Recent Advances in Drug Delivery and Formulation

Professor Stefano Giovagnoli is Associate Professor in Pharmaceutical Technology and Biotechnology in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Perugia, Italy. His main research interests focus on dry powders for the treatment of pulmonary infections, organic and inorganic nanoparticles for targeted and local delivery and the engineering of cells as drug delivery systems and therapeutic tools. He serves as board member of the Journal of Pharmaceutical Innovation and the Journal of Medicinal Chemistry and Research, Review Editor of Frontiers in Pharmacology. He is a member of the AAPS, the Italian Chemical Society (SCI), the AAPS Italian University Network (AItUN), the Association of Italian Faculties of Pharmaceutical Technology and Regulation (ADRITELF) the Italian CRS chapter, and the Aerosol Society.

Professor Dr. Wong Tin Wui obtained his PhD degree from National University of Singapore in 1999. He is presently the lecturer and research fellow at Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia. His research areas are primarily focused on particle/scaffold design for targeted oral, transdermal and pulmonary drug delivery. His current research interests are innovative use of microwave as skin penetration enhancer for transdermal/topical drug delivery, development of nanoparticle formation processes and design of nanoparticles for diabetes as well as lung, skin and colorectal cancer treatment/prevention. He has authored more than 110 journals and 20 chapter publications in the field of drug delivery.

Prof. Roop Krishen Khar is a renowned academician and a research scientist. He has supervised 72 Ph.Ds,. 175 M.Pharm. theses and has published more than 290 research papers in international & national journals with cumulative impact points of more than 450; H index of 52 , citation of 11673 and i.10 index of 141.. Dr. Khar is an inventor of two US & one Indian patent. He has published eleven text books, including the latest one, 4th revised edition (2013) of Lachman/lieberman’s Text Book of Industrial Pharmacy. After superannuation from School of Pharmaceutical Sciences Jamia Hamdard, presently Prof. Khar is the Principal and professor at B. S. Anangpuria Inst. of Pharmacy Sciences, Faridabad, Haryana.

Dorota Bartusik-Aebisher is a Professor at University of Rzeszów, Rzeszów, Poland. She completed her Ph.D. from the Warsaw University of Technology, Warsaw, Poland. She obtained a habilitation degree in medical sciences in medical biology (Warsaw Medical University, Warsaw, Poland). Her primary research interest is HER2-Positive Breast Cancer, drug design and molecular imaging applied to monitoring of drug delivery and drug efficiency. The objective of her research is to develop preclinical model drug delivery systems for treatment and visualization at the cellular level. She is currently exploring innovative applications of Multinuclear Magnetic Resonance Imaging (MRI) and Spectroscopy (MRS) for studying the therapeutic efficacy of cancer drugs.

Dr. Mansoor Amiji is currently the University Distinguished Professor, Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences (primary) and Professor of Chemical Engineering (secondary) at Northeastern University in Boston, MA. He is also the Director of the Laboratory of Biomaterials and Advanced Nano-Delivery Systems (BANDS). Dr. Amiji received his undergraduate degree in pharmacy from Northeastern University in 1988 and his PhD in pharmaceutics from Purdue University in 1992. His current research interests include synthesis of novel polymeric materials for medical and pharmaceutical applications; surface modification of cationic polymers by the complexation-interpenetration method to develop biocompatible materials; preparation and characterization of polymeric membranes and microcapsules with controlled permeability properties for medical and pharmaceutical applications; target-specific drug and vaccine delivery systems for gastrointestinal tract infections; localized delivery of cytotoxic and anti-angiogenic drugs for solid tumors in novel biodegradable polymeric nanoparticles intracellular delivery systems for drugs and genes using target-specific, long-circulating, biodegradable polymeric nanoparticles; gold and iron-gold core-shell nanoparticles for biosensing, imaging and delivery applications. His research has received over $40 million in sustained extramural funding from the National Institutes of Health (NIH), National Science Foundation (NSF), foundations, and biotech/pharma industries. Dr. Amiji teaches in both the professional pharmacy program and in the graduate programs of Pharmaceutical Science, Biotechnology, and Nanomedicine. He has supervised research efforts of over 120 post-doctoral associates, both PhD and MS graduate students, and undergraduate pharmacy honors students over his career. He has edited 10 books including Applied Physical Pharmacy (1st and 2nd editions), Polymeric Gene Delivery: Principles and Applications (Taylor & Francis, 2005), Nanotechnology for Cancer Therapy (Taylor & Francis, 2007), and Handbook of Materials for Nanomedicine (Pan Stanford Publishing, 2010) along with over 70 published book chapters, and over 360 peer-reviewed articles. Dr. Amiji's Google H-index is 98 and he is the Thomson-Reuters Highly Cited (top 1%) Researcher in the field of Pharmacology and Toxicology.
Dr. Amiji has received several awards including the 2006 NSTI Award for Outstanding Contributions towards the Advancement of Nanotechnology, Microtechnology, and Biotechnology, and the 2007 American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS) Meritorious Manuscript Award.

