Junsang Doh
(Seoul National University, Korea, Republic of)

Prof. Doh received his bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from Seoul National University in 1999. He then moved to MIT for his graduate work with Prof. Darrell J. Irvine in the development of multi-component protein micropatterned surfaces for the study of the immunological synapses formed in T cells during activation. He received his PhD in 2006 in Chemical Engineering/Program in Polymer Science and Technology. As a postdoctoral researcher, Dr. Doh studied homotypic interactions among activating T cells in the laboratory of Max Krummel at UC San Francisco from 2006-2008. In 2008, he joined POSTECH with a joint appointment in Interdisciplinary Bioscience and Bioengineering (I-Bio) and Mechanical Engineering. In 2019, he joined Seoul National University as an associate professor of department of materials science and engineering. Currently, Prof. Doh’s group develops engineering tools for cancer immunotherapy.

Junsang Doh
(Seoul National University, Korea, Republic of)

Prof. Doh received his bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from Seoul National University in 1999. He then moved to MIT for his graduate work with Prof. Darrell J. Irvine in the development of multi-component protein micropatterned surfaces for the study of the immunological synapses formed in T cells during activation. He received his PhD in 2006 in Chemical Engineering/Program in Polymer Science and Technology. As a postdoctoral researcher, Dr. Doh studied homotypic interactions among activating T cells in the laboratory of Max Krummel at UC San Francisco from 2006-2008. In 2008, he joined POSTECH with a joint appointment in Interdisciplinary Bioscience and Bioengineering (I-Bio) and Mechanical Engineering. In 2019, he joined Seoul National University as an associate professor of department of materials science and engineering. Currently, Prof. Doh’s group develops engineering tools for cancer immunotherapy.

Serena Danti
(University of Pisa, Italy)

Serena Danti is Associate Professor at the Department of Civil and Industrial Engineering, University of Pisa. She is Team Leader of Otologic Bioengineering laboratory (OtoLab) at Cisanello Hospital in Pisa. Her research interest relies on smart approaches for pathology resolution, for ear, bone and cancer, among others. About the ear regeneration and repair, her research activity encompasses the full ear organ, from auricle, outer ear, tympanic membrane, ossicles and cochlea.
Serena Danti serves as Professor of “Biomaterials”, “Manufacturing of nanocomposites for biomedical application”, “Biofluids & materials Interactions “for the M.Sc. in Materials & Nanotechnology and for the B.Sc. in Speech Therapy at University of Pisa. She is a reference Professor and Board member of the Erasmus Mundus M.Sc. in Pharmaceutical Materials Science “BIOPHAM”.
Dr. Danti received her M.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Pisa in 2003. In 2006, she was a scholar research associate at the Centre for Excellence in Tissue Engineering, Rice University, Houston TX. Dr. Danti received her Ph.D. in “Health Technologies: Evaluation and Management of Innovations in the Biomedical Field” in 2007 by the Centre for Excellence in Computer Assisted Surgery (ENDOCAS), University of Pisa. Her postdoctoral training was performed at the Centre for the Clinical Use of Stem Cells (CUCCS), and, as a senior Post Doc, at the Otorhinolaryngology Unit, Department of Neurosciences/Surgical, Medical & Molecular Pathology, University of Pisa. She received two research fellowships from Pisa Hospital, ENT, Audiology & Phoniatrics Unit, where she established OtoLab in 2010.
She is Affiliate researcher at Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA, USA since 2017 and at the BioRobotics Institute, Scuola Superiore Sant’Anna, Pontedera (Pisa) since 2014. She is a member of 3R’s center (Italy). Serena Danti is coordinator of the European project 4NanoEARDRM to develop bioactive tympanic membrane scaffolds via nanotechnology. Moreover, she is currently involved in several national projects in the field of biomaterial approaches to different pathologies, including sinonasal cancer (ADAPTA), bone loss (ANGIOSS) and malnutrition (BIONUTRA). She was principal investigator of the project AURICULAE, for auricle regeneration, and of the project NANO-SPARKS, for developing advanced piezoelectric materials for cochlear implants. She is also coordinating a partner unit in FURIOUS, a BCE-JU Horizon Europe project on sustainable materials for biomedical packaging and antibacterial automotive filters.
Dr. Danti has published 133 papers indexed in Scopus, including 12 book chapters. She is an author of 130+ presentations to international conferences and is an inventor of 5 patents, 4 of which are in the field of Otology and Phoniatrics.

