Prof. Defang Ouyang

Assistant Professor, Technion-Israel Institute of Technology

Assaf holds two Adjunct Assistant Professor positions in the Cardiovascular Science and Neurosurgery Departments at Houston Methodist Academic Institute, TX, USA, and serves as a Visiting Professor at the University of Turin, Italy.

Professor, Ghent University and VIB Center of Medical Biotechnology 

Bruno's lab operates at the interface between materials chemistry and immunology and has a strong interest in engineering the immune system using functional materials that can modulate the pharmacokinetic and pharmacodynamic profiles of immunomodulatory stimuli and antigens

Senior Scientist, Phillips Medisize

Carla B. Roces is a Senior Scientist at Phillips Medisize, where she works on technology innovation and capability building in pharmaceutical development, with a particular focus on biologics and complex liquid formulations for nebulisation. 

Postdoctoral Fellow, The Stevens Group, University of Oxford

Massimo is currently a Marie Sklowdowska-Curie Fellow in Professor Dame Molly Stevens' research group, where he focuses on the immunology of tissue regeneration and targeted RNA delivery.

Researcher, Center for Vaccine Research, Statens Serum Institut

Signe's research combines vaccine formulation and immunology to advance the development of next-generation vaccines.

Non-Viral Vector Platform Lead, Bayer AG

Florian Mann is a Principal Scientist for RNA Delivery and Non‑-Viral Vector Platform Lead at Bayer Pharmaceuticals in Berlin, Germany, and a Bayer Science Fellow.

Principal Scientist, Novo Nordisk

Gael Clergeaud Veiga is a Principal Scientist in the Non-Viral Delivery department within the Nucleic Acid Research R&D area at Novo Nordisk.

Full Professor of Pharmaceutical Technology, University of Padova

Gianfranco's research centres on drug and protein delivery, with a particular focus on the rational design of targeted nanomedicines - antibody-drug conjugates and immunoliposomes - where the stability and correct presentation of the targeting ligand on the nanoparticle surface are decisive for selective cell recognition.

Chair of Nanomedicine, School of Pharmacy, Queen’s University Belfast. Chair of Nanomedicine, School of Pharmacy, Queen’s University Belfast 
Chief Scientific and Technology Advisor for Northern Ireland. The Executive CEO, ZapHE

Helen has spun out her second company (XapHe) in 2024 on the targeted delivery of mRNA therapeutics, a first for Northern Ireland. After securing her Chair in Nanomedicine in 2016, Helen has had numerous, cross-university leadership roles.

BPS Business Development & Licensing Manager, Cytiva Nanomedicines

At Cytiva, Martin drives EMEA strategy for BioPharma Services and proprietary LNP platforms, supporting partners across xRNA delivery, gene editing, and cell and gene therapy programs.

Inhalation Pharma Segment Manager, Phillips Medisize

With a background in pharmacy (PharmD, University of Barcelona) and a PhD in inhaled nanomedicines from the University of Strathclyde, Mireia has built a career at the intersection of science and R&D strategy, leading programmes that translate complex technologies into viable therapies for inhalation.

Associate Professor in Synthetic Biomaterials and Nanomedicine, Imperial College London 

With nearly two decades of expertise in nanomedicine, her group develops bioinspired, multi-functional polymeric nanoparticles engineered to respond to disease-specific cues, enabling stimuli-responsive and spatiotemporally controlled drug delivery

Co-founder & Professor of Chemical Engineering, Technion–Israel Institute of Technology

Avi is the recipient of more than 40 national and international recognitions, including being named a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry, a KAVLI Fellow, and being awarded the Intel Nanotechnology Award, the TEVA Pharmaceuticals Award, and the Wolf Foundation Krill Award.

Associate Professor, Eindhoven University of Technology

Roy van der Meel is a biomedical engineer specialized in nanomedicine and RNA therapeutics. After obtaining a PhD from Utrecht University, he moved to Pieter Cullis’ lab at the University of British Columbia, where he gained extensive experience with lipid nanoparticle technology for delivery of nucleic acid therapeutics.

Calleva Senior Postdoctoral Associate, Jenner Institute, Nuffield Department of Medicine, University of Oxford

Zakia's research focuses on the development of next-generation genetic vaccines, with particular expertise in mRNA vaccine technologies for malaria and emerging infectious diseases.

Associate Professor, University of Macau

Since 2011, Defang has pioneered the integration of multi-scale modeling, artificial intelligence and big data techniques in the field of drug delivery.

Lead Research Scientist, Croda Pharma Vaccine Adjuvants Systems R&D

At Croda, Rasmus is responsible for design, development and functional biological/immunological testing of novel lipid-based vaccine adjuvants.