Prof. Farhan Jalees Ahmad has 23 years of rich experience in Research and Teaching. He is working in the area of Nanomedicine for the last 12 years and has published a number of research papers in peer-reviewed journals. He has been granted projects to a tune of rupees 4.5 crores from National agencies like DBT, CCRUM, AYUSH, UGC, DST and International agencies like FIP and OPCW etc. He has earned many accolades including Young Scientist Fast Track from DST, Scientist of the Year-2005 from NESA, UGC Research Award’2011, Bharat Jyoti Award 2011. He has a US patent, Two PCT and 24 Indian patents to his name. He has published more than 300 research and review papers, 12 Book chapters and 9 books. He has guided around 35 M.Pharm students and about 33 PhD scholars.

Prof. Dr. Füsun Acartürk is the head of the Department of Pharmaceutical Technology, Faculty of Pharmacy, Gazi University, Turkey. She has nearly 40 years of experience in pharmaceutical technology area. She is an author or co-author of more than 70 original research/review papers in the national/international journals, 8 book chapters and 3 patents. She has supervised MSc and PhDs, 16 postgraduate students. Her current interest lies in electrospinning, nanofibers, 3D printing for drug delivery, colonic and vaginal drug delivery, mucoadhesive drug delivery systems and wound healing.

Dr. Ajay K. Banga is a Professor in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences at the College of Pharmacy, Mercer University, Atlanta, GA, USA. He serves as Department Chair and as Endowed Chair in transdermal delivery systems. He has served as a consultant to over 25 companies in the area of his research expertise, which is in skin delivery systems. Dr. Banga has a Ph.D. in pharmaceutical sciences from Rutgers University, NJ, USA. He has mentored 40 Ph.D. students as their major advisor, and his laboratory has been funded by over 100 grants/contracts from pharmaceutical and cosmetic companies, and by federal funds. Dr. Banga currently serves on the Editorial Board of several journals and has served as the Editor-in-Chief for a drug delivery journal. He is a referee for over 40 journals and is a fellow of the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists.

Dr. Marcos L. Bruschi joined the State University of Maringa (UEM) in 1998 as assistant professor of Pharmaceutics and became associate professor in 2014. He was awarded the degree of Doctor in Pharmaceutical Sciences from School of Pharmacy, University of Sao Paulo (USP), with a period as research fellow at Queen's University of Belfast (QUB), Northern Ireland (UK). In 2014, he returned to QUB, Northern Ireland, to accomplish a period of Post-Doctoral studies in the School of Pharmacy. His current research focuses on the development of drug delivery systems using different strategies to modify and control the drug delivery, including nanotechnology and the development of advanced thermoresponsive bioadhesive platforms, micro/nanostructured particles, natural products and photodynamic therapy.

Dr. Bice Conti is currently a full professor of pharmaceutics in the Department of Drug Sciences, University of Pavia, where she teaches Pharmaceutical Technology and Regulatory aspects of drug products and she is involved in the coordination of EMJMD NANOMED. She worked as associate professor at the University of Catania and postdoc at the College of Pharmacy, University of Kentucky, USA. Her scientific research focuses on drug delivery (starting with microparticulate drug delivery systems) and tissue engineering, i.e. design and development of drug loaded polymer nanoparticles and biodegradable polymer scaffolds for tissue repair and regeneration, their processing and physicochemical characterization. Her particular focus has been on emerging manufacturing techniques for nanoparticles and scaffolds, such as microfluidics and electrospinning. She collaborates with Italian and foreign academics, companies and hospitals and is currently involved in PNNR PE13 INF-ACT project and "Immunohub" project granted by the Italian Health Dept. She is a member of international scientific associations and Italian: CRS, AAPS, AFI, ADRITELF. She was the President of CRS Italian Chapter from 2014 to 2016. She is the author of a number of publications in international peer-reviewed journals and an inventor of patents as well.

