Current Cancer Therapy Reviews

Yangchao Chen is a Principal Investigator at Cancer Biology & Experimental Therapeutics Theme, School of Biomedical Sciences, CUHK. He is also the Principal Investigator at Shenzhen Research Institute, CUHK at Shenzhen. He is actively involved in molecular biology of pancreatic cancer and liver cancer. He is also an active reviewer of multiple grant agencies and peer-reviewed journals.

Dr. Hongzhang Deng received his Ph.D. in Material Chemical Engineering from Tianjin University in 2018. During his Ph.D. study, he joined the National Center for Nanoscience and Technology and Institute of Biophysics, Chinese Academy of Sciences from 2014-2018. He then moved to Dr. Xiaoyuan Chen's Laboratory at the National Institutes of Health (NIH) as a postdoctoral fellow from 2018-2021. In 2021, he joined the faculty of Xidian University as a Professor. His current research focuses on the development of advanced nanomaterials for cancer immunotherapy.

Dr. Janaina Fernandes obtained her Ph.D. in Biophysics from Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro (2005). In her initial works, she characterized the cell death induced by Pomolic acid against sensitive and resistant leukemia, following these studies, she reported that TPSA was responsible for the substrate specificity of Multidrug Resistance Associated Protein-1. Currently, she is an associate professor of molecular genetics at Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, focusing on the subjects: Cancer, apoptosis, multidrug resistance, natural products, and contrast agents.

Dr. Xiaomin Niu is a medical oncologist and an Associate Researcher in the Department of Shanghai Lung Cancer Center, Shanghai Chest Hospital, Shanghai Jiao Tong University. She is good at multi-disciplinary diagnosis and treatment of lung cancer and other thoracic malignancies. Dr. Niu has attended lots of global and regional clinical trials of drugs and drug combinations focused on targeted therapy and immunotherapy. She has authored or co-authored around 50 medical articles on lung cancer and other thoracic malignancies, and has supervised several government projects on lung cancer. Dr. Niu has been an active IASLC member for over a decade and additionally participates in ASCO, ESMO, CSCO, and the International Thymic Malignancies Interest Group (ITMIG). She takes particular pride in mentoring junior lung cancer investigators as the teaching assistant for the writing skills of scientific research papers at the school of medicine of Shanghai Jiao Tong University.

Dr. Dong H. Ryu did Doctor of Philosophy in Medicine from the Chungbuk National University Cheongju, Korea in 2011. He did Doctor of Medicine and Master of Medicine both from the same university in 1994 and 1998, respectively. He did Resident Training in Surgery in 1999 from Chungbuk National University Hospital. From 1999-2002, he served in the Military as an Army surgeon. From 2002-2005, he was Chief in the Department of Surgery at the Cheongju St. Mary`s Hospital. Dr. Ryu is a member of a number of societies, such as The Korean Surgical Society, The Korean Association of HBP Surgery, Asia Pacific HPB Association Member, and the European Association for Transluminal Surgery (EATS). Currently, Dr. Ryu is serving as a Professor at the Chungbuk National University College of Medicine, Cheongju, Korea since 2017.

Dr. Ivan A. Stepanov completed his M.D., Ph.D., from Irkutsk State Medical University in the Department of Neurosurgery and Innovative Medicine in Irkutsk, Russia. He completed his Fellowship in Neurosurgery at the same institution from 2018-2021 and Residency in Neurosurgery from 2016-2018. He is currently a Consultant Neurosurgeon at Kharlampiev Clinic and Assistant Professor in the Department of General Surgery at Irkutsk State Medical University, where he has been teaching since 2020. He was also a Teaching Assistant in the Department of Neurosurgery at the same university from 2016-2020. Dr. Stepanov has received several grants, including the Russian Science Foundation Grant in 2015 and the Innovation Promotion Foundation Grant in 2017.

Joel L. Schwartz obtained training for Oral Maxillofacial Pathology from Harvard School of Medicine and Dana-Farber Cancer Center and is presently the Director of Oral Maxillofacial Pathology Research at the College of Dentistry, University of Illinois. His first studies focused on viral carcinogenesis and immune regulation. In 1970s, he reported that early detection and prevention of oral cancer can be influenced by diet and molecular pathways that regulate epithelial cell growth and differentiation. These associations are examined through animal models to study mucosa responses to carcinogens and immunology and epithelial biology of normal and tumorigenic cells, cell lines.

