Vladimir P. Torchilin is a University Distinguished Professor and Director, Center for Pharmaceutical Biotechnology and Nanomedicine, Northeastern University, Boston. He graduated from the Moscow University with MS in Chemistry, and obtained there his Ph.D. and D.Sc. in Polymer Chemistry and Chemistry of Physiologically Active Compounds in 1971 and 1980, respectively. In 1991, Dr. Torchilin joined MGH/Harvard Medical School as the Head of Chemistry Program, Center for Imaging and Pharmaceutical Research, and Associate Professor of Radiology.

His research interests include liposomes, lipid-core micelles, biomedical polymers, drug delivery and targeting, pharmaceutical nanocarriers, experimental cancer immunology

Gjumrakch Aliev, MD, PhD, President “GALLY” International Biomedical Research Institute Inc., San Antonio, Texas, USA. He also hold appointment with the University of Atlanta, Atlanta, Georgia, USA as a Professor of Cardiovascular, Neuropathology, Gerontology, Health Science and Healthcare Administration. He received his MD in 1982, from the Baku Medical University (former USSR) with cum laude. Then he accomplished his PhD in Cardiovascular Diseases from the prestigious Russian Academy of the Medical Sciences, Moscow, Russia in 1988 with cum laude. He received postdoctoral training with Professor G. Burnstock in the University College of the London. He authored and coauthored more than 500 publications in the fields of neurodegenerative diseases research (Alzheimer disease), as well as cardio- and cerebrovascular disease, cancer, and electron microscopy. He is an outstanding teacher, scholar, and a renowned scientist in the area of cellular molecular physiology, and cardiovascular, and neurodegeneration-mediated pathologies and drug development including Alzheimer disease (AD). He is nationally and internationally reputed in his area.

Drug design towards CNS Neurological Disorders, AD, cancer, and cerebrovascular and neurodegeneration related pathologies, Cell Biology, Biochemistry,

Rick Panicucci joined WuXi AppTec in February 2015 as the Vice President of Pharmaceutical Development Services. In this capacity, Rick provides scientific leadership for 160 scientists in Developability, Formulation Development, and GMP Manufacturing and is responsible for the execution of all Parenteral and Oral dosage form programs. He also maintains key client relationships and assesses new technologies through partnering or internal M&A capacity building. In addition to his position at WuXi, Rick currently serves as an Adjunct Professor at Massachusetts College of Pharmacy. Prior to WuXi, Rick was the Global Head of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Profiling (CPP) at Novartis from 2004 to 2015. His responsibilities included analytics, solid state chemistry and formulation development of all small molecule therapeutics in early development. He also helped develop novel drug delivery technologies for small molecules and large molecules including siRNA. Rick has also led groups in Formulation and Research and Development at Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Symbollon Pharmaceuticals, Biogen, and Bausch & Lomb.

Drug Delivery and Drug Discovery

Li holds a B.S. in Chemistry and an M.S. in Computational Chemistry from Nankai University in China, and an M.S. in Computer Science and a Ph.D. in Pharmaceutics from Purdue University. He began his academic career with the University of Kentucky in 2002 as Assistant Professor of Pharmaceutics and was later promoted to Associate Professor. He came back to Purdue University in 2012 as Professor and an endowed Chair in the Department of Industrial and Physical Pharmacy. Dr. Li’s research interests include solid-state chemistry, formulation and drug delivery. He is the recipient of various professional honors including: AAPS fellow, the University of Kentucky’s Robert A. Blouin Excellence in Graduate Education Award, the Department of Defense Breast Cancer Idea and Concept Awards, the National Science Foundation CAREER Award, the AACP New Investigator Award, the AAPS New Investigator Award, the PhRMA Research Starter Award, and the Pharmacia-Upjohn Walter F. Enz Award. His professional activities include: serving on the editorial boards of Pharmaceutical Research and Journal of Controlled Release. He has also served on grant review committees for the National Science Foundation, the Department of Defense, and the National Institutes of Health.

Solid-state chemistry, Formulation and drug delivery

Robert J. Lee received his Ph.D. in 1994 from Purdue University. He has trained as a Postdoc at the University of Pittsburgh School of Medicine and worked at GeneMedicine Inc. as a Sr. Scientist and then at Endocyte Inc. as VP of R&D. He has been a professor in the College of Pharmacy at The Ohio State University since 1997 and has > 200 publications in the areas of targeted drug delivery systems and lipid-based nanoparticles. He has served regularly on NIH review panels and as the PI or Co-PI on many large NIH and NSF project. He has collaborated extensively with biotech industry in his research on oligonucleotide delivery systems.