Elisabeth Engel
(Universitat Politecnica de Catalunya, Spain)

Elisabeth Engel is Full Professor of Materials Science and Engineering at the Technical University of Catalonia (UPC). Prior to this she received her PhD in Medicine from Autonomous University of Barcelona (UAB). She started her group ‘Biomaterials for Regenerative Therapies’ at the Institute for Bioengineering of Catalonia (IBEC) in 2012. Her research is focused on the design and development of biomaterials that modify the tissue microenvironment eliciting a pro-regenerative response.
The research conducted in the last 10 years bring together basic research and a strong effort in transference and translation. The combination of the materials and controlled manufacturing processes has allowed the development of new customized biodegradable systems for different clinical applications such as ophthalmology, nervous system, skin, tendon, bone and cardiac tissue.
She is associate Editor for ACS Applied Biomaterials since May 2022.

Eya Ferchichi
(Saint Louis University, USA)

a Ph.D. Candidate in Biomedical Engineering, specializing in the innovative realm of biomaterials. With a deep passion for merging biology with engineering, My research revolves around hydrogel technologies and scaffolding, targeted towards advancements in tissue engineering, regenerative medicine, and women's health. This focus is driven by a conviction that biomedical solutions can significantly impact women's healthcare, providing breakthroughs in diagnostics, treatments, and overall well-being.

Junsang Doh
(Seoul National University, Korea, Republic of)

Prof. Doh received his bachelor’s degree in Chemical Engineering from Seoul National University in 1999. He then moved to MIT for his graduate work with Prof. Darrell J. Irvine in the development of multi-component protein micropatterned surfaces for the study of the immunological synapses formed in T cells during activation. He received his PhD in 2006 in Chemical Engineering/Program in Polymer Science and Technology. As a postdoctoral researcher, Dr. Doh studied homotypic interactions among activating T cells in the laboratory of Max Krummel at UC San Francisco from 2006-2008. In 2008, he joined POSTECH with a joint appointment in Interdisciplinary Bioscience and Bioengineering (I-Bio) and Mechanical Engineering. In 2019, he joined Seoul National University as an associate professor of department of materials science and engineering. Currently, Prof. Doh’s group develops engineering tools for cancer immunotherapy.

Sungsu Park
(Sungkyunkwan University, Korea, Republic of)

Sungsu Park is a distinguished Professor in the School of Mechanical Engineering at Sungkyunkwan University (SKKU), Suwon, Korea. With a strong foundation in microbiology, Park embarked on his academic journey with a Bachelor of Science from Pusan National University in Korea, including a stint in military service. He further honed his expertise at Cornell University in the USA, where he achieved both his Master of Science and Ph.D. in Food Science. His postdoctoral research took him across the globe, from the Department of Bioengineering at Cornell University to the Department of Biological Information at Tokyo Institute of Technology, and finally to the Department of Physics at Princeton University.

Park's academic career blossomed at Ewha Womans University in Seoul, Korea, where he progressed from an Assistant Professor to an Associate/Full Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Nano Sciences. His expertise also led him to a significant role as a Visiting Professor and Co-Principal Investigator at the Mechanobiology Institute at the National University of Singapore.

Since 2014, Park has been shaping the future of mechanical engineering and nanotechnology at SKKU. His research interests are broad and impactful, covering organ-on-a-chip technologies, cancer drug resistance, mechanobiology with a focus on cell and tissue stretching, and the pioneering 3D bioprinting of vascularized tumors. These interests showcase his commitment to advancing medical and biological engineering.

