Marek Malecki MD PhD is President of the Phoenix Foundation, San Francisco, CA, USA, Principal Investigator at the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA, and Visiting Professor at the University of Wisconsin. He earned the MD degree at the Medical Academy, Poznan followed by Residency/Fellowships in Molecular Medicine in Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Cancer Center, Vienna, and Cancer Center, Warsaw. He earned the PhD degree at the Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw followed by the postdoctoral fellowships in molecular biology at the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Salzburg, ETH, Zurich, Utrecht University, Utrecht, Cancer Center, Amsterdam, Biozentrum, Basel. Over the last 20 years, he held faculty positions in Oncology and Molecular Medicine at the leading teaching hospitals and medical universities in the USA including the UW, UCSD, and SDSU. There, he acquired solid experience in streamlining advances in genomics and proteomics into novel strategies of therapy, as well as in teaching medical students, residents, and fellows. During his career, he served as the president and CEO of the Phoenix Biomolecular and Foundation for Molecular Medicine. Since 1988 his research, as the Principal Investigator, was continuously funded by the grants from the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health. He is the first or senior author on the peer-reviewed publications in the high impact journals, which are indexed on the PubMed. He is the inventor of the gene therapies, therapeutic vaccines, and regeneration of tissues, which are published at the USPTO and WIPO. He was elected to serve as the Editor in Chief in peer-reviewed, open-access journals in Science, Technology, and Medicine, as well as Editorial Board Member and Reviewer at many others.

Vaccines for virus infected patients.

Dennis Christensen is a Head of Vaccine Delivery and Formulation Research Section at Statens Serum Institut. He is responsible for the vaccine formulation research. Designing novel vaccine delivery systems based on liposomes and research within mechanistic understanding of the vaccine delivery systems with relation to immunological efficacy.

• The use of liposomes and emulsions as delivery systems for immunostimulators and vaccine antigens. • Examination of how physicochemical properties of liposomes, emulsions and antigens as well as different delivery and delivery routing routes may affect the immunological result.

Dr. Frédéric Deschamps is a medical doctor since 1990 and he has completed his PhD of toxicology in 1993 at the University of Lille, France. He is the director of the Department of Occupational Health of the Medicine Faculty of Reims, France. He has published more than 40 papers in medical journals about occupational health and diseases.

Flu vaccines

Dr. Cyril Gerard Gay obtained a B.Sc. in Chemistry and a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine from Auburn University, and a Ph.D. in Microbiology from The George Washington University. Dr. Gay has worked in the animal health research field for the last 25 years holding several positions of increasing responsibility in the federal government and the pharmaceutical industry. As Chief, Biotechnology Section, Center for Veterinary Biologics (CVB), United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Dr. Gay developed the procedures for licensing molecular vaccines that led to the first license for a live recombinant vectored vaccine. In the pharmaceutical industry (SmithKline Beecham Animal Health and Pfizer Animal Health) Dr. Gay led several cross-functional teams that successfully developed and licensed veterinary vaccines for companion animals and livestock. As Director, Global Product Development, Pfizer Inc., Dr. Gay developed strategic and tactical plans that interfaced R&D, clinical development, manufacturing, marketing, and product life-cycle management. Dr. Gay joined Agricultural Research Service (ARS), USDA, in 2002. Dr. Gay currently holds the position of Senior National Program Leader and provides program direction and national coordination for the Department’s intramural animal health research program, with focus on eight research laboratories located in Ames, Iowa, East Lansing, Michigan, Clay Center, Nebraska, Athens, Georgia, Orient Point, New York, Beltsville, Maryland, Pullman, Washington, and Manhattan, Kansas. Dr. Gay was the 2010 recipient of the USDA Secretary’s Honors Award for interagency response to the pandemic H1N1 influenza outbreak, and the ARS Special Administrator’s Award for outstanding and rapid research support for pandemic H1N1.

H1N1 influenza

Giulio Tarro graduated from Medicine School, Naples University (1962). Research Associate, Division of Virology and Cancer Research, Children’s Hospital (1965-1968), Assistant Professor of Research Pediatrics, College Medicine (1968-1969), Cincinnati University, Ohio. Oncological Virology Professor, Naples University (1972-1985). Chief Division Virology (1973-2003), Head Department Diagnostic Laboratories, (2003-2006). D. Cotugno Hospital for Infectious Diseases, Naples; Emeritus, 2006 -. Since 2007 Chairman Committee of Biotechnologies and VirusSphere, World Academy Biomedical Technologies, UNESCO, Adjunct Professor Department Biology, Temple University, College of Science and Technology, Philadelphia, recipient of the Sbarro Health Research Organization lifetime achievement award (2010). His researches have been concerned with the characterization of specific virus-induced tumour antigens, which were the "finger-prints" left behind in human cancer. Achievements include patents in field; discovery of Respiratory Syncytial Virus in infant deaths in Naples and of tumor liberated protein as a tumor associated antigen, 55 kilodalton protein overexpressed in lung tumors and other epithelial adenocarcinomas.

Clinical and laboratory applied, Virology basic and diagnostic, Viral Oncology, Immunology clinical practice,Vaccines.

Dr. Masoud H Manjili is an Associate Professor of Immunology at the Department of Microbiology Immunology Virginia Commonwealth University School of Medicine and Member of Massey Cancer Center Richmond VA. He conducted his postdoctoral fellowship at Roswell Park Cancer Institute Buffalo NY 1999-2003. He has received a PhD in Immunology from The University of Sydney Australia 1993-1996. He has received a DVM from The University of Tehran Iran 1983-1990. He is serving as a Managing Editor of Frontiers in Bioscience.

Immunotherapy of tumor dormancy, Re-programming tumor-immune crosstalk to overcome tumor escape, Prognostic biomarkers for cancer, The adaptation model of immunity

Brian Abel received his Ph.D. in 2006 at the ETH, Zurich, and thereafter conducted a postdoctoral fellowship at SATVI, University of Cape Town, where he oversaw the immunological assessment of a novel TB vaccine in clinical trials and contributed to TB biomarker discovery. Brian completed an MBA at Tel Aviv University and ISB, Hyderabad, to facilitate a transition from academia into translational roles in biomedical science. Brian joined SIgN in 2012 to manage the Immunomonitoring Platform, conducting business development, project management and supporting finalization of agreements with industry partners, as well as acquiring regulatory approval for clinical research. He is also actively involved in Platform technology development in order to keep it up to date with the latest advances in the field of Immunomonitoring. In August 2016, Brian became the Head of the Immunogenomics Core to support and drive genomic activities for SIgN's researchers and facilitate collaborations with industry partners.

He is actively involved in Platform technology development in order to keep it up to date with the latest advances in the field of Immunomonitoring.

Pierre A. MORGON is Chief Executive Officer of MRGN Advisors, a consultancy dedicated to the healthcare sector, and Regional Partner for Switzerland at Mérieux Développement, an evergreen investment structure focused on medical devices, in vitro diagnostics and patient management services. He is also Chairman of the Board of Virometix (developing proprietary synthetic nanoparticle platform in vaccines and immunotherapeutic drugs for viral diseases and cancer), Non-Executive Director to the Board of Theradiag (focusing on in vitro diagnostics in auto-immunity, infectious diseases and allergy) and Non-Executive Director to the Board of Eurocine Vaccines (developing intra nasal vaccines). He holds a Doctorate of Pharmacy, a Master in Business Law and a MBA..

developing proprietary synthetic nanoparticle platform in vaccines and immunotherapeutic drugs for viral diseases and cancer. Focusing on in vitro diagnostics in auto-immunity, infectious diseases and allergy. Developing intra nasal vaccines.

