He is a medical-physical scientist and an educator. He is the current President/CEO and Institute Professor at the International Institute of Medicine & Science with a previous appointment as Executive Vice President/Chief Operating Officer and Professor at the Weil Institute of Critical Care Medicine, California, U.S.A. He was formerly Professor of Radiology, Radiological Sciences, Radiation Oncology, Critical Care Medicine and Physics at several U.S. and European Universities. Earlier, he was Deputy Director (Western Region) of the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs (Office of Research Oversight). At the Loma Linda Veterans Affairs Medical Center, he was Scientific Director of Radiology, Director of the Magnetic Resonance Imaging Center and, for a time, Acting Chair of Radiology. Previously, he was also Director of the Division of Biomedical and Biobehavioral Research at the University of California at Los Angeles/Drew University of Medicine and Science and an Advisor to the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, National Research Council, for postdoctoral programs tenable at the California Institute of Technology. He is Health Advisor to the American Heart & Stroke Association, Coachella Valley Division, California. He is a frequent Keynote Speaker and International Organizing Committee Member of several international scientific conferences. He has lectured extensively in the U.S., Europe, Asia and Africa. He has published ~ 425 scholarly scientific publications and books. He is also Editor-in-Chief, Honorable Editor or Editor of 62 medical/scientific Journals to which he contributes regularly. Dr. Fymat is a Board member of several institutions, a professional member of the New York Academy of Sciences and a reviewer for the prestigious UNESCO Newton Prize, United Kingdom National Commission for UNESCO. His current research interests are focused on neurodegenerative diseases (Alzheimer, Parkinson, epilepsy, dementias and others), oncology, molecular/precision/personalized medicine, and nanomedicine and nanobiotechnology.

His current research interests lie at the interface between science and medicine, particularly molecular/personal/precision medicine, nanomedicine, human genetics/epigenetics/ecogenetics, and pharmacogenomics. His most recent publications deal with magnetic resonance Imaging with nanocontrasting materials, nanotechnology and cancer, nanochemotherapy, nanoneurology, natural and synthetic immunotherapy, drug delivery including across the brain protective barriers, and drug manufacturing in Africa.

Yavuz is the chairman of Istanbul Consulting Group. ICG(Istanbul Consulting Group) was founded in 2013 and provided guidance to the Turkish ministry of health as part of a World Bank project. Yavuz is currently the Co-Founder of BioCube İstanbul Bioentrepreneurship & Innovation Center and Corporate Communication Director of Sumitomo Group/ Expel İlaç Archem Diagnostics Ended and Diagen. He previously managed the largest distributor of Siemens Healthcare in Turkey managing 250 employees and director of Avcılar Hospital R&D Center, Chief Medical Officer of Lifematrix GmbH. Previously he worked as the Market Access & Health Policy Director for AIFD in Turkey. Yavuz previously worked as the Vice President of Ipsen pharmaceutical and Director of Teva pharmaceutical in the USA managing large clinical trials as well as Investigator Initiated Trials and developing relationships with Key Opinion Leaders. Previously, Yavuz was the Associate Director at KV Pharmaceuticals and Director in Clinical Development department at Forest Laboratories. Yavuz earned his MD from the Faculty of Medicine, the University of Ankara in Ankara, Turkey. He completed a clinical internship at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, followed by continued research training at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in Houston. He recently completed his Executive MBA at the Olin Business School at Washington University in St. Louis.

Neurology, Pulmonary Critical Care, Rheumatology, Oncology and related therapeutic areas within academics and industry. regulatory processes, identifying and addressing risk management issues throughout the lifecycle, presentation development to large payers, safety monitoring, designing and conducting clinical trials.

Prof Prakash Diwan obtained his Ph.D from Post graduate Institute of medical Education and research, Chandigarh, India. Contributed in the areas of Novel Drug Delivery systems & drug discovery. Published over 200 papers in pre reviewed journals. He delivered guest lectures in India and abroad. Dr. Diwan has many awards instituted by Indian Pharmacological Society. He has served as founder Director of NIPER, Hyderabad and fellow of Royal society of London, FRSC (London). Presently working as Technical Advisor, Indian Pharmacopeia Commission, Government of India, Director School of Pharmacy, and Hyderabad. Director, CRL, Maratha Mandal Group of Institutions, Belgaum and Consultant for Indian Institute of Technology, Hyderabad.

