Biana Godin, Associate Professor, Department of Nanomedicine, Houston Methodist Research Institute

Biana Godin Biographical Sketch

Dr. Biana Godin earned her Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Sciences from the School of Pharmacy, The Hebrew University of Jerusalem, Jerusalem, Israel. She is an Associate Professor at the Department of Nanomedicine in Houston Methodist Research Institute (HMRI), Weill Cornell Medical College (WCMC) Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology (Ob/Gyn) and Department of Ob/Gyn, Center for RNA therapeutics and Cancer Center at Houston Methodist Hospital (HMH) and have Adjunct Appointments at the Ob/Gyn Department of School of Medicine, UTHealth and Department of Biomedical Engineering, Texas A&M College Station. Research in Dr. Godin’s lab, funded by federal, state and foundation grants with >$7M in total funding over the years, focuses on developing physiologically relevant in vitro/in vivo disease models and exploiting physical and biological mechanisms to improve currently available therapeutic options in oncology, obstetrics, wounds healing and infectious diseases. Dr. Godin’s track record has >250 research publications including high-profile original papers, reviews and invited/keynote presentations at national and international meetings with >50K reads (ResearchGate) and >15K citations (i10 index 86 Google Scholar).

Bruna Corradetti, Assistant Professor, Center for Precision Environmental Health, Department of Medicine, Baylor College of Medicine -- Conference Chairperson

Bruna Corradetti Biographical Sketch

Dr. Bruna Corradetti is a translational scientist and professor whose research lies at the intersection of regenerative medicine, biomaterials, and stem cell biology. With a strong foundation in stem cell-based therapies and immunomodulatory biomaterials, her work focuses on developing innovative, cell-free therapeutic strategies, ranging from extracellular vesicles to RNA-enhanced biomimetic patches, that harness the body’s natural healing processes. These minimally invasive approaches are designed to improve chronic wound healing and address congenital malformations.

Dr. Corradetti holds a faculty position at Baylor College of Medicine (USA) and is an affiliated investigator at both the Houston Methodist Research Institute (USA) and Swansea University Medical School (UK). Her research is supported by federal agencies and philanthropic foundations and reflects a deeply translational approach, informed by training and appointments across premier institutions in Europe and the United States.

In 2022, she was named one of 20 Innovative Investigators in Texas by the TMC Innovation Advanced Cancer Therapeutics (ACT) program, in recognition of her pioneering work on exosome-based vaccines aimed at preventing ovarian cancer recurrence. Internationally recognized for her scientific leadership, Dr. Corradetti was included among the 100 Italian Excellences in 2017. She was the first woman appointed to the Scientific Board of the European Society for Translational Medicine and received the Business and Professional Women-CUP Leadership Award in 2019 for her efforts in advancing gender equity in STEM.

Her TEDx talk, “The Power of Resilience in Science,” and her feature in Fortune Italia underscore her commitment to mentoring early-career scientists and building inclusive, supportive research environments.

Carly Filgueira, Assistant Professor of Nanomedicine & Cardiovascular Surgery, Houston Methodist Research Institute

Carly Filgueira Biographical Sketch

Dr. Carly S. Filgueira is an Assistant Professor in the Departments of Nanomedicine and Cardiovascular Surgery at Houston Methodist Research Institute, where she leads research at the intersection of nanotechnology and cardiovascular science. Dr. Filgueira earned her Bachelor of Science in Chemistry, magna cum laude, from The George Washington University, where she began her scientific career exploring nanoparticle-biopolymer chemistry with spectroscopy. She then completed her MS and PhD in Chemistry at Rice University under the mentorship of Dr. Naomi Halas, fabricating and characterizing optically responsive nanostructures and studying their plasmonic properties. Throughout her academic training, Dr. Filgueira received numerous honors, including the NIH Keck Nanobiology Fellowship, an NSF award to attend the Lindau Nobel Laureate Meeting in Germany, and multiple research and service awards from Rice University. In 2011, she joined Houston Methodist as a postdoctoral fellow, focusing on nuclear hormone receptors and small molecule screening. She later rose to the rank of Assistant Professor, where her independent research centers on developing sustained release nanotechnological therapies for physiological disorders, with particular interest in metabolic syndrome, cardiovascular disease, and hormone replacement therapy. Her laboratory is recognized for its multidisciplinary approach, leveraging nanomedicine to devise alternative treatment strategies ranging from bone growth to heart repair. She has over 50 publications in various high impact journals and has experience in managing and leading projects funded by the Golfers Against Cancer, Kostas Cardiovascular Nanomedicine Grant, Simmons Mini Collaborative Fund, and U.S. Department of Defense (five different funded awards). With the support of the John S. Dunn Foundation Collaborative Research Award Program, the team has been able demonstrate photoacoustic imaging (PAI) using gold nanorods as a contrast agent for real-time, high-resolution, low-noise cardiac tissue visualization. She balances her research leadership with mentorship of diverse trainees, and her work is distinguished by its translational potential and commitment to advancing both fundamental and clinical science in cardiovascular health.

