devices sectors are creating agile, diversified supply chains that ensure stability from clinical development all the way to patient delivery.

AI’s Role in Transforming Life Sciences & Healthcare Supply Chains

Discover how AI accelerates critical decision-making and enhances performance across complex, highly regulated supply networks.

Learn. Share. Inspire.

Connect with peers from across the global Life Sciences & Healthcare community to share strategies and gain fresh insight, supported by industry-leader keynotes and breakout sessions. 

Breakout Sessions

1. LSH Specialized Network: Compliant and resilient solutions tailored to meet the needs of global patient centric supply chains

This session explores how specialized network design can help organizations meet rising expectations while strengthening compliance and continuity.

2. Cold Chain Network: Connecting key markets via secure temperature-controlled network and optimized packaging

This session looks at how secure cold chain networks and smarter packaging strategies can help protect product integrity across key markets while reducing risk and improving confidence in execution.​

3. Inbound to Manufacturing: Unlock the full potential of how to efficiently manage the I2M flows of materials, parts and packaging

This session explores how better management of materials, parts, and packaging can reduce friction, improve coordination, and support stronger manufacturing continuity.​

4. Air and Ocean Market: Understand current market dynamics and explore solutions to mitigate volatilities

This session provides a current view of air and ocean dynamics and explores how organizations can respond more effectively to supply chain volatilities.

5. Sense Next: The future of smart condition monitoring and End-to End visibility solutions

This session explores the growing role of smart condition monitoring and end-to-end visibility to strengthen control across the supply chain leading to faster and better decision making.

6. Customs Edge: Turn Customs from a Bottleneck into a Supply-Chain Advantage

This session examines how organizations can use  customs as a critical supply chain capability to improve compliance, reduce disruption, and keep products moving across borders.  ​

7. Medical Devices: Transforming your supply chain with advanced inventory management and service parts distribution

This session explores how advanced inventory management and service parts distribution can help reduce downtime and improve final-mile responsiveness in medical device supply chains.

8. Smart Chain: Leveraging Digital Twin models to enhance decision-making, increase efficiency, and mitigate risks

This session explores how digital twin models are giving supply chain leaders new ways to anticipate risk, evaluate trade-offs, and improve decision-making. 

Watch Highlights From Our Last Event

"Shifting global dynamics and rising patient expectations are driving a fundamental rethinking of how we design, operate, and deliver supply chains for the future of care."

Claudia Roa, President Life Sciences & Healthcare Sector, DHL Customer Solutions & Innovation

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