Dr. Richard J. Ablin is a Professor at University of Arizona College of Medicine, Arizona Cancer Center and BIO5 Institute and President, Robert Benjamin Ablin Foundation for Cancer Research, founded in memory of his father. He was honored as recipient of the First Award for Scientific Excellence. He discovered prostate-specific antigen (PSA), and was a nominee for the Lasker Award. He is a pioneer of cryosurgery and the concept of “cryoimmunotherapy” for the treatment of cancer. He is a member of Sigma Xi, Phi Beta Kappa and numerous professional societies. He has been an invited speaker, contributed numerous articles, co-editor of the book series Cancer Metastasis -Biology and Treatment and serves on the editorial board of several journals.

Prof. Josep M. Argiles was born in Barcelona, Catalonia, Spain in 1956 and completed his undergraduate studies in Biology at the University of Barcelona graduating with a First Class Honours Degree and Special Prize for the best B.Sc. (1979). In 1981 he received his Doctorate in Biochemistry from the same university with Cum Laude obtaining the Prize for the best doctorate of that year. In 1987 he undertook further postdoctoral training in the Laboratory of Metabolism and Molecular Biology at the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, Maryland. He later became Full Professor of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology of Cancer at the Faculty of Biology, University of Barcelona, and then became the leader of a research group interested in cancer cachexia.

Dr. Andrei V. Bakin obtained his Ph.D. degree in Molecular Biology from Moscow State University, Moscow, Russia, in 1990. Since 2003, Dr. Bakin has been serving as an Associate/Assistant Professor of Oncology at Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Buffalo, NY, USA. Additionally, since 2014, he has also been working as a Research Associate/Assistant Professor at the State University of New York (SUNY) at Buffalo, NY, USA. Dr. Bakin has contributed as an author/co-author to numerous articles in various journals, with a significant total citation count. He is a member of several professional societies, including the American Association for Cancer Research (AACR), the Metastasis Research Society, the American Society for Cell Biology, and the Tumor Microenvironment Society.

Dr. Monica C. Botelho completed her Ph.D. with Distinction from the Faculty of Medicine at Porto University. She is the Head of the Lab of Health Promotion and Chronic Diseases Unit at the National Institute of Health (INSA) Dr. Ricardo Jorge, a leading health service organization in Porto, Portugal. Additionally, she is a researcher at the Instituto de Investigação e Inovação em Saúde (i3S), Group of Metabolism, Nutrition, and Endocrinology at Porto University. Her areas of expertise include neglected tropical diseases associated with cancers and infertility, molecular carcinogenesis of schistosome-associated squamous cell carcinoma of the bladder using mouse models, the effects of schistosoma-derived estrogenic molecules on cell lines and their biodistribution in animal models, and their potential carcinogenic effects. She also investigates schistosomiasis-associated catechol-estrogens as biomarkers of cancer and infertility.

Dr. Ronald M. Bukowski is an emeritus staff at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, and was recently the Deputy Director of the Cleveland Clinic Taussig Cancer Center and Director of the Experimental Therapeutics at the Cleveland Clinic Cancer Center. He held the James Zito Chair in Cancer Research at the Taussig Cancer Center from 2001 to 2008. Dr. Bukowski is a fellow of the American College of Physicians and a member of numerous professional societies, including the American Society of Clinical Oncology, and the American Society of Hematology. He is a lifelong researcher with interests in immunotherapy, the immunology and biology of renal cell carcinoma, and new drug development and investigation. Currently Dr. Bukowski is a member of the board of directors of the Kidney Cancer Association, & its medical committee.

Dr. Robert Clarke, Ph.D., D.Sc. leads Georgetown University Medical Center’s high performance research community, expanding its extramural funding and promoting the efforts of its faculty. Also, he works in collaboration with the Georgetown University Graduate School of Arts and Sciences to cultivate and strengthen the research components of the University’s graduate programs and the quality of graduate biomedical education. Clarke is co-director of the Georgetown-Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center breast cancer program, a professor in the Department of Oncology, and an internationally known breast cancer researcher.

Dr. Kathleen A. Cooney, MD, is Professor and Chair of the Department of Internal Medicine, H.A. and Edna Benning Presidential Endowed Chair, at the University of Utah. She received her M.D. degree from the University of Pennsylvania Perelman School of Medicine at Philadelphia in 1984. Her research led to the important discovery of a recurrent mutation in the HOXB13 gene that increases the chances of being diagnosed with prostate cancer. As an oncologist, Cooney focuses on treating advanced forms of prostate cancer.