Pharmacovigilance and Pharmacology

Dr. Constantinides is President of Biopharmaceutical & Drug Delivery Consulting, LLC in Gurnee, Illinois, USA that he founded in 2004, and he has more than 30 years of industrial experience in drug delivery and pharmaceutical development. He received a University Diploma in Chemistry from Athens University in 1977 and PhD in Biochemistry from Brown University in 1983. He was a postdoctoral fellow in the Pharmacology Department and Associate Research Scientist in the Comprehensive Cancer Center of Yale University School of Medicine (1983-1987). Past industrial positions held included: Vice President of R&D with DOR Biopharma and Morton Grove Pharmaceuticals (2000-2004), Director of Research at SONUS Pharmaceuticals (1997-2000) and from 1987 to 1997 a number of R&D positions of increasing responsibilities with LipoGen, SmithKline Beecham Pharmaceuticals and Abbott Laboratories.. He has heald adjunct faculty appointmnets with Roosevelt University College of Pharmacy in Schaumburg, Illinois, the Pharmaceutics Department of Washington University in Seattle, Washington and the Department of Biochemistry of the University of Tennessee, in Knoxville, Tennessee. He is inventor in 33 patents and patent applications, has authored more than 130 publications including review articles, book chapters and presentations on the parenteral and oral drug delivery of small molecules and peptides/proteins and has presented more than 100 invited talks at many national and international conferences, pharmaceutical companies and universities. Dr. Constantinides is AAPS Fellow, Past Chair of the AAPS Formulation Design and Development (FDD) Section, the Nanotechnology and Lipid-Based Drug Delivery Systems Focus Groups. He has received numerous honors and awards and serves as Associate Editor of the AAPS Open journal since its launch in the fall of 2015.

Drug formulation and delivery, pharmaceutical nanotechnology, lipid-based drug delivery systems, developing and applying enabling drug delivery technologies to improve poor drug solubility and/or permeability in drug discovery and product line extensions, oral peptide/protein delivery.

Dr. Blondino has over 20 years of broad based drug development experience in parenteral, oral liquid, and inhalation products. He is currently the Director of Drug Development at Kaleo, Inc. in Richmond, Virginia. He has held industrial positions of increasing responsibility at NovaDel Pharma, Magellan Laboratories, Baker Norton Pharmaceuticals, and Hoechst Marion Roussel. In addition, he has held academic positions at Virginia Commonwealth University. He received his Ph.D. in Pharmaceutics in 1995 from Virginia Commonwealth University after receiving his B.S. in Pharmacy from the same institution. He has published numerous articles and is co-inventor of 15 United States patents. My professional interests are in fulfilling unmet medical needs during life-threatening emergency situations, difficult to formulate compounds, drug delivery, and technology transfer.

Drug Delivery and Technology transfer

Vinod Labhasetwar, Ph.D., is a Professor in the Cleveland Clinic Lerner College of Medicine of Case Western Reserve University and a senior staff member of the Department of Biomedical Engineering, Lerner Research Institute, Cleveland The clinic, both in Cleveland, Ohio, USA. He leads Cleveland Clinic’s Cancer NanoMedicine Program, a collaborative effort jointly sponsored by the Department of Biomedical Engineering and the Taussig Cancer Institute. The primary research focus of Dr. Labhasetwar’s laboratory over the past 25+ years has been on nanoparticle-mediated drug delivery in the context of translational and clinical medicine, particularly focusing on disease conditions where no effective treatments yet exist. HIs team’s specific interests are in developing effective approaches to cancer therapy (against drug resistance and metastasis), cardiovascular diseases (particularly inhibition of restenosis), and facilitating neuromuscular repair mechanisms in stroke and spinal cord injury. Recently, his group’s efforts have been expanding into two new areas: retinitis pigmentosa, with the goal of slowing the progression of photoreceptor degeneration; and transplantation research, with the objective of extending the critical window of time for organ preservation. Dr. Labhasetwar has published over 180 peer-reviewed articles and book chapters. He is listed among 2014 and 2015 Highly Cited Researchers by Thomson Reuters, based on the top 1% of citations during the past 10 years. He has over 25 issued the US and international patents and 4 provisional US patents filed/pending. Dr. Labhasetwar is Editor-in-Chief of Drug Delivery and Translational Research, an official journal of the Controlled Release Society. He has received many Distinguished Scientist and Innovator awards and is a Fellow of the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists and the Controlled Release Society.

Biomedical Engineering, Cancer NanoMedicine, Drug Delivery, cancer therapy, cardiovascular diseases (particularly inhibition of restenosis), neuromuscular repair mechanisms in stroke and spinal cord injury

Arwyn obtained a Ph.D. in protein-crystallography at Birkbeck College, University of London and undertook postdoctoral endocytosis research at the University of Liverpool, Harvard University, and EMBL-Heidelberg as EMBO and Alexander von Humboldt fellow. Appointed as a lecturer at the Cardiff University School of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences in 2001 he is now Professor of Membrane Traffic and Drug Delivery. His research falls within cancer cell biology, endocytosis, and drug delivery. A major objective understands endocytosis to improve the cellular delivery efficiency of drug delivery vectors including peptides, natural and synthetic nanoparticles and antibodies targeting plasma membrane receptors. Recent work has concentrated on strategic approaches to plasma membrane targeting to stimulate endocytosis and intracellular targeting. Arwyn has published widely within these fields and his group has made significant contributions to the current understanding of the way drug delivery vectors interact with cells and enter endocytic pathways that govern their intracellular fate.

Cancer cell biology, endocytosis, and drug delivery

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.

Ülo 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.