Dr. Ezharul H. Chowdhury is a graduate from the Department of Biochemistry, University of Dhaka. He completed his 'Doctor of Engineering' from the Tokyo Institute of Technology in 2003 under the supervision of Prof. Toshihiro Akaike. Subsequently, he worked there as a research fellow and a team leader till the end of 2006 before joining as a tenure-track assistant professor at the same Institute and a visiting assistant professor at Shizuoka Cancer Center Institute. Finally, he accepted an offer for the post of senior lecturer at Monash University (Malaysia campus), where he was promoted to associate professor in 2014 and a professor in 2020.

Piotr Dobrzynski received his M.S. degree from the Mathematical-Physical–Chemical Department of Silesian University in Katowice in 1982. Since 1986, he has been involved in research work at the Center of Polymer and Carbon Materials of Polish Academy of Sciences, where he is working as an Associate Professor. He received his Ph.D. degree in 1999 from the Department of Chemistry of Silesian University of Technology in Gliwice, and his D.S. degree (habilitation) in 2009 from the University of Technology in Warsaw. Since 2009, he has been a Professor at the Faculty of Mathematics and Natural Sciences of Jan Dlugosz University in Czestochowa, where he teaches chemical technology and engineering of biomaterials. His research interests and expertise include synthesis and chemistry of biodegradable and bioresorbable polymers, chemistry of biopolymers, polymeric biomaterials application, and coordination-insertion mechanisms of ROP reactions. He also deals with the issues associated with methods of preparation and application of controlled release systems for active substances and drugs, formed on the basis of biodegradable polymers. He is author of over 140 publications, patents and patent applications covering the subject matter of the conducted research.

Dr Touraj Ehtezazi is working as Senior Lecturer, in the School of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences, Liverpool John Moores University. His h-index is 10 with peer-reviewed papers in the field of drug delivery systems. His research interest includes pharmaceutical inhalers, 3D printing, and brain targeting drug delivery systems. Touraj has supervised 3 PhD students. Dr Ehtezazi has joined Young onset dementia group at The Walton Centre (Neurology and Neurosurgery), Liverpool since 2018. He is working on the neurotoxicity of hydrophobic bile acids in Alzheimer’s disease, and identifying suitable treatments to prevent/delay Alzheimer’s disease. He has published a paper with this group and more papers are in the pipeline. Dr. Ehtezazi was awarded a grant by The Royal Society of Chemistry in developing 3D printed light-activated wound dressings. Besides, Dr. Ehtezazi was awarded a grant by the Liverpool John Moores University to develop protocols to minimise aerosol levels in dental clinics to minimise contraction of COVID-19 for both clinical staff and patients. Touraj also is a leader of drug delivery formulation section in Centre for Natural Product Discovery at Liverpool John Moores University.

Dr. Gaurav Gupta is the Associate Professor in Department of Pharmacology, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Jaipur National University, Jaipur, India. He has a teaching and research experience of around 7 years. He has an extensive experience in molecular, biochemical and pharmacology with special emphasis on preclinical studies including behavioral, neuropharmacological, nephrological, endocrinological study. To substance above claim he has more than 70 research and review articles in the national and international journals of repute with the total cumulative Impact Factor above 90. He has supervised PhDs, 20 postgraduate students.

Dr. Katerina Goracinova earned her PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences from Faculty of Pharmacy, University “SS Cyril &Methodius” - Skopje, Macedonia 1994; M.S. in Pharmacy from Faculty of Pharmacy Belgrade, University of Belgrade, Serbia 1990; Specialization in the field of Pharmaceutical Technology from Faculty of Pharmacy, University “SS Cyril & Methodius” - Skopje, Macedonia 1991.
After finishing her PhD, she completed several study visits and stays abroad, among them as academic visiting researcher at King’s College, London, UK. She was promoted to a Full Professor in pharmaceutics and biopharmacy December 28, 2005, at the Faculty of Pharmacy, University of SS. Cyril and Methodius in Skopje, Macedonia where she founded the Nanotechnology Research Centre, and she was the acting head of the Institute of Pharmaceutical Technology for more than 12 years. She also served as visiting professor at the University of Novi Sad, Serbia; Faculty of Pharmacy, Copenhagen, Denmark; Medical and Health Science University, UAE and College of Pharmacy, Qatar University, Doha, Qatar.
She has published more than 120 peer reviewed papers, several monographs, chapters and book contributions and completed eight international and bilateral projects since 2000 till now. She received a Special Award at the South Korea International Invention Exposition 2010 for the patent and her research on: Chitosan-Ca-Alginate micro and nanoparticles as drug delivery systems for targeting GIT inflammatory processes.
Her current research interest is in the field of nanocarriers for anticancer drug delivery and targeting (design, physicochemical characterization, in vitro and in vivo efficacy, bio-reactivity & cytotoxicity evaluation, radiolabeling & in vivo imaging of polymer nanocarriers for anticancer drug targeting). She has also performed comprehensive research in the field of nano/micro carriers for targeting of GIT inflammation, Crohn’s disease and Ulcerative colitis.