Dr. Louis Dubeau received his M.D.C.M. in 1979 and his Ph.D. in biochemistry in 1981, both from McGill University in Canada. He moved to University of Southern California in 1985 to study cancer biology and epigenetics under the sponsorship of Dr. Peter Jones. He became assistant professor in the Department of Pathology at University of Southern California in 1989, where he is currently Professor of Pathology and Medical Director of Molecular Pathology. His research is focused on the biology of ovarian carcinoma. Significant contributions include the understanding of the site of origin of these tumors and the mechanisms underlying their hormonal and genetic risk factors.

Dr. Amato J. Giaccia obtained his Ph.D. in Pathology/Molecular Biology from the University of Pennsylvania in Philadelphia. He is a Professor of Radiation Oncology, Associate Chair for Research & Director of the Division of Radiation & Cancer Biology in the Department of Radiation Oncology. He also is the Director of Basic Science at the Stanford Cancer Institute and heads the Radiation Biology Program in Stanford’s Cancer Center. He co-authored the sixth & seventh editions of the textbook, “Radiation Biology for the Radiologist,” with Professor Eric Hall from Columbia. In addition, he is currently the “Jack, Lulu and Sam Willson Professor in Cancer Biology” in the Stanford University School of Medicine.

Dr. Raffaella Giavazzi earned her PhD in Pharmacology from the University of Milan, Italy. She holds the qualification of Professor in General Pathology and Applied Biology. Dr. Giavazzi completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the NCI-FCRDC in Frederick, USA, and served as an Assistant Professor at MD Anderson Hospital in Houston, USA. She is currently the Head of the Laboratory of Biology and Treatment of Metastasis at the Mario Negri Institute for Pharmacological Research and serves on the Board of Directors at the University of Trento, Italy. Dr. Giavazzi has made significant contributions to cancer research, publishing numerous articles and presenting many studies at national and international congresses.

Dr. Emanuela Grassilli received her Ph.D. degree from the University of Modena, Italy, and pursued her post-doctoral research at Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia and European Institute of Oncology, Milan, studying the molecular mechanisms of apoptosis and their relevance in the response to chemotherapy. More recently, she co-founded Bionsil, a spin-off of the University of Milano-Bicocca, Italy, aimed at identifying and characterizing novel targets for molecular diagnosis and therapy of drug-resistant cancers. From 2014 she is Assistant Professor at the University of Milano-Bicocca where she continues her work on p65BTK, a novel Bruton’s Tyrosine isoform previously identified as a new target of therapy in colon cancers.

Dr. Rizwan Haq is a physician-scientist who specializes in metastatic melanoma. He received his MD and PhD at the University of Toronto and the Ontario Cancer Institute with various honors. His internal medicine training was in the Osler Housestaff Training Program at Johns Hopkins Hospital, followed by fellowship training in oncology at Dana-Farber/Harvard Cancer Care. At the completion of his clinical training, he was a post-doctoral fellow with Dr David E. Fisher (Massachusetts General Hospital). He has been a contributing author of numerous publications, including those published in Cancer Cell, Nature, Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences USA. At Dana-Farber Cancer Institute, he is involved in developing the next generation of melanoma therapeutics and translating them to innovative investigator-initiated clinical trials. His clinical practice is dedicated to patients with melanoma.

Dr. David H. IlsonWeill is attending physician and member at Memorial Hospital, and professor of medicine at Weill-Cornell Medical College. His research interest is upper gastrointestinal cancer with a focus on esophageal cancer. His research focuses on the study of new agents in advanced esophageal cancer and in combined modality therapy. He sits on U.S. NCCN Gastric Cancer guideline panel, and the GI Cancer committees of Alliance/CALGB and NRG/RTOG. He is the former chair of the U.S. NCI Esophageal and Gastric Cancers Clinical Trial Task Force.

Dr. Maurizio D. Incalci obtained his Medical Degree cum Laude from the University of Milan (1978). Then he specialized in Pharmacology in 1979 and in Oncology in1981. He worked in the Molecular Pharmacology Laboratory, NCI, Bethesda (1983-84). He is chief of the Cancer Chemotherapy Laboratory since 1986 and of the Oncology Department since 1996 at the Mario Negri Institute. He has been a member of the board of several National and International organizations as EORTC, SENDO, and SIC and he is currently a member of AIRC, MaNGO, Fondazione Mattioli, and Fondazione Buzzi. He is the author of more than 500 papers on cancer pharmacology and of several book chapters.

