MicroRNA

Dr. Xiaofeng Charles Zhou received his PhD in Biochemistry from Boston University and a M.S. degree in Software Engineering from Brandeis University. He did his Post-Doctoral training in human genetics and second Post-Doctoral training in cancer genomics at Boston University and University of California in Los Angeles (UCLA), respectively. He has published more than 90 journal articles, review articles, and book chapters. Dr. Zhou is currently an Associate Professor at University of Illinois at Chicago. He is also a Visiting Professor at Sun Yat-sen University, China.

Dr. Songdong Meng obtained Ph.D degree in Microbiology from Shenyang Institute of Applied Ecology of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS). Currently he is a professor at the Institute of Microbiology of CAS, and also in the College of Life Sciences at the University of CAS. He has published more than 40 scientific papers, and is a named inventor of 10 issued Chinese patents.

Dr. Aniello Russo is an Associate Professor of Molecular Biology at Second University of Naples, Caserta, Italy. He received his Ph.D. in Biochemistry in 1993, at Federico II University of Naples, and Post-Doctoral training at Harvard University, where he was also appointed Instructor. Dr. Russo’s research is dedicated to microRNAs, focusing on their role in human pathologies, such as viral hepatitis, cancer and heart failure. In addition to research and teaching, from 2009 to 2015 he served the Faculty of Sciences of Second University of Naples as President of the Bachelor and Master of Science programs in Biology.

Dr. Saini’s research has provided new insights into miRNA-mediated regulation of apoptosis providing new opportunities for therapeutic interventions. During the last decade her laboratory has identified and characterized several miRNAs that hold immense potential as therapeutics. Currently, her laboratory is working on the regulation of cholesterol metabolism by microRNAs. Simultaneously, she is also involved in further discovering the role of microRNA(s) as regulator of mitochondrial activity/mitochondrial function.

Dr. Wayne Tam received his M.D., Ph.D., degree from the Weill Cornell Tri-Institutional Program and is currently a Professor of Pathology and Laboratory Medicine. He is an academic hematopathologist with translational research interests on hematologic malignancies, including scientific investigations in the role of microRNA and other non-coding RNAs in the pathogenesis of lymphoid malignancies and their utility as biomarkers.

Dr. Tang obtained his Medical Doctor Degree and Ph.D. in Pathogen Biology from Tianjin Medical University, and gained postdoctoral training in Harvard University and HHMI. He was a faculty member in Harvard Medical School and Fudan University. Currently Dr. Tang is a Professor and Chair of Tianjin Life Science Research Center and Department of Pathogen Biology, Tianjin Medical University. Dr. Tang has focused on the regulation of non-coding RNA on tumorigenesis and viral proliferation. He has published more than 100 research articles and served as an editor of more than 10 journals.

Dr. Pankaj Trivedi obtained his doctorate from Karolinska Institute, Sweden in 1995. Currently, he is Associate Professor at the faculty of Medicine, La Sapienza University in Rome, Italy. Over the last 30 years, his main interest has been to study the role of Epstein-Barr virus in pathogenesis of B cell lymphomas. Dr. Trivedi’s research also includes the role of cellular microRNA in EBV induced transformation. He has authored over 60 papers in this field.

Dr. Yamakuchi received M.D and Ph.D from the Kagoshima University School of Medicine, Kagoshima, Japan in 1998. He studied as a Research Fellow and a Research Associate at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD, USA. After that he worked as a Research Assistant Professor at University of Rochester School of Medicine and Dentistry, NY, USA by 2012. Currently, he is an Associate Professor at Laboratory and Vascular Medicine Kagoshima University, Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Kagoshima, Japan. He has more than 50 publications to his credit, including research articles, reviews, and book chapters.

Dr. Anke van den Berg is a molecular biologist with a long standing interest in cancer research. She obtained her PhD (cum laude) on “The involvement of chromosome 3 deletions in renal cell carcinoma” in 1996. After her PhD, Dr. van den Berg moved to the field of B cell lymphoma with a special interest in microRNAs. In 2009 she was appointed as professor in Molecular pathogenesis of malignant B cell lymphoma at the Department of Pathology & Medical Biology. She has obtained multiple research grants of the Dutch Cancer Society (KWF), NWO, SKOG, Vanderes and others. She has published over 170 papers in international peer reviewed journals.

