Jinhwan Kim
(UC Davis, USA)

Dr. Jinhwan Kim is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biomedical Engineering, College of Engineering, as well as in the Department of Surgery, School of Medicine. His research centers on the integration of nanotechnology, cell engineering, and bioimaging to augment and optimize cell-based therapies, including immunotherapy and stem cell therapy. His group investigates the augmentation of endogenous functional/therapeutic cells (e.g., stem cells, T cells, NK cells) with foreign and biocompatible nanoparticles. This research is underpinned by the application of non-invasive and real-time imaging system, including ultrasound and photoacoustic imaging, to track and monitor the application and effectiveness of these therapies. The primary objective of his research group is to increase the understanding of these therapeutic mechanisms to improve control over cell therapies, thereby enhancing their efficacy and facilitating their successful translation into clinical practices.

Stanislav Emelianov
(Georgia Tech, USA)

Dr. Stanislav Emelianov is a Joseph M. Pettit Endowed Chair, Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar, and Professor of ECE ad BME at the Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University. During his career at at the University of Michigan, the University of Texas at Austin, and now at Georgia Tech and Emory, Dr. Emelianov built and maintained an active world-class research program. He is Director of the Ultrasound Imaging and Therapeutics Research Laboratory where projects are focused on the discovery, development and clinical translation of diagnostic imaging and image-guided therapy augmented with theranostic nanoagents. Throughout his career, Dr. Emelianov has been developing advanced imaging methods capable of detecting and diagnosing cancer and other pathologies, assisting treatment planning, enhancing image-guided therapy, and monitoring of the treatment outcome. The projects in Dr. Emelianov's laboratory cover a wide range of applications including molecular and functional imaging, cell tracking, tissue differentiation, drug delivery and release, image-guided surgery and intervention. Dr. Emelianov is a nationally recognized expert in biomedical imaging instrumentation and nanoagents for imaging and therapy. He is the author of over 250 archival publications including peer-reviewed research articles and invited reviews. In recognition of his contributions to the field, Dr. Emelianov was elected to the College of Fellows of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE), Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), Acoustical Society of America (OSA), and Society of Photographic Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE).

Aharon (Roni) Azagury
(Ariel University, Israel)

Tenured Assistant Professor at Ariel University in the department of Chemical and Biotechnology Engineering. My lab is focused on developing novel biomimetic bioengineered drug delivery systems. Demonstrated history of working in the higher education industry. Skilled in Nano and Microencapsulation, Drug Delivery Systems, Mass Transport Phenomena, Materials Science, Spectroscopy, Nanotechnology, Molecular Biology, and Cell Culture. Strong research professional with a PhD focused in Chemical and Biochemical Engineering from Ben Gurion University of the Negev. I did my postdoc at Brown University focusing on oral drug delivery and polymers science.

Dai Hai Nguyễn
(Institute of Chemical Technology - Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology, Vietnam)

Prof. Dai Hai Nguyen is currently the Director of the Technology Research and Development Center, and concurrently the Deputy Director of the Institute of Chemical Technology - Vietnam Academy of Science and Technology. In 2013, he successfully earned a Ph.D. from Ajou University in Korea, specializing in Applied Chemistry with a focus on Biomaterials Technology. Acknowledging his significant contributions to science and technology in Vietnam, Dr. Hai received the prestigious Golden Globe award from the Ho Chi Minh Communist Youth Union in 2018. He achieved the title of associate Professor in 2019 and was honored as a Professor in 2023, making him one of the youngest professors appointed in Vietnam.
Prof. Nguyen Dai Hai's primary research interests encompass the development of nanomaterials for controlled drug delivery in cancer treatment, creating biomedical materials for regenerative medicine applications, and producing advanced materials with applications in medicine, agriculture, and the environment. Prof. Dai Hai Nguyen has an impressive scholarly record, publishing 152 scientific articles in reputable international journals. Additionally, he holds three patents for inventions and useful solutions. Furthermore, he has authored five books, all of which have been published by esteemed publishers.

Jooli Han
(Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), USA)

Jooli Han is a postdoctoral researcher in Professor Robert Langer's lab at Massachusetts Institute of Technology. She received her Ph.D. degree in Biomedical Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University in 2020. Her doctoral research work was on the development of soft robotic cardiac assist devices using biocompatible polymers. Before joining MIT, she worked as a research intern at Facebook Reality Labs developing soft robotic haptic devices. Her current research at MIT focuses on the delivery of lipid nanoparticle-based mRNA vaccines and therapeutics using polymeric platforms such as microneedles and core-shell microparticles in an effort to achieve global health equity.

Shinichi Mochizuki
(The University of Kitakyushu, Japan)

Education
2002 BS, Life Technology, Department of Biotechnology, Tokyo Institute of Technology.
2004 MS, Life Technology, Department of Biotechnology, Tokyo Institute of Technology.
2008 Ph.D., Life Technology, Department of Applied Chemistry, Kyushu University.

Academic Career
2008-2014 Postdoctoral fellow at the University of Kitakyushu
2015- Associate Professor at the University of Kitakyushu

Academic Award
Award for Encouragement of Research in Polymer Science (2011)
Award for Encouragement of Research in the Sasakawa Scientific Research (2010)

Lingxiao Zhang
(Aarhus University, Denmark)

Dr. Lingxiao Zhang received his Ph.D. degree at University of Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2020. He is now an Marie Sklodowska-Curie Actions Postdoctoral Fellow in Aarhus University. His research focuses on the development of two-dimensional clay materials-based nanobiotechnological drugs and nanovaccines for the diagnosis and therapy of malignant tumors and neurodegenerative diseases. Up till now, he has published 28 high-quality articles in well-known journals such as Advanced Materials, ACS Nano, Advanced Drug Delivery Reviews, Nano Today, Biomaterials, Journal of Controlled Relseae, Nano Research, ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces and Journal of Nanobiotechnology. He was also awarded with numerous honors include the TOP100 Excellent Doctoral Dissertation of the Chinese Academy of Sciences, Dean's Excellence Award of the Chinese Academy of Sciences and European Commission Horizon Seal of Excellence. As project leaders, he has undertaken a number of projects such as Chinese National Natural Science Foundation Project and HORIZON TMA MSCA Postdoctoral Fellowships. He also serves as a Guest Editor for Journal of Nanobiotechnology, Editorial Member of Exploration and Asian Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences, and Microstructures. He also serves as a journal reviewer for Coordination Chemistry Reviews, Brain Behavior and Immunity, Acta Biomaterialia, Journal of Nanobiotechnology and Journal of Materials Chemistry B.