Dr. Bernd Kaina, a distinguished molecular toxicologist, has dedicated his career to advancing the understanding of DNA repair and genetic stability. He earned his Ph.D. in genetics from the University of Halle, Germany, and pursued postdoctoral training at the Institute of Genetics in Gatersleben. His research on DNA repair continued at the Department of Molecular Biology in Leiden, the Netherlands, the German Cancer Research Center in Heidelberg, and the Department of Genetics at the Nuclear Research Center in Karlsruhe, Germany, as a Heisenberg fellow. In 1993, he was appointed a full professor of molecular toxicology at the Institute of Toxicology at the University of Mainz, later becoming its director. A recognized authority in his field, he actively contributes to scientific literature and serves on the editorial boards of multiple journals.

Dr. Dmitri V. Krysko graduated from Saratov State Medical University in Russia and later obtained his Ph.D. from Ghent University in Belgium. He worked as a FWO Postdoctoral Scientist in the lab of Prof. Vandenabeele at VIB-Ghent University. Since October 2016, Dr. Krysko has served as an Associate Professor at the Department of Basic Medical Sciences at Ghent University and as a group leader at the Cancer Research Institute Ghent (CRIG). His scientific work has earned him several awards, and he is an Editorial Board Member for "Apoptosis" and "Mediators of Inflammation." He has contributed significantly to the scientific community through numerous publications in peer-reviewed international journals.

Dr. Ji L. Li is a full professor and chair in Cancer Immunology at Plymouth University Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry (PUFoMD), UK. He studied Medicine and obtained his Master of Medicine from Sun Yat-Sen University in 1986. He received his PhD from London University, London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, in 1997. Prof. Li has held several prestigious positions, including Postdoctoral Research Associate at the University of Oxford, Research Fellow at Imperial Cancer Research Fund, and Tenured Staff Scientist/Deputy Lab Head at Cancer Research UK. Prior to his current position, he served as Tenured Scientist/Deputy Lab Head at the Weatherall Institute of Molecular Medicine at the University of Oxford. He has published extensively on tumour microenvironment, its role in tumour invasion and metastasis, target therapies, and translational medicine, and he serves as an editor and editorial board member for several international journals.

Dr. Daiqing Liao, Ph.D., conducted his postdoctoral training at Yale University School of Medicine and is currently an Associate Professor at University of Florida College of Medicine and a member of UF Health Cancer Center. The research in his laboratory focuses on cancer epigenetics, metabolism, and signaling pathways as well as development of small molecule therapeutics targeting lysine acetyltransferases (HATs), deacetylases (HDACs), and metabolism for cancer therapy.

Dr. Kavindra Nath is a Research Assistant Professor at the University of Pennsylvania, Perelman School of Medicine, Department of Radiology, Molecular Imaging Laboratory. He did his M.S. in Biochemistry, and Ph.D. in Magnetic Resonance Imaging and Spectroscopy (MRI/MRS). In Ph.D. His current research at University of Pennsylvania is utilizing multi-nuclear (1H, 31P, 13C) MRS and other techniques in vitro and in vivo in order to delineate the mode of action of various monocarboxylate transport (MCTs), mitochondrial pyruvate carrier (MPC) and electron transport chain (ETC) inhibitors, which distinguishes normal cells from malignant cells and potentiates the activities of various chemotherapeutic drugs, hyperthermia and radiation therapy in a variety of human cancers.

I am a PhD qualified molecular biologist with over 15 years of experience in translational oncology, molecular diagnostics and regulated biomedical science. My research has focused on gene regulation, signal transduction and biomarker development, with applications in cancer biology, forensic genetics and therapeutic stratification. I have collaborated with hospitals and research institutes on ethically governed biobanking and clinical data studies, including EU funded projects. I have authored and co-authored over 20 peer-reviewed publications in journals indexed in Scopus and Web of Science. In addition, I have served as a reviewer for journals in oncology, molecular biology and forensic science. My academic interests include the translational impact of gene modulation technologies, clinical biomarkers and evolving tools in gene therapy and epigenetic reprogramming. I am enthusiastic about contributing to Gene Editing Technologies as an Editorial Board Member, supporting rigorous peer review, thematic issue development and the advancement of interdisciplinary dialogue in the gene editing field.

Dr. Rafael Roesler is the Deputy Director of Zenit Scientific and Technological Park of the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS). He is Associate Professor in the Department of Pharmacology, Institute of Basic Health Sciences of UFRGS and Researcher level 1A of the National Council of Scientific and Technological Development (CNPq). He did PhD in Biochemistry, from UFRGS, 1999, and another Ph.D. as a visiting doctoral student from the University of California, Irvine, USA, 1997. He is currently a coordinator of the Laboratory of Cancer and Neurobiology, Center for Experimental Research, Hospital of Clinics of Porto Alegre. He has 275 publications to his credit. His expertise are in Biomedical Science, Cell Culture, and Cancer Biology.