Fernanda G. Kugeratski, Instructor, Department of Experimental Therapeutics, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center

Fernanda Kugeratski Biographical Sketch

Dr. Fernanda G. Kugeratski is a cancer biologist focused on unraveling new mechanisms of intercellular communication within the tumor microenvironment. She holds a faculty position in the Department of Experimental Therapeutics at The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, and her research program focuses on defining how secreted entities from cancer-associated fibroblasts modulate the immune system in cancer.

Francesca Taraballi, Associate Professor of Orthopedic Surgery, Houston Methodist Research Institute

Francesca Taraballi Biographical Sketch

Francesca Taraballi, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor of Orthopedic Surgery at the Houston Methodist Research Institute, where she directs the Center for Musculoskeletal Regeneration. Trained in biochemistry, structural biochemistry, and nanotechnology, Dr. Taraballi’s research focuses on immunoengineering and biomimetic materials for tissue regeneration, cancer therapy, and RNA-based therapeutics. Her lab develops nature-inspired nanomedicines—such as lipid nanoparticles and extracellular vesicle mimetics—to modulate the immune system for improved healing and targeted drug delivery.

George A. Calin, Chair, Department of Cancer Biology Department, Division of Discovery Science, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center

George A. Calin Biographical Sketch

Chair, Department of Cancer Biology Department, Division of Discovery Science, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, Texas

Professor, Department of Translational Molecular Pathology, The University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX



2000 Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Bucharest, RO, Faculty of Medicine, Ph.D
1992 Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Bucharest, RO, MD

2000-2004 Specialist, Gastroenterology, Fundeni University Hospital, Bucharest
2000-2000 Chief, HLA genotyping laboratory, Fundeni University Hospital, Bucharest
2000-2004 Post-Doctoral Fellow, Kimmel Cancer Institute-Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
1999-2000 Staff Member, Molecular Genetics Laboratory, National Institute of Legal Medicine, Bucharest
1997-1999 Postdoctoral Fellow, Molecular Genetics, University of Ferrara, Ferrara
1994-2000 Resident, Gastroenterology, Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Bucharest
1992-1994 Intern, Gastroenterology, Carol Davila University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Bucharest

Jacqueline Parchem, Associate Professor, Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology & Reproductive Sciences, UTHealth Houston

Jacqueline Parchem Biographical Sketch

Jacqueline Parchem, MD, is a maternal-fetal medicine physician-scientist at The University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston (UTHealth Houston). Her research focuses on advancing the understanding of pregnancy disorders to improve maternal and child health.

Kate McAndrews, Assistant Professor, Department of Cancer Biology, MD Anderson Cancer Center

Kate McAndrews Biographical Sketch

Dr. Kate McAndrews, Ph.D. completed her B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the University of Nevada Reno in 2010. She completed her Ph.D. in Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology in the laboratory of Dr. Michelle Dawson in 2015, where she trained as a matrix bioengineer with a specific focus on understanding the influence of molecular and mechanical cues provided by the microenvironment on mesenchymal stem cell (MSC) function in tissue regeneration and cancer progression. Dr. McAndrews joined the laboratory of Dr. Raghu Kalluri at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center for her postdoctoral training in 2015. Her work has focused on novel biology of extracellular vesicles (EVs)/exosomes, their role in cancer, and their utility as therapeutic vehicles as well as the functional role of fibroblasts in tissue repair and cancer. Dr. McAndrews’s postdoctoral work was supported by an Ergon Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship and received an NIH K22 award to start her independent lab in 2024. She was also selected as the Dilip Mullick Early Career Scholar in Basic Pancreatic Cancer Research and a Shelby-Lavine Pancreatic Scholar in 2025. Her research group focuses on how the stresses induced by tissue damage remodel the microenvironment to facilitate disease progression and response to therapy. Her group is specifically interested in intracellular communication within the microenvironment mediated by extracellular vesicles (EVs) as well as ECM interactions and remodeling. Recently, she has developed an EV-based vaccine platform for infectious disease and cancer (Luo, McAndrews, et al. Journal of Controlled Release 2024) and identified a role for T cell-mediated clearance of cancer cells in the efficacy of KRAS inhibition (Mahadevan, McAndrews, et al. Cancer Cell 2023, McAndrews et al. Science Translational Medicine 2025, McAndrews et al. Under revision). Currently, her total citations are 6168 and her h-index is 29.

