Defang Ouyang, Associate Professor, University of Macau

Defang Ouyang Biographical Sketch

Prof. Ouyang has a multidisciplinary background in pharmaceutics & computer modelling, with experience in academia and industry. He obtained his bachelor (2000) and master (2005) in pharmaceutics from Shenyang Pharmaceutical University, China. He completed his PhD in pharmacy at The University of Queensland, Australia, in 2010 and progressed directly to his faculty position (Lecturer in Pharmaceutics, PI) at Aston University (UK). From the end of 2014, he moved to the University of Macau.

Since 2011, he has pioneered the integration of multi-scale modeling, artificial intelligence and big data techniques in the field of drug delivery – “computational pharmaceutics“. He has published 2 books, 5 book chapters and over 150 refereed SCI journal papers, along with more than 150 invited talks. He held over 10 approved patents, which had been used in medicinal products. He edited the first book in this research domain <Exploring Computational Pharmaceutics – AI and Modeling in Pharma 4.0> (Wiley, 1st Edition in 2015 & 2nd edition in 2024). He has developed the crucial “Rule of 5” for effective AI drug delivery models and successfully built the first global artificial intelligence (AI)-based formulation platform “FormulationAI” (https://formulationai.computpharm.org/).

He serves as the associate editor of <Drug Delivery and Translational Research>, the editorial board or scientific advisor of <Asian Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences>, <Pharmaceutical Research>, and <Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences>. He successfully trained 6 PhD and over 30 master students. He has been recognized as “World’s Top 2% Scientists” from 2020 to 2024.

His research focused on computational pharmaceutics, including:

Artificial intelligence (AI) in drug delivery: to develop advanced machine learning algorithms for drug delivery systems;
Multi-scale modeling in drug formulations: to integrate quantum mechanics (QM), molecular dynamics (MD) and physiologically based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) modeling into pharmaceutical formulations;
Pharmacoinformatics: big data analysis of pharmaceutical information from the literature, patent, clinical trial and marketed products.

Jiong-Wei Wang, Assistant Professor, Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore

Jiong-Wei Wang Biographical Sketch

Jiong-Wei Wang is an Assistant Professor at the Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine, National University of Singapore (NUS). He obtained his PhD in Medicine in 2013 from Leiden University Medical Center and completed postdoctoral training at University Medical Center Utrecht and NUS. His research focuses on cardiovascular immunology, extracellular vesicles, and nanomedicine-based drug delivery for cardiometabolic diseases, leveraging diverse animal models for preclinical investigation. Dr Wang has published over 110 peer-reviewed articles and has received multiple honors, including the Wong Hock Boon Society–Singapore Medical Association (SMA) Charity Fund Outstanding Mentor Award (2019), the NUS Yong Loo Lin School of Medicine Young Researcher of the Year Award (2023), and the Research Excellence Award (2026).

Marco Monopoli, RCSI University of Medicine and Health Sciences

Marco Monopoli Biographical Sketch

Dr Marco Monopoli is a Senior (tenured) Lecturer in the RCSI Chemistry Department and where he established the BioNano Research lab, a multi-disciplinary centre focused on obtaining a complete understanding of the mechanisms of interaction between nanomaterials and living systems essential for nanomedicine, nanotoxicology applications and evaluating their environmental impact. Dr Monopoli's studies have been focused on revealing the forces that govern bio-nano interactions and understanding the biological implications of the biomolecular corona, with a particular interest in the glycans.

Masatoshi Maeki, Professor, Hokkaido University

Masatoshi Maeki Biographical Sketch

Masatoshi Maeki is a Professor in the Division of Applied Chemistry at the Faculty of Engineering, Hokkaido University. He received his Ph.D. degree in 2014 from Kyushu University. After graduation, he worked as a Research Fellow of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS) at Hokkaido University. He joined the Faculty of Engineering at Hokkaido University as an Assistant Professor in 2015, was promoted to Associate Professor in 2021, and became a Professor in 2026. His research focuses on the development of microfluidic devices for applications in drug delivery systems and biomolecular analysis. He has received several awards, including the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT) Prize for Young Scientists in the field of science and technology in 2024. He also received the Hokkaido Science and Technology Encouragement Award in 2023, the Japan Society for Analytical Chemistry Award for Young Researcher’s in 2016, and the Young Innovator Award on Chemistry and Micro-Nano Systems (CHEMINAS Young Innovator Award) in 2015.

Nan Zhang, Associate Professor, University College Dublin -- Conference Chairperson

Nan Zhang Biographical Sketch

Dr Nan Zhang is an Associate Professor in Manufacturing and Design at the School of Mechanical and Materials Engineering of University College Dublin (UCD) in Ireland. His research covers polymer micro/nano manufacturing, precision manufacturing of plastic microfluidic chips, microfluidic systems for synthesising genetic nanomedicine and molecular diagnostics, manufacturing functional micro/nano structured surfaces, and atomic and close-to-atomic-scale manufacturing. He has been founded by H2020 MSCA ITN Grant as a consortium coordinator, Science Foundation Ireland, Enterprise Ireland-Commercialization Funding, Irish Research Council etc. He has published more than 60 peer-reviewed journal papers in Materials Today, Nano Letters and the International Journal of Machine Tool and Manufacture. He was the chair of the 6th and 8th international conferences on polymer replication on the nanoscale (PRN2019, PRN2022). He is the associate editor of the journal “Frontier-Lab on Chip Technology” and a Council member of the Microfluidic Association. His research has generated several patents which have been commercialized or are in the process of being commercialized. He has received the University Research Impact award in 2022, the Year of Invention Award 2024, and has been highlighted as a Rising Star Fellow by UCD.