Ki Bum Lee
(Rutgers University, USA)

KiBum Lee is a distinguished professor of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Rutgers University, where he has been a faculty since 2008. The primary research interest of his group is to develop and integrate nanotechnologies and chemical biology to modulate signaling pathways in stem cells and cancer cells towards specific cell lineages or behaviors. In particular, his group is exploring critical problems in cancer research and stem cell biology pertaining to cell-microenvironmental interactions and how to control these interactions at the subcellular and single-cell level using interdisciplinary and transformative approaches.
Addressing the aforementioned issues, his group (https://kblee.rutgers.edu/) has recently focused on developing a variety of innovative technologies based upon nanobiotechnology and chemical biology to selectively control the fate of stem cells [e.g., human pluripotent stem cells (PSCs; hESCs and hiPSCs), Neural Stem Cells (NSCs), and Mesenchymal Stem Cells (MSCs)] towards specific cell lineages (e.g., neurons, oligodendrocytes, chondrocytes, muscles, osteocytes, and adipocytes) [Chemical Reviews, 2015; Nature Chemical Biology, 2015; Accounts of Chemical Research, 2016; Nature Communications, 2018; Small, 2021(I & II), 2022; Small Method, 2021; Advanced Materials, 2018, 2019, 2020 (I & II), 2021, 2022, 2023; Advanced Functional Materials, 2020, 2021, 2022, 2023]. Multi-modal magnetic core-shell nanoparticles have also been used to effectively deliver genetic materials into NSCs using a magnetic-filed-facilitated delivery method and to advance stem cell therapies (Angewandte. Chem. Int. Ed., 2013; Biomaterials, 2016; Nano Letters, 2019, 2020). Combinatorial hybrid nanomaterial arrays were also generated to control, detect, and investigate the NSC and MSC differentiation into neurons and the subsequent alignment of axons (Advanced Materials, 2014, 2015, 2019; ACS Nano, 2016, 2022 (I&II); Nature Comm, 2018). With the goal of achieving an enhanced stem cell-based therapy for CNS-related injuries and diseases, his group is currently designing nanomaterial-based 3D-scaffolds and spheroids/organoids to enhance cellular viability and to modulate stem cell differentiation spatiotemporally in vitro and/or in vivo for neural repair (e.g., spinal cord injuries and Intervertebral Disc Repair) and personalized cancer treatment (Advanced Materials, 2014, 2020, 2021, 2023; Nature Comm, 2018; Science Advances, 2021; National Science Review, 2022; Biomaterials, 2016; Bioactive Materials, 2023; ACS Nano, 2023; ). Realizing the motivation to develop a highly robust, efficient nanoparticle-based platform to regulate gene expression and eventually stem cell reprogramming, his group has developed the NanoScript as the first nanomaterial Transcription Factor (TF) protein that can interact with endogenous DNA in nucleus and mitochondria and control stem cell differentiation to generate functional cell lineages such as cartilage, bone, muscle cells, and neuronal cells (ACS Nano, 2014; J. Am. Chem. Soc., 2015; ACS Nano, 2015; Angewandte Chemie, 2015; Nano Letters, 2023).
In recognition of his outstanding scientific achievement at Rutgers, Dr. Lee has received several awards, including NIH Director’s New Innovator Awards (2009), Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) Fellowship (2017), American Chemical Society New Directions (ND) Award (2015). He is the first author, co-author, and corresponding author of approximately 100 articles published in high-profile journals, including Science, Cell Stem Cell, Nature Chemical Biology, and Nature Communications, which are highly cited (>12,000).

Chiara E Ghezzi
(University of Massachusetts Lowell, USA)

The focus of my research is on understanding how multicellular responses are affected by the native microenvironment in order to design and engineer natural polymers to support the investigation of these processes in vitro and in vivo. My research liaises engineering biopolymer structure/function properties with advanced biofabrication techniques to develop three-dimensional tissue models, by combining physiological architecture, physical stimuli, and native microstructure to recapitulate healthy and diseased tissue states. The impact of these approaches will be to further guide and educate biopolymer material designs towards needs in regenerative medicine. These systems focus on studying host responses to direct pathogen interactions and, ultimately, provide successful long-term three-dimensional tissue constructs with functionality both in vitro and in vivo.

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.

