Dr. Claudia Gärtner studied chemistry and biology and has earned her diploma and PhD in chemistry at the University of Düsseldorf in 1996. Between 1996 and 1999, she worked as an assistant to the Director at the Institute for Microtechnology in Mainz (IMM), where she coordinated large scale international projects (e.g. TMR-project MICROSYNC, LSF-project). In 1999 she was appointed Director of the Application Centre for Microtechnology in Jena, a daughter institution of the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Optics and Precision Engineering. In 2002 she founded MFCS together with Dr. Holger Becker. Since April 2006 she is CEO of microfluidic ChipShop. She has been coordinator of numerous R&D projects on national and international level, including the FP 7 IP Multisense Chip. In 2017 she was decorated with the 3rd prize as Women Innovator competition by the European Commission. She is in the board of trustees of the German Museum in Munich and the advisory board of the Trade Fair in Erfurt, Thuringia, Germany. Lab-on-a-Chip system as bleed-to-read-systems including their manufacturing and commercialization are in her focus.

Giacomo Domenici holds a Ph.D. in molecular biology and biomedicine. Currently, he is a Scientist at the Advanced Cell Models Lab led by Dr Catarina Brito at the Instituto de Biologia Experimental e Tecnológica (iBET). His current main research areas are: development and application of 3D cell models both for basic and applied cancer research, which have been employed in several research projects, also with pharmaceutical industry. His key areas of interest include cancer cell biology, the innate immunity response, the tumor microenvironment, immunotherapies, and the development of novel targeted therapies against cancer.

Simona Mura is Full Professor of Pharmaceutical Technology at the Faculty of Pharmacy of the University of Paris-Saclay. After completing her Pharmacist degree at the University of Cagliari in Italy, she pursued a PhD in Chemistry and Technology of Drugs, graduating in 2009 under the guidance of Professor A.M. Fadda. Her doctoral research focused on the design and in vitro evaluation of innovative vesicular systems for the topical delivery of drugs. Following this, she continued her academic journey by joining the research group led by Professor E. Fattal at the Institut Galien, UMR CNRS 8612, University Paris-Sud in France. In this post-doctoral role, she investigated the lung toxicity of biodegradable nanoparticles specifically designed for pulmonary drug administration. In 2011, she was promoted to the position of Associate Professor at the same university. During the period from 2011 to 2016, she was affiliated with the CNRS through the Chaires d'excellence program, conducting research in the team led by Professor P. Couvreur. In 2015, she has been appointed Visiting professor at the Osaka University (Group of M. Akashi) and in 2017 she integrated the prestigious Institut Universitaire de France (IUF) as Junior member. She has been awarded her HDR (Accreditation to conduct research) in 2018 and in September 2022 she has been appointed full Professor. She conducts research at the interface of chemistry, physical chemistry, and biology, with a primary emphasis on developing biomimetic drug delivery systems. Her work involves investigating the behavior of nanomedicines within the complex biological environment of the human body, from the administration site to the targeted action site. This research is achieved through the integration of biomimetic 3D culture techniques, microfluidic technology, and advanced characterization methods.