Plenary Speakers

Dear Colleague,

Look who is speaking in Portland. We have a distinguished lineup of plenary speakers.

Frank Szoka of the University of California in San Francisco is the inventor of Amphotec, a lipid derivative of amphotericin B indicated for the treatment of systemic fungal infections. Frank is what you can describe as a serial inventor, with 26 granted patents and still counting.

Mauro Ferrari of the University of Texas originally trained as a mathematician but has dedicated most of his career to creating nanotechnologies for the treatment and diagnosis of disease, with a particular interest in tumour targeting. Mauro has designed nested nanoparticles with built in capability to breach a sequence of biological barriers and thus reach their target.

Hiroshi Maeda of Sojo University in Japan first described the Enhanced Permeation and Retention (EPR) effect as the basis for the accumulation of nanoparticles in tumours, way back in 1986. Hiroshi also invented the first polymer conjugated cancer therapy, SMANCS. SMANCS has been used by thousands of patients in Japan and continues to save lives.

Raju Kucherlapati recently stepped down as Scientific Director of Harvard Medical School-Partners HealthCare Center for Genetics and Genomics, where he pioneered the use of genomic data in clinical decision making. Raju has spent many years at Harvard University as Professor of Genetics, mapping the human genome and cloning many disease genes. He is a powerful advocate for the use personalised medicines.

Ramin “Ron” Najafi is the CEO of NovaBay Pharmaceuticals, a company he took from inception to IPO. NovaBays mission is to develop anti-infectives for the treatment of drug-resistant clinical infections. Ramin has founded three companies and has an enviable track record in the creation of successful companies.

Nicholas Peppas is a leading researcher, inventor and pacesetter in the fields of controlled release, drug delivery, biomaterials and bionanotechnology and has contributed seminal work in the fields of feedback controlled pharmaceutical and biomedical devices. In addition he has contributed to the CRS growth over more than 35 years.

Look forward to seeing you,

Ijeoma Uchegbu
CRS Scientific Secretary