Professor Rakhmetkazhy I. BERSIMBAEV is the Director of the Institute of Cell Biology and Biotechnology of the L.N.Gumilyov Eurasian National University in Nur-Sultan, Kazakhstan and Head of the Laboratory of Molecular Genetics of the Department of Biology and Genomics of this University. Professor Rakhmetkazhy BERSIMBAEV received his PhD degree from the Novosibirsk State Medical University and Doctor of Biol. Sci. (Biochemistry) degree from the Saint-Petersburg State University, Russia. He was Head of the Department of Genetics and Molecular Biology and Dean of the Faculty of Biology of the Kazakh National University in Almaty. From 1995 to 2001, R. BERSIMBAEV was the Director of the Institute of General Genetics and Cytology organized by him in Almaty and served as vice-minister of the Ministry of Education and Science of the Republic of Kazakhstan and vice-rector of the Eurasian National University. His research interests include the regulation of gene expression in eucaryotes and study of genetic risks of exposure to ionizing radiation in humans. Professor R. BERSIMBAEV is an elected Full Member (Academician) of the National Academy Sciences of the Republic of Kazakhstan. Since 2011 he is the Guest Senior Scientist of the National Institute of Biomedical Innovation, Osaka, Japan. He is regularly invited to speak in the international meetings and has published many scientific peer reviewed papers and book chapters in national and international journals. He has supervised more than 30 PhD and Dr.Sci.fellows.

Roopa Biswas, earned a PhD in Biochemistry from Ohio State University (OSU) in 1997. She continued at OSU as a Research Associate where she studied structural features of RNA by X-ray crystallography and also applied biochemical biophysical structure mapping techniques for RNA-protein complexes. In 2001, she was recruited to the position of Project Scientist in the Department of Immunology at the Cleveland Clinic Foundation. At the Cleveland Clinic Foundation, she used her expertise in RNA protein interaction to investigate the mechanisms through which sequences in unstable mRNAs control the process of mRNA degradation in inflammatory systems. She remained at the Cleveland Clinic until July 2005, when she was recruited to the Graduate School of Nursing (GSN), Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences (USUHS). Subsequently she was recruited to the School of Medicine, Department of Anatomy, Physiology and Genetics, USUHS in 2013.

Dr. Erson-Bensan graduated from Biological Sciences Department of METU (ODTU), Ankara. She obtained her Ph.D. in Human Genetics from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor. Currently, Dr. Erson-Bensan is a faculty member at METU (ODTU) in Ankara. Her research is focused on understanding the roles of mRNA 3’ UTRs in gene regulation in cancer cells. She has published >20 journal articles and book chapters. Dr. Erson-Bensan received numerous awards, including the AACR-WICR Brigid G. Leventhal Scholar Award, Cancer Research Award by Molecular Cancer Research Association of Turkey (MOKAD) and Research Stimulus Award by the Parlar Foundation.

Dr Gantier obtained his Ph.D. in Medicine from University College Dublin (Ireland) before moving to Australia in 2006. After several years of postdoctoral studies with Prof. Bryan Williams, Dr Gantier was promoted in 2015 to the position of laboratory head, at the Hudson Institute of Medical Research. In the past 10 years, Dr Gantier has published more than 40 scientific publications, with a focus on the sensing of nucleic acids by the innate immune system, and its modulation by microRNAs. His laboratory is currently investigating the mechanisms regulating the stability of microRNAs in mammalian cells.

Dr. Zhang, obtained his MS in chemistry from Fordham University and Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from Columbia University and did his postdoctoral research in RNA field at the University of Colorado at Boulder. Currently he is a professor of RNA chemical biology at the Guangzhou Institutes of Biomedicine and Health, Chinese Academy of Sciences, the founder of Guangzhou RiboBio Co. He has published more than 60 scientific papers and more than 20 patents.

Laurent Metzinger has completed his PhD in Biological Sciences and Pharmaceutical studies in Strasbourg, France and was a postdoctoral fellow from the University of Oxford (UK) in a leading lab on Duchenne muscular Dystrophy (Pr. Kay Davies). He works on microRNA regulation in the HEMATIM team in Amiens, and focuses on anemia and related vascular disorders associated with Chronic Kidney DIsease. He has authored some of the first papers showing a role for microRNAs in CKD and published in reputed journals, including Nature and Cell. He teaches Biochemistry, Genetics and Molecular Biology in the Pharmacy School of Amiens (Université de Picardie Jules Verne).

Dr. Je-Hyun Yoon is Assistant Professor in the Department of Biochemistry of Medical University of South Carolina, USA. Dr. Yoon’s research mainly focuses on understanding the “RNP Code”, that is, the composition and function of RNA-binding proteins and microRNAs bound to mRNAs and long noncoding RNAs. He is interested in elucidating the rules that govern the assembly of RBPs into RNA-containing functional complexes, the influence of signaling events that regulate RNPs, and the impact of specific RBPs and RNAs on RNP activity and ensuing gene regulation. He is particularly studying the consequences of RNPs on cellular senescence and aging.

Dr. Roger Abounader completed his medical and doctoral degrees at the University of Heidelberg in Germany. After postdoctoral training at McGill University in Canada and the Johns Hopkins University in the USA, he was appointed as assistant professor at the Johns Hopkins University. He subsequently moved to the University of Virginia, USA, where he is currently a professor in the School of Medicine and the Arthur and Margaret Ebbert Endowed Chair of Medical