Dr. Gemeinhart is Associate Professor in the departments of Bioengineering, Chemical Engineering, Biopharmaceutical Sciences, and Ophthalmology and Visual Sciences at the University of Illinois at Chicago. Dr. Gemeinhart is also Research Integrity Officer at the University of Illinois, Chicago. Dr. Gemeinhart was trained in bioengineering (B.S.E. from Purdue University), pharmaceutical sciences (Ph.D. from Purdue University), and chemical engineering (postdoctoral training from the Cornell University). In his 20+ years of research, Dr. Gemeinhart has focused on soft mater engineering, with specific applications in biomedical sciences. Dr. Gemeinhart focuses on understanding soft mater and how soft mater can be manipulated (engineered) to control the action of cells through direct material-cell interactions or through delivery of therapeutic molecules. Dr. Gemeinhart has authored more than 50 peer-reviewed publications, 4 book chapters, and 3 patents in the areas of drug delivery and cell-material interactions.

Dr. Sanyog Jain is working as a Professor at Centre for Pharmaceutical Nanotechnology, Department of Pharmaceutics of National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER), Mohali (Punjab), India. Previously, he worked as Scientist at Defence Research and Development Organization (DRDO), Ministry of Defence, Government of India. His key research interest includes exploring different types of nano drug delivery systems for various biomedical applications including targeted anticancer drug delivery, oral delivery of vaccines, peptides and therapeutics, co-encapsulation of high dose drugs especially antioxidants, topical and transdermal drug delivery, gene delivery and carbon nanotubes. He has patented several nanotechnology based drug delivery platforms and licensed Tamoxifen-SEDDS Technology for improved breast cancer therapy to industry for commercialization. Dr. Jain is an inventor of a number of granted patents. Besides, he has authored books and book chapters and published several research papers in high impact international journals (h-index 60) with close to 12000 citations. Dr. Jain has won several prestigious awards including AAiPS Distinguished Young Educator and Research Scholarship Award, ABAP Gold medal for Advanced Research in Nanoscience and Technology, Shivnath Rai Kohli Memorial Mid-Career Best Scientist Award, Pharm Innova Award for Best Research Guide (three times in 2014-15, 2016-17 and 2017-18), Bharat Jyoti (The Glory of India) Award etc. He has supervised 2 Post Doc, 16 PhD and 118 Masters level projects and currently supervising 1 Post Doc, 12 PhD and 15 Masters' projects. He is an Editor/Editorial Advisory Board Member of few international journals like Molecular Pharmaceutics, AAPS PharmSciTech, Drug Delivery and Translational Research and Biomed Research International.

Dr. Joseph Kost D.Sc. is a University Distinguished Professor, he holds The Abraham and Bessie Zacks Chair in Biomedical Engineering, and was the Dean of the Faculty of Engineering Sciences at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev (BGU). He is a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering, an International Member of the United States National Academy of Engineering (NAE), a member of the Controlled Release Society College of Fellows, and a member of the Israel Academy of Sciences and Humanities. His research interests are in the fields of biomedical engineering, biomaterials science, controlled drug delivery, gene therapy and ultrasound.

Dr. Letícia Koester is a pharmacist (1997) and D.Sc in Pharmaceutical Sciences (2003) from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS) and Full Professor in the Department of Production and Control of Medicines at the same Institution. She works as a researcher/advisor at the master's and academic doctoral level by the Graduate Program in Pharmaceutical Sciences (PPGCF/UFRGS). Since 2008, she has been involved in the research of different approaches to increase the solubility of drugs or other poorly soluble molecules, including natural products (especially volatile oils), allowing gains in oral bioavailability or even allowing delivery by different routes, with focus on skin delivery. These approaches mostly involve complexation with cyclodextrins, development of solid dispersions and incorporation in nanostructured systems. She has the credit to author a number of papers and has deposited patents. She has an H index of 26 with ORCID ID of: 0000-0002-1043-5855.