Nate Dowdall
(McMaster University, Canada)

Nate Dowdall is a PhD candidate in Dr. Todd Hoare's lab at McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. He received his Bachelor of Applied Science at Queen's University in Kingston, Ontario. Nate's current work focuses on developing macrophage-targeting immunomodulatory micro- and nano-particles with applications in fibrosis and cancer therapy.

Zheyu Shen
(Southern Medical University, China)

Prof. Zheyu Shen received his Ph. D. from the Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, under the supervision of Prof. Guanghui Ma and Prof. Toshiaki Dobashi (Gunma University, Japan). After postdoctoral studies with Prof. Kazuhiro Kohama (Gunma University, Japan) and Prof. Sheng Dai (The University of Adelaide, Australia), he was appointed an Associate Professor (2012) and promoted to Full Professor (2015) at the Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology & Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences. After three years of visiting scholar at the National Institutes of Health (USA) under the supervision of Prof. Xiaoyuan Chen, he joined Southern Medical University as a Full Professor in 2019. His lab focuses on MRI contrast agents, tumor ferroptosis therapy, and immunotherapy.

Su-Geun Yang
(Inha University, Korea, Republic of)

Dr. Su-Geun Yang is a Professor at Inha University College of Medicine in Korea, where he leads the Integrated Research Lab for Medicinal Nano and Life Science within the Department of Biomedical Science.

Education and Training:
Dr. Yang earned his Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Science from Seoul National University College of Pharmacy in Korea in 2006. Prior to that, he completed his B.S. in Pharmaceutical Science at Chung-Ang University College of Pharmacy and his M.S. in Pharmacy at Chung-Ang University College of Pharmacy in 1993-1995 and 1989-1992, respectively. He also served as a Research Associate in Molecular Imaging at the University of Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, USA, from 2006 to 2009.

Professional Experiences:
With a wealth of experience in the field, Dr. Yang has held various key positions in both academia and industry. He served as a Senior Researcher at Chong Kun Dang Pharm Co., Korea, from 1995 to 2002 and later as a Senior Researcher at CJ Jeiljedang Co., Korea, from 2002 to 2003. Subsequently, he became the Deputy Director of Utah-Inha DDS and Therapeutics in Korea from 2009 to 2012 before assuming his current role as a Professor at Inha University College of Medicine in 2012.

Research Area:
Dr. Yang's research focuses on cutting-edge areas within medicinal nano and life science. His expertise lies in the development of polymeric drug conjugates for targeted cancer therapy, therapeutic gene delivery for immune cancer therapy, and translational research for medical devices. Additionally, he is involved in space medicine and physiology research.

Publications:
Dr. Yang has made significant contributions to the scientific community with over 50 publications. Some notable works include studies on retinoic acid-conjugated chitosan/manganese porphyrin ionic-complex nanoparticles for improved T1 contrast MR imaging of hepatic fibrosis, as well as the design and clinical developments of aptamer-drug conjugates for targeted cancer therapy.

His research spans various fields, including nanomedicine, drug delivery systems, and the development of innovative therapeutic strategies.

This comprehensive background showcases Dr. Su-Geun Yang's commitment to advancing biomedical science and his contributions to both academia and industry.

Zheyu Shen
(Southern Medical University, China)

Prof. Zheyu Shen received his Ph. D. from the Institute of Process Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, under the supervision of Prof. Guanghui Ma and Prof. Toshiaki Dobashi (Gunma University, Japan). After postdoctoral studies with Prof. Kazuhiro Kohama (Gunma University, Japan) and Prof. Sheng Dai (The University of Adelaide, Australia), he was appointed an Associate Professor (2012) and promoted to Full Professor (2015) at the Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology & Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences. After three years of visiting scholar at the National Institutes of Health (USA) under the supervision of Prof. Xiaoyuan Chen, he joined Southern Medical University as a Full Professor in 2019. His lab focuses on MRI contrast agents, tumor ferroptosis therapy, and immunotherapy.

Su-Geun Yang
(Inha University, Korea, Republic of)

Dr. Su-Geun Yang is a Professor at Inha University College of Medicine in Korea, where he leads the Integrated Research Lab for Medicinal Nano and Life Science within the Department of Biomedical Science.

Education and Training:
Dr. Yang earned his Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Science from Seoul National University College of Pharmacy in Korea in 2006. Prior to that, he completed his B.S. in Pharmaceutical Science at Chung-Ang University College of Pharmacy and his M.S. in Pharmacy at Chung-Ang University College of Pharmacy in 1993-1995 and 1989-1992, respectively. He also served as a Research Associate in Molecular Imaging at the University of Southwestern Medical Center at Dallas, USA, from 2006 to 2009.

Professional Experiences:
With a wealth of experience in the field, Dr. Yang has held various key positions in both academia and industry. He served as a Senior Researcher at Chong Kun Dang Pharm Co., Korea, from 1995 to 2002 and later as a Senior Researcher at CJ Jeiljedang Co., Korea, from 2002 to 2003. Subsequently, he became the Deputy Director of Utah-Inha DDS and Therapeutics in Korea from 2009 to 2012 before assuming his current role as a Professor at Inha University College of Medicine in 2012.

Research Area:
Dr. Yang's research focuses on cutting-edge areas within medicinal nano and life science. His expertise lies in the development of polymeric drug conjugates for targeted cancer therapy, therapeutic gene delivery for immune cancer therapy, and translational research for medical devices. Additionally, he is involved in space medicine and physiology research.

Publications:
Dr. Yang has made significant contributions to the scientific community with over 50 publications. Some notable works include studies on retinoic acid-conjugated chitosan/manganese porphyrin ionic-complex nanoparticles for improved T1 contrast MR imaging of hepatic fibrosis, as well as the design and clinical developments of aptamer-drug conjugates for targeted cancer therapy.