Mark Tomai, PhD currently works in Business Development at 3M Drug Delivery Systems. He is responsible for licensing/development agreements involving its transdermal product offerings including 3M’s microneedle platform and also licensing its toll-like receptor (TLR) 7 and 8 agonists for a variety of uses. Dr. Tomai spent 16 years working in 3M Pharmaceuticals in Drug Discovery and Preclinical Development. He is an expert on TLR7 and TLR8 agonists and an author on over 80 publications and inventor on 12 issued patents in this area.

TLR7 and TLR8 agonists

Professor Barry Buckland has a PhD in Biochemical Engineering from University College London, obtained in 1974. He joined the Merck Research Laboratories (MRL) in 1980 and built a world class Bioprocess R&D group. He has been the leader of process development of all biologically made product candidates within the MRL pipeline and manufacture of Clinical Supplies during the past 20 years.Dr. Buckland has over 70 publications in Peer reviewed journals. Dr. Buckland holds PhD in Biochemical Engineering at University College London, in 1974. He has a B.Sc. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Manchester, UK.

Barry Buckland is an experienced International expert for the Development of Biologic products with a special focus on vaccines and Therapeutic proteins.

Dr. Gay obtained a B.Sc. in Chemistry and a Doctor of Veterinary Medicine from Auburn University, and a Ph.D. in Microbiology from The George Washington University. Dr. Gay has worked in the animal health research field for the last 25 years holding several positions of increasing responsibility in the federal government and the pharmaceutical industry. As Chief, Biotechnology Section, Center for Veterinary Biologics (CVB), United States Department of Agriculture (USDA), Dr. Gay developed the procedures for licensing molecular vaccines that led to the first license for a live recombinant vectored vaccine. In the pharmaceutical industry (SmithKline Beecham Animal Health and Pfizer Animal Health) Dr. Gay led several cross-functional teams that successfully developed and licensed veterinary vaccines for companion animals and livestock. As Director, Global Product Development, Pfizer Inc., Dr. Gay developed strategic and tactical plans that interfaced R&D, clinical development, manufacturing, marketing, and product life-cycle management. Dr. Gay joined Agricultural Research Service (ARS), USDA, in 2002. Dr. Gay currently holds the position of Senior National Program Leader and provides program direction and national coordination for the Department’s intramural animal health research program, with focus on eight research laboratories located in Ames, Iowa, East Lansing, Michigan, Clay Center, Nebraska, Athens, Georgia, Orient Point, New York, Beltsville, Maryland, Pullman, Washington, and Manhattan, Kansas. Dr. Gay was the 2010 recipient of the USDA Secretary’s Honors Award for interagency response to the pandemic H1N1 influenza outbreak, and the ARS Special Administrator’s Award for outstanding and rapid research support for pandemic H1N1.

H1N1 influenza

In 2001 Dr Rob Lambkin-Williams designed and implemented the first Human Viral Challenge Study to be conducted in Europe in the 21st century. He has designed and supervised in excess of 40 studies conducted at Retroscreen Virology since 2001, and has been the Principal Investigator on many. Rob joined Retroscreen Virology in 1995 as a Senior Scientist and is now the Chief Scientific Officer. Rob completed his PhD in Avian Influenza (Bird Flu) at the University of Warwick in 1993 - long before it became a popular news item. He often is the first media point-of-contact regarding Avian Influenza and other virus-related topics. Rob is an expert in respiratory viruses and HIV; he has co-authored many papers including a recent paper in the Nature Medicine journal, which has reset our understanding of the immune response to Influenza, and forms the basis of the RSV’s recent patent application for a universal Influenza vaccine. One of Rob’s key achievements was the establishment of the RSV Human Viral Challenge Model that led to the first proof of concept of a new type of therapeutic agent (known as a siRNA) against an infectious disease. He was the senior author on the paper that described the establishment of the model, which was published in the prestigious American Thoracic Society’s Blue Journal. Other notable achievements include the first study to demonstrate the efficacy of a novel DNA-based vaccine against Influenza, and also a series of studies that dissected the human body’s early response to infection and thus could help develop new highly sensitive diagnostic techniques or antiviral targets.

Antiviral and vaccine drug developmen

Giulio Tarro graduated from Medicine School, Naples University (1962). Research Associate, Division of Virology and Cancer Research, Children’s Hospital (1965-1968), Assistant Professor of Research Pediatrics, College Medicine (1968-1969), Cincinnati University, Ohio. Oncological Virology Professor, Naples University (1972-1985). Chief Division Virology (1973-2003), Head Department Diagnostic Laboratories, (2003-2006). D. Cotugno Hospital for Infectious Diseases, Naples; Emeritus, 2006 -. Since 2007 Chairman Committee of Biotechnologies and VirusSphere, World Academy Biomedical Technologies, UNESCO, Adjunct Professor Department Biology, Temple University, College of Science and Technology, Philadelphia, recipient of the Sbarro Health Research Organization lifetime achievement award (2010). President Foundation de Beaumont Bonelli for Cancer Research.

Clinical and laboratory applied, Virology basic and diagnostic, Viral Oncology, Immunology clinical practice,Vaccines.

Dr. Pascal Breton, Ph.D. serves as Chief Executive Officer of VitamFero S.A. and has been its President since January 2009. His Interest in various fields includes Biotechnology, R&D, Business Development, Drug Development, Pharma/Clinical Development, Drug Discovery and Formulation and Vaccines. Before founding and heading VitamFero, Dr. Pascal Breton worked as Global Key Account Manager Biotech at SGS Life Science Services (Belgium), Director Business Development at IDM Pharma (France and USA), Director R&D at Halisol (France) and Project Leader at UPSA (a French BMS subsidiary). Dr. Pascal Breton holds a Ph.D. from University of Orléans (France) in 1989

Biotechnology, R&D Business Development, Drug Development, Clinical Development, Drug Discovery, Vaccines.

Nathalie Garçon, PharmD, PhD is currently the chief executive (CEO) and scientific officer (CSO) of BIOASTER. She joined BIOASTER, the French technology research institute for infectiology and microbiology as chief scientific officer in July 2014.In this role, Dr Garcon directs the scientific aspect of the institute with the objective of accelerating the access to new technologies in infectious diseases that patient can benefit from. She was promoted to CEO in April 2015.Following the successfulcompletion of two PhDs, one in biological pharmacy and the other in immunotoxicology and immunopharmacology, Dr Garçon moved to the UK for 1 year as a postdoctoral research fellow at the Royal Free Hospital in London, undertakingresearch on liposomes in vaccines. She then moved to the USA where she spent 4 years at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, first as a postdoctoral research fellow, then as assistant professor, working on vaccine delivery systems and immunopotentiators. Dr Garçon joined SmithKline Beecham Biologicals now GlaxoSmithKline vaccines in 1990, where she set up and led the vaccine adjuvant and formulation group. She moved from this position, to head of technologies, head of research, vicepresident, head of global research and north America RD; and vice president, head of the global adjuvants and delivery systems centre for vaccines. In her last role within GSK vaccines before joining BIOASTER, Dr Garçon hold the position of vicepresident, head of adjuvants and technologies innovation centre, she provides leadership within GSK Biologicals in the fields of new vaccines technologies, from discovery to registration and commercialisation. Nathalie Garçon is Vice Presidentand Head of Global Adjuvant and technologies innovation centre at GSK vaccines Dr Garçon expertise in vaccinology extends from research to manufacturing, in particular immunology, adjuvant, formulation and innovation technologies, analyticalmethods, pre-clinical experimentation and toxicology/safety evaluation, regulatory and licensure and testing. Dr Garçon is the 2014 laureate of the Stanley Plotkin award for vaccines and vaccine technologies. She has authored over 60 papers andbook chapters, is the editor of several books, and sit at the scientific committee of several journals. She holds more than 100 patents.

vaccine adjuvant, Vaccine delivery systems and immunopotentiators.