Dr. Philip Chi Lip Kwok obtained his Ph.D. degree in 2007 from The University of Sydney, Australia. Presently, Dr. Kwok is Lecturer of Pharmaceutical Sciences, in the Faculty of Pharmacy, at The University of Sydney. His research mainly focuses on drug delivery to the lungs as aerosols to treat local or systemic diseases. Dr. Kwok has published over 55 manuscripts in various journals of international repute, and his documents have received citations greater than 1,035.

Dr. Tamara Minko, PhD, is a Distinguished Professor and Chair of the Department of Pharmaceutics, member of the Cancer Institute and Environmental and Occupational Health Sciences Institute at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey. Her current research interests include nanotechnology, drug delivery, personalized nanomedicine, molecular targeting, nucleic acids delivery, etc. She is an author and co-author of more than 400 publications (peer-reviewed papers, books and textbook chapters, conference proceedings/abstracts and patents). Many of her papers are well cited and published in prestigious journals with high impact factors. She served as an Executive Editor of Advanced Drug Delivery Reviews, Editor of Pharmaceutical Research, a member of Editorial Boards at numerous journals and a member of Study Sections at NIH, DOD and other panels. She is a Past President of Controlled Release Society, elected Fellow of CRS, AAPS, AIMBE; recipient of numerous awards. Her research is supported by grants from NIH, NSF and other national and international sources.

Dr. Bozena B. Michniak-Kohn is a tenured Professor of Pharmaceutics at the Ernest Mario School of Pharmacy, and Founder /Director of the Center for Dermal Research CDR at Rutgers, The State University of New Jersey, Piscataway, NJ. Her main focus is topical, transdermal and buccal drug delivery. Dr. Michniak-Kohn has over 40 years of experience in the design & optimization of topically applied formulations and transdermal patches. Dr. Michniak-Kohn received her B. Sc. (Honors) in Pharmacy and Ph.D. in Pharmacology from the U.K. Dr. Michniak-Kohn has directed over 58 Ph.D. and Masters students and the work resulted in over 170 peer-reviewed manuscripts, 475 abstracts, and 41 books and book chapters. She is a member of 10 journal editorial boards, several scientific advisory boards, and member of Board of Trustees at TRI Princeton and is a reviewer for over 50 pharmaceutical and drug delivery journals. For this work, she was awarded Fellow status of the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS) in 2008.

Dr. B. Mishra is a Professor (HAG Scale) and former Head at the Department of Pharmaceutical Engineering & Technology, Indian Institute of Technology (Banaras Hindu University) India. He has supervised 28 Ph.D, 80 M.Pharma, and 3 post-doctorate students. Recently, he successfully completed MHRD, Govt. of India Sponsored 3 weeks (September 23, 2019, to October 12, 2019) LEAP (Leadership for Academicians Programme), Organised by Banaras Hindu University, Varanasi, India (for two weeks) in joint collaboration with Nanyang Technological University, Singapore (for one week). He was conferred a prestigious "Mrs. SudhaNagaich Memorial Award, 2020" by the Society of Pharmaceutical Education and Research, Gwalior. He was "Star Performance Awardee" for maximum research publications in 2012 out of all faculties of IIT (BHU) by IIT (BHU) Global Alumni Association, USA. Other Awards include the "Young Pharmacy Teacher Award" in 1999 by APTI, Eminent Teacher Award in 2013 (SPER), Principal of the year Award in 2015, and "Life Time Achievement Award" in 2008 by Indian Solidarity Council, New Delhi. He obtained his B. Pharm, M. Pharm (Gold Medalist), and Ph. D degree from the Institute of Technology-Banaras Hindu University (BHU), currently known as the Indian Institute of Technology (Banaras Hindu University). He has over 38 years of research experience with more than 250 publications,220 abstracts, 20 book chapters, 3 patents to his credit, and over 7962 citations , h-index-is 45 and i10 index is 143. His area of expertise includes; Bioavailability and Bioequivalence, Pharmacokinetics, Pharmacodynamics, Nanomedicine, Targeted drug delivery, Rate Controlled Drug Delivery Systems, and Multiple Emulsions Technology.

