Plenary and Keynote Speakers

Dr. Michael Xianfeng Chen
The University Of Edinburgh, Uk
Plenary Speaker

Topic of Keynote:

Dr. Seungpyo Hong
University of Wisconsin–Madison, USA
Plenary Speaker

Dr. Seungpyo Hong is the Milton J. Henrichs Chair and Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Director of Wisconsin Center for NanoBioSystems (WisCNano) at University of Wisconsin-Madison (UW-Madison). He holds appointments as Adjunct Professor at University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center, University of Illinois Chicago (UIC), and Yonsei University, Seoul, Korea, while serving as Associate Editor for Nanomedicine: Nanotechnology, Biology and Medicine of Elsevier. Dr. Hong is also active in entrepreneurship, co-founding a biotech startup called Capio Biosciences. He graduated from Hanyang University in Seoul, Korea with B.S. and M.S. degrees in polymer engineering in 1999 and 2001, respectively. He then received his PhD in Macromolecular Science and Engineering from University of Michigan in 2006 and joined MIT as a postdoctoral associate in the laboratory of Prof. Robert Langer. From 2008 to 2014, he was an Assistant Professor at UIC where he was promoted to Associate Professor with tenure in 2014, and subsequently joined the UW-Madison faculty as Full Professor in 2016. To date, Prof. Hong’s research has culminated in over 120 peer-reviewed articles that have accumulated a total of over 21,000 citations (h-index: 54), 1 co-edited book, 8 book chapters, and 23 issued or pending patents, while delivering over 200 invited talks worldwide. His scientific contributions have been well recognized, resulting in him receiving honors, including 2022 Inducted Fellow of American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) and 2012 New Investigator Award from American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS).

Topic of Keynote: Dendritic Nanoparticles for Effective Immune Checkpoint Inhibition
Plenary Abstract

Dr. Sourav Bhattacharjee
University College Dublin, Ireland
Keynote Speaker

Dr. Sourav Bhattacharjee graduated with MBBS (Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery) in 2004 from the Medical College and Hospital, Kolkata (India) in 2004. After a brief period of Resident training in Orthopedic Surgery, he joined MSc in Biomolecular Sciences/Cell Biology in the Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (2006). In the meanwhile, he moved to the Edinburgh (UK), where he worked under the supervision of Prof. Vicki Stone at the Napier University. Upon finishing MSc, he began his Ph.D. in the Wageningen University (Netherlands) in 2008 which he successfully defended in 2012 with a very good thesis grade and quite a few research papers. Following that, he worked for a year as a postdoc at the University of Twente (Netherlands). From March 2014 he joined Prof. David Brayden’s group in UCD as a postdoc working on the EU FP7 funded TRANS-INT consortium trying to develop nanoparticulate drug delivery platforms for oral insulin delivery. From February 2016 Sourav joined the UCD School of Veterinary Medicine as an Assistant Professor in Veterinary Anatomy while also trying to develop his own niche of research encompassing a broad range of nanobiotechnology and advanced microscopy tools for effective diagnostic and drug delivery platforms. Sourav maintains an active research group with a strong presence of enthusiastic and scientifically motivated students (PhD, Bachelors and Masters), while have already been named at the Top 2% Scientists by Elsevier/Stanford University rankings for consecutive five years (2020–2024). Sourav is also an Editorial Board member of the Journal of Anatomy and Nature Scientific Reports.

Topic of Keynote: Impact of Surface Chemistry on Insulin Agglomeration
Keynote Abstract

Dr. Witold Musial
Wroclaw Medical University, Poland
Keynote Speaker

Witold Musiał is a Full Professor and Head of the Department of Physical Chemistry and Biophysics, Wroclaw Medical University, Poland. He earned his PhD in the field of pharmaceutical sciences, focusing on ionic equilibria in polymeric systems proposed for topical drug delivery. Professor Musiał continued postdoctoral research in the frames of Marie Curie Fellowship at the Technical University of Maribor and at the Institute of Macromolecular Chemistry in Prague, where he explored synthesis and evaluation of thermosensitive microstructures and nanostructures for medical applications. His research interests include controlled drug delivery and evaluation of physical phenomena observed in acting drug dosage forms. Scientific team of professor Witold Musiał is concentrated on several topics in that field: surface and interfacial phenomena in pharmaceutical sciences, electrochemistry in pharmaceutical sciences, synthesis and application of polymers as hydrophilic matrices, nanoparticles and microparticles for controlled and targeted drug delivery, R&D of pharmaceutical and medicinal products and pharmaceutical analysis. Professor Witold Musiał is lecturer in the field o pharmaceutical sciences, including physical chemistry and biophysics for pharmacists, physics in pharmacy for Qualified Persons in pharmaceutical industry, and pharmacokinetics. Coworker of pharmaceutical industries. Visiting researcher and lecturer of universities in Europe and USA.

Topic of Keynote: Electrical Conductivity as a Control Factor in Selected Processes of Polymerization and Application of Micro and Nanoparticles
Keynote Abstract

Dr. Maciej Serda
University of Silesia in Katowice, Poland
Keynote Speaker

Maciej Serda is an Associate Professor at the Institute of Chemistry, University of Silesia in Katowice, Poland, where he has worked since 2014. He earned his PhD summa cum laude in Chemistry from the same institution in 2013, focusing on anti-cancer iron-chelators. Dr. Serda completed postdoctoral research at Rice University (2015-2017) under Prof. Lon Wilson, where he explored fullerene nanomaterials. His research interests include fullerene-based nanomaterials for cancer therapy and drug delivery. He is the recipient of prestigious fellowships, including the Kosciuszko Foundation Scholarship and the polish Ministry of Science and Higher Education Scholarship for young scientists.

Topic of Keynote: Water-Soluble Fullerenes for Anti-Cancer Treatment
Keynote Abstract

Dr. Maria Stepanova
University of Alberta, Canada
Keynote Speaker

Maria Stepanova graduated from Lomonosov Moscow State University (Physics) in 1984 and received a PhD in Physical and Mathematical Sciences from the National Center for Surface and Vacuum Research in Moscow in 1992. This was followed by a DrSci degree in Physical and Mathematical Sciences from St. Petersburg Polytechnic Institute and the Higher Attestation Commission of the Russian Federation in 1998. Since 2005, Dr. Stepanova has been an Adjunct Professor at the Department of Electrical Engineering of the University of Alberta in Canada. Her group has extensively contributed to cross-disciplinary research at the interface of engineering, physical sciences, and life sciences, with a special focus on micro- and nanoscale fabrication processes and self-assembly mechanisms for creating complex functional structures. Their work spans a broad range of topics, including ultra-high resolution fabrication of nanostructures, processes at nano-biological interfaces, and structural dynamics in biological polymers. Current research interests include investigating the complex processes involved in the excitation of plasmonic waves in conjugate nano-biological architectures and applying these phenomena for multimodal characterization and modulation of biopolymers and organic compounds. The group’s research complements their experimental efforts by placing strong emphasis on biomolecular modeling and simulations.

Topic of Keynote: Nanoplasmonics for Characterization of Protein Assemblies
Keynote Abstract