Nhiem Tran, Senior Lecturer and Deputy Head of Department of Applied Chemistry and Environmental Science, RMIT University

Nhiem Tran Biographical Sketch

Nhiem Tran, Senior Lecturer and Deputy Head of Department of Applied Chemistry and Environmental Science, RMIT University

Dr. Nhiem Tran is Deputy Head of International, Engagement, and Outreach and a tenured Senior Lecturer in the Department of Applied Chemistry and Environmental Science at RMIT University, Australia. He obtained his PhD in Physics from Brown University, USA, in 2012 and has been awarded several prestigious fellowships, including the CSIRO John Stocker Postdoctoral Fellowship and the RMIT Vice-Chancellor's Research Fellowship.

Dr. Tran has established an internationally recognised research program in nanomedicine, biomaterials, and lipid nanoparticle engineering. His research has advanced the understanding of how lipid self-assembly and nanostructure govern drug and RNA delivery, cellular interactions, and biological performance, underpinning the development of smart, stimuli-responsive nanocarriers and infection-resistant biomaterials. He has published more than 80 peer-reviewed articles and received the 2025 RMIT STEM College Deputy Vice Chancellor Impact Research and Innovation Award.

Beyond research, Dr. Tran is committed to advancing the scientific community through leadership and service. He serves on the Board of Directors of the Australasian Colloid and Interface Society (ACIS) and is an Editorial Board Member of Discover Nano, contributing to the promotion of research excellence and collaboration in nanoscience and biomaterials.

Noah Malmstadt, Professor, Mork Family Dept. of Chemical Engineering & Materials Science, University of Southern California

Noah Malmstadt Biographical Sketch

Noah Malmstadt is Professor at the University of Southern California. He received a BS in Chemical Engineering from Caltech and a PhD in Bioengineering from the University of Washington. Following postdoctoral work at UCLA, he joined the Mork Family Department of Chemical Engineering and Materials Science at USC in 2007. Malmstadt is the recipient of a 2012 Office of Naval Research Young Investigator award. His research focuses on microfluidic strategies to facilitate material fabrication and biophysical analysis. He has pioneered the integration of ionic liquids as solvents in droplet microreactors and the application of microfluidic systems to synthesizing biomimetic cell membranes. Microfluidic analytical techniques he has developed include methods for measuring the permeability of cell membranes to druglike molecules and techniques for measuring ionic currents through membrane proteins.

Sven Kreutel, CEO, Particle Metrix, Inc.

Sven Kreutel Biographical Sketch

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. In 2021 he was appointed as CEO of the American subsidiary of Particle Metrix.

Yi Yan Yang, Distinguished Principal Scientist, Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR)

Yi Yan Yang Biographical Sketch

Yi Yan YANG is a Distinguished Principal Scientist in Bioprocess Technology Institute (BTI), Agency for Science, Technology and Research (A*STAR), Republic of Singapore. She obtained her Ph.D. degree from Tsinghua University (China) in 1990. She has more than 300 publications in peer-reviewed journals including Nat. Mater., Nat. Nanotech., Nat. Chem., Nat. Commun. and Nat. Biomedical Eng., and more than 70 primary patents granted (5 patents were licensed to startup companies). She has received many invitations to hold lectures and seminars in Singapore and overseas. She was 2022 and 2025 highly cited researcher recognized by Clarivate™. She was elected to Fellow, the Academy of Engineering, Singapore in July 2021. She was recognized in Stanford’s Top 2% Scientists Worldwide in 2021-2025. In January 2016, she was elected to Fellow, the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE). Her work on antimicrobial polymers was named Scientific American’s “Top 10 World Changing Ideas” in 2011. She is an Associate Editor for Nanomedicine: Nanotechnology, Biology and Medicine, an International Advisory Board Member for Advanced Healthcare Materials, and an Editorial Board Member for Drug Delivery. Her current research is mainly focused on targeted delivery of mRNA for vaccine, cancer therapy, infection and other diseases.

Yusuke Sato, Associate Professor, Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Hokkaido University

Yusuke Sato Biographical Sketch

Yusuke Sato, Ph.D. is an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Hokkaido University, Japan. He previously served as a JSPS Research Fellow (DC1) during his doctoral studies and later as an Assistant Professor, where he established his research program in pharmaceutical sciences. Dr. Sato’s research focuses on the molecular design of ionizable and zwitterionic lipids and the development of lipid nanoparticles (LNPs) for in vivo delivery of macromolecular therapeutics, including siRNA, mRNA, and Cas9 ribonucleoprotein (RNP) complexes. His work integrates lipid chemistry, formulation science, and biological evaluation to advance next-generation nucleic acid and genome-editing therapeutics.

Yuzuru Ito, Professor, Institute of Life and Environmental Sciences, University of Tsukuba

Yuzuru Ito Biographical Sketch

Prof. Yuzuru Ito specializes in stem cell biology and biotechnology, focusing on the research and development of drug discovery support platforms (e.g., MPS). He also serves as an expert for ISO/TC 276, contributing particularly to standardization related to analytical methods.