Dr. Carlotta Marianecci is an assistant professor at Faculty of Pharmacy and Medicine, Department of Drug Chemistry and Technologies, Sapienza University of Rome. Her research activity is mainly focused on Pharmaceutical Technology and in particular, preparation and characterization of phospholipid (liposomes) and non-phospholipid (niosomes) vesicular systems, nanobubbles and nanoemulsions and on their application studies for therapeutic, diagnostic and theranostic approaches. She is the author of about 60 national and international research papers, 3 patents, 3 book chapters and about 60 oral and poster presentations. She is a referee of about 10 international journals focused on nanotechnology and drug delivery, and editorial board member of the World Journal of Respirology.

Dr. Abdel Omri received his Ph.D. from Université de Montréal in 1996. He is currently a Full Professor at the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry with a cross-appointment to the Department of Biology, the Biomolecular Sciences Ph.D. Programme, School of Rural and Northern Health Ph.D. Programme and School of Midwifery. Dr. Omri’s research interests are focused on Lipid-based drug and vaccine delivery systems. His laboratory employs a multi-disciplinary approach to addressing the antimicrobial resistance to gram-negative bacteria in cystic fibrosis patients and medical device implants. He has published over 100 peer-reviewed research articles over his career on various aspects of drug delivery and targeting in addition to several published book chapters and books. In addition, Dr. Omri has 3 patents. He has served on several Editorial Boards and Granting Agencies in Canada and abroad as well.

Dr. Yasuko Obata, Ph.D. is a professor at Hoshi University and presides over the Laboratory of Pharmaceutical Technology. Her interests in research are development of transdermal/cosmetic formulation. She has also been actively involved in the development and evaluation of various dosage forms, including solid, semi-solid and liquid formulation. Moreover, she also is an expert of analysis of intercellular lipid lamellar structure of stratum corneum by using Synchrotron X-ray diffraction, infrared spectroscopy, differential scanning calorimetry and so on. She works on evaluation of artificial lipid models using ceramide, cholesterol and free fatty acids to clarify lipid interaction of stratum corneum of skin disease patients. She has won research grants, such as Grants-in-Aid for Scientific Research, and is also actively engaged in joint research with companies. She is a board member and president-elect of the Japanese Cosmetic Science Society, councilor of the Academy of Pharmaceutical Science and Technology Japan, and editorial board members of several scientific journals.

Prof. David Quintanar Guerrero is a Full Professor at the Universidad Nacional Autónoma de México. His current research interests are Therapeutic nanotechnology, Development of new techniques to prepare nanoparticulate systems (nanospheres, nanocapsules, latexes, etc.), Design and evaluation of new strategies to increase the bioavailability of lipophilic drugs, and Nanocosmetics and new cosmetic delivery systems. In 1997, he completed Postgraduate studies in Pharmaceutical Sciences from Université de Genève (Switzerland) and Université Claude Bernard, Lyon (France). Besides, he received a number of honours and awards such as, Pharmapeptides prize to the best doctoral thesis France, in 1998 from the National researcher recognized by the National Council of Science and Technology of Mexico (CONACYT-Mex.) etc. He has a number of scientific papers, congress presentations, book chapters and patents to his credit. He has supervised a number of theses.

Amirhossein Sahebkar received his Pharm.D and PhD in Medical Biotechnology degrees from the Mashhad University of Medical Sciences (MUMS; Mashhad, Iran), and is currently serving as a faculty member in the Department of Medical Biotechnology (School of Medicine), and Biotechnology Research Center of MUMS, with an adjunct title at the Metabolic Research Centre, University of Western Australia Perth. His research focuses on the investigation of novel lipid-modifying agents, including natural products and curcumin, for the management of severe dyslipidemias and atherosclerotic cardiovascular disease.

Dr. H. K. Sharma is a faculty in Pharmaceutics in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Dibrugarh University, India. He has nearly 20 years of research and teaching experience. His research area includes drug delivery systems, Natural Pharmaceuticals, and Traditional medicines. He has more than 40 manuscripts, 2 co-authored and 1 co-edited books to his credit. He is associated with several journals as editorial board member and as a reviewer. He is also member of various organizations like Indian Pharmaceutical Association, Indian Science Congress Association, American Chemical Society, International Congress for Chemistry & Environment, Association of Pharmaceutical Teachers of India etc.