Targeted drug delivery systems and lipid-based nanoparticles. Oligonucleotide delivery systems

Dr. Fenniri was educated at the Université de Strasbourg, France, receiving his undergraduate degree in chemistry and biochemistry, and his M.Sc./Ph.D. degrees in supramolecular science and engineering under Nobel Laureate Professor Jean-Marie Lehn. He then joined the Scripps Research Institute in California, USA, where he carried out his postdoctoral training under the supervision of Professor Richard A. Lerner. In 1997 he moved to Purdue University, where he initiated his independent academic career, and established the Purdue Laboratory for Chemical Nanotechnology. In 2003, He joined National Institute for Nanotechnology (NINT) as a founding member and the University of Alberta where he led the Supramolecular Nanoscale Assembly program. Since 2013, Dr. Fenniri has been Professor of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering at Northeastern University, Boston, MA, USA. Dr. Fenniri has achieved international recognition as a leader in the areas of self-assembly, supramolecular chemistry, nanomedicine, and materials sciences. His group works at the forefront of basic and applied nanosciences, in collaboration with various academic institutions, federal laboratories, and with the private sector. Dr. Fenniri’s contributions appeared in over 220 publications, 20 patents and patent applications, and over 450 contributed national and international conference papers. Dr. Fenniri has also presented his work in over 170 invited distinguished lectures, colloquia and seminars around the globe. Dr. Fenniri is the recipient of several academic and professional honours and awards, including the Xerox UAC Award, the 3M Faculty Award, the Showalter Trust Fund Award, the Trask Trust Fund Technology Innovation Award, the Cottrell Teacher Scholar Award, and the US National Science Foundation Career Award. Dr. Fenniri is Member of the Editorial Board of several scientific journals and serves on several national and international scientific boards, panels, and committees.

Nanotechnology for biomedical applications, nanoscale materials for drug delivery, and cell therapeutics and regenerative medicine.

Ãœlo Langel is a Professor at the Department of Neurochemistry, Stockholm University, and at the Institute of Technology, Tartu University. Prof. Langel has been selected as a Fellow Member of International Neuropeptide Society (1995), and is a member of Academia Europeaea. He is a coauthor of more than 400 scientific articles and 20 approved patents or patent applications.

Introduction of PepFect and NickFect technologies for oligonucleotide transfection by transportan-based cell-penetrating peptides in vitro and in vivo is described. Recent data on mechanisms and applications of PepFect strategies are summarized on the variety of different cargoes including plasmid, antisense and siRNA oligonucleotides.

Dr Joël Richard is currently Senior Vice President, Peptides in IPSEN (France). He is globally leading all the pharmaceutical development activities of both injectable and oral peptide-based products, including APIs and drug products, with major franchises in Oncology, Endocrinology and Neurology. Dr Richard has more than 25 years of experience in chemistry and biopharmaceutical R&D, including several previous global senior positions in various Biotech and Pharma companies, such as: - Vice President, Drug Product Development in Ipsen (France) (2008-2011), - Director, Pharmaceutical Development in Serono and Merck Serono (Italy, Germany) (2005-2008), - Vice President Research, and Europe R&D Director at Ethypharm (France) (2001-2004), - COO at Mainelab (France), a drug delivery company he co-founded, which was specialized in developing solvent-free processes for protein delivery systems (1999-2001). Dr Richard graduated from Ecole Normale Supérieure (Cachan, 1985). He has got a PhD in Materials & Colloidal Science (University of Paris VI, 1987) and “Habilitation à Diriger les Recherches” in Chemistry (University of Bordeaux I, 1994).

n the last 20 years, Dr Richard has focused his research activity on new formulation technologies and drug delivery systems (such as microspheres, nanoparticles, nanocapsules, chemically-modified proteins, supercritical fluid technology . . .), especially for injectable peptide and protein formulations. He has published 67 peer-reviewed scientific papers, 8 book chapters and 2 review editorials in various fields: polymers, colloids and interfaces, drug delivery, biodegradable microspheres, microencapsulation, supercritical fluids, protein formulations and post-translational modifications, nanoparticles, sustained-release formulations . . . He is the author of more than 120 international communications and 53 patent families.

Professor Huang Peng long been engaged in the study of disease diagnosis and treatment aspects of intelligence, made fruitful achievements in scientific research in the internationally renowned journal Adv. Mater., J. Am . Chem. Soc., Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., PNAS, ACS Nano , Adv. Funct. Mater., Theranostics, Biomaterials and Nanoscale, and more than 80 SCI papers were published in international journals in the fields of chemistry and biomedicine

Biomedical Engineering, Molecular Imaging and Nano treatment

Hemachand Tummala is an Associate Professor and a Faculty Scholar of Pharmaceutical Sciences. He also serves as the Director, Vaccine Adjuvant research at Medgene Labs., Brookings. His research interests are in the area of design of various vaccine and drug delivery systems for cancer, viral diseases and neurological diseases. He has over 30 publications and presentations, 1 book chapter, two pending patent applications. Dr.Tummala’s lab has discovered a novel bioactive polymer (TLR-4 agonist), inulin acetate. Using Inulin acetate they have engineered a pathogen mimicking vaccine delivery system (PMVDS). Based on its innovation PMVDS technology won the national award “2013-American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists- Innovation in Biotechnology award”. PMVDS technology is licensed to Medgene Labs., Brookings, SD for commercialization. Dr. Tummala teaches courses in the field of pharmaceutics and pharmacokinetics to professional pharmacy students and graduate students. He has been a research mentor for 12 undergraduate students, five graduate students. He also serves in the editorial board of several journals and has served as a reviewer for national funding agencies. He is a recipient of “2013-Distinguished Researcher” award and “2014-Student Association Teacher of the Year” award for the college of Pharmacy.

Drug delivery and drug targeting, Transdermal delivery of nanoparticles, Novel Drug Deliveries for Cancer, Vaccine Design, Alzheimer's disease and mitochondrial pathology.