Andrew Bubak received his PhD in Neuroscience from the University of Colorado-School of Medicine in 2017, followed by a post-doctoral fellowship in neurovirology. Dr. Bubak became an Assistant Professor in 2021 in the Department of Neurology at the University of Colorado-Anschutz Medical Campus where he continues to research the role of varicella zoster virus (VZV) in neurological and neurodegenerative diseases. He was the first to describe how VZV utilizes extracellular vesicles to aid in viral spread and provide a novel mechanism in which VZV can contribute to stroke.

Arianne Theiss is currently an Associate Professor of Medicine at the University of Colorado in the Division of Gastroenterology. She received her PhD in Cell and Molecular Physiology from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill followed by post-doctoral training in Digestive Diseases at Emory University. Her research program has focused on elucidating the role and mechanism whereby mitochondrial signaling pathways in intestinal epithelial cells contribute to inflammatory bowel diseases (IBD), colitis-associated cancer, and colorectal tumorigenesis. This includes mitochondrial influence on intestinal epithelial cell responses during homeostasis or under stress such as during inflammation or obesity. Our current focus is based on the observation that patients with obesity exhibit abnormalities in intestinal epithelial cells, including enhanced stemness and increased risk of developing colorectal cancer. We have demonstrated that the contents of obese adipose tissue extracellular vesicles (EVs) are poised to alter recipient cell metabolism to promote obesity-induced stemness in the non-transformed colonic epithelium and tumor progression in colorectal cancer cells. We are currently interested in elucidating the role of obese adipose tissue EVs in intestinal barrier function and colitis.

After earning her degree in environmental toxicology in Paris, France, Dr. Ledreux moved to the United States after receiving a fellowship to serve as a postdoctoral visiting scientist at the National Center for Coastal Ocean Science, part of the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration.

In 2014, she joined the Department of Neurosciences at the Medical University of South Carolina as a postdoctoral researcher in Dr. Lotta Granholm’s lab, shifting her focus to the neurobiology of aging.

Two years later, she became a Research Assistant Professor at the Knoebel Institute for Healthy Aging at the University of Denver. In October 2021, she joined the University of Colorado Anschutz Medical Campus, where she is now an Associate Professor. Her research centers on healthy brain aging, neurodegenerative diseases, blood-based biomarkers, and extracellular vesicles.

Dr. Coughlan is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Neurology at the CU Anschutz Medical campus. She is Director of the Human Biorepository Core for the CU Alzheimer’s and Cognition Center (CUACC), and Co-Founder and Co-Director of the Exosome (EV) Core with Dr. Graner (CUACC). Her focus for the past many years has been assessing alterations in plasma Biomarkers and EVs during the development of diseases that include Alzheimer’s disease (AD), diabetes, concussion, viral infections, Down syndrome and cancer and monitoring responses to therapeutic interventions used in AD (i.e., GMCSF in Phase II trials through our lab). In addition to her Biomarker research Dr. Coughlan’s research has resulted in publications focused on topics that pertain to screening libraries of drugs for new interventions in AD, understanding the molecular mechanisms involved in the initiation and propagation of AD, cellular quality control processes involved in protein mis-folding, the role of Amyloid Precursor Protein (APP) and its fragments in disease and normal physiology, chemokines and their roles in viral infections and neuronal migration, and the role(s) of glycosylation in memory formation. Dr. Coughlan enjoys bringing this basic science thinking as well as training at the undergraduate level in Biochemistry, Pharmacology and Toxicology and at a Graduate level in Pharmacology and Clinical Translational Sciences to research questions for both her own work, and those of collaborators across campus and universities.

Christine Childs, MT(ASCP) is the Manager of the Flow Cytometry Shared Resource at the University of Colorado Cancer Center. She fell in love with Cytometry 28 years ago and has never looked back. She has assisted various biotech companies in developing and testing instrumentation and software, including Beckman Coulter and Agilent. With a BS in Microbiology, small particle cytometry has always fascinated her, and she began in 2005 looking at yeast, nuclei, and platelets before venturing into the world of bacteria, microparticles, and extracellular vesicles. When not at work, she loves spending time with her family and their small herd of Chihuahuas.

Daniel T. Chiu is currently the A. Bruce Montgomery Professor Chemistry, Endowed Professor of Analytical Chemistry, and Professor of Bioengineering at the University of Washington. He is a member of the University of Washington’s Center for Nanotechnology, Neurobiology and Behavior Program, and the Cancer Consortium of the Fred Hutchinson Cancer Research Center. He has authored more than 180 publications and is the inventor on over 40 issued patents. Dr. Chiu obtained a B.A. in neurobiology and a B.S. in chemistry at the University of California, Berkeley in 1993, and a Ph.D. in chemistry from Stanford University in 1998.

Dr. Simberg earned his Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Israel. His thesis research focused on the biochemical and biophysical mechanisms of lipofection using cationic lipids. He then conducted postdoctoral research on iron oxide nanoparticles at the Burnham Institute in La Jolla, California. In 2013, Dr. Simberg joined the faculty of the Skaggs School of Pharmacy at the University of Colorado, where he is currently a tenured Professor of Nanomedicine and Nanosafety. Dr. Simberg has authored or co-authored over 100 research papers, reviews, perspectives, and book chapters, and has secured funding exceeding $15 million. His research interests include developing nanoparticles and cells for drug delivery and imaging, understanding immune recognition mechanisms of nanomedicines, and exploring how drug nanocarriers accumulate in tumors and healthy tissues.