Dr. Nicolai Savaskan is a developmental neurobiologist who initially focused on axon guidance molecules and the PRG family before transitioning into cancer research. Trained at the NKI and ETH Zurich, he specializes in glutamate signaling in brain tumors and angiogenesis. His research has expanded to clinical brain tumor imaging, including intraoperative fluorescence and MRI imaging, leading to the development of DiVA and vDiVA inventions. His work has contributed to identifying heterogeneous tumor zones in gliomas.

Dr. Jeffrey Schlom is a Co-Director of the Center for Immuno-Oncology (CIO) in the Center for Cancer Research at the National Cancer Institute, NIH. He leads a translational research program in cancer immunology and immunotherapy, pioneering the development of novel immunotherapeutics for various cancers. His work focuses on translating preclinical research into science-driven clinical trials, collaborating with clinicians, investigators across the NCI and NIH, and researchers at external cancer centers. He also partners with biotech and pharmaceutical companies to accelerate the development of new therapeutic agents. His research includes designing therapeutic cancer vaccines, immunocytokines, checkpoint inhibitor monoclonal antibodies, and strategies to enhance the tumor microenvironment for improved immune-mediated therapy. Dr. Schlom serves on the editorial boards of several scientific journals and holds multiple patents for monoclonal antibody and recombinant vaccine development.

Dr. Abul K. M. Shamsuddin is Professor of Pathology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore. He received his medical degree from Dhaka University, and PhD from University of Maryland. He is the pioneering scientist to demonstrate the anti-cancer and immune enhancing function of inositol and inositol hexaphosphate. Dr. Shamsuddin has published several books, many book-chapters and numerous scientific papers. He serves on the editorial board of several cancer related journals; and is a highly sought after speaker in international scientific meetings.

Dr. Frank A. Sinicrope, is Professor of Medicine and Oncology at Mayo Clinic, Co-leader of the GI cancer program at the Mayo Clinic Comprehensive Cancer Center, Director for GI Translational Research for the North Central Cancer Treatment Group legacy studies, member of the GI Cancer Steering Committee of the National Cancer Institute, and vice-chair of the Cancer Prevention Committee and GI Committee of the Alliance for Clinical Trials in Oncology. Dr. Sinicrope is a board-certified medical oncologist and gastroenterologist, a recognized leader in molecular-based risk stratification of colon cancer and conducts research on experimental therapeutics approaches to reverse drug resistance.

Prof. Riccardo Soffietti is a professor of neurology and neuro-oncology at the University of Turin, Italy. He has been the president of the European Association of Neuro-Oncology (EANO), chairperson of the scientific panel of Neuro-Oncology of the European Academy of Neurology (EAN), member of the steering committee of Brain Tumor Group (BTG) of the European Organization for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC), etc. His specific research experience includes designing and coordinating clinical-translational trials in gliomas, lymphomas, ependymomas, medulloblastomas, brain metastasis, and neoplastic meningitis with new drugs and monitoring treatment effects with advanced neuroimaging. He published many papers in highly impacted scientific journals, with a few books and book chapters.

Dr. Clinton F. Stewart is a Full Member in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences at St. Jude Children’s Research Hospital and a Professor of Pediatrics and Clinical Pharmacy at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis. He earned a degree in Pharmacy from Auburn University and later obtained a Doctor of Pharmacy from the University of Tennessee in Memphis. Following a postdoctoral fellowship at St. Jude under Dr. William E. Evans, he joined the faculty at the University of Tennessee College of Pharmacy before transitioning to St. Jude. Dr. Stewart is a recognized fellow of the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists and the American College of Clinical Pharmacy. He serves as the Director of the St. Jude Comprehensive Cancer Center Pharmacokinetics Shared Resource and co-chairs the Pharmacology Committee of the National Institutes of Health-funded Pediatric Brain Tumor Consortium. His research focuses on utilizing preclinical models to improve clinical trial design for pediatric cancer treatments, optimizing drug exposure through pharmacokinetics, addressing key challenges in pediatric cancer therapeutics, and enhancing the understanding of central nervous system penetration of anticancer drugs. His contributions to the field are widely acknowledged, with numerous publications in peer-reviewed journals and book chapters.