His research spans various fields, including nanomedicine, drug delivery systems, and the development of innovative therapeutic strategies.

This comprehensive background showcases Dr. Su-Geun Yang's commitment to advancing biomedical science and his contributions to both academia and industry.

Young Jik Kwon
(University of California, Irvine, USA)

Dr. Young Jik Kwon is a professor at UCI in the Pharmaceutical Sciences, Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, and Molecular Biology & Biochemistry departments. Following his undergraduate education in Biological Engineering at Inha University, Dr. Kwon received his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Southern California in 2003 and did post-doctoral training in department of chemistry at UC Berkeley. He started his academic career in Biomedical Engineering at Case Western Reserve University in 2005 where he was the M. Frank and Margaret Rudy assistant professor and moved to UC Irvine in 2007. Dr. Kwon’s work was awarded a Faculty Early Career Development Award (CAREER) from the National Science Foundation in 2010 and a Medical Research Award from Gabrielle's Angel Foundation for Cancer Research in 2011. He was also an invited scholar to Federal University of Minas Gerais (UFMG) in Brazil and a Brain Pool Scholar in Korea University in Korea. He was also selected to be a Faculty Innovation Fellow of the Beall Applied Innovation at UCI and appointed as the Editor-in-Chief of Methods, an interdisciplinary Elsevier Journal.

Tatsuo Maruyama
(Kobe University, Japan)

Tatsuo Maruyama received his PhD at the Department of Chemistry & Biotechnology of The University of Tokyo in 2002 under the supervision of Prof. Minoru Seki. He started his academic carrier as an assistant professor in Prof. Masahiro Goto’s group at Kyushu University in 2002 and moved to Kobe University in 2007 as an associate professor. He was promoted to full professor in 2019. He received the SCEJ Award for Outstanding Young Researcher from The Society of Chemical Engineering Japan in 2006 and the Kao Scientists’ Prize from The Kao Foundation for Arts and Sciences in 2018. His research interests lie in the areas of polymer-surface engineering and supramolecular gelator.

Zhimou Yang
(Nankai University, China)

Professor and director in Key Laboratory of Bioactive Materials, Ministry of Education, Nankai University. Zhimou Yang, born 1978 in Guangdong Province, China. He received his BS from Nanjing University in 2001. He obtained his PhD in 2006 from the Hong Kong University of Science and Technology under the supervision of Professor Bing Xu. Before starting his independent research at Nankai University in March 2009, he was a postdoctoral fellow with Prof. Matthew Bogyo at Stanford Medical School. His research interests focus on biomedical applications of peptide-based hydrogels including hydrogels of drug-peptide amphiphiles for drug delivery, hydrogels of bioactive peptides for tissue engineering, and hydrogels as vaccine adjuvants, etc. He has published around 100 corresponding authored papers in the field of peptide self-assembly. He obtained the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars from National Natural Science Foundation of China in 2018.

Hyunjoo Jenny Lee
(KAIST, Korea, Republic of)

Hyunjoo Jenny Lee is an Associate Professor in the School of Electrical Engineering and the KAIST Endowed Chair Professor at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST). She received the B.S. degree and M.Eng. degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA, in 2004 and 2005, respectively, and the Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University, Stanford, CA, in 2012. Her research focuses on MEMS sensors and actuators for biomedical applications including neural interfaces, ultrasound transducers, epidermal electronics, and biosensors. She is the author of over 50 journal and conference papers and is a recipient of a number of awards, including the Korean Government's Minister of Science and ICT Award (2022), S-Oil Next-Generation Scientist Awards (2022), KAIST Technology Innovation Award (2021), and WEF Young Scientist Award (2017).

Sei Kwang Hahn
(POSTECH, Korea, Republic of)

Sei Kwang Hahn is the SeokCheon Chair Professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at POSTECH. He obtained his B.S., M.S., and Ph.D. in the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at KAIST. As the youngest Ph.D. at LG Chemical Group in 1996, he started his research on biodegradable polymer and then sustained release formulation of hGH, which was successfully commercialized in Korea under the trade name of Declage® in 2007. From 2001, he did his post-doctoral research with Prof. Allan Hoffman in the Department of Bioengineering at the University of Washington. After that, he worked for long acting formulation of various biopharmaceuticals at the Roche Group, Chugai Pharmaceutical Co. in Japan for more than three years. Since 2005, he has worked as a professor in the Department of Materials Science and Engineering at POSTECH, and an adjunct professor in the School of Interdisciplinary Bioscience and Bioengineering and in the Department of Creative IT Engineering at POSTECH. He was the SeAh Young Chair Professor for 2012-2015 and is the Seok Cheon Chair Professor since 2019. He was a consultant for Johnson & Johnson in New Jersey in 2008 and made a collaboration project contract with Hoffman-La Roche. In 2012, he joined in the Wellman Center for Photomedicine, Harvard Medical School and Massachusetts General Hospital for his sabbatical research supported by LG Yeonam Fellowship. He was a visiting professor at Stanford University in 2019-2020 and elected as the member of National Academy of Engineering Korea and the Outside Director of Kiswire Co. in 2020. He was the Samsung Future Technology Committee Member for 2016-2018 and the Presidential Advisory Council on Science and Technology for 2017-2019. He is the founder and CEO of PHI BIOMED Co., National Innovative Enterprise 1000 nominated by the Korean Minister of SMEs and Startups. He received the Songgok Science & Technology Award in 2022, the Controlled Release Society Award in 2018, the Minister of Health and Welfare Award in 2017, the Korean President Award in 2015 and Korean Minister of Education Award in 2013. He published more than 130 SCI journal papers including Nature Reviews Materials, Nature Photonics, Nature Communications, Science Advances, Progress in Polymer Science, and Advanced Materials, and filed more than 130 Korean and international patents. He has worked as the Editorial Board Member of ACS Biomaterials Science and Engineering, ACS Applied Bio Materials, Biomacromolecules, the Guest Editor of APL Materials and Advanced Drug Delivery Reviews, and the Associate Editor of Biomaterials Research and Biomaterials.