Dr. Alireza Heidari, Ph.D., D.Sc. is a Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Chemistry. He has got his Ph.D. and D.Sc. degrees form California South University (CSU), Irvine, California, USA. Furthermore, he has double postdocs in Project Management and also in Nanochemistry and Molecular Structure Theory. His research interests are Biophysical Chemistry, Nanochemistry, Quantum Chemistry, Biomolecular and Vibrational Spectroscopy, Molecular Modeling and Structure, Theoretical, Computational and Mathematical Chemistry, Ab initio and Density Functional Methods. He has participated at more than eighty reputed international conferences, seminars, congresses, symposiums and forums around the world as yet. Also, he possesses many published articles in Science Citation Index (SCI)/International Scientific Indexing (ISI) Journals. It should be noted that he has visited many universities or scientific and academic research institutes in different countries such as United States, United Kingdom, Canada, Australia, Netherlands, Belgium, Denmark, Greece, Russia, Estonia, Turkey, France, Swiss, Germany, Sweden, Italy, Spain, Portugal, Mexico, Japan, Malaysia, Thailand, Taiwan, South Korea, China, India, Qatar, United Arab Emirates, etc. as research fellow, sabbatical and volunteer researcher or visitor heretofore. He has a history of several years of teaching for college students and various disciplines and trends in different universities. Moreover, he has been a senior advisor in various industry and factories. He is expert in many computer programs and programming languages. Hitherto, he has authored more than ten books in Chemistry. Syne, he has been awarded more than six hundreds reputed international awards, prizes, scholarships and honors. Heretofore, he has multiple editorial duties in many reputed international journals. Hitherward, he is a member of more than one hundred reputed international academic–scientific–research institutes around the world. It should be noted that he is currently the President of American International Standards Institute (AISI), Irvine, California, USA.

Biophysical Chemistry Biomolecular Spectroscopy Quantum Chemistry Nanochemistry Theoretical Chemistry Mathematical Chemistry Computational Chemistry Vibrational Spectroscopy Molecular Modelling Ab initio & Density Functional Methods Molecular Structure

Pieter R. Cullis, Ph.D. Director, Life Sciences Institute, University of British Columbia; Chair, Personalized Medicine Initiative; Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Director, NanoMedicines Research Group, UBC. Dr. Cullis and co-workers have been responsible for fundamental advances in the generation, loading and targeting of lipid nanoparticle (LNP) systems for intravenous delivery of small molecule drugs and macromolecular drugs such as small interfering RNA (siRNA). This work has contributed to three LNP products that have been approved by regulatory agencies in the U.S. and Europe for the treatment of cancer and its complications and six more that have finished Phase I clinical studies. Dr. Cullis co-founded Lipex Biomembranes Inc., Tekmira Pharmaceuticals, Northern Lipids Inc., and, most recently, Acuitas Therapeutics and Precision NanoSystems. In addition, he co-founded and was Scientific Director of the Centre for Drug Research and Development (CDRD) 2004-2010. He has published over 300 scientific articles and is an inventor on over 40 patents. Dr. Cullis has received many awards, including the B.C. Science Council Gold Medal for Health Sciences in 1991, the Alec D. Bangham Award for contributions to liposome science and technology in 2000 and the B.C. Biotechnology Association award for Innovation and Achievement in 2002. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 2004, received the Leadership Award of the Canadian Society of Pharmaceutical Scientists in 2010 and was awarded the Prix Galien, Canada’s premier prize for achievements in pharmaceutical R&D, in 2011.

My research interests are focused on the roles of lipids in biological membranes and the use of lipid nanoparticle (LNP) systems to deliver drugs. Regarding the functional roles of lipids I am interested in the widespread ability of membrane lipids to adopt non-bilayer structures and the roles of such structures in processes such as membrane fusion, transport processes across bilayer lipid systems induced by ion gradients and the development of increasingly sophisticated model membrane systems that more accurately reflect biological membranes. My interests in LNP drug delivery systems concern first the in vivo delivery of small molecules, particularly drugs used in cancer chemotherapy, with the aim of increasing efficacy and reducing toxicity. In this work the aim is to take advantage of the proclivity of long-circulating LNP systems to accumulate at sites of disease such as tumour sites and sites of inflammation to maximize the benefits inherent in providing local sustained release of drugs at sites of disease. A second area concerns the design of LNP systems that are able to effectively deliver their contents into the cytoplasm of target cells following i.v. administration, thus enabling the therapeutic use of macromolecular genetic drugs such as siRNA, antisense oligonucleotides, mRNA and plasmids for gene therapy. In all, these efforts have led to 10 LNP drugs that have been approved for clinical use or are in clinical testing.

Professor Istvan Toth PhD, DSc is a Chemical Engineer, ARC Australia Professorial Fellow, Chair in Biological Chemistry and Professor of Pharmacy at the University of Queensland. His major research interest these days is drug, vaccine and gene delivery. He is active in research commercialisation as one of the key founders of Alchemia (ASX listed), Implicit Bioscience, Neurotide and TetraQ. He has more than 300 peer-reviewed publications and 43 patents. He is the Editor-in-Chief of Current Drug Delivery, and Drug Delivery Letters. He is a Fellow of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute (FRACI) and the Queensland Academy of Science and Art (FQA).

