Technological Advances and Innovations in the Treatment of Chronic Respiratory Disorders

Gabriele holds a Bachelor's Degree in Biotechnology (""La Sapienza"" University of Rome, Italy) and a Master's degree in Genetic Sciences and Technologies (University of Sannio, Benevento, Italy). He has just completed a PhD in Pharmacy (thesis under examination) at the Discipline of Pharmacy, Graduate School of Health, UTS, with a thesis on the development of advanced drug delivery systems for respiratory diseases. Gabriele has extensive experience as an industry-based researcher, particularly in the setup and evaluation of animal (mouse and rat) models of cancer and inflammatory diseases and in the preclinical in vivo testing of the safety, efficacy and pharmacokinetic properties of novel anti-cancer and anti-inflammatory drugs. Gabriele's current expertise and research interest cover the in vitro advanced drug delivery of phytoceuticals and nucleic acid-based therapeutics (decoy oligodeoxynucleotides, miRNAs) for the treatment of respiratory inflammatory diseases and lung cancer. Dr Ronan MacLoughlin is Director R&D, Science & Emerging Technologies, at Aerogen, an Irish medical device company specialising in Respiratory Drug Delivery. He is a former head of Medical Affairs, with responsibility for >45 investigator-initiated trials. With more than 20 years’ experience in the design and development of drug delivery systems and drug device combinations, he has >220 collaborative publications, as well as 12 granted patents. His most recent focus has been on enabling several clinical programs making use of aerosolised prophylactics and therapeutics for COVID-19, and his work on delivery of inhaled vaccines has resulted in the world’s first approval for an orally inhaled vaccine for COVID-19 (Convidecia Air). His contribution to the state of the art in fugitive medical and patient-derived aerosols was central to the evolution of several critical care consensus statements around the safe use of aerosol therapy during the COVID-19 pandemic. Prof. Santos (D.Sc. Tech., Chem. Eng.) is a Full Professor in Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Groningen. He is also Research Director at the University of Helsinki, Faculty of Pharmacy. Prof. Santos is also the co-founder of the startups Capsamedix Oy and Medixmicro Oy, and Coordinator of MSCA-ITN P4 FIT network in tendon repair (~4.1 m€). He holds Visiting Professorships at the Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine and University of Tartu. Prof. Santos research interests include the development of nanoparticles/nanomedicines and biomaterials for biomedical applications, particularly cancer and heart diseases. His lab makes the unique bridge between medical engineering, pharmaceutical nanotechnology and tissue engineering by combining unique techniques to develop novel therapeutic formulations for translation into the clinic. He is also in Editorial board member of several international journals, and Associate Editor of Nano Select, Smart Materials in Medicine, and Drug Delivery and Translational Research, among others. Prof. Santos has received prestigious awards/grants, for example, the ""Talent Prize in Science"" in 2010 attributed by the Portuguese Government, ERC Starting Grant in 2013 and ERC Proof-of-Concept Grant in 2018, Young Researcher Award in 2013 attributed by Faculty of Pharmacy, the Academy of Finland Award for Social Impact in 2016, and the CRS Young Investigator Award 2021. Dr. Saritha Shetty Associate Professor, Pharmaceutics Shobhaben Pratapbhai Patel School of Pharmacy & Technology Management SVKM’s NMIMS, V.L.Mehta Vile Parle (west), Mumbai, has a research experience of over 16 years working in the area of drug delivery and analytical method development. Before joining academics, she served as Scientist at Syngene International. Pvt. Ltd. (A Biocon Group), Bangalore, India. During this tenure, she has completed projects of major client like Baxter ACC – (Baxter Anesthesia Critical Care, USA) for analytical method development and validation using HPLC and GC. Dr. Shetty has her research interest in areas of developing drug delivery systems for infectious diseases. She has developed novel and effective formulations for topical and transdermal systems, mucoadhesive systems for respiratory and oral delivery. Edit Dr. Divya Suares Assistant Professor, Pharmaceutics Shobhaben Pratapbhai Patel School of Pharmacy & Technology Management, SVKM's NMIMS, V.L. Mehta Road has a search experience of over 14 years in the area of drug delivery. Dr. Divya completed her Bachelor’s Degree in Pharmacy and Master’s Degree in Pharmaceutics from Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences, India. She completed her Doctor of Philosophy in Pharmaceutical Sciences from NMIMS deemed-to-be University, wherein her research project involved development and evaluation of lipid based formulation of Rosuvastatin. Dr. Divya’s research interest encompass the development of drug delivery systems via the oral, topical, intranasal route for the management of various disorders, development of effective formulations for wound healing and pediatric-friendly drug delivery systems. Edit Dr. Kamal Dua is a Senior Lecturer in the Discipline of Pharmacy at the Graduate School of Health, University of Technology Sydney (UTS), Australia. He has research experience of over many years in the field of drug delivery systems targeting inflammatory diseases. Dr. Dua researches in two complementary areas; drug delivery and immunology, specifically addressing how these disciplines can advance one another, helping the community to live longer and healthier. This is evidenced by his extensive publication record in reputed journals. Dr. Dua’s research interests focus on harnessing the pharmaceutical potential of modulating critical regulators such as Interleukins and microRNAs and developing new and effective drug delivery formulations for the management of chronic airway diseases. He has published more than 80 research articles in peer-reviewed international journals and authored or co-authored four books. He is an active member of many national and international professional societies.