Liliana Agresti
(University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG), Netherlands)

I am Liliana Agresti, a second year PhD student at University Medical Center Groningen (UMCG) in the Biomaterials-associated infections group under the supervision of Prof. Henny van der Mei, Prof. Jelmer Sjollema, Prof. Paul Jutte. My current project mainly includes the development of 3D bioprinted models to study foreign body reaction and biomaterial associated infections.
About my background, I obtained my bachelor and master degree in Biomedical Engineering at the Universita' degli studi di Roma ''La Sapienza'' (Rome, Italy). During this time I conducted my master thesis project entitled ''Optimize dexamethasone and β-glycerophosphate concentrations in in vitro bone models'' at the Technische Universiteit Eindhoven in the Orthopaedic Biomechanics group under the supervision of Prof. Keita Ito.
Before my PhD, I was a research assistant at Scuola Superiore Sant'Anna (Pisa) and my work was involved in the AD MAIORA European research project for the knee cartilage regeneration due to osteoarthritis.

Yong Keun Park
(KAIST, Korea, Republic of)

YongKeun (Paul) Park is Endowed Chair Professor of Physics at KAIST. He earned a Ph.D. in Medical Science and Medical Engineering from Harvard-MIT Health Science and Technology. Dr. Park’s area of research is optics, holography, and biophysics. He has published +160 peer-reviewed papers with +16K citations, including 4 Nat Photon, 1 Nat Mat, 1 Nat Cell Biol, 1 Nat Method, 4 Nat Comm, 4 PRL, 6 PNAS papers. He is a Fellow of Optical Society of America (OSA) and Society of Photo-Optical Instrumentation Engineers (SPIE). He received Medals of Honor in Science and Technology (President of South Korea) and Jinki Hong Creative Award. Two start-up companies with +80 employees have been created from his research (Tomocube, The.Wave.Talk). To learn more about Prof. Park's research projects, visit his website: http://bmol.kaist.ac.kr

Byung Mook Weon
(Sungkyunkwan University, Korea, Republic of)

Prof. Weon graduated from Sungkyunkwan University in 1997 with a BS degree and POSTECH in 1999 with an MS degree. Then, he moved to LG Electronics for military service from 1999 to 2005. He moved to POSTECH in 2005 and finished PhD degree in 2008. He joined the Physics Department at Harvard University as a postdoc researcher from 2008 to 2010. From 2010 to 2013, he worked as a Research Professor at POSTECH and from 2013 until now as an Associate Professor at Sungkyunkwan University. Prof. Weon organized the Soft Matter Physics Laboratory and, so far, is studying fundamental and applied research of soft materials.

Andrew Wang
(University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, USA)

Dr. Andrew Wang is the A. Kenneth Pye Professorship in Cancer Research and is the Vice Chair for Translational Research and Commercialization in the Department of Radiation Oncology at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. Dr. Wang’s research program is focused on the application of biomedical engineering to cancer research. His group aims to develop novel cancer diagnostics and therapeutics to improve cancer treatment. Dr. Wang is an elected member of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) College of Fellows and the American Society for Clinical Investigation (ASCI).

Yong-Sang Ryu
(Korea University, Korea, Republic of)

Associate-professor, School of Biomedical Engineering, College of Health Science, Korea University 2023 -
Adjunct Faculty, KU-KIST Graduate School of Converging Science and Technology 2021 - 2023
Senior Research Scientist, Korea Institute of Science and Technology (KIST) 2016 - 2023
Post-Doctoral Fellow, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, U.S.A 2013 - 2016
Graduate Researcher, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea 2009 - 2013
Post-graduate Researcher, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea 2007 - 2009
Undergraduate Researcher, Seoul National University, Seoul, Korea 2003 - 2007

Yu Zhang
(Shandong University, China)

Prof. Yu Zhang Shandong University, Prof. Zhang obtained joint Ph.D in Electrical Engineering at Yale University and Shandong University. His research focus on novel electronic materials and devices for biosensor and optoelectronics, such as 2D materials and devices, GaN materials and devices, microfluidics. In recent 5 years, Prof. Yu Zhang has published more than 40 research papers on Small methods，advanced health materials，NPJ 2D materials and applications, nano-micro Letters etc. and applied more than 30 inventions with more than 20 granted. He services as reviewers for many scientific journals including Advanced mateirals, biomaterials, and Advanced functional materials etc.