Professor Toth works to develop synthetic peptide- and nanoparticle-based vaccines including the development of delivery platforms and safe synthetic adjuvants. These vaccines target group A streptococcus, tropical diseases like malaria, hookworm and blood flukes, and the treatment of established tumors like those caused by human papilloma virus infection. Professor Toth also works to improve the stability and delivery route of existing medicines or promising drug leads. Recent drugs of interest have been the natural pain peptides Enkephalin and Endomorphin-1, an orally available version of reproductive hormone Gonadotropin Hormone Releasing Hormone, and combination antibiotics that reduce bacterial resistance.

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.

Aliev’s accomplishments in the area of biochemistry and cellular biology have tremendous implications for drug design towards CNS Neurological Disorders, AD, cancer, and cerebrovascular and neurodegeneration related pathologies. He is world-renowned expert in electron microscopy. His work has been published in numerous prestigious journals such as Nature Clinical Cardiology, J. Neuroscience, Circulation Research, New England journal of Medicine, Blood, J. Cellular and Molecular Medicine, Atherosclerosis, CNS Neurological Disorders & Drug Targets, International J. Biochemistry and Cell Biology, Scientific Reports, and many others which reflect his leading role in his research areas. He is currently the Editor in Chiefs for “Central Nervous System Agents in Medicinal Chemistry”, “Applied Cell Biology”, “World Journal of Neuroscience”, “Open Journal of Psychiatry” and “Journal of Aging Science”, Cardiovascular & Hematological Agents in Medicinal Chemistry as well as which by itself shows the voluminous and outstanding work he has accomplished in the area of cellular and molecular biology as well as aged associated clinical sciences. He is one of most cited authors in his fields with high impact factors.

Dr. Irach B. Taraporewala has over 30 years’ experiece in drug discovery/drug development R&D. He currently is President of the Sitara Pharmaceutical Consulting Group. He previously served as founder, CEO, President and Chief Technology Officer, and on the Board of Directors of OHR Pharmaceutical, Inc. an ophthalmology drug development company, and as a Drug Development consultant at PAREXEL Consulting. Dr. Taraporewala has published papers in drug development and delivery in reputed journals and has lectured extensively. He received a Ph.D. in Medicinal Chemistry from the Philadelpjhia College of Pharmacy and Science, and has been Principal Investigator on several NIH/DoD biomedical research grants.

Consulting on Pharmaceutical Company start-up and phased growth strategic planning, Drug Development and Regulatory Strategy, Risk management, CMC Regulatory Affairs, CMC Module 2 and 3 CTD submissions and review, Drug Master File submissions for APIs, GMP, Medicinal Chemistry, Drug Design, Organic Synthesis, Drug Discovery and Development, Quality Assurance, Quality Systems, Technology/intellectual Property Due Diigence for Mergers and Acquisitions, Pharmaceutical Portfolio Assessment , Formulation Development, Sustained Release Pharmaceuticals, Drug-Device Combination Products, SBIR/STTR Grants and IP Evaluations. Specialist on guiding success-driven strategy and regulatory pathway development to small and mid-sized pharmaceutical and biotech companies transitioning from the R&D stage to preclinical and clinical phases of drug development. Consultant services for strategic partnerships, due diligence for technology/IP evaluation on Mergers & Acquisitions, and on portfolio companies for venture firms.

Dr. Hiroshi Maeda is a world renowned expert in macromolecular therapeutics. He was successful in creating the world first polymeric drug, SMANCS, approved for treatment of hepatoma in Japan. Consequently, he discovered the concept of EPR effect of macromolecular-drugs, ubiquitous mechanism for solid tumor selective targeting of polymeric drugs. He received MS, University of California, Fulbright Fellow, and Ph.D., M.D., Tohoku University. He published more than 450 papers in reputed journals. He was awarded Lifetime-Achievement-Award at Royal-Pharmaceutical-Society, Princess-Takamatsu-Award in Cancer Research, Tomizo-Yoshida-Award, highest award of JCA, and also selected as most cited influential scientist in pharmacology by Thomson Reuters 2014.

Formulation and Development, Drug Delivery, Pharmaceutical Industry, Drug Delivery Technology, Pharmaceutical Nanotechnology, Peptide and Protein Drug Delivery, Drug Discovery and Drug Development.

Hajime Mori has completed his PhD at the age of 26 years from Nagoya University and postdoctoral studies from The National Institute of Agrobiological Sciences. He is a trustee and vice-president, and also professor of Kyoto Institute of Technology. He has published more than 90 papers in reputed journals and has been serving as the editor of Journal of Insect Biotechnology and Sericology

Hajime Mori has completed his PhD at the age of 26 years from Nagoya University and postdoctoral studies from The National Institute of Agrobiological Sciences. He is a trustee and vice-president, and also professor of Kyoto Institute of Technology. He has published more than 90 papers in reputed journals and has been serving as the editor of Journal of Insect Biotechnology and Sericology

Christophe is Professor at the University of Strasbourg teaching at the European School of Chemistry, Polymers and Materials Science (ECPM). He received his MS and PhD degrees in chemical engineering from the National Engineering School of the Chemical Industries (Nancy) and Paul Sabatier University (Toulouse), respectively. His researches concern the development of intensified and integrated microfluidic-assisted polymer processes for the synthesis of architecture-controlled polymers and functional microstructured polymer particles