Hyunjoo Jenny Lee
(KAIST, Korea, Republic of)

Hyunjoo Jenny Lee is an Associate Professor in the School of Electrical Engineering and the KAIST Endowed Chair Professor at the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST). She received the B.S. degree and M.Eng. degree in Electrical Engineering and Computer Science from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA, in 2004 and 2005, respectively, and the Ph.D. degree in Electrical Engineering from Stanford University, Stanford, CA, in 2012. Her research focuses on MEMS sensors and actuators for biomedical applications including neural interfaces, ultrasound transducers, epidermal electronics, and biosensors. She is the author of over 50 journal and conference papers and is a recipient of a number of awards, including the Korean Government's Minister of Science and ICT Award (2022), S-Oil Next-Generation Scientist Awards (2022), KAIST Technology Innovation Award (2021), and WEF Young Scientist Award (2017).

Jayasree R S
(Sree Chitra Tirunal Institute for Medicla Sciences and Technology, India)

I am working in the interface of physics, chemistry, biology and medicine and tries to contribute to the patient community by delivering clinically useful devices, biomaterial, biosensors and techniques. My early research helped to evolve clinical practice of procedures like laser treatment for disc decompression, osteoid osteoma, easophageal and bronchial tumor, which brought me the PSN national award for rural technology. My contributions to the field of biomaterials science include development biomaterials for imaging, sensing, diagnostic, theranostic and therapeutics in the most demanding areas like cancer, neurodegenerative diseases and cardiovascular diseases. Contributions in the biomaterial development fetched me the prestigious MRSI Medal in 2017. My interest also spans to designing laser diagnostic systems, and nanosystems for crossing blood brain barrier, drug delivery, cancer therapy and sensing. One of these patented techniques enables the point of care detection of urea from blood which has high utility for patients undergoing dialysis. Another patented nanodrug delivery system can cross blood brain barrier and deliver drug to the brain without disturbing the barrier. This is very useful for the early stage diagnosis of brain related disorders. Among the point of care devices/in vitro diagnostics include the nanosensor for the multi analyte detection of copper and creatinine simultaneously(Patent). Another nanosensor developed is for the detection of blood based biomarker for Alzheimer’s Disease with very good clinical outcome with attomolar sensitivity in its preliminary clinical trial(Patent). Development of a lateral flow assembly for the naked eye visualization of COVID-19 protein with nanogram level limit of detection has been patented. Translocation of hippocampal zinc during epileptic seizures could be imaged for the first time, using a bipyridine based zinc sensor. Another biosensor is the detection of dopamine from neurons during the neuronal cell differentiation. She also holds a patent to solve a socially relevant problem of detecting and removing endosulfan from different sources of water and milk. Yet another patented technology provides the highest magnetic relaxivity ever reported for using the material as MRI contrast agent. Very recently, a prototype of an optical nerve stimulator to replace the existing highly painful electrical stimulation has been developed, the clinical trial of which is going on. I have also developed a technology for the detection and quantification of circulating tumor cells (Patent). She has also developed autofluorescence spectroscopic techniques (AFS) combined with chemometrics for the early diagnosis of oral cavity disorders like oral leukoplakia, oral submucous fibrosis and lichen planus. Autofluorescence spectroscopy has been used to detect liver fibrosis at very early stage and also evaluated the effect of liver fibrosis on other organs using the same technique. AFS also has been proven to be an efficient tool for the classification of brain tumors like glioma, pituitary adenoma, schwannoma and meningioma.
Royal Society of Chemistry, London and Academy of Sciences, Chennai have honored her with their fellowships in recognition of her scientific contributions. She is part of several institutional, state level and national level scientific expert/advisory committees and task forces. She has also organized the International Symposium on Photonics Applications and Nanomaterials (ISPAN-2015) in the capacity of organizing secretary which was attended by world renowned researchers. She has been endowed with the Best Woman Scientist -2022 by the Indian Society for Analytical Scientists in 2022. She has been enlisted as one of the women nonscientists in the world by RSC, London in 2023.

Quinn Besford
(Leibniz Institute for Polymer Research, Germany)

Dr. Quinn A. Besford is an independent Group Leader at the Leibniz Institute for Polymer Research
(IPF) Dresden, Germany. He received his Ph.D. in theoretical/physical chemistry (2016)
from The University of Melbourne (UoM), Australia, specializing in statistical mechanics and on modeling
surface forces in polar liquids. He subsequently worked in the ARCCentre of Excellence in Bio-
Nano Science and Technology at UoM, specializing on the development of new polymeric nanomaterials
for therapeutic applications, including working on industry-funded projects for type 1 diabetes
treatments. He transitioned to IPF in Germany in 2019 as an Alexander von Humboldt research fellow
(Ludwig Leichhardt Memorial Fellowship), before being promoted to independent Group leader.He
received the 2022 IPF Innovation Prize for his work on mechanofluorescent polymer brush systems.
His research team focuses on developing functional polymeric materials for sensing, which leverages
fluorescence methods, and nanoparticle and hydrogel systems for therapeutic applications, mainly
focused on in-blood interactions.

Samir Mitragotri
(Harvard University, USA)

Samir Mitragotri is the Hiller Professor of Bioengineering and Wyss Professor of Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University. His research is focused on drug delivery. His research has also led to new technologies for transdermal, oral, and targeted drug delivery systems. He is an elected member of the US National Academy of Engineering, US National Academy of Medicine and US National Academy of Inventors. He is an author on over 400 publications and an inventor on over 225 patents/patent applications. He is also an elected fellow of AAAS, CRS, BMES, AIMBE, and AAPS. He received BS in Chemical Engineering from the Institute of Chemical Technology, India and PhD in Chemical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Shyh-Dar Li
(University of British Columbia, Canada)

Dr. Li received his PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences from University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. He is now the Angiotech Professor in Drug Delivery at the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of British Columbia. His research has been focused on developing innovative drug delivery technologies to enable novel therapies for challenging diseases, including genetic disorders, cancers, and diabetes.