Jie Lin
(Ningbo Institute of Materials Technology and Engineering, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China)

Prof. Lin Jie comes from Ningbo Institute of Materials, Chinese Academy of Sciences. He has been selected as a member of Youomotion Association of Chinese Academy of Sciences, "Spring Bud Talent" of Institute of Materials, leading and top talent of Nbo, etc. He has long been engaged in the basic and application research of surface-enhanced Raman spectroscopy (SERS) biological probes on micro/nano materials. He has developed a series of novel SERS imaging probes with high performance for tumor cell detection/typing and identification. In recent years, he has published 33 papers (6 cover papers) ai first author/corresponding author in Adv. Mater., J. Am. Chem. Soc., Angew. Chem. Int. Ed. ACS Nano, Anal. Chem, and published more than 50 SCI papers, and is cited more than 1700 times, written 2 Wiley-vch and Elseriver English monographs, applied for 27 invention patents (3 PCT), and was authorized 6. As the project leader, he has presided over 12 projects, such as National Natural Science Foundation of China (General and Youth), Youth Promotion Association of Chinese Academy of Sciences, Ningbo 2025 Major Projects, China Postdoctoral Special Funding, horizontal technical services for enterprises/tertiary hospitals, etc., with more than 5.5 million yuan of funding for the project leader, and hosted/participated in more than 30 international/domestic meetings. He is a member of the Special Committee of Diagnosis and Treatment Experience of Chinese anti-Cancer Association, a young member of the Special Committee of Nano Oncology, a young editor of SmartMat journal (latest IF: 20.6), and guest editors and reviewers of several journals.

Michiya Matsusaki
(Osaka University, Japan)

Michiya Matsusaki was born in Kagoshima, Japan in 1976. He received his Ph.D. degree in 2003 from Kagoshima University. He started his academic career as a Postdoctoral fellow at Osaka University in 2003. He was a visiting scientist at Lund University in 2004. In 2006, he joined the Department of Applied Chemistry in the Graduate School of Engineering at Osaka University as an Assistant Professor. He was promoted to Associate Professor in 2015 and to full Professor in 2019. He was a JST-PRESTO researcher (Concurrent position) from 2008 to 2011 and from 2015 to 2019. He was awarded 20 awards including the Young Scientist’s Prize by the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology. His research interest is biomaterials and tissue engineering for regenerative medicine and pharmaceutical applications.

Anita Shukla
(Brown University, USA)

Anita Shukla is the Elaine I. Savage Associate Professor of Engineering at Brown University. Professor Shukla's research involves the development of nano- to macroscale biomaterials for the treatment of bacterial and fungal infections. Professor Shukla is the recipient of several national and University honors and awards for both her research and teaching, including a Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), a National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER award, an Office of Naval Research Director of Research Early Career Grant, and a Brown University Early Career Research Achievement Award and Dean’s Award for Excellence in Teaching. Prior to joining Brown in 2013, Professor Shukla was a National Institutes of Health Ruth Kirschstein postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Bioengineering at Rice University. She received her Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2011 as an NSF Graduate Research Fellow. Professor Shukla also received an M.S. in Chemical Engineering Practice from MIT. She received a B.S. at Carnegie Mellon University in 2006 with majors in chemical engineering and biomedical engineering.

Ann-Na Cho
(University of Sydney, Australia)

Dr Cho is a lecturer (equivalent to Assistant Prof) at the University of Sydney. As stem cell engineer, she is leading a stem cell team from 2023 January, focusing on the development of brain organoids by incorporating the tissue engineering tools for neurological disease modelling and the discovery of effective therapeutics. Dr Cho is recognised as an emerging researcher in neuroscience and stem cell, with 28 peer-reviewed research articles and an h-index of 13, 750 citations. She named as an inventor on 7 patents in multi-nation including US, EU and Korea (1 patent achieved technology transfer) by a novel and innovative brain organoid models. She successfully collaborated with more than 150 co-authors across various disciplines, attracted >$3M research fundings and actively engaged with patient-driven community including Childhood Dementia Initiative.

Carsten Werner
(Leibniz Institute for Polymer Research, Germany)

Carsten Werner is Professor for Biofunctional Polymer Materials at TU Dresden and Scientific Director of the Leibniz Institute of Polymer Research Dresden (IPF), Germany.