Microencapsulation is used for the protection of drug, controlled release, reduced administration frequency, patient comfort and compliance. In comparison with conventional techniques for encapsulation, microfluidics offers a new route to precisely control over microcarriers’ size, shape, morphology, composition and thus release properties. Continuous-flow off-the-shelves capillaries-based microfluidic droplet generators, assembled within minutes, were used to produce size-controlled and drug-loaded plain, core-shell, Janus and Trojan polymeric microcarriers. A single capillary-based device was employed to obtained either poly(ethyl acrylate) plain microparticles or poly(acrylamide) Trojan microparticles embedded with drug-loaded poly(ethyl acrylate) nanoparticles previously obtained from the nanoemulsification of the monomer phase within an elongation flow micromixer. On the opposite, a two capillaries-based device was employed to prepare poly(acrylamide)/poly(methyl acrylate) core-shell and Janus microparticles from the emulsification into droplets of two immiscible monomer phases that were downstream polymerized by UV irradiation at 365 nm far away from maximum absorption wave length of drugs thus insuring their integrity.

Chauhan has completed his PhD at the age of 27 years from Central Drug Research Institute (CDRI), Lucknow, India and recieved postdoctoral training from University of Nebraska Medical Center (UNMC), Omaha, NE.. Currently he is serving as a Professor of Pharmaceutical sciences at Yniversity of Tennessee Health Science Center (UTHSC), Memphis, TN, a premier educational institution. He has published more than 85 papers in reputed journals and has been serving as an editorial board member for sevral journals of international repute.

Pancreatic cancer (PanCa), is the fourth leading cause of cancer related deaths in the United States due to the lack of early diagnosis and poor response to available therapeutics. Thus, identification of newer therapeutic approaches that can aid current therapeutics is highly desirable. We have defined multidimensional roles of MUC13 mucin in the pathogenesis and therapeutics/imaging of PanCa. We have reported that MUC13 is highly expressed in human pancreatic tumors but not in normal pancreas and its expression progressively increases with disease stage and metastasis. MUC13 enhances tumorigenesis through modulation of multiple oncogenes (HER2, PAK1, ERK, metastasin/S100A4, TERT, sonic hedgehog (SHH), GATA-1) associated with tumorigenesis/metastasis and desmoplasia. We have also observed a functional interaction of MUC13 and HER2 in PanCa cells and identified miR-145 as a tumor suppressor and a novel regulator of MUC13 in PanCa. Additionally, we have identified drugs that inhibit tumor desmoplasia (targets SHH pathway) and enhances therapeutic response of gemcitabine, thus, can be of therapeutic benefit for PanCa. Moreover, we have generated unique anti-MUC13 mouse monoclonal (MAb) and recombinant humanized (HuAb) antibodies that can efficiently target pancreatic tumors. Furthermore, we have successfully generated multiple patented nanoparticle formulations for antibody guided tumor specific targeted drug delivery and imaging. Taken together, our data suggest a crucial role of MUC13 in PanCa pathogenesis. Utilization of a novel anti-MUC13 monoclonal antibody can be used for the targeted tumor specific delivery of novel nanoparticle formulations in pancreatic tumors. This research will establish the multifaceted role of MUC13 in pathogenesis of PanCa and advance diagnosis and therapy of PanCa to reduce the morbidity and mortality caused by this devastating disease.

Rajiv Nayar is Founder and President of HTD Biosystems. Previously, Dr. Nayar was at Bayer where he established the formulation and drug delivery Group in the biotechnology division and was responsible for managing the formulation and drug delivery activities within the global Bayer network on protein/peptide based drugs. He was a recipient of 3 consecutive Presidential Achievement Awards at Bayer for implementing Continuous Improvement Processes in pharmaceutical development. He is an inventor on 15 patents and has authored over 70 publications. He is the inventor the Bayer’s albumin-free Factor VIII formulation (Kogenate® FS). Prior to Bayer, he was at the Canadian Liposome Company and involved in the development of liposomal doxorubicin (Caelyx®, Myocet®). Dr. Nayar received his Ph.D. (Biochemistry) from University of British Columbia and was a MRC fellow at M.D Anderson Tumor Institute.

Formulation, Development of liposomal doxorubicin, Drug Delivery, Pharmaceutical Industry.

Ülo 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.

Kim is Founder and former Co-Chairman for the International Symposium on Recent Advances in Drug Delivery, which is held biennially in Salt Lake City since 1983. He is on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Controlled Release, Pharmaceutical Research, Journal of Biomedical Materials Science, and Biomaterials Science journals. He is a Fellow in the AAPS, Biomaterials Society, and the AIMBE societies. Dr. Sung Wan Kim is currently a Distinguished Professor of Pharmaceutics and Pharmaceutical Chemistry, Distinguished Professor of Bioengineering. He received his B.S. and M.S. at Seoul National University in 1963 and 1965, respectively, and his Ph.D. in Physical Chemistry at the University of Utah in 1969 (under Professor Henry Eyring).