Dr. Peter Storz, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor at the Mayo Clinic. He obtained his Ph.D. from the University of Stuttgart, Germany, and was a postdoctoral fellow and instructor at the Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center/Harvard Medical School in Boston, before he joined Mayo Clinic. Work in his laboratory focuses on inter- and intracellular signaling that leads to development and progression of pancreatic cancer. Specific interests are to understand the roles of acinar-to-ductal metaplasia and immune cell infiltration in these processes.

Dr. Stanley Stylli is a cancer research scientist at the Department of Neurosurgery, The Royal Melbourne Hospital and an Honorary Fellow of the Department of Surgery (RMH) at The University of Melbourne, Australia. He received his Master of Science and PhD degrees from the University of Melbourne. His research interests include glioma biology, invasion and identifying novel therapeutic targets for glioma. Currently he is investigating the influence of invadopodia in glioma invasion, the response of invadopodia to various therapeutic approaches and the role of tumour-derived exosomes (TEX) for invadopodia biogenesis in glioma.

Dr. Jie Wu is a Professor in the Department of Pathology and the Peggy and Charles Stephenson Endowed Chair in Cancer Translational Research at the University of Oklahoma Health Sciences Center. Recently, Dr. Wu discovered recurrent JAK1 truncating mutations in endometrial cancer and frequent JAK2 deletion in non-small cell lung cancer (NSCLC) involving tumor immune evasion, and as a potential mechanism of resistance to immune checkpoint therapy. Dr. Wu has authored 80 original research papers plus additional review articles and book chapters. He has served on National Institutes of Health (NIH), NCI, DOD, and Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) grant review panels.

Prof. Guoxiong Xu (MD, PhD) is a Scientist and Director of Center Laboratory in Jinshan Hospital, Fudan University, Shanghai, China. He obtained his PhD degree in Biology from York University in Canada. Dr. Xu is a molecular and cell biologist and has a proven track record on the molecular biology of cancer. He has presented his work in many national and international scientific conferences. His research works are supported by grants from the National Natural Science Foundation of China, Natural Science Foundation of Shanghai, Science and Technology Commission of Shanghai Municipality, and Shanghai Municipal Commission of Health and Family Planning.

Dr. Feng Yang is a Principal Investigator at the School of pharmacy, Guangxi Normal University. Feng Yang is also the Principal Investigator at State Key Laboratory for the Chemistry and Molecular Engineering of Medicinal Resources. Feng Yang has been interested in research on protein oriented anti-cancer drugs. Feng Yang is also an active reviewer of multiple grant agencies and peer-reviewed journals.

Dr. Paul Zarogoulidis is a pulmonary physician specializing in interventional pulmonology and lung cancer treatment. He is actively involved in several professional organizations, including CABIP, ERS, ATS, and EABIP. As a leader in his field, he serves as the president of The Society for Diagnosis and Lung Cancer Treatment and holds editorial roles in multiple scientific journals. His research focuses on the development of innovative inhalational drugs and delivery systems for respiratory diseases. He is currently practicing at Theageneio Anticancer Hospital in Greece, along with three private hospitals. His contributions to medical literature include extensive publications in peer-reviewed journals and book chapters, reflecting his commitment to advancing pulmonary medicine and oncology.

Dr. Kenneth S. Hettie is an NCI/NIH Ruth L. Kirschstein NRSA Fellow (PI/PD) in the Departments of Radiology and Otolaryngology-Head & Neck Surgery within the School of Medicine at Stanford University that specializes in the design, development, and implementation of near-infrared-I/II peptidyl-, nucleic acid-, and immuno-based activatable bio-/molecular probes, biosensors, theranostics, and nanoparticles targeting biomarkers of brain cancers and their tumor microenvironment for their early detection, direct visualization, and surgical removal via utilizing image-guided surgery. He focuses on their rational design, bio-/chemical synthesis, and bio-/analytical evaluation of novel diagnostics and therapeutics in basic science research, preclinical, and clinical setting.

Dr. Seema Nara is an Associate Professor in the Department of Biotechnology at MNNIT Allahabad, India. She completed her doctorate from the Indian Institute of Technology Delhi in the field of Immunodiagnostics. Her research is focused on developing diagnostic solutions for detecting pathogens, cancer biomarkers, and food/environment contaminants using antibodies and aptamers. Dr. Nara's group is also exploring the applications of nanostructures for diagnostics and therapeutics. She has successfully completed extramural projects in her area of expertise, and her research has been published in international journals of repute, as book chapters, and is reflected in filed patents.