Evan Darling is an imaging scientist that has spent the past decade focused on Super-Resolution imaging. From sample preparation to image analysis, and all microscopy imaging techniques in between, Evan can help bring EV imaging to your lab.

Dr. Guankui Wang is the Director of Boston Research and Application Center at Exodus Bio, leading efforts to expand the company’s technology and business partnerships in the biotech hub. He earned a doctorate in Animal Physiology from the University of Idaho in 2012, where he received interdisciplinary training under the Biological Applications of Nanotechnology (BANTech) Presidential Initiative. With over 15 years of expertise in nanomedicine research and development, Dr. Wang has driven innovations in drug delivery and preclinical development across various modalities, including small molecules for chemotherapy and nucleic acids for gene therapy. His career spans both academia and industry, with key roles at SalioGen Therapeutics, Hopewell Therapeutics, and Skaggs School of Pharmacy at University of Colorado, where he optimized nanoparticle formulations, refined process development, investigated nanoparticle interactions with biological systems, and assessed drug efficacy in vitro and in vivo. Dr. Wang has authored over 50 publications and actively contributes to peer review panels and editorial boards.

Dr. Granholm-Bentley received her PhD/DDS in 1985 from the Karolinska Institutet in Stockholm, Sweden. Her work has resulted in more than 180 peer-reviewed publications, and she has been cited close to 16,000 times, with an h-index of 66. Dr. Granholm’s work has focused on age-related neurodegenerative diseases as well as healthy aging, using animal models and human tissues. Leadership roles include Director for the Center on Aging at Medical University of South Carolina and inaugural Executive Director for the Knoebel Institute for Healthy Aging at University of Denver.

Michael Graner received his PhD in Biochemistry from the University of Illinois followed by post-doctoral and research faculty work at the University of Arizona, shifting gears from the Drosophila extracellular matrix to cancer immunotherapy. He then took at faculty position at Duke University’s Tisch Brain Tumor Center, followed by his current position as Professor in Neurosurgery at the University of Colorado Denver (Anschutz Medical Campus). He is also a member of the University of Colorado Cancer Center, the Colorado Clinical and Translational Sciences Institute, the MAVRC Program, and holds a Visiting Professorship Appointment at the Shenzhen Third People’s Hospital (China) and an adjunct faculty appointment at Colorado State University. Graner has a long-standing interest in cell stress responses, which led to cancer vaccine development (including one in clinical trials), which somehow led to the world of extracellular vesicles (EVs). His lab currently concentrates on signaling mechanisms involving EVs, in particular the transfer of stressed phenotypes from stressed tumor cells to unstressed ones via EVs.

I am currently a Professor & Executive Vice Chair for Research and the Director of the Nebraska Center for Substance Abuse research at the University of Nebraska. I received my PhD in 1982 in Microbiology from Maharaja Sayajirao Univ in Baroda, India and moved to Canada for postdoctoral training. I began my independent research career as an Assistant Professor at the Hospital for Sick Kids, Toronto, following which, I moved to Kansas University and embarked on a research area focused on understanding how addictive drugs co-operate with HIV-1 to exacerbate neurological complications. I rose through the ranks at Kansas and in 2007, made a move as a full Professor to University of Nebraska in Omaha. Research approaches used in my lab involve a multi-pronged approach comprising of a variety of complementary model systems ranging from cell cultures to rodent models to the higher more relevant macaque model of SIV pathogenesis. More recently, my research interest is centered on exploring how exosomes act as conduits to transport key signaling mediators (small noncoding RNAs/microRNAs) to distant recipient cells as a means to regulate gene expression and cellular cross talk. I lead an active research program involving collaborations both nationally and internationally, with over 225 peer-reviewed publications. I have consistently held NIH funding throughout my career and continue to serve on NIH study sections.
During my career, I have had the good fortune of being recognized by various national and International societies with the Wybran (2012) and the Distinguished service (2023; 2013) Awards, both of which hold a special meaning for me. I have also been awarded the UNMC Scientist laureate award (2016) in addition to the Kansas City scientist award. Aligning closely with my passion for mentoring, has enabled me to take an active leading role in the Women’s Mentoring Program at UNMC (2015-2017). I have also received the Women in Neuroscience award at the International Society of Neurovirology in 2016. I have played an active role as a Secretary of the Society on Neuroimmune Pharmacology and have been invited as a speaker & as a Chair at various meetings and have also organized several symposia. To further hone my leadership skills, I graduated from the Executive Leadership for Academic Medicine Program that fosters the growth and career trajectories of women leaders nationally.

Sven Kreutel studied biology at the University of Hohenheim in Stuttgart, Germany. After his graduation in biology, he received his PhD in microbiology and protein biochemistry at the University of Hohenheim under Prof. Dr. Andreas Kuhn and Dr. Dorothee Kiefer working on the light sensing and signal transduction in photosynthetic bacteria. Since then, he worked in different sales and sales manager positions within the life science industry from clinical research over biology to nanoparticle sciences.