Dr. Kim is a pioneer and has been engaged in drug delivery research since 1974 in the areas of hydrogels, biodegradable drug conjugates, self-regulating drug delivery and stimuli sensitive polymers. He has also worked extensively in medical polymers, especially blood compatible polymers. Dr. Kim\'s present research includes design of novel polymers for the delivery of protein drugs, cells and genes.

Omathanu Perumal is a Professor and Head of Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences at South Dakota State University. He has over 18 years of experience in developing new drug delivery systems. His group has developed natural protein based drug delivery platform for various drug delivery applications. In addition his group has developed novel topical and transdermal drug delivery approaches. Dr. Perumal has published close to 50 peer reviewed publications, and delivered over 100 presentations. He has four issued patents and two pending patent applications. Dr. Perumal is the founder and Chief Scientific Officer of Tranzderm Solutions Inc. He serves as the editor-in-chief of Journal of Biomedical Nanotechnology (Impact factor: 5.338). He is the recipient of Patricia Walker Skin Cancer Research Award from Skin Cancer Foundation, F.O. Butler Award for excellence in research, Distinguished Researcher award and Intellectual Property & Commercialization award from South Dakota State University.

Drug Delivery, nanoparticulate Systems, Topical Drug Delivery, drug bioavailability and drug administration

Dr. Abagyan’s research focuses on the development of novel technologies for structure based drug discovery and optimization, structural systems biology for target finding and protein modeling. We screen specific biomedical targets to discover new drug leads, and validate them experimentally. The applications include antibiotics, cancer, neuro-degeneration, viral and endocrine diseases. To extend the reach of docking we model alternative functional states and allosteric pockets of the kinases, GPCRs and Nuclear Receptors. We derived comprehensive sets of ligand pockets (the Pocketome) competing for ligands and metabolites in different organisms. These data are used for target identification and polypharmacology profiling. We dock drugs, leads and environmental chemicals to the ‘anti-target’ models to predict endocrine disruption and other adverse effects.

Structure Based Drug Discovery, Toxicology, Protein Modeling and Design

M. A. Mateescu (PhD from Bucharest Polytechnic University and receiver of a “Honorary Laurea” from Rome University “La Sapienza”) is full Professor at UQAM since 1994. His research relates to Multifunctional Proteins and to Drug Targeting. Co-inventor of more than 30 patents covering therapeutic enzymes and new excipients for drug delivery, Dr Mateescu developed fruitful collaborations with pharmaceutical companies and was involved in several technological transfers. He published more than 130 papers in reputed journals, one book, 8 book-chapters. He is holder of Bombardier Prize (1999) for Technological Innovation, of Venezia Prize (Italian Chamber of Commerce, 2012), of Research-Career Prize (UQAM, 2014).

The continuous improvements of pharmaceutical formulations have been achieved by means of hydrogels, in particular environmentally sensitive hydrogels, considered as smart delivery systems able to release the drug at the appropriate time and site in response to specific physiological triggers. The rich panoply of their structures and properties highly recommend the starch derivatives as excipients for drug sustained release or for chrono-delivery systems.

Pieter R. Cullis, Ph.D. Director, Life Sciences Institute, University of British Columbia; Co-Chair, Personalized Medicine Initiative; Professor, Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, Director, NanoMedicines Research Group, UBC. Dr. Cullis and co-workers have been responsible for fundamental advances in the generation, loading and targeting of lipid nanoparticle (LNP) systems for intravenous delivery of small molecule drugs and macromolecular drugs such as small interfering RNA (siRNA). This work has contributed to three LNP products that have been approved by regulatory agencies in the U.S. and Europe for the treatment of cancer and its complications and five more that have finished Phase I clinical studies. Dr. Cullis co-founded Lipex Biomembranes Inc., Tekmira Pharmaceuticals, Northern Lipids Inc., and, most recently, Acuitas Therapeutics and Precision NanoSystems. In addition, he co-founded and was Scientific Director of the Centre for Drug Research and Development (CDRD) 2004-2010. He has published over 300 scientific articles and is an inventor on over 40 patents. Dr. Cullis has received many awards, including the B.C. Science Council Gold Medal for Health Sciences in 1991, the Alec D. Bangham Award for contributions to liposome science and technology in 2000 and the B.C. Biotechnology Association award for Innovation and Achievement in 2002. He was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada in 2004, received the Leadership Award of the Canadian Society of Pharmaceutical Scientists in 2010 and was awarded the Prix Galien, Canada’s premier prize for achievements in pharmaceutical R&D, in 2011.

Roles of lipids in biological membranes and the use of lipid nanoparticle (LNP) systems to deliver conventional and genetic drugs. Research interests in LNP systems can be divided into three parts: The delivery of small molecule drugs, particularly those used in cancer chemotherapy, with the aim of increasing efficacy and reducing toxicity. The delivery of LNP encapsulated immunostimulatory oligonucleotides to cells of the immune system, as an adjuvant for the immunotherapy of infectious and malignant disease. The design of LNP systems capable of effectively delivering macromolecules such as nucleic acids (DNA/RNA) to target cells in vivo following systemic administration.