Shang-Hsiu Hu
(National Tsing Hua University, Chinese Taipei)

Shang-Hsiu Hu (B.S.—chemical engineering—2004, NCHU; M.S.—materials—2006, NCTU; Ph.D.—materials—2010, NCTU) has been an associate professor at National Tsing Hua University since 2017 (Department of Biomedical and Environmental Sciences). His research explores novel nanomaterials and nanotechnologies to develop advanced drug and gene delivery systems with the promise to improve health care. He received NTHU Young Faculty Research Award (2015) and Prof. Chao-Ren Lee-Young Scholar Award (2015), Taiwan MOST Ta-You Wu Memorial Award (2017), MOST Young Scholar Fellowship (2018), and National Innovation Award (2019).

Qiaobing Xu
(Tufts University, USA)

Dr. Qiaobing Xu is currently professor in Department of Biomedical Engineering at Tufts University. He also holds an adjunct position in Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering and School of Medicine at Tufts University. He obtained his B.S. from Jilin University, China, and PhD from Harvard University, USA. He did postdoc training at MIT before joining Tufts as an assistant professor in September, 2010. He was promoted to full professor in 2021. His current research interests lie at the intersection of material science engineering, specifically micro/nanoscience, and biomedical application. His work involves using combinatorial methods to develop novel materials for the delivery of therapeutic biomacromolecules and using nanotechnology to develop novel biomaterials for tissue engineering. He received Charlton Award from Tufts University School of Medicine and National Science Foundation CAREER Award. He was named the Pew Scholar for Biomedical Sciences from Pew Charitable Trusts and was elected as a Fellow of AIMBE, class of 2020.

Yu-Chen Hu
(National Tsing Hua University, Chinese Taipei)

Dr. Yu-Chen Hu was born in 1969 in Taipei. He received his BS degree in Chemical Engineering from National Taiwan University in 1992 and his PhD degree in Chemical Engineering from University of Maryland in 1999, and his post-doc training at National Institutes of Health (USA) from 1999 to 2000. Dr. Hu joined National Tsing Hua University in 2000 and was promoted to Tsing Hua Chair Professor in 2019.
Dr. Hu’ research interests include vaccine development, gene editing and regulation, regenerative medicine, cancer therapy and synthetic biology. Dr. Hu's lab has developed the enterovirus 71 vaccine and self-amplifying RNA vaccines. He is a pioneer using baculovirus as a vector for gene delivery, regenerative medicine and cancer therapy. Dr. Hu has combined RNA-guided CRISPR technology and synthetic biology for the metabolic engineering of microorganisms and stem cells for production of bio-derived chemicals and tissue regeneration, respectively. In particular, he has recently developed various CRISPR activation (CRISPRa) and CRISPR interference (CRISPRi) and CRISPRai, RNA editing platforms to modulate stem cell differentiation to improve regeneration of different tissues. Dr. Hu also develops mRNA therapies for cancers and tissue regeneration.
Dr. Hu has won the Asia Research Award, Outstanding Research Award twice (Ministry of Science and Technology, 2006, 2014), BEST Biochemical Engineering Achievement Award, Wu Ta-You Memorial Award, Jin Kai-Yin Award, Mao Gao-Wen Award, Outstanding Academia-Industry Research Award and Outstanding Young Investigator Award in Taiwan. He is a fellow of five academic societies (American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE), Biomaterials Science and Engineering, International Union of Societies for Biomaterials Science and Engineering, International Association of Advanced Materials (IAAM), Taiwan Institute of Chemical Engineers (TwIChE) and Biotechnology and Biochemical Engineering Society of Taiwan).
Dr. Hu serves as the Program Chair of the Tissue Engineering International & Regenerative Medicine Society-Asia Pacific (TERMIS-AP) 2016 meeting, Conference Chair of Asian Congress of Biotechnology (ACB meeting 2019), Vice President of Biotechnology and Biochemical Engineering Society of Taiwan and Vice Dean of College of Engineering, NTHU. He is also the executive board member and currently Vice President of Asian Federation of Biotechnology (AFOB) and TERMIS-AP council member (2014-2016, 2018-2020) and. He is the associated editor of Current Gene Therapy, deputy editor of Journal of Taiwan Institute of Chemical Engineers, Frontiers in Biotechnology and Bioengineering, and former Coordinator of Chemical Engineering Division, Ministry of Science and Technology.

Wooram Park
(Sungkyunkwan University, Korea, Republic of)

Dr. Wooram Park is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Integrative Biotechnology at Sungkyunkwan University of Korea since 2022. He majored in Biotechnology and received his Ph.D. degree from the Catholic University of Korea in 2015 (Advisor: Prof. Kun Na). He worked as a post-doctoral researcher in the Department of Radiology at the Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine (USA, 2015-2017, Advisor: Prof. Dong-Hyun Kim and Prof. Andrew C. Larson). He has focused on the development of novel biomaterials and their applications in cancer immune therapy, image-guided drug delivery, and tissue engineering. He was awarded the Young Scientist Award from the Korean and Japanese Society for Biomaterials (2013). Prof. Park has authored/co-authored more than 100 peer-reviewed research papers including Journal of the American Chemical Society, Advanced Functional Materials, ACS Nano, ACS Central Science, Biomaterials, Small, and ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces.

Daishun Ling
(Shanghai Jiao Tong University, China)

2009—2013 Ph.D., School of Chemical and Biological Engineering, Seoul National University, Korea
2013—2014 Senior Researcher, Center for Nanoparticle Research, Institute for Basic, Korea
2014—2021 Professor, College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University, China
2021—present Distinguished Professor, Frontiers Science Center for Transformative Molecules & School of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering, Shanghai Jiao Tong University
2021—present Associate Editor, Exploration (ISSN 2766-2098)
2020—present Assistant Editor, Journal of Controlled Release (ISSN 1873-4995)
2020—present Theme Editor, Advanced Drug Delivery Reviews (ISSN 1872-8294)
2018—present Editor Board Member, Science Bulletin (ISSN 2095-9281)
Awards:
2018 Second prize of Science and Technology award of Zhejiang Pharmaceutical Association, China
2018 First prize of Science and Technology Progress Award of Ministry of Education, China
2019 National Science Fund for Excellent Youth Scholars, China
2021 Leading Talent of National High-Level Talents Special Support Plan, China
2021 “Rising Star Award”, Journal of Nanobiotechnology

Wooram Park
(Sungkyunkwan University, Korea, Republic of)

Dr. Wooram Park is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Integrative Biotechnology at Sungkyunkwan University of Korea since 2022. He majored in Biotechnology and received his Ph.D. degree from the Catholic University of Korea in 2015 (Advisor: Prof. Kun Na). He worked as a post-doctoral researcher in the Department of Radiology at the Northwestern Feinberg School of Medicine (USA, 2015-2017, Advisor: Prof. Dong-Hyun Kim and Prof. Andrew C. Larson). He has focused on the development of novel biomaterials and their applications in cancer immune therapy, image-guided drug delivery, and tissue engineering. He was awarded the Young Scientist Award from the Korean and Japanese Society for Biomaterials (2013). Prof. Park has authored/co-authored more than 100 peer-reviewed research papers including Journal of the American Chemical Society, Advanced Functional Materials, ACS Nano, ACS Central Science, Biomaterials, Small, and ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces.

Brent Weinberg
(Emory University School of Medicine, USA)

Dr. Weinberg is an associate professor at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, where he is the director of the neuroradiology division and the director of the radiology residency research track. His clinical interests include brain imaging, spine imaging, and procedures including biopsy and diagnosis and treatment of CSF leak/spontaneous intracranial hypotension. His research interests include developing advanced MRI techniques to guide treatment of brain tumors and implementing disease specific structured reporting techniques, including the Brain Tumor-Reporting and Data System (BT-RADS. He is also interested in novel educational methods, such as video education, and runs and educational site and YouTube channel LearnNeuroradiology.com.

Ning Gu
(Southeast University, China)

Dr. Gu is a Professor in Medical School of Nanjing University, Nanjing, China. He obtained his Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering at Southeast University in 1996, followed by the postdoctoral research at University of Yamanashi, Japan. Dr.Gu has been well recognized for his professional accomplishments with national and international awards and honors, including Academician of Chinese Academy of Sciences, American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) Fellow, Yangtze River Scholars Distinguished Professor, The National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars, State Science and Technology Progress Award, and State Natural Science Award, etc. Dr.Gu has dedicated himself to the research in nanomedicine for more than 30 years, with special interests in the fields of biomedical nanomaterials, including fabrication, characterization and biomedical application of iron-based magnetic nanomaterials and synthetic phospholipids. Dr.Gu has published over 600 scientific papers in peer-reviewed journals, including Nature Materials, Advanced Materials, Biomaterials, ACS Nano, etc, and obtained over 100 patents for invention.

Aiguo Wu
(Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology & Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China)

Prof. Aiguo Wu graduated from Changchun Institute of Applied Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences and got his PhD under the guidance with Prof. Erkang Wang and Prof. Zhuang Li in 2003 in China. Then he ever worked with Prof. Norbert A Hampp in Department of Chemistry in University of Marburg in Germany, with Prof. Ahmed H. Zewail at Division of Chemistry and Chemical Engineering in California Institute of Technology and with Prof. Gayle E. Woloschak at Feinberg School of Medicine in Northwestern University in USA from 2004 to 2009. After that, he came back China and joined Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences in June 2009 to establish a nanobiomaterials research group in Ningbo focusing on Nanomaterials for Biomedical Imaging and Therapy in Cancers, particularly in MRI, CT, US, Fluorescent and Raman nanoprobes. Up to now, Prof. Wu has published over 330 peer-review papers in Biomaterials, Adv Mater, Nano Lett, ACS Nano and Chem Soc Rev etc., and got over 17,800 citation times from scientists around the world with H-index=65 and applied over 230 patents and rewarded over 110 ones including 5 patents from USA and European Countries. Prof. Wu has also obtained many honors and awards from the international and the civil in China for example a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC) in UK (2023), Top 2% Global Scientists through whole career (1962-2022) in 2022, the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars in China (Biomedical Imaging Probes, 2020), an awardee of the inaugural 2018 Nano Research Global Young Innovators (NR45) in nanobiotechnology (the 45 outstanding young investigators under 45, 2018).

Twan Lammers
(RWTH Aachen University Clinic, Germany)

Twan Lammers obtained a D.Sc. in Radiation Oncology from Heidelberg University in 2008 and a Ph.D. in Pharma-ceutical Technology from Utrecht University in 2009. In the same year, he started the Nanomedicine and Theranostics group at RWTH Aachen University. In 2014, he was promoted to full professor of medicine at RWTH Aachen University Clinic. His group aims to individualize and improve disease treatment by combining drug target-ing with imaging. To this end, image-guided (theranostic) drug delivery systems are being developed, as well as materials and methods to monitor tumor growth, angiogenesis, inflammation, fibrosis and metastasis. He has received multiple scholarships and awards, including ERC starting, consolidator and proof-of-concept grants, the CRS Young Investigator Award, the Adritelf International Award, the Belgian Society for Pharmaceutical Sciences International Award, and the JNB Trailblazer Award. He currently serves as the president of the Controlled Re-lease Society and is a council member of the European Society for Molecular Imaging. He is a member of the edi-torial board of 10 journals, and acts as associate editor for JCR, DDTR and MIB. Since 2019, he is included in the Clarivate Analytics list of Highly Cited Researchers.

Brent Weinberg
(Emory University School of Medicine, USA)

Dr. Weinberg is an associate professor at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia, USA, where he is the director of the neuroradiology division and the director of the radiology residency research track. His clinical interests include brain imaging, spine imaging, and procedures including biopsy and diagnosis and treatment of CSF leak/spontaneous intracranial hypotension. His research interests include developing advanced MRI techniques to guide treatment of brain tumors and implementing disease specific structured reporting techniques, including the Brain Tumor-Reporting and Data System (BT-RADS. He is also interested in novel educational methods, such as video education, and runs and educational site and YouTube channel LearnNeuroradiology.com.

Michael Davis
(Emory University, USA)

Dr. Davis is a Professor and Associate Chair in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Emory University and Georgia Institute of Technology. He is also the Director of the Children's Heart Research and Outcomes Center at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. Dr. Davis's research focuses on cellular and biomaterial approaches to adult and pediatric cardiac repair.

Michael Davis
(Emory University, USA)

Dr. Davis is a Professor and Associate Chair in the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Emory University and Georgia Institute of Technology. He is also the Director of the Children's Heart Research and Outcomes Center at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta. Dr. Davis's research focuses on cellular and biomaterial approaches to adult and pediatric cardiac repair.

Donovan (Dong In) Kim
(University of Oklahoma, USA)

Dr. Dongin (Donoven), Kim’s primary research goal, is to marry therapeutic and diagnostic tools to enable theranostic research that can be applied in clinical applications for diagnosing, monitoring, and treating various diseases, including cancer and heart disease. He has experience developing novel ‘theranostic’ (therapeutic + diagnostic) nanoparticle-based drug delivery and diagnostic systems over 20 years, ranging from chemical synthesis and formulations to biological (in vitro and in vivo) validation. Dr. Kim completed his B.S. in Applied Chemistry at Ajou University (Korea). After that, he committed to research and received his M.S. in Materials Science and Engineering in 2002 from the University of Florida. His research was focused on the interaction between nanoparticles and blood components during the systemic injection of the nanoparticle. Then, he continued his research and received a Ph.D. in Pharmaceutics and Pharmaceutical Chemistry in 2009 from the University of Utah. He investigated the pH-sensitive micelle for overcoming multidrug-resistant tumors. After completing his doctoral studies, he trained as a Post-Doc in the Biomedical Engineering department at Georgia Institute of Technology. In 2011, Dr. Kim began a T-32 Post-doc at Yale University in the Department of Biomedical Engineering and Internal Medicine, and his research aimed to develop a synergistic nanoparticle for anticancer immunotherapy and the nanoparticle-based new CT contrast imaging agent. Then, he became an Associate Research Scientist at Yale University in the Department of Biomedical Engineering from 2014 to 2015. Currently, Dr. Kim is an Assistant Professor at the University of Oklahoma Health Science Center, College of Pharmacy, and Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences. His current research focus is on exosomal therapeutic development.

Nicholas Dunne
(Dublin City University, Ireland)

Nicholas Dunne is the Full Professor of Biomaterials Engineering and holds Executive Directorship for the Medical Engineering Research Centre and Biodesign Europe at Dublin City University (Ireland). Prof Dunne's research programme lies at the interface of materials science, engineering and biology, and his group focuses in the development of stratified approaches for the design, manufacture and characterisation of drug-biomaterial combination medical devices for efficacious hard and soft tissue repair and regeneration. This work spans fundamental mechanisms at the host/material interface as well as translational research to target non-union bone defects, bone metastases and chronic wounds. This research programme has been developed via a strong, interdisciplinary research programme complimented with over-arching international research institute and industry collaborations.

Helen McCarthy
(Queen's University Belfast, United Kingdom)

Professor Helen McCarthy holds the Chair of Nanomedicine in the School of Pharmacy at Queen’s University Belfast and is the Associate Pro-Vice Chancellor for Academic Business Development. Helen’s research is centred on novel non-viral delivery systems for nucleic acids and anionic small molecules for biomaterial applications. These are peptide delivery systems that are purposely designed to solve key criteria for controlled intracellular delivery. Apart from supervising >40 PhD students, >150 publications, >200 conference proceedings and editorial work, Helen has contributed new knowledge as the inventor of the RALA and CHAT technology and is a named inventor on 18 patents.

Aijun Wang
(University of California, Davis, USA)

Dr. Aijun Wang is a Chancellor's Fellow Professor of Surgery and of Biomedical Engineering at the University of California, Davis (UC Davis). He is the Vice Chair for Translational Research, Innovation and Entrepreneurship for the Department of Surgery, Co-founder and Co-Director of the Center for Surgical Bioengineering (CSB), and the inaugural Dean's Fellow in Entrepreneurship at the UC Davis School of Medicine. He is also a Principal Investigator at the Institute for Pediatric Regenerative Medicine (IPRM) / Shriners Children’s Pediatric Research Center, Northern California. Dr. Wang’s research focuses on developing tools, technologies and products that combine molecular, cellular, tissue and biomaterial engineering to promote tissue regeneration and restore function. Specifically, the Wang Group is focused on engineering stem cell/gene therapy, extracellular vesicles/nanomedicine, and extracellular matrix/biomaterial scaffolds and developing clinically adoptable theranostics for the treatment of neurological and vascular disorders and diseases. Dr. Wang and his team at CSB specialize in bringing therapeutics from bench to bedside, through translational and IND-enabling studies, GMP manufacturing, and conducting clinical trials in both human and companion animal patients. Dr. Wang has been serving as PI on many major grants supported by multiple NIH institutes including NICHD, NINDS, NIBIB, NHLBI, Department of Defense (DOD), the California Institute for Regenerative Medicine (CIRM), the University of California Center for Accelerated Innovation (UC-CAI), the Tobacco-Related Disease Research Program of California (TRDRP), Shriners Children’s and other foundations. Dr. Wang has filed more than 20 US and international patent applications, published over 170 peer-reviewed papers and has received numerous awards, such as the UC Davis Health Deans’ Team Award for Excellence in Research, Cultivating Team Science Award, UC Davis Chancellor's Fellowship, Deloitte QB3 Award for Innovation, the Basil O’Connor Starter Scholar Research Award from the March of Dimes Foundation, the NIH/NHLBI Technology Development Award, the KidneyX: Redesign Dialysis Phase 2 Innovation award from the American Society of Nephrology (ASN) and the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), and Sacramento Region Innovation Award.

Hwan Kim
(KNUT, Korea, Republic of)

Prof. Hwan Drew Kim graduated in Biochemistry from the Ohio State University, Columbus, Ohio, USA. He earned a MS and PhD. in Chemical and Biological Engineering from the Seoul National University, South Korea. After training as a post-doctoral fellow at Boston Children’s Hospital and Harvard Medical School, he joined the Department of Polymer Science and Engineering at KNUT in 2021 as an assistant professor. His research interests focus on the Polymeric biomaterial-guided commitment and endochondral ossification, synthesis of calcium phosphates like whitlockite/hydroxyapatite nanoparticles, Ion release from inorganic nanoparticles and formation of calcium phosphate derivatives, Synthesis of bone organoids that biomimics natural bone environment, Mxene/Graphene Oxide based bone stimulating environment, and his research projects have been supported by NRF, KFRM, Ministry of Science and ICT, and KNUT.

Jayoung Kim
(University of North Texas Health Science Center, USA)

I am an Assistant Professor at the UNT Health Science Center, and I run a research laboratory on targeted gene delivery. Our laboratory focuses on introducing novel targeting modalities that would make significant advancement in the clinical translation of nanomedicine.

Md. Nurunnabi
(School of Pharmacy at the University of Texas at El Paso, USA)

Dr. Md Nurunnabi is an assistant professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences, and Biomedical Engineering at University of Texas at El Paso (UTEP), since 2019. His research interest lies between diseases detection and delivery science using advanced bioinspired and bioengineering approaches, and the ongoing projects are sponsored by various agencies including federal, state, foundation, and industry. His laboratory thrives to develop tools and technology to advance therapeutic outcomes for various chronic diseases including diabetes, obesity, cancer, scleroderma, and fibrosis. He has published around 100 articles and book chapters, edited 2 books, and investor of 20 patents filed in USA. Over the decades, he has contributed to founding biomedical start-ups- KB BioMed Inc. in South Korea, and DunaTech LLC in Texas as co-founder.

Currently he is serving as Chair of Bioengineering focus group of Controlled Release Society, and is in editorial advisory board for ACS Biomaterials Science & Engineering, and ASC Applied Bio Materials. For details of his research, please visit www.utep.edu/NabiLab

Jessica Larsen
(Clemson University, USA)

Professor Jessica Larsen began her academic career at the University of Virginia, obtaining her BS in Chemical Engineering in 2012. She obtained her PhD in Chemical Engineering from Auburn University where she was able to perform research under Drs. Mark Byrne in Chemical Engineering and Doug Martin in the College of Veterinary Medicine. Now, she explores the use of polymeric materials to understand and advance treatment for neurologic conditions. Professor Larsen is the research mentor for six PhD students, two master’s thesis students, and as many as 25 undergraduate students a semester. In her undergraduate mentoring efforts, she has received the Phil and Mary Bradley Award for Mentoring in Creative Inquiry. She was also selected as the 2021 Outstanding Faculty Woman at Clemson University. She received the NSF CAREER Award in the Spring of 2021. Most recently, she was selected by the South Carolina Governor to be the 2022 recipient of the Governor’s Young Scientist Award for Excellence in Scientific Research. Personally, Professor Larsen is engaged in the local community as a Cross-Country coach at Seneca High School. Her women’s team won the SC AAA state championship for three consecutive years.

Jun Wang
(South University of Science and Technology, China)

Jun Wang, NSFC Distinguished Young Scholar and Chief Scientist of National Key R&D Program of China (Nano Special). He obtained B.S. in Chemistry and a joint B.S. in Cell Biology in 1993, and Ph.D. in Polymer Chemistry and Physics in 1999 from Wuhan University. From 1999-2004, he got postdoctoral training at Tissue and Therapeutic Engineering Lab, Johns Hopkins in Singapore and at the Department of Biomedical Engineering, Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine. He was appointed as a full professor in September 2004 at the School of Chemistry and Materials Science, University of Science and Technology of China (USTC). From December 2006 to May 2016, he worked at the School of Life Sciences, USTC. In June 2016, he moved to SCUT, as a professor of Institutes for Life Sciences and School of Medicine, and as a researcher of National Engineering Research Center for Tissue Restoration and Reconstruction. Since December 2017, he has been assigned as Dean of the School of Biomedical Sciences and Engineering, SCUT. Prof. Wang has published more than 250 peer-reviewed scientific papers in Nat. Nanotechnol.., Sci. Transl. Med., Nat. Commun., PNAS, and other journals, which have been cited over 18000 times. In 2016, he was selected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC). Currently, he is the Associate Editor of Biomaterials, Editor Member of Acta Biomaterialia and ChemNanoMat. Prof. Wang was awarded the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars of China in 2011 and selected as Leading Talent of Scientific and Technological Innovation in the Ten Thousand Talent Plan in 2015. He is an awardee of the Second Class of National Natural Science Award of China (2nd contributor) in 2015.

Omar F. Khan
(University of Toronto, Canada)

Omar F. Khan is the Canada Research Chair in Nucleic Acid Therapeutics. He is an Assistant Professor at the University of Toronto in the Institute of Biomedical Engineering and Department of Immunology. Omar is also the Associate Director of Research for Biomedical Engineering at the University of Toronto. He earned his B.A.Sc. and Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Toronto with Michael V. Sefton. He later joined Daniel G. Anderson and Robert Langer as their Postdoctoral Associate in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. Omar is the scientific co-founder of Azane Therapeutics and Tiba Biotech, companies spun out from his chemistry and engineering work. Omar was also a Chemistry, Manufacturing and Control consultant for industry. His early work focused on the creation of three dimensional organoid models and engineered tissue substitutes. This work evolved to include the development of nucleic acid-based platform technologies to study the genetic mechanisms of diseases and create RNA-based therapies. Now, Omar continues to unite academic, industry and government efforts to create new RNA technologies for medicine and beyond. As an RNA nanotechnology expert, he is regularly featured in television, radio and print news. When not working with his spectacular team, Omar loves spending time with his wife and adorable babies.

Sarah Hedtrich
(Berlin Institute of Health - Charite, Germany)

Dr. Hedtrich obtained her PhD in Pharmacology & Toxicology from the Freie Universität Berlin in Germany in 2009. During her postdoc, she moved to the Ludwig-Maximilians-University in Munich and Tufts University in Boston, USA. After returning to Berlin 2013, she headed a junior research group and was appointed an assistant professor in 2015. She relocated her lab to the U of British Columbia in 2019. She co-/authored over 80 peer-reviewed journal articles in high impact journals including the Journal of Controlled Release, Small, Nature Reviews Materials, and Theranostics. Her research focuses on inflammatory and genetic diseases of human epithelia, the development of novel therapeutic approaches and tissue engineering of complex, human-based organ models aiming for valid and predictive test systems for preclinical and fundamental research.

Yangyang Ye
(Tianjin Medical University, China)

A PhD student at Tianjin Medical University，specilized in Pediatric Dentistry，currently focused on oral biomaterials and tissue engineering.