Ger Rijkers (1952) is a medical immunologist and professor in Biomedical and Life Sciences at Utrecht University. He is the head of the Science Department of University College Roosevelt in Middelburg, The Netherlands. He also works as a senior scientist at the Laboratory of Medical Microbiology and Immunology of the St. Antonius Hospital in Nieuwegein. Ger Rijkers has a broad research interest with emphasis on mucosal immunology, immunoregulation (in autoimmune diseases, allergic diseases and infections), interaction between gut microbiota and the immune system, and, last but not least, vaccination. Rijkers has published over 300 papers in peer-reviewed scientific journals. He published (as editor in chief) the textbook “Immunologie” (ISBN978 90 313 4263 1). He is member of the Editorial Board of Beneficial Microbes and of Pneumonia.

Ger Rijkers has a wide research interest with emphasis on mucosal immunology, immunoregulation (in autoimmune diseases, allergic diseases and infections), interaction between gut microbiota and the immune system, and vaccination.

Geert Vanden Bossche obtained his DVM at the Veterinary Faculty of Ghent and his PhD in Virology at the University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart. Following his postdoctoral training in Virology, Immunology and Molecular Biology at the Free University of Berlin and the University of Hohenheim (Germany), where he subsequently held adjunct faculty appointments, he transitioned to the Vaccine Industry to serve various senior roles in both early and late vaccine development. He then joined the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation in Seattle to serve as Senior Program Officer in Vaccine Discovery for Global Health. Furthermore, Geert also founded UNIVAC, coordinated the Ebola Vaccine Program on behalf of GAVI and serves as a visiting scientist at the REGA Institute, University of Leuven (Belgium). Geert is board certified in Virology and Microbiology, the author of over 30 publications, and inventor on a patent application for universal vaccines. He has presented vaccine- and adjuvant-related topics at multiple international congresses.

Vaccine adjuvants, critical assessment of novel vaccine approaches or technologies, Vaccine development, immunopathogenesis of infectious and immune-mediated, noninfectious disease.

Eduard Karamov, PhD., DrSc, is involved in retrovirology research since 1985. The first Russian HIV strain was isolated in his laboratory. He supervised the development of first diagnostic tests for HIV, which were widely used in USSR and Russia, and antivirals used for AIDS treatment. He published over 100 articles in scientific journals and made over 100 presentations at international conferences and symposia. Professor Karamov authored four monographs and a textbook on virology. He was a supervisor in sixteen Ph.D. and Dr.Sci. fellowships. His lab served as a probation site for many scientists of the former USSR and Eastern Europe. He was a member of the Advisory Board of the Russian AIDS Vaccine Program. He is a member of the Vaccine Advisory Committee (VAC) of WHO and a UNAIDS scientific expert panellist. He is an academic editor of Medicine and a member of the Editorial Board of AIDS and Lancet HIV, as well as of several Russian peer-reviewed journals. He serves as a Chairman of the Biomedical Commission of the Committee for Science and Innovation of the State Duma of the Russian Federation. His honours and awards include: Award of the USSR Council of Ministers 1981, USSR Exhibition of Economic Achievements Medals (Silver 1986, Gold 1988), Science Award of the Government of the Russian Federation, 2008, Zhdanov Award of the Russian Academy of Medical Sciences, 2009, and Gold Cross of the Federal Medico-Biological Agency of Russia, 2012.

Antivirals, Vaccines, Molecular epidemiology of HIV, HIV prevention

Giulio Tarro graduated from Medicine School, Naples University (1962). Research Associate, Division of Virology and Cancer Research, Children’s Hospital (1965-1968), Assistant Professor of Research Pediatrics, College Medicine (1968-1969), Cincinnati University, Ohio. Oncological Virology Professor, Naples University (1972-1985). Chief Division Virology (1973-2003), Head Department Diagnostic Laboratories, (2003-2006). D. Cotugno Hospital for Infectious Diseases, Naples; Emeritus, 2006 -. Since 2007 Chairman Committee of Biotechnologies and VirusSphere, World Academy Biomedical Technologies, UNESCO, Adjunct Professor Department Biology, Temple University, College of Science and Technology, Philadelphia, recipient of the Sbarro Health Research Organization lifetime achievement award (2010). President Foundation de Beaumont Bonelli for Cancer Research.

Clinical and laboratory applied, Virology basic and diagnostic, Viral Oncology, Immunology clinical practice,Vaccines.

René Labatut is commited since 26 years to the biotech industry with deep experience in CMC management in biopharmaceutical industry from research & development to manufacturing in highly regulated environment (US, EU, Japan, China, ...). He has developed a worldwide international skill set in Innovation, technology transfer, licensing in and out, and acquisition - integration management. He is the Vice President of Manufacturing Technology of Sanofi Pasteur the vaccines division of Sanofi. He has delivered numerous speeches in reputed conferences and has been serving as a steering committee member of Center for Biomedical Innovation at MIT. He has brought significant contribution to several key healthcare product developments like Ceredase, Thymoglobulin, hexavalent pediatric, Flu and Dengue vaccines . René holds a PhD in biochemistry, Master in bioengineering from National Institute of Applied Sciences (Lyon, France) ; Master in molecular biology from Lyon I University ; and Master in business from Lyon III University

Vaccines

Akira Homma was born on August 12, 1939, in President Wenceslau, São Paulo, son of Harusi Homma Homma and Koyuki. The Adolfo Lutz Institute in São Paulo, came to the Pan American Center for Foot-in Duque de Caxias, Rio de Janeiro, in 1961. He graduated in Veterinary Medicine in 1967 from Universidade Federal Fluminense. Soon joined Fiocruz, to work on Polio Laboratory of the Department of Biological Sciences, School of Public Health Foundation, along with Hermann Schatzmayr. In 1972, he obtained the degree of Doctor of Science at Baylor College of Medicine in Houston, Texas, United States, with the thesis "Experimental studies of using coil filter for concentration of sewage virus." Akira Homma points out in his interview, that the thesis of Oswaldo Cruz was also on dissemination of infectious agents via water, and their study is about viruses and the Oswaldo Cruz on bacteria. Worked in the Laboratory Bayer in Germany in the production of vaccines against foot and mouth disease in the year 1974. Later, from 1990 to 1991, he coordinated the National Program for Self-Sufficiency in Immunobiology (Pasni), the Ministry of Health, and this year until 1997 coordinated the Special Program for Vaccines and Immunization PAHO. He was superintendent and director of the Institute of Technology in Immunobiology of Fiocruz (Bio-Manguinhos), 1976-1989, president (1989-1990) and Vice President of Fiocruz Technology (1997-2001). Responsible for structuring Bio-Manguinhos, articulated agreements with Japanese institutions aiming at the production of oral polio vaccine and other vaccines. Throughout its history the institution has exercised the activity of teaching and research, with numerous publications and participation in scientific events. In 2001 he was elected director of Bio-Manguinhos, a position in which it remains until today.

vaccines

Emmanuel Drouet, is professor of Virology at the University of Grenoble-Alpes (France), and previously served as a biomedical pathologist in the Institut Pasteur (Lyon, France). Dr Drouet’s research investigates the persisting viruses in human (RNA and DNA viruses) and the balance with our host immune system. He focuses on their effects on humans (both their impact in pathology and their symbiotic relationships in humans).. Emmanuel Drouet has an excellent track record in herpesvirus field, and his group is engaged in clinical research in the field of EBV diseases. Current research included the field of Hepatitis C Virus research, leading to elucidation of some aspects of its epidemiology and control.