Dr. Mohapatra is a Distinguished Health Professor, Associate Dean at the College of Pharmacy, Vice Chair of Research for Internal Medicine, Director of the Translational Medicine-USF Nanomedicine Research Center at the University of South Florida, and a Research Career Scientist at the James A. Haley VA Hospital in Tampa, Florida. Mohapatra is recognized nationally and internationally for his expertise in the field of nanoscale biomedical diagnostics and therapeutics in cancers, asthma, viral infections, and traumatic brain injury. His inventions led to several customized cell-targeted nanoparticles with diverse drug payloads and a nano-HIV detection kit. Mohapatra cofounded TransGenex Nanobiotech Inc. (TGN), which specializes in manufacturing these nanoscale products. TGN is also commercializing products for 3D cancer cell culture technology and services for anti-cancer drug discovery and personalized cancer treatment (PCTx) and is establishing a Reference Lab for PCTx to provide guidance for personalized therapy. Mohapatra has received more than $20 million in extramural funds including funds from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), DOA, ONR, VA Merit Review Award and Florida Department of Health. He received the Alexander von Humboldt research fellowship (Germany) and Pharmacia Allergy Research Foundation Award (Sweden) and is the recipient of numerous awards in biotechnology, the Sigma XI award, TBTF Technology Leadership Award and Global Corporate Award in Nanotechnology in 2014. He has published more than 160 papers, some in journals such as Nature Medicine, and has 22 U.S. patents, 3 foreign patents, and numerous pending patent applications. He is a Charter Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors. Dr. Mohapatra was inducted to the Florida Inventors’ Hall of Fame in 2014.

Immunology and inflammation in allergic, immunologic and infectious viral diseases and cancers. The current research programs include: molecular biology and genetics of IgE responsiveness, molecular mechanisms of virus infection, development of prophylactic/therapeutic gene transfer, development of genetic antivirals, molecular basis of genetic predisposition to inflammatory diseases and application of nanotechnology to biomedicine.

Professor Zhou completed his clinical medical training in China in 1989 and obtained his PhD in 2001 from the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, the University of Auckland, Auckland, New Zealand. He continued his postdoctoral training at the University of Auckland until November 2002. Since 2002, Dr Zhou has served as a faculty member for the National University of Singapore, Queensland University of Technology (Australia), RMIT University (Australia), and now University of South Florida. Professor Zhou has published more than 330 peer-reviewed papers, 16 books and book chapters and more than 310 conference abstracts. His work has been cited more than 8,600 times by other colleagues with a H-index of 46. He has received more than US$22.0 million grants from various funding bodies and industries. To date, he has trained 24 PhD students, 12 MSc/Honors students, 14 postdoctoral fellows and 25 visiting faculty. Dr Zhou serves as an editor-in-chief or editor for 16 journals including Drug, Healthcare and Patient Safety, Drug Metabolism Letters, and Current Drug Metabolism and is the editorial board member of more than 50 medical and pharmacological journals. Dr Zhou is presently a Professor, Associate Vice President of Global Medical Development, Associate Dean of International Research, and Chair of the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, College of Pharmacy & Morsani College of Medicine, University of South Florida, Tampa, Florida.

Dr Zhou’s major research interests are drug discovery/systems pharmacology, drug metabolism/drug transport & pharmacokinetics, pharmacogenomics/pharmacogenetics, nanomedicine and Chinese medicine.

Dr. Gabriel Lopez-Berestein is a Professor of Medicine and Experimental Therapeutics and John Q. Gaines Professor for Cancer Research He also serves as Associate Director, The Center for RNAi and non-coding RNA, MD Anderson Cancer Center and is Professor of Nanomedicine and Biomedical Engineering UT Health. He obtained his MD from the University of Navarra, Spain and completed a Residency in Internal Medicine at the San Juan City Hospital in Puerto Rico. He completed a Fellowship in Developmental Therapeutics at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center in 1981. He rose rapidly through the ranks and became Professor of Cancer Medicine in 1990. He is internationally known for his research pertaining to development of nanomedical applications that has resulted in more than 350 patents at different stages of development and more than 350 publications. Dr. Lopez has developed more than 10 anticancer and antifungal drugs from bench to clinic with one of them already approved by the FDA. He has received multiple awards and is actively involved in educational activities.

His research efforts concentrate on the monocyte-macrophage biology and on the development of nanoliposomes and nanoparticles for the delivery of siRNA to target major signaling pathways in cancer and cardiovascular diseases. For the last 30 years Dr.Lopez-Berestein has been studying different aspects of the monocyte-macrophage biology, nanomedical applications in cancer in particular delivery of nucleic acids in nanoparticles.

Dr. Lacko is a professor in the department of molecular biology and immunology, and is also a member of the Institute for Cancer Research. Andras completed his education at the University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada and at the University of Washington, Seattle WA, where he obtained a Ph.D. degree in Biochemistry in 1968. After a post-doctoral fellowship at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, Bronx, NY, he continued his research at the Albert Einstein Medical Center, Philadelphia PA and at Temple University Health Science Center, Philadelphia, PA. In 1975, he took a position of Associate Professor at the Texas College of Osteopathic Medicine/North Texas State University in Fort Worth/Denton. He has received several awards, including a fellowship and studentship at the National Research Council of Canada Fellowship, a post-doctoral fellowship with the National Institutes of Health. Dr. Lacko is a member of several professional societies, including the American Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, the American Heart Association, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. He has published over 100 articles and has given numerous presentations at international meetings and Academic institutions around the world. He organized four international meetings on high density lipoproteins and reverse cholesterol transport.