Vladimir P. Torchilin, Ph.D., D.Sc. is a University Distinguished Professor of Pharmaceutical Sciences and Director, Center for Pharmaceutical Biotechnology and Nanomedicine, Northeastern University, Boston. His interests include drug delivery and targeting, nanomedicine, multifunctional and stimuli-sensitive pharmaceutical nanocarriers, biomedical polymers, experimental cancer therapy. He has published more than 400 original papers, more than 150 reviews and book chapters, wrote and edited 12 books, and holds more than 40 patents. Google Scholar shows more than 44,000 citations of his papers with H-index of 96. He is Editor-in-Chief of Current Drug Discovery Technologies, Drug Delivery, and OpenNano, Co-Editor of Current Pharmaceutical Biotechnology and on the Editorial Boards of many other journals. He received more than $30 M from the governmental and industrial sources in research funding. He has multiple honors and awards in 2011, and the Times Higher Education ranked him number 2 among top world scientists in pharmacology for the period of 2000-2010.

Dr. A. K. Tiwary is working as Professor (Pharmaceutics) in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences & Drug Research at Punjabi University, Patiala, India. He completed his PhD in Pharmaceutics at Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra, Ranchi, India. He has to his credit 113 research papers/articles and one US Patent. His h- index is 30 and i-10 index is 66. He has guided 12 PhD scholars and more than 45 M. Pharm. students. His research pursuits include transdermal drug delivery, modified oral drug delivery using natural polymers and their derivatives, spermicidals, microemulsions and SMEDDS. He actively contributes his expertise to industries, academia and is on the board of many reputed journals as reviewer and editorial board advisor.

Dr. Sushama Talegaonkar is working as an Associate Professor in the Department of Pharmaceutics, School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, DPSRU, New Delhi. Dr Talegaonkar has granted one Indian Patent and filed 6 Indian patents. She has published more than 220 research papers in high impact factor International reputed journals and 30 papers in National journals with h-index 46, i10-index -122 and 8750 google scholar citations. She has co-authored four books and authored 12 chapters in International reference books. She has presented papers in more than 50 National and International conferences and participated in more than 50 symposia and workshops. She was awarded the prestigious Motan Devi Dandiya Biennial Prize for best publication in Pharmaceutical Sciences for the period 2010-11. Dr Talegaonkar has so far supervised 26 Ph.D and 50 Master Students. She is also a member of the editorial board of Recent patents on drug delivery and Formulation.

Ijeoma Uchegbu is Professor of Pharmaceutical Nanoscience within the UCL School of Pharmacy. She obtained her PhD from the School of Pharmacy in 1994 and was appointed to a lectureship in Drug Delivery in 1997 within the University of Strathclyde. She became a senior lecturer in 2000 and a Professor of Drug Delivery in 2002. She then joined the School of Pharmacy as a Professor of Pharmaceutical Nanoscience in 2006 and joined UCL in 2012. In 2010 Ijeoma became cofounder Chief Scientific Officer of Nanomerics Ltd, a specialty pharmaceutical company and spin out from UCL.

Dr. Fahima Dilnawaz is working as Women Scientist in the Laboratory of Nanomedicine at Institute of Life Sciences, Bhubaneswar, Odisha, India. She has been actively working with polymeric nanoparticle, magnetic nanoparticle and mesoporous silica nanoparticles based drug delivery system for the cancer therapy. Her current focus is towards theranostic approach of an effective management of cancer. To her credit, she has published several articles and contributed chapters in books. She is also serving as reviewer for various nanomedicinal journals.

Dr. M Saquib Hasnain has over 6 years of research experience in the field of drug delivery and pharmaceutical formulation analyses, especially systematic development and characterization of diverse nanostructured drug delivery systems, controlled release drug delivery systems, bioenhanced drug delivery systems, nanomaterials and nanocomposites employing Quality by Design approaches as well as development and characterization of polymeric composites, formulation characterization using FTIR, DSC, PXRD, SEM, TEM, HPLC, LC-MS, and many more. Till date he has authored over 30 publications in various high impact peer-reviewed journals, 30 book chapters, and 1 book. He is also serving as the reviewer of several prestigious journals.