Kelsey Swingle, Assistant Professor, Department of Bioengineering, Rice University

Kelsey Swingle Biographical Sketch

I am an Assistant Professor at Rice University in the Department of Bioengineering. I completed my Bachelor's degree in Biomedical Engineering from Case Western Reserve University in 2020 and my Ph.D. in Bioengineering from the University of Pennsylvania in 2025. At Rice University, I am also a member of the Leadership Counsel for Rice Biotechnology Launch Pad which aims to accelerate the translation of biotechnology therapeutics from bench to bedside in less than five years. Through the Launch Pad, I have built a network of industry leaders, venture capital investors, regulatory advisors, and entrepreneurs who have experience translating therapeutics from academia to funded clinical trials. I have established collaborative relationships with clinical partners and physician-scientists in the Texas Medical Center—the largest medical center in the world that lies across the street from Rice University. My research has resulted in >30 publications at the interface of bioengineering, drug delivery, women's health, bioinformatics, and immune engineering. For this research, I was awarded three years of funding ($5.03M) from Wellcome Leap's program titled "The Missed Vital Sign" towards designing an RNA therapeutic for the treatment of heavy menstrual bleeding.

My lab's research at Rice University lies at the interface of biomaterials and drug delivery, immunology, and reproductive medicine with a specific focus on engineering therapeutic and vaccine technologies to both fundamentally understand and target important biological barriers that exist in tissues such as the placenta, vagina, uterus, and ovaries. My research combines the multi-scale formulation of biomaterials, molecule barcoding high-throughput screening approaches, microfluidic device fabrication, synthetic chemistry, and in vivo biomedical imaging to innovate novel delivery platforms and cells for applications in (i) reproductive disorders, (ii) cancer immunotherapy, (iii) gene editing and gene therapy, and (iv) infectious disease vaccines.

Laura Goetzl, Professor and Vice Chair for Translational Research, The University of Texas, MD Anderson Caner Center

Laura Goetzl Biographical Sketch

Dr. Goetzl is an NIH funded researcher and Maternal Fetal Medicine specialist. Her research focuses on extracellular based biomarkers of fetal brain injury secondary to exposure to drugs, infection and/or hypoxia. In addition, her work leverages EV biomarkers as measures of drug exposure at the target organ (brain) as an adjunct to pharmacologic studies.

Sara Corvigno, Assistant Professor, Department of Gynecologic Oncology and Reproductive Medicine, The University of Texas MD Anderson

Sara Corvigno Biographical Sketch

I am a translational physician-scientist with deep expertise in the ovarian tumor micro-environment working particularly on tissue-based predictive biomarker and novel therapeutics research.

Surjya Dash, Senior Scientist, Department of Nephrology, School of Medicine, University of Virginia

Surjya Dash Biographical Sketch

Dr. Surjya Dash is a Senior Scientist in the Department of Nephrology, University of Virginia School of Medicine, where he works with Dr. Uta Erdbruegger to elucidate the mechanistic role of extracellular vesicles (EVs) as both biomarkers and mediators of cellular dysfunction in metabolic syndrome (MetS).

Trained in diabetes, nephrology, ciliopathies, and stem cell biology, his research integrates molecular and translational approaches to uncover pathways driving renal injury and systemic metabolic disturbances. His work specifically focuses on delineating mechanisms of kidney damage in diabetes, identifying early and predictive biomarkers of disease progression, and advancing EV-based diagnostic and therapeutic strategies. Dr. Dash earned his Ph.D. in stem cell biology from Utkal University, India, and has made significant contributions to embryonic stem cell line derivation, characterization and autologous stem cell therapy in both human and model systems. He has published extensively in peer-reviewed journals and maintains active collaborations with leading national and international research groups to accelerate discovery and therapeutic innovation in nephrology and metabolic disease.

Swathi Balaji, Associate Professor, Baylor College of Medicine and Texas Children’s Hospital

Swathi Balaji Biographical Sketch

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Theocharis Panaretakis, Associate Professor, GU Medical Oncology, MD Anderson Cancer Center

Theocharis Panaretakis Biographical Sketch

Dr. Theocharis Panaretakis is an Associate Professor in the Department of Genitourinary Medical Oncology. He earned his PhD from Karolinska Institutet, where he specialized in cancer cell death modalities. During his postdoctoral training at Institut Gustave Roussy, he expanded his expertise in immunology, focusing on the immunogenicity of cell death as an anti-cancer strategy to stimulate immune responses. For the past decade, Dr. Panaretakis has investigated extracellular vesicles (EVs) as sources of predictive and prognostic biomarkers in circulation and as mediators of homotypic and heterotypic intercellular communication within the tumor microenvironment. His laboratory has developed molecular tools enabling longitudinal monitoring of prostate cancer progression and therapeutic response. Co-clinical studies from his group demonstrated the feasibility of tracking resistance to androgen receptor pathway inhibitors (ARPi) through specific EV markers in circulation, paving the way for EV-based approaches to monitor treatment response and uncover mechanisms of resistance. Dr. Panaretakis’ research has also shown that differential molecular profiles of EVs provide insights into the bone tumor microenvironment and its dynamic changes during treatment with agents such as Radium-223 and chemotherapy.