Dr. Lacko’s research has changed to develop and characterize novel reconstituted high density lipoprotein-based drug delivery system. Most of his research has involved the structure/function and metabolism of plasma lipoproteins, key components of cholesterol transport. His research interest has been focused on using synthetic lipoproteins as drug carriers, particularly for cancer chemotherapy.

Dr. Grigoriadis has authored or co-authored over 150 journal and proceeding articles, 3 book chapters, and two books (Actuator Saturation Control, Marcel Dekker, New York, 2003, and A Unified Algebraic Approach to Linear Control Design, Taylor & Francis, 1998). He has organized several invited sessions, workshops and short-courses at national and international conferences, and he has been in the Editorial Board of international journals and international conference committees in the systems and controls area. He is the recipient of several national and university awards including a National Science Foundation CAREER Award, a Society of Automotive Engineers Ralph Teetor Award, a Bill Cook Scholar Award, a Herbert Allen Award for Outstanding Contributions by a Young Engineer and multiple Research Excellence and Teaching Excellence Awards. Currently he is a Professor in the Dept. of Mechanical Engineering and director of, Aerospace Interdisciplinary Graduate Program, Univ. of Houston.

Dr. Grigoriadis research has been focusing on the development of systematic methods for control systems design subject to practical implementation limitations, such as, time delays, controller order, saturation constraints and fault accommodations. He has worked on multiple research projects sponsored by the U.S. National Science Foundation, NASA, the U.S. Army, and aerospace and automotive companies. Dr. Grigoriadis along with colleugues is working to develop a system that automatically delivers lifesaving medications and fluids to the cardiovascular system for resuscitation after traumatic injury.

Chun Li, Ph.D. is a professor in the Department of Cancer Systems Imaging at The University of Texas M. D. Anderson Cancer Center. Research in Dr. Li’s laboratory is primarily focused on two areas: 1) the development of targeted imaging probes for noninvasive characterization of molecular events associated with tumor progression and regression and 2) the development of novel drug-delivery systems for selective delivery of diagnostic and therapeutic agents. A polymer-drug conjugate (PG-TXL) originated from his laboratory has advanced into clinical phase III trials studies. Dr. Li, who earned his doctorate in chemistry at Rutgers-The State University of New Jersey and his undergraduate degree from Peking University in Beijing, has more than 120 papers published in peer-reviewed journals, 1 edited book, and 28 patents.

Research interest is primarily focused on two areas: 1) the development of targeted imaging probes for noninvasive characterization of molecular events associated with tumor progression and regression and 2) the development of novel drug-delivery systems for selective delivery of diagnostic and therapeutic agents.

Professor Cai received his Bachelor of Science in Chemistry in 1986 and his Masters of Science in Organic Chemistry in 1989 from the South China University of Technology. In 1996 Cai received his Ph.D. from ETHZurich in Carbohydrate synthesis and was awarded with ETH Medal and Prize for Excellent Ph.D. Dissertation. Cai was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Institute for Quantum Electronics, ETH – Zurich in 1996-1999. In 2000, he began teaching at the University of Houston as an Assistant Professor in Chemistry and in 2006 he became an Associate Professor in Chemistry and the Texas Center for Superconductivity at the University of Houston. Professor Cai was honoured with NSF Early Faculty career Award in 2004. Professor Cai is currently Professor in the Department of Chemistry, Co-Director of the Chemical Biology Interdisciplinary Program and Director of the Mass Spectrometry Laboratory in University of Houston.

Research interests include Organic synthesis, dendrimers, organic thin films, surface reactions, AFM, bio-fouling, protein nanoarrays, AFM tip modification, nanoparticles, and biomaterials.

Professor Kumar did his PhD in drug delivery from Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee (formerly University of Roorkee), India in 2000. He was a postdoctoral fellow at University of Kentucky from 2000-2002 and consecutively an Alexander von Humboldt Research Fellow at Saarland University, Germany for one year. From Sept 2003-Dec 2007 he was an assistant professor with National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research, Mohali, India. Dr. Kumar served as the Professor of Drug Delivery at the Strathclyde Institute of Pharmacy and Biomedical Sciences (SIPBS), University of Strathclyde. Dr. Ravi Kumar is a Recipient of British Pharmaceutical Conference Science Medal by Royal Pharmaceutical Society Great Britain (2009); Tom Gibson Memorial Award by British Society of Plastic Surgeons & the Royal College of Physicians and Surgeons (2008) and INSA Young Scientist Medal by Indian National Science Academy (2007). Currently he is a professor in the Texas A&M Rangel College of Pharmacy.

Working at the interface of Pharmaceutical and biomaterial sciences at the nano- or macro-scale to prevent, manage or treat diseases using drugs or drug like compounds or their combinations.