Current research included the field of Hepatitis C Virus research.

Marc P Girard received his doctorate in veterinary medicine at Paris University in 1960, and his doctorate in Science in 1967, also in Paris. He trained for three years in the molecular biology of poliovirus as a Post-doctoral Fellow in the USA with Pr James Darnell, Renato Dulbecco and David Baltimore. He went on studying the molecular biology and genetics of poliovirus, then SV40 and adenovirus, before moving to HIV. He was a visiting professor at Albert Einstein College of Medicine (Pr Hurwitz), the NIH (Dr Anthony Fauci), the Salk Institute in La Jolla (Pr David Baltimore) and Duke University (Pr Bolognesi). He worked for the last 20 years of his career on the development of an HIV vaccine.
Pr Girard was the Director General of the Mérieux Foundation in Lyon from mid 2001 to end of 2004. He previously was the Director of the Center for Research in Immuno-Virology (CERVI) in Lyon, France, which includes the BSL4 Virology Laboratory that was operated jointly by the Mérieux Foundation and the Pasteur Institute, and the Federative Research Institute on Virology, Immunology and Pathology of Emerging Diseases (IFR 74), a research laboratory of the French National Health & Medical Research Institute (INSERM).
Among the positions held by Pr Girard prior to his appointment in Lyon were Head, Department of Virology, and Professor, Chief of the Laboratory of Molecular Virology, Institut Pasteur, Paris (1980-1999); Scientific Director (CSO), Pasteur Vaccins, a joint industrial subsidiary of the Pasteur and Mérieux Institutes (1984-1990); Vice-Director of the Pasteur Institute, Paris (1990-92), Professor of Virology and Molecular Biology at University Paris 7 Denis Diderot, Paris (1974-1984; on leave until 2001).
Pr Girard was the Chairman of the Concerted Action “Vaccines” at the French National AIDS Research Agency (ANRS) from 1988 to 1998. He then chaired the E.U. HIV Vaccine Initiative “EuroVac”, an international AIDS vaccine Research Consortium which grouped together 21 European laboratories participating in comparative Phase I clinical trials of candidate HIV vaccines in human volunteers.
Marc Girard went on official retirement on 31.12.2004 but he has remained active, teaching, giving talks and writing review articles on vaccines as an Honorary Professor at University Denis Diderot (Paris 7). He also is a member of the French National Academy of Medicine and of the French Veterinary Academy. He has been the organizer of the “Cent Gardes Conference” on HIV Vaccines since 1986.

Vaccine Research

Luigi Aurisicchio, PhD, received his Laurea in Biology in 1996 at the University of Napoli "Federico II". At the Stazione Zoologica A. Dohrn in Napoli characterized signal transduction mechanisms in thyroid cancer. In 1997, joined IRBM/MRL focusing on the development of gene therapy approaches for the cure of viral hepatitis. Subsequently contributed to the approval and development of Cancer Vaccine program, being Research Group Leader in the last 5 years. His research interests include the discovery, characterization and engineering of novel tumor associated antigens for cancer vaccines, but also intratumoral delivery of siRNAs, generation of novel monoclonal antibodies and development of Oncology pre-clinical models. Has published >60 papers in peer reviewed International Journals and is author of 8 patents.

His research interests include the discovery, characterization and engineering of novel tumor associated antigens for cancer vaccines, but also intratumoral delivery of siRNAs, generation of novel monoclonal antibodies and development of Oncology pre-clinical models.

Professor Timms is a nationally and internationally renowned microbiologist with specific expertise in the area of Chlamydia. His laboratory is acknowledged as the leading Australian laboratory and one of the leading groups internationally working on all aspects of chlamydial infections

His research group is developing vaccines and new diagnostics for chlamydial diseases in humans and animals as well as an improved understanding of chlamydial genomics, cell biology and pathogenicity.

Giampietro Corradin graduated in chemistry at the University of Padua and received his PhD degree in chemistry from the University of California, Santa Barbara, after completion of a thesis on the structure and function of cytochrome c. After a post-doctoral position in biochemistry at Dartmouth Medical School, Hanover, New Hampshire, he continued his training in molecular immunology at the National Jewish Hospital, Denver, Colorado. He joined the Institute of Biochemistry in 1979 where he was an Associate Professor. For the last 15 years the main focus of his laboratory has been the elucidation of the immunological mechanisms of protection in malaria using well-defined animal models. In addition, development of vaccine candidates has been actively pursued by introducing new and faster approaches for the identification, production and development of novel malaria vaccine candidates.

MALARIA: SEARCH OF ANTIGENS FOR THE DEVELOPMENT OF PROTECTIVE VACCINES

Graduated in Medicine and Surgery from Bangladesh in 1980 and received PhD in Medical Sciences from Japan in 1993. Being a post-graduate fellow from 1994-1996, worked as full faculty member at the Graduate School of Medicine, Ehime University, Japan, from 1996-2008. In 2008, joined Toshiba General Hospital, Tokyo, Japan as Principal Investigator. Worked to elucidate pathogenesis of chronic liver diseases and hepatocellular carcinoma; subsequently developed therapeutic vaccine for HBV transgenic mice and now have been conducting pilot studies and clinical trials in patients with CHB with Therapeutic Vaccines for last one decade to optimize a safe, effective and clinical viable regimen of this approach in CHB patients. Have authored more than one hundred scientific articles in peer-reviewed journal. Associated with all major international and local liver organizations.

Immunology, Immune therapy, Heptatitis, Gastroenetrology, Hepatology, Dendritic cells.

XL Lin serves as Director of Market Development for Esco Group. He founded and manages the Esco Pharma Division within the Esco group of companies in 2009 developing the companies’ very first cGMP Downflow/Containment Booths and Isolation systems from Concept Development to Sales, Project management, site-work and validation. Under his leadership Esco Pharma has expanded from just a small division to now having 3 factories globally in USA/ UK and Singapore. He brings his unique skillset in social entrepreneurship, market development, strategic product development, global alliance networking, sales/contract management, clean air/containment facility and systems design / integration into VacciXcell. XL Lin graduated with a Bachelor of Sciences from University of Sydney he is currently pursuing various options for further studies.

New products, New markets, New technology, Networking with new potential hires with industry experience

Dr. Srivastava joined Protein Sciences in 2012 as Vice President, Product Realization. He has a strong background in vaccine development, particularly in immunogen design, purification, analytical and formulation development, and has published extensively in these areas. Dr. Srivastava served on the NIH special emphasis study section focused on vaccine development for ten years, and in 2011 he co-edited the book, "Development of Vaccines: From Discovery to Clinical Testing." Previously, Dr. Srivastava spent more than twelve years at Chiron Corporation/Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics, Inc. in various capacities, including Head (AI), Protein Biochemistry; Head, Vaccine Manufacturing; and Head, Protein Expression and Analytics. He also spent about two years at the Vaccine Research Center, a division of the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases, where he led the purification, analytical and formulation development of vaccine candidates for clinical evaluation. Prior to joining the biotechnology industry, Dr. Srivastava was an Assistant Professor of Research in Microbiology and Immunology at the Medical College of Pennsylvania. He holds a Ph.D. from the Kanpur University, India and completed his post-doctoral training with Prof. Luc Perrin at the Hospital Cantonal, University of Geneva, Switzerland.