Tiziana Corsello, Assistant Professor, Department of Pediatrics, CEIID Research, University of Texas Medical Branch

Tiziana Corsello Biographical Sketch

Dr. Corsello, PharmD, PhD, is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pediatrics, Division of Clinical and Experimental Immunology and Infectious Diseases, at the University of Texas Medical Branch (UTMB) in Galveston, and a member of the UTMB Sealy Center for Lung Disease Inflammation and Remodeling. She earned her PhD in Neuroscience from UTMB and completed postdoctoral training as a NIEHS T32 fellow in Environmental Toxicology and a Jeane B. Kempner Scholar. Her research investigates viral, environmental, and host factors driving respiratory viral infections in children, with a focus on biomarkers of smoke exposure and novel therapeutic antiviral strategies. She has received multiple prestigious awards, including the Rotary Foundation Global Scholar Award, Parker B. Francis Fellowship, American Lung Association Catalyst Award, and KL2 Provost Award.

Wei-Chuan Shih, Cullen Engineering Endowed Professor, University of Houston; Founder-CEO, Seek Diagnostics

Wei-Chuan Shih Biographical Sketch

Wei-Chuan Shih is Cullen College of Engineering Endowed rofessor of Electrical Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, Materials Science & Engineering, and Chemistry at the University of Houston (UH). He earned his Ph.D. from MIT Spectroscopy Lab and joined University of Houston after a stint as Schlumberger research fellow. He received MIT Martin Fellowship, NSF CAREER Award, NASA Early CAREER Faculty Award, and several research and innovation awards at UH. He has published more than 140 scientific articles and holds 18 granted US patents. He is a Fellow of SPIE, and serves as Associate Editor for Optica Optics Express and SPIE Journal of Nanophotonics. His research interests are biophotonics, nanobiophotonics, imaging & spectroscopy, micro/nanofabrication, and machine learning. His current research focus is on exosome-based cancer and Alzheimer’s disease diagnostics supported by NIH and DoD. Dr. Shih has started multiple companies based on his technologies. Most recently, he co-founded Seek Diagnostics (www.seekdiagnostix.com) to commercialize nanobiophotonic liquid biopsy technology.

William K. Decker, Professor, Baylor College of Medicine

William Decker Biographical Sketch

Dr. William Decker is a Professor in the Department of Pathology & Immunology at Baylor College of Medicine. Dr. Decker received a B.S. in Biology from Tufts University and a Ph.D. in Molecular in Human Genetics from Baylor College of Medicine in 2001. Fol-lowing early career work in industry, he spent seven years as Sen-ior Research Scientist in the Department of Stem Cell Transplan-tation and Cellular Therapy at the University of Texas M.D. Ander-son Cancer Center where he studied basic dendritic cell biology, transplant immunology, and developed cell-based treatment strategies for cancer. In 2011, Dr. Decker joined the faculty at Baylor College of Medicine, establishing a research group that studies basic dendritic cell immunobiology and maintains basic, translational, and clinical immunotherapy research programs for a variety of different can-cers. He has been a spon-sor/investigator on multiple INDs and holds multiple patents in the space. He additional serves as a scientific and medical advi-sor of Diakonos Oncology, a clinical-stage immuno-oncology company he co-founded, that is currently performing pivotal ran-domized trials in cell-based immunotherapy for the treatment of glioblastoma.

Yi-Ping Li, Professor, Department of Integrative Biology and Pharmacology, UTHealth Houston

Yi-Ping Li Biographical Sketch

Professor Yi-Ping Li, Ph.D. is a biomedical researcher based in Houston, Texas. He received his Ph.D. degree and postdoctoral training as well as developed his scientific research career all in Texas institutions. His research has been continuously supported by the National Institute of Health for over two decades. His recent research has been focused on the molecular mechanisms of cancer induction of skeletal muscle wasting (cachexia). His lab discovered the critical role of extracellular vesicles released by certain types of cancer cells in the induction of cachexia.

Ziwen Wang, Field Application Scientist, EXODUS BIO

Ziwen Wang Biographical Sketch

Dr. Ziwen Wang is a Field Application Scientist at EXODUS Bio, focusing on technical applications of novel nanoparticle purification technology with academic, biotech or biopharma clients. He received his B.S. degree in Bioengineering from University of Washington and a Ph.D. in Bioengineering with Prof. Shuming Nie at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. His research explores diverse functional nanostructures in cancer imaging and fluorescence image-guided surgery with strong emphasis on surface ligand design and purification process development.