Dr. Raza is an Assistant Professor of Biotechnology, and in-charge of the Department of Stem Cell Biology and Regenerative Medicine at Era’s Lucknow Medical College and Hospital (ELMC&H), Era University, Lucknow. He is a Visiting Scientist at the American University of Barbados, Latin America since, 2015. His laboratory’s interest lies in finding best ways to utilize stem cell therapy to treat neurodegenerative diseases. His lab strives to understand the survival and death cues for stem cells in oxidative and/or inflammatory microenvironment. Further, his lab is interested in the development of new therapeutic approaches such as nanoparticles-mediated delivery and protein therapy for stem cells, and delivery of nanoparticles tagged stem cells into the rodent models of stroke, spinal cord injury and Alzheimer’s disease.

Dr Touraj Ehtezazi is working as Senior Lecturer, in the School of Pharmacy and Biomolecular Sciences, Liverpool John Moores University. His h-index is 10 with peer-reviewed papers in the field of drug delivery systems. His research interest includes pharmaceutical inhalers, 3D printing, and brain targeting drug delivery systems. Touraj has supervised 3 PhD students. Dr Ehtezazi has joined Young onset dementia group at The Walton Centre (Neurology and Neurosurgery), Liverpool since 2018. He is working on the neurotoxicity of hydrophobic bile acids in Alzheimer’s disease, and identifying suitable treatments to prevent/delay Alzheimer’s disease. He has published a paper with this group and more papers are in the pipeline. Dr. Ehtezazi was awarded a grant by The Royal Society of Chemistry in developing 3D printed light-activated wound dressings. Besides, Dr. Ehtezazi was awarded a grant by the Liverpool John Moores University to develop protocols to minimise aerosol levels in dental clinics to minimise contraction of COVID-19 for both clinical staff and patients. Touraj also is a leader of drug delivery formulation section in Centre for Natural Product Discovery at Liverpool John Moores University.

Dr. Md. Noushad Javed was previously associated with the Department of Pharmaceutics, School Medical Allied Sciences of K.R. Mangalam University as a Research faculty. Previously, he has also worked as a scientist with Professor M. Zahid Ashraf at Jamia Millia Islamia University (NAAC A++) on neuroprotective potential of TLR agonist and elucidated mechanism of miRNAs-based nanomedicines against hypoxia mediated vascular disorders. He has completed PhD in Pharmacy at School of Pharmaceutical Education and Research, Jamia Hamdard University, New Delhi, India (Rank #1 in Pharmacy institute as per Govt. of India), Master in Pharmaceutics along with various additional courses such as Intellectual Property Rights, Regulatory Affairs, Statistics, Quality Assurance, Process validation etc. In the past, he had been associated with various academic and research positions which include Appejay Stya University, Dibrugarh University, and Jamia Hamdard. He has also worked in different industrial assignments. He is a registered clinical pharmacist and herbalist by professional training. While he is also a certified statistical analyst as well as an expert of international regulatory affairs and pharmaceutical patents. His interest is towards integration of holistic in-silico based approaches such as computational bioinformatics; Quality by Design (QbD) and statistical approaches for validation of analytical methods and processing of novel materials; to be used as site targeted controlled release formulations for various inflammatory disorders. Till date, he has authored more than 50 scientific publications in high impact peer-reviewed journals as corresponding author, such as Seminar in Cancer Biology (Cite Score 21> and IF> 17). He is also handling various chapters and editing book projects of reputed publishers, such as Elsevier, Taylor Francis, CRC press, IgI global, Willey etc. His research works are also innovative in terms of translating them into different national and international patent applications. Dr. Javed has also been invited for lectures and oral talks at several international conferences. He has also been awarded with various medals and awards by reputed scientific societies. He is also serving as accredited reviewer and working as an editorial member in well reputed journals, which include but not limited to Current drug metabolism, CNS & Neurological Disorders - Drug Targets, Current Molecular Pharmacology etc.

Dr. A. K. Tiwary is working as Professor (Pharmaceutics) in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences & Drug Research at Punjabi University, Patiala, India. He completed his PhD in Pharmaceutics at Birla Institute of Technology, Mesra, Ranchi, India. He has to his credit 113 research papers/articles and one US Patent. His h- index is 30 and i-10 index is 66. He has guided 12 PhD scholars and more than 45 M. Pharm. students. His research pursuits include transdermal drug delivery, modified oral drug delivery using natural polymers and their derivatives, spermicidals, microemulsions and SMEDDS. He actively contributes his expertise to industries, academia and is on the board of many reputed journals as reviewer and editorial board advisor.