Vaccine development

Dr. De-chu Christopher Tang is the Founder of VaxDome LLC and Vaxin Inc. (Vaxin’s nameplate was changed to Altimmune, Inc. in 2015). He obtained his PhD in Microbiology from Indiana University in 1989. He carried out his postdoctoral work at Baylor College of Medicine, Duke University, and University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. He joined the faculty at University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) in 1994; subsequently founded Vaxin Inc. on UAB campus in 1997; and was responsible for Vaxin’s daily operation as the Chief Scientific Officer until 2012. Dr. Tang was one of the pioneers during the development of DNA vaccines, noninvasive skin-patch vaccines, adenovirus-vectored nasal vaccines, adenovirus-vectored poultry vaccines, as well as the protective innate-adaptive immunity duo platform technology. He received the Wallace H. Coulter Award for innovation and entrepreneurship in 2000; and Vaxin Inc. was selected as a Tech Museum Awards Laureate in 2007. Dr. Tang was selected as a Distinguished Overseas Scientist by the South Korea KOFST Brain Pool Program in 2012; subsequently joined Chung-Ang University and International Vaccine Institute (IVI) in Seoul; and was appointed as a Scientist at IVI after the Brain Pool Program Award expired in 2013. He founded VaxDome LLC in Birmingham, Alabama, USA in 2014.

His research focuses on development of the non-invasive drug-vaccine duo (DVD) platform technology that confers rapid-sustained-broad protection of vaccinees against pathogens, with neither the potential to induce drug resistance nor that to trigger harmful systemic inflammation.

Yuzhang Wu has completed his Ph.D for Immunology at the age of 29 years from Third Military Medical University School of Medicine. He is the director of the Institute of Immunology, PLA, the Chair of National Engineering Lab for Vaccine Development of China and National Center for Immunoproducts Research and Development of China. He has published more than 150 papers in reputed journals, applied for 75 international and national invention patents, among which 43 has been approved; and has gained 2 item of Computer software copyright. He is serving as chief-editor of Immunological Journal.

Immunology

A professor at Arizona State University, Arntzen is considered the godfather of a growing field of research sometimes called "pharming": engineering plants to produce specialized vaccines and other drugs. ZMapp, an injectable synthetic serum he helped devise using genetically engineered antibodies grown in tobacco plants, is currently the most promising drug treatment for people infected with Ebola. ZMapp still wasn’t approved for human use when it was given to two American health care workers who had been infected in Liberia last year, and Arntzen didn’t even find out about the real-life trial until after the fact. But by the time he got the news, the patients were showing rapid improvement, "which was very exciting," he says. Both recovered. Last fall, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services pledged up to $42 million in funding to speed the development of more serum. By February, there was enough supplies to begin clinical trials in Liberia and the U.S. Although the Ebola outbreak in West Africa has slowed, the threat of recurrence is real—and the risk of similar epidemics may be increasing. Pharming, which is now getting support from Big Pharma, could be the key to responding to future threats, providing a large supply of drugs or vaccines at epidemic speed.

Anti Ebola Vaccines, Vaccine Development, Vaccinology

Stephen Johnston is currently the co-director for the Center for Innovations in Medicine (CIM), a Professor in the School of Life Sciences, and Director of the Biological Design Graduate Program at The Biodesign Institute at Arizona State University. The CIM's and Dr. Johnston's current work focuses on innovative solutions to fundamental problems in biomedicine. The CIM is unique in that it has brought together a group of interdisciplinary scientists who first identify a problem, analyze the physical economy basis of the related issues and then come up with an inventive solution. Current major projects are 1) Cancer Eradication: The focus is on developing a universal, preventative cancer vaccine, 2) Health Futures: The aim is to produce a diagnostic system that allows continuous monitoring of the health status of healthy people - helping in the revolution to pre-symptomatic medicine. Dr. Johnston has experience in basic science, notably first cloning the Gal4 gene, showing that proteins have separable functional domains, and discovering the AAA proteins and their role in transcription. His focus now is in translational sciences and technology development. He was co-inventor/innovator of pathogen derived resistance, organelle transformation, the gene gun, genetic immunization, TEV protease system, expression library immunization, linear expression elements, synbodies and immunosignaturing. He is author of over 150 journal articles, has over 20 patents, and has garnered approximately $85M in grant support including large programs from DARPA, NIAID and NHLBI.

Drug targeting - vaccine technology - cancer treatment - presymptomatic diagnosis of cancers through identifying the biosignatures of disease

Pr. Frédéric Deschamps is a medical doctor since 1990 and he has completed his PhD of toxicology in 1993 at the University of Lille, France. He is the director of the Department of Occupational Health of the Medicine Faculty of Reims, France. He has published more than 40 papers in medical journals about occupational health and diseases.

Flu vaccines

Dr. Fouts joined Profectus in 2005 as one of the founders and the principle scientist. His responsibilities have been as a member of senior management to direct the team of scientists and technicians in the discovery and preclinical development of HIV vaccines, small molecule and antibody based antiviral therapies and microbicides that are within the Profectus research portfolio. He continues with that role as Senior Director of Virology. Dr. Fouts has 3 issued patents and numerous patent applications that form the vaccine and therapeutic technologies that are the intellectual property used to start Profectus BioSciences. Prior to joining Profectus, Dr. Fouts held a faculty position at the University of Maryland, Baltimore. Dr. Fouts has more than 32 scientific publications that have appeared in peer-reviewed journals and book chapters. Dr. Fouts received his Ph.D. in Immunology from the University of Maryland, Baltimore and did a postdoctoral fellowship at the Aaron Diamond AIDS Research Center (Director, Dr. David Ho) at Rockerfeller University in NYC.

HIV VACCINES

Dr. Zanetti is the Director of tumor immunology for the UCSD Center for Immunology, Infection and Inflammation. He directs the immunology course in the Biomedical Sciences graduate program.

principles of immunity for protection or discuss the state of the art of cancer vaccines.

Ravi Pottathil is President of Accudx Inc., a strategic technology and consulting company. Dr. Pottathil is an entrepreneur with a 40-year history spanning academia, industry, invention, and company creation. In 1996, Dr. Pottathil created Accudx as a diagnostic assay manufacturer. This company has progressed into consulting, technology and product development, and intellectual property services in biotech, medtech, and ecotech. His experience in academia and industry has covered various aspects of biochemistry, molecular biology, mammalian genetics, medical virology, tumor biology, and diagnostics, in both academic and industrial settings. As Chief Process Scientist at PetroAlgae, he was responsible for the development and scale up processes for growth, harvesting and processing of micro-algae. As a founding member and Director at Specialty Laboratories International, he successfully set up a large number of esoteric Clinical Reference Laboratories in Mexico, Singapore, Malaysia, and India. This involved extensive project planning, technical training and technology transfer. As a Vice President of Life Sciences at XLTech Group, he was co-founder of a number of publically listed companies including Tyratech [www.tyratech.com], Petro Algae, [www.parabel.com] and Initio Fuels [www.initiofuels.com]. As an academician, he has extensive teaching experience that includes original research and teaching at The Jackson Laboratories, The Duke University, University Of Maryland, The City of Hope Medical Center, The Rutgers University, Ambala College of Engineering, India, A&F University, Yangling, China and Florida International University. He has a number of issued patents. Current active projects of Dr. Pottathil include “target specific nano-ablation” of cancer highly sensitive nanotechnology based Point of Care Devises for the early detection of infectious diseases such as dengue, malaria, HIV and TB. He is also leading research and development activities related to non-toxic natural essential oil based insect control and chelated micronutrient based enhanced biomass and food production. Dr. Pottathil is a graduate of Tata Cancer Institute in Mumbai, India. He completed his post-doctoral fellowships at The Jackson Lab, Bar Harbor, ME and Duke University, NC. He worked as a Senior Manager at Hoffman La-Roche and was instrumental in their diagnostics program. He is currently a visiting professor at Florida International Univ. Miami.

nano delivery systems, aptamers and nano formulations.

Marek Malecki MD PhD is President of the Phoenix Foundation, San Francisco, CA, USA, Principal Investigator at the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA, and Visiting Professor at the University of Wisconsin. He earned the MD degree at the Medical Academy, Poznan followed by Residency/Fellowships in Molecular Medicine in Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Cancer Center, Vienna, and Cancer Center, Warsaw. He earned the PhD degree at the Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw followed by the postdoctoral fellowships in molecular biology at the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Salzburg, ETH, Zurich, Utrecht University, Utrecht, Cancer Center, Amsterdam, Biozentrum, Basel. Over the last 20 years, he held faculty positions in Oncology and Molecular Medicine at the leading teaching hospitals and medical universities in the USA including the UW, UCSD, and SDSU. There, he acquired solid experience in streamlining advances in genomics and proteomics into novel strategies of therapy, as well as in teaching medical students, residents, and fellows. During his career, he served as the president and CEO of the Phoenix Biomolecular and Foundation for Molecular Medicine. Since 1988 his research, as the Principal Investigator, was continuously funded by the grants from the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health. He is the first or senior author on the peer-reviewed publications in the high impact journals, which are indexed on the PubMed. He is the inventor of the gene therapies, therapeutic vaccines, and regeneration of tissues, which are published at the USPTO and WIPO. He was elected to serve as the Editor in Chief in peer-reviewed, open-access journals in Science, Technology, and Medicine, as well as Editorial Board Member and Reviewer at many others. Close OCM Member Michael Vajdy Co-founder Principal and Chief Scientific Officer Mucosal Immunologist and Vaccinologist EpitoGenesis, Inc. USA Biography Research Interest OCM Member William B. Smith, MD, FACC President of New Orleans Center Professor of Medicine University of Tennessee Medical Center USA Biography Research Interest OCM Member Gregory J. Tobin VP/R&D, Chief Scientific Officer Biological Mimetics, Inc. USA Biography Research Interest OCM Member Carmen Alvarez-Dominguez Director of Genomics, Proteomics and Vaccines Institute Marqués de Valdecilla (IDIVAL) Spain Biography Research Interest

Gene therapies, therapeutic vaccines, and regeneration of tissues

Dr. De-chu Christopher Tang is the Founder of VaxDome LLC and Vaxin Inc. (Vaxin’s nameplate was changed to Altimmune, Inc. in 2015). He obtained his PhD in Microbiology from Indiana University in 1989. He carried out his postdoctoral work at Baylor College of Medicine, Duke University, and University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center. He joined the faculty at University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB) in 1994; subsequently founded Vaxin Inc. on UAB campus in 1997; and was responsible for Vaxin’s daily operation as the Chief Scientific Officer until 2012. Dr. Tang was one of the pioneers during the development of DNA vaccines, noninvasive skin-patch vaccines, adenovirus-vectored nasal vaccines, adenovirus-vectored poultry vaccines, as well as the protective innate-adaptive immunity duo platform technology. He received the Wallace H. Coulter Award for innovation and entrepreneurship in 2000; and Vaxin Inc. was selected as a Tech Museum Awards Laureate in 2007. Dr. Tang was selected as a Distinguished Overseas Scientist by the South Korea KOFST Brain Pool Program in 2012; subsequently joined Chung-Ang University and International Vaccine Institute (IVI) in Seoul; and was appointed as a Scientist at IVI after the Brain Pool Program Award expired in 2013. He founded VaxDome LLC in Birmingham, Alabama, USA in 2014.

His research focuses on development of the non-invasive drug-vaccine duo (DVD) platform technology that confers rapid-sustained-broad protection of vaccinees against pathogens, with neither the potential to induce drug resistance nor that to trigger harmful systemic inflammation.

Chit Laa Poh completed her PhD at Monash University(Australia) in 1980 and conducted short periods of postdoctoral training from the Pasteur Institute, Cambridge University and the University College London. She is a Distinguished Professor and Head of the Centre for Biomedical Sciences at Sunway University. She has previously worked in the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine , National University of Singapore (NUS) for 25 years. She has published more than 85 papers in reputed journals and has been serving as an editorial board member of Journal of Biosceince and Bioengineering, Austin Journal of Tropical Medicine and Hygeine, Journal of Virology and Emerging Diseases. And Annals of Translational Medicine and Epidemiology.

Viral Vaccines

Guey Chuen Perng, nick name Oscar, earned his Ph.D. from the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at University of California, Davis, and got his postdoc training in Cedars-Sinai Medical Center (CSMC), an affiliated teaching hospital to University of California, Los Angeles. Oscar was an assistant professor at the Department of Ophthalmology at UC Irvine and served as Director of Arbovirology division at AFRIMS, an affiliated research institute to US Military in Bangkok, Thailand. In 2007, Oscar was recruited to the Department of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine as an Associate Professor at Emory University. In 2012, with his outstanding research and insightful knowledge on dengue and global vision on infectious diseases and prevention, Oscar was recruited to the Center of Infectious Disease and Signaling Research at National Cheng Kung University. Currently, Oscar is a faculty at Department of Microbiology and Immunology, College of Medicine, National Cheng Kung University, Tainan, Taiwan.

Vaccines

Refat Sadeq, Prof. and Head of Medical Microbiology and Immunology Department, Faculty of Medicine, Port Said University, Egypt. He has been on microbiology field over 40 years. He has started and graduated in Zagazig Faculty of Medicine for M.Sc. and Ph.D. Then started to research articles reaching more than 80 articles, many of which have been published in international scientific journals, and he has reviewed over 100 edits on different journal sites. He is a Featured Author, for books in Medical Microbiology and Immunology for both medical students and nurses. Work from 2008-2011 as Head of Microbiology Department, Faculty of Medicine- Zagazig University. Also work as member of Egyptian scientific committee for graduation of Professor and assistant Professor in Microbiology in Egypt and some Arabic countries. He signed as Board editor of EC Microbiology Journal and Journal of Human Virology and Retrovirology. Since Oct 2014 he pointed as a Head of Microbiology and Immunology department, Faculty of Medicine, Port said University.

Vaccines, Virology, Microbiology

Michael G. Hanna is the founder of Vaccinogen and the discoverer and developer of OncoVAX® an autologous vaccine designed to provoke a specific immune response against colon cancer cells. His previous accomplishments include Chairman (Emeritus) and Chief Scientific Officer of Intracel Resources, Chief Operating Officer of Organon Teknika/Biotechnology Research Institute and Sr. Vice President of Organon Teknika Corporation. Prior to that (1975-1982) Michael G. Hanna was Director of the National Cancer Institute, Frederick Cancer Research Center. OncoVAX® is an autologous vaccine designed to provoke a specific immune response against colon cancer cells. The product is comprised of irradiated tumor cells obtained from the patient after surgery and it is administered along with the BCG vaccine. Vaccinogen believes OncoVAX® is the first product to show a significant reduction in recurrence of disease in Stage II colon cancer patients in a major, long-term clinical trial. Except for surgery, there is no medically accepted treatment for Stage II colon cancer. Trials using adjuvant chemotherapy have not demonstrated any patient benefit to date. He led the team that achieved FDA regulatory approval of TICE BCG for treatment of carcinoma in situ (CIS) bladder cancer. Worldwide registration was achieved in 1991 and it is standard of care for prophylaxis of recurrence of superficial bladder cancer and therapy of CIS. He received a doctoral degree in experimental pathology and immunology from the University of Tennessee. He has over 225 publications to his credit, has 11 patents in immunotherapy and has been the recipient of numerous honors, and served on many editorial boardsBiography

Vaccines

Maurizio Chiriva Internati completed his doctorates of immunology at the University of Nottingham, United Kingdom and morphological sciences at the University of Milan, Italy. He completed his postdoctoral research on tumor immunology and cancer vaccine studies from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences. Currently, he is the director of Basic and Translational Research at the division on Hematology& Oncology at the Texas Tech University Health Sciences Center, School of Medicine, and is a senior editor for the journal, International Reviews of Immunology. He has published more than 100 papers in peer reviewed journals and serves as on the editorial board of several reputed cancer journals.

Research is focused on developing new therapies for Multiple Myeloma, ovarian and lung cancer, and prostate cancer and melanoma.

Dr. Tary-Lehmann received her M.D. and Ph.D. in Immunology, both from the University of Tübingen, Germany. Her postdoctoral training in Immunology was at the University of California, Los Angeles. Thereafter, she went on to Case Western Reserve University as a faculty member, where she was awarded tenure and appointed Associate Professor in the Department of Pathology in 2003. As Chief Scientific Officer for CTL, she provides guidance and oversight for technical operations, ensuring the ongoing scientific excellence of the company. For more than 10 years, she has worked with various pharmaceutical and biotechnology clients in developing, validating and performing regulated immunology assays in CTL’s GLP- and CLIA- compliant laboratory

vaccines

Jagat Kanwar is an Associate Professor of Immunology & Cell Biology, and Group Leader in “Nanomedicine-Laboratory of Immunology and Molecular Biomedical Research” at Deakin University, Australia. He did his PhD in 1993 from PGIMER, Chandigarh, India and worked as a Senior Scientist in The Auckland University, New Zealand for more than 10 years. He has a national and international reputation in investigating fundamental and applied molecular aspects of cancer and chronic inflammation. His research is also focused on miRNA, aptamer, locked nucleic acid (LNA) LNA-modified chimeric aptamers-siRNA conjugates, and immunoliposomes technology and disease targeted drug discovery. His research combines Immunology with state of the art and cutting edge techniques in Molecular Biology, Biochemistry, Nanobiotechnology and visualization to investigate the pathways in which key molecules are regulated in both normal and disease states. He designed nanocarriers for applications in vaccines, immunotherapy, and drug delivery of antigens immunostimulatory ligands to dendritic cells and subsequent stimuli to T- lymphocytes, B-lymphocytes and TH17 cells.

Cancer and chronic inflammatory diseases targeted nanomedicine based drug delivery siRNA, miRNA anti-sense targeted gene nanomedicine based technology to target cancer and inflammation Drug discovery with anticancer targets for cancer cell survival, death, arrest, and repair Development of recombinant proteins and searching new immunomodulatory and anti-inflammatory bioactives, proteins and peptides for cancer and neuroprotection Development of complementary alternative medicine from the milk derived proteins including metal binding protein (Lactoferrin), and herbal preparation derived active components with a special focus on the treatment of colon and breast cancers Development of oral and intravenous administration of nanocarriers to overcome the challenging concept of drug resistance in various cancers Development of new generation safe, biodegradable, less toxic, disease targeted natural contrast materials for imaging Novel nano-medicinal based vaccines and immunotherapy Micro-fluidics and Lab-on-a-Chip devices for delivery and diagnosis

Geert Vanden Bossche obtained his DVM at the Veterinary Faculty of Ghent and his PhD in Virology at the University of Hohenheim, Stuttgart. Following his postdoctoral training in virology, immunology and molecular biology at the Free University of Berlin and Hohenheim (Germany), where he subsequently held adjunct faculty appointments, he transitioned to the Vaccine Industry where he served various senior roles in both early and late vaccine development at GlaxoSmithKline Biologicals, Novartis Vaccines & Diagnostics and Solvay Biologicals. He then joined the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation to serve as SPO in Vaccine Discovery for Global Health. He is founder of UNIVAC llc in the US and UNIVAC NV in Belgium and visiting scientist at the REGA Institute, University of Leuven (Belgium).
Geert is board certified in virology and microbiology, the author of over 30 publications, and inventor on several patent applications. He has presented vaccine- and adjuvant-related topics at multiple international congresses.

Vaccines

Michael G. Hanna is the founder of Vaccinogen and the discoverer and developer of OncoVAX® an autologous vaccine designed to provoke a specific immune response against colon cancer cells. His previous accomplishments include Chairman (Emeritus) and Chief Scientific Officer of Intracel Resources, Chief Operating Officer of Organon Teknika/Biotechnology Research Institute and Sr. Vice President of Organon Teknika Corporation. Prior to that (1975-1982) Michael G. Hanna was Director of the National Cancer Institute, Frederick Cancer Research Center. OncoVAX® is an autologous vaccine designed to provoke a specific immune response against colon cancer cells. The product is comprised of irradiated tumor cells obtained from the patient after surgery and it is administered along with the BCG vaccine. Vaccinogen believes OncoVAX® is the first product to show a significant reduction in recurrence of disease in Stage II colon cancer patients in a major, long-term clinical trial. Except for surgery, there is no medically accepted treatment for Stage II colon cancer. Trials using adjuvant chemotherapy have not demonstrated any patient benefit to date. He led the team that achieved FDA regulatory approval of TICE BCG for treatment of carcinoma in situ (CIS) bladder cancer. Worldwide registration was achieved in 1991 and it is standard of care for prophylaxis of recurrence of superficial bladder cancer and therapy of CIS. He received a doctoral degree in experimental pathology and immunology from the University of Tennessee. He has over 225 publications to his credit, has 11 patents in immunotherapy and has been the recipient of numerous honors, and served on many editorial boards Biography

Dr Shirwan is Dr Michael and Joan Hamilton Endowed Chair in Autoimmune Disease Professor of Microbiology and Immunology and the Director of the Molecular Immunomodulation Program at the Institute for Cellular Therapeutics. He conducted his graduate studies at the University of California in Santa Barbara CA and postdoctoral studies at California Institute of Technology in Pasadena CA. He joined the University of Louisville in 1998 after holding academic appointments at various institutions in the United States. Dr Shirwans research focuses on the modulation of immune system for the treatment of immunebased diseases with particular focus on type 1 diabetes transplantation and development of vaccines against infections and cancer. Dr Shirwan is widely published lectured at various national/international conferences served on various federal and nonprofit funding agencies and is on the Editorial Board of nine scientific journals He is a member of several national and international societies and recipient of various awards.

Transplantation Tolerance, Transplantation Immunology, Type 1 diabetes, Prophylactic Vaccines, Therapeutic Vaccines, Cancer ImmunologyResearch Interest

Marek Malecki MD PhD is President of the Phoenix Foundation, San Francisco, CA, USA, Principal Investigator at the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda, MD, USA, and Visiting Professor at the University of Wisconsin. He earned the MD degree at the Medical Academy, Poznan followed by Residency/Fellowships in Molecular Medicine in Rigshospitalet, Copenhagen, Cancer Center, Vienna, and Cancer Center, Warsaw. He earned the PhD degree at the Polish Academy of Sciences, Warsaw followed by the postdoctoral fellowships in molecular biology at the Austrian Academy of Sciences, Salzburg, ETH, Zurich, Utrecht University, Utrecht, Cancer Center, Amsterdam, Biozentrum, Basel. Over the last 20 years, he held faculty positions in Oncology and Molecular Medicine at the leading teaching hospitals and medical universities in the USA including the UW, UCSD, and SDSU. There, he acquired solid experience in streamlining advances in genomics and proteomics into novel strategies of therapy, as well as in teaching medical students, residents, and fellows. During his career, he served as the president and CEO of the Phoenix Biomolecular and Foundation for Molecular Medicine. Since 1988 his research, as the Principal Investigator, was continuously funded by the grants from the National Science Foundation and the National Institutes of Health. He is the first or senior author on the peer-reviewed publications in the high impact journals, which are indexed on the PubMed. He is the inventor of the gene therapies, therapeutic vaccines, and regeneration of tissues, which are published at the USPTO and WIPO. He was elected to serve as the Editor in Chief in peer-reviewed, open-access journals in Science, Technology, and Medicine, as well as Editorial Board Member and Reviewer at many others.

gene therapies, therapeutic vaccines, and regeneration of tissues

Dr. Michael Vajdy is Co-founder, President and Chief Scientific Officer of EpitoGenesis, Inc., established in 2008. Dr. Vajdy is a Mucosal Immunologist and Vaccinologist with over 24 years of academic and industry experience in designing mucosal and systemic adjuvants and vaccines, studying mechanisms of mucosal and systemic immune induction, long-term immunological memory, and product development. Following his Ph.D. Studentship at Goteborg University. postdoctoral fellowships at Loyola University Chicago later recruited to Chiron Corporation (later Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics, Inc.) where his work was instrumental in the development of mucosal and systemic vaccine products against various infectious diseases. He remained there for 9.5 years with increasing responsibilities including project leadership for a vaccine manufacturing platform technology. He also held simultaneous academic positions as Adjunct Clinical Assistant Professor with the Department of Internal Medicine, Division of Infectious Diseases and Visiting Associate Professor at Department of Medical Microbiology and Immunology, University of California, Davis. He was also a Faculty member with the graduate group, Department of Comparative Pathology, University of California, Davis. In these capacities, he trained student/fellows and wrote collaborative NIH grants. Dr. Vajdy has authored over 55peer reviewed manuscripts and book chapters; he is the editor of a book entitled “Immunity against Mucosal Pathogens” (Springer, 2008) and has been PI or Investigator on several NIH grants. He is currently an Adjunct Full professor at the Department of Pathobiology, University of Connecticut.

Mucosal Immunologist and Vaccinologist Mucosal Immunologist and Vaccinologist Novartis Vaccines and Diagnostics mucosal HIV vaccine development

William B. Smith, MD, FACC, is currently a Professor of Medicine at the University of Tennessee Medical Center in Knoxville, Tennessee. He is board certified in Nephrology, Internal Medicine, Cardiology and Critical Care Medicine. Dr Smith is the President of New Orleans Center for Clinical Research and Volunteer Research Group located within the University of Tennessee Medical Center. Dr Smith has been involved as a Principal Investigator in over 1800 clinical research studies to include first-in-man, cardiac disease, renal/hepatic disease, healthy volunteers, diabetes, numerous vaccines, women’s health, HSDD, obesity, Parkinsons, Alzheimers, Multiple Sclerosis, and smoking cessation.

Vaccines, cardiac disease, renal/hepatic disease, healthy volunteers, diabetes, numerous vaccines, women’s health, HSDD, obesity, Parkinsons, Alzheimers, Multiple Sclerosis, and smoking cessation.

Dr. Tobin has led research and technical programs at BMI since 1999. Dr. Tobin has significant experience in project direction and management; design, planning, and execution of research projects; personnel management; coordination of multi-site studies and development of research facilities. Dr. Tobin fosters a highly interactive research and development group to apply the Company’s proprietary technology, Immune Refocusing Technology, to the design of antigens that induce broader protection against heterologous challenge. Dr. Tobin continues to maintain research projects and interests in the development of broadened vaccines against HIV-1, influenza virus, rhinovirus, malaria, dengue virus, and non-typeable hemophilus influenza. Prior to joining BMI, Dr. Tobin was a Senior Scientist and Group Leader (Gene Expression Regulation Group) for SAIC-Frederick at the National Cancer Institute. While at the NCI, Dr. Tobin led projects related to development of virus-like particle (VLP) based vaccines for HIV-1, optimization of recombinant protein expression, development of animal models for AIDS and cancer, and investigations into the pathobiology and molecular mechanisms of bovine immunodeficiency virus (BIV) and visna virus

development of broadened vaccines against HIV-1, influenza virus, rhinovirus, malaria, dengue virus, and non-typeable hemophilus influenza

Carmen Alvarez-Dominguez has completed her Ph.D at the age of 29 years from Universidad Autonoma de Madrid and postdoctoral studies from Washington University School of Medicine on Small GTPases role in Listeria monocytogenes phagocytosis. She is the director of the Group on Genomics, Proteomics and Vaccines at the Research Institute Marqués de Valdecilla (IDIVAL) in Santander, Spain. She has published more than 29 papers in reputed journals and serving as an editorial board member of Microbes and Infection and OMICS. She also is coauthor of the patent: Immunogenic peptides against Listeria and Mycobacterium, antibodies and their uses with reference PCT/ES2007/070144.

Prof Istvan Toth PhD, DSc ARC Australia Professorial Fellow is a chemical engineer and an internationally recognized expert in drug delivery. His major research interests are immunoadjuvants, carbohydrates, lipids, peptides, nucleosides and nucleotides. At the School of Pharmacy, University of London and at the University of Queensland prof Toth built up a strong, very productive research group where the research orientation well suited the direction of modern multidisciplinary pharmaceutical sciences. All his former PhD students have excellent reputable jobs both at Academia and at Pharmaceutical Industry. He has refereeing duties for many international scientific journals and for scientific granting bodies. He has also demonstrated track record in research commercialization he is a one of key founders of Alchemia (ASX listed), Implicit Bioscience Pty Ltd, Neurotide Pty Ltd and TetraQ. Prof Toth is also a Scientific Advisory Board Member of Implicit Bioscience Pty Ltd. Brisbane, Australia and Proxima Concept Ltd, London, UK. He has obtained a Business/Higher Education Round Table (BHERT) Award: Outstanding Achievement in International Collaborative R&D. Toth has more than 300 peer-reviewed publications and 43 patents. He is the Editor in Chief of Current Drug Delivery; Drug Delivery Letters, Associate Editor of Medicinal Chemistry; Board Member of Mini Reviews in Medicinal Chemistry, Open Drug Delivery, Open Medicinal Chemistry and Current Patents in Drug Delivery; Prof Toth has been appointed as a member of the ARC College of Experts (2008-2010) and has been the funding President of the Australian Chapter of Controlled Release Society. He is a Fellow of the Royal Australian Chemical Institute (FRACI) and the Queensland Academy of Science and Art (FQA).

expert in drug delivery major research interests are immunoadjuvants, carbohydrates, lipids, peptides, nucleosides and nucleotides

C. Yong Kang has a Ph.D. from McMaster University in Canada, and post-doctoral training from the University of Wisconsin-Madison. He previously served as a Professor in the Department of Microbiology at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical School, Professor and Chairman of Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Ottawa Faculty of Medicine, and Dean of Science at the University of Western Ontario. Dr. Kang has published 137 peer reviewed research papers and 151 scientific proceedings and abstracts. He holds nine international biotechnology patents. He received numerous prizes and awards including the Ho-Am Prize in Medicine and was elected as a Life-time Fellow of the Royal Society of Canada Academy of Science and an elected Life-time Member of the Korean Academy of Science and Technology. He serves as a reviewer for seven international journals in virology and in medicine.

His research in molecular virology includes the development of viral-specific antiviral therapeutic agents and efficacious vaccines against various human viral diseases including AIDS, hepatitis and hemorrhagic fever with renal syndrome. Previously, he developed a second generation vaccine against hepatitis B virus and an experimental vaccine against HIV/AIDS by using state-of-the-art technologies of genetic engineering and biotechnology. prophylactic HIV vaccine, HIV-1, virology, Immunology, molecular biology, and medicine