After receiving a diploma in chemistry (University of Würzburg) and a doctoral degree in physical chemistry (TU Dresden) in 1999, he established a biomaterials program at IPF and held an Adjunct Professorship at the Institute of Biomaterials of the University of Toronto, Canada (2000-2018).
Since 2008 he is a full professor at the Faculty of Chemistry and the Center of Regenerative Therapies, since 2019 he is also member of the Cluster of Excellence Physics of Life and the Else Kröner Fresenius Center for Digital Health at TU Dresden.

Research of the Werner Lab targets the exploration of living matter using physical and materials science methodologies, new biomimicry design approaches to functional materials and the translation of biomaterials technologies. Recent work concerned electrosurface phenomena, bioadhesion, hemocompatibility of biomaterials as well as cell-instructive hydrogel systems for tissue/disease models and regenerative therapies.

Carsten Werner is elected member of the German National Academy of Science and Engineering and elected scientific member of the Leibniz Association. His research has been recognized with several awards, including the MaterialVital Award of the German Federal Ministry of Science and Education, and resulted in several patented technologies and spin-off companies.

carsten.werner@tu-dresden.de

www.ipfdd.de/ibp

Carsten Werner
(Leibniz Institute for Polymer Research, Germany)

Carsten Werner is Professor for Biofunctional Polymer Materials at TU Dresden and Scientific Director of the Leibniz Institute of Polymer Research Dresden (IPF), Germany.

After receiving a diploma in chemistry (University of Würzburg) and a doctoral degree in physical chemistry (TU Dresden) in 1999, he established a biomaterials program at IPF and held an Adjunct Professorship at the Institute of Biomaterials of the University of Toronto, Canada (2000-2018).
Since 2008 he is a full professor at the Faculty of Chemistry and the Center of Regenerative Therapies, since 2019 he is also member of the Cluster of Excellence Physics of Life and the Else Kröner Fresenius Center for Digital Health at TU Dresden.

Research of the Werner Lab targets the exploration of living matter using physical and materials science methodologies, new biomimicry design approaches to functional materials and the translation of biomaterials technologies. Recent work concerned electrosurface phenomena, bioadhesion, hemocompatibility of biomaterials as well as cell-instructive hydrogel systems for tissue/disease models and regenerative therapies.

Carsten Werner is elected member of the German National Academy of Science and Engineering and elected scientific member of the Leibniz Association. His research has been recognized with several awards, including the MaterialVital Award of the German Federal Ministry of Science and Education, and resulted in several patented technologies and spin-off companies.

carsten.werner@tu-dresden.de

www.ipfdd.de/ibp

Leping Yan
(The Seventh Affiliated Hospital, Sun Yat-sen University, China)

Leping Yan is currently an associate professor and PI of the Guangdong Provincial Key Laboratory of Digestive Cancer Research, the Seventh Affiliated Hospital Sun Yat-sen University. He obtained his bachelor degree in polymer engineering and postgraduate training in biomaterials, both from the South China University of Technology. Afterward, he earned his PhD degree in Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine from the 3B’s Research Group University of Minho, under the supervision of Prof. Rui L. Reis and Prof. Joaquim M. Oliveira. After postdoc trainings in the University of Sydney (collaborated with Prof. Anthony S. Weiss) and in the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland (collaborated with Prof. Fergal J. O’Brien), he took his current position. His research interest lies in the development of extracellular matrix (ECM)-mimetic biomaterials for modulation of tissue microenvironment since his postgraduate, and recently he initiated a new research line that is to generate in vitro tumor microenvironment models via the integration of cancer organoids and biomaterials, by using organ-on-chip and 3D bioprinting approaches. He has published around 30 articles (over 1700 citations) in well-recognized journals, such as Cellular and Molecular Life Science, Journal of Controlled Release, Pharmacology & Therapeutics and Acta Biomaterialia. He has also been awarded 3 issued patents (two oversea and one internal). He is an editorial member of the In Vitro Models journal and guest editor for several other journals. He has received competitive fundings from the national (NSFC, MOST), provincial and municipal levels, with over 2 million RMB in total. With the support of these funding and the advanced platform of the Provincial Key Laboratory of Digestive Cancer Research, he has successfully built an interdisciplinary team and created a strong network within China and around the world.

KANIKA SINGROHA
(All India Institute of Medical Sciences Jodhpur- Indian Institute of TechnologyJodhpur, India)

Dr Kanika Singroha a Maxillofacial Pathologist by profession with a MDS degree in Maxillofacial Pathology from Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences Bengaluru India. Her Entrepreneurial mindset steered her passion to serve humanity and educational expertise in Translational research making her the Founder & CEO of Cellverse Pvt. Ltd. She has been awarded the prestigious Bio-Design fellowship in medical technologies at AIIMS-IIT Jodhpur. Her current PhD program is a unique joint program of AIIM-IIT Jodhpur as its first of its kind in the country where doctors and engineers team up to find technological marketable solutions to the real time problems in the health sector. Dr Kanika by virtue of clinical experience of 10 years in diagnosis of head and neck cancers identified the unmet need for non-animal disease models for drug testing specifically in the area of early stages of oral cancer that are associate with the habit of pan/gutka/tobacco products chewing, highly prevalent in entire South East Asian Region.
Dr Kanika has been successfully carving a niche for Cellverse in the Start-up eco system at various business platforms. She pitched for Cellverse at JITO Jodhpur chapter ideathon and won the First Runners up. Dr Kanika Singroha won at TiE Women Rajasthan Chapter, fighting a tough competition with 8 innovative & startups where all of them had made some tractions in the market and pitched at TiE Global Summit & Singapore Fintech Festival in Singapore.
She has also made presentation and was largely appreciated by dignitaries of high statures, Dr Rajagopalan Chidambaram, (2nd Principal Scientific Advisor, GOI), Dr. Santanu Chaudhury (Director IIT J), Dr Anurag Mairal (Director, Global Outreach Program, Stanford Byers Center for Biodesign) to name a few.
Being an Army Brat and having lived & schooled across the nation she has endured versatility and agility, which steers her entrepreneurial mind set to incorporate iterations in Cellverse’s business canvas seamlessly.

Seung-Woo Cho
(Yonsei University, Korea, Republic of)

Seung-Woo Cho is a professor at the Department of Biotechnology at Yonsei University, Republic of Korea. He obtained his B.S.,M.S., and Ph.D. degrees at the School of Chemical Engineering of Seoul National University in 1999, 2001, and 2006, respectively. He received his postdoctoral training at the Department of Chemical Engineering in the Massachusetts Institute of Technology. He later joined Yonsei University as a faculty member in 2010 and has been appointed as Underwood Distinguished
Professor since 2020. His research interests include engineering stem cells, reprogrammed cells, and organoids with functional biomaterials and devices for tissue engineering, disease modeling, and drug screening.

Hanry Yu
(National University of Singapore, Singapore)

Hanry Yu is Professor of Physiology (NUSMed), NUS-College, and Mechanobiology (MBI) at the National University of Singapore; and co-leads a cell therapy manufacturing programme (CAMP) at the MIT research entity (SMART) in Singapore. He integrates biomaterials, tissue mechanobiology and engineering, biomedical optics and AI data analytics into solutions for pharmaceutical, environmental, and recently food industries. He has trained many students and staffs in leading universities in the US and Asia; built several institutions and companies, published >250 papers, delivered >250 invited talks, and consulted for international organisations and agencies.

Tae-Eun Park
(UNIST, Korea, Republic of)

Dr. Tae-Eun Park is an associate professor of Department of Biomedical Engineering at Ulsan National Institute of Science and Technology (UNIST) in Korea. She received her undergraduate degree in animal biotechnology in 2011 and her PhD in 2015 from Seoul National University. During PhD, she focused on development of blood-brain barrier model and brain drug delivery systems mimicking rabies virus. She continued her postdoctoral studies at Wyss Institute in Harvard Medical School (2015-2017) under supervision of Prof. Donald E. Ingber. Currently, her scholarly interests and research pursuits are focused on creating organoid and organ-on-a-chip technology-based tissue barrier models. Through this work, she aims to delve deeper into understanding the nuances of molecular transport processes and unravel the pathophysiological mechanisms that lead to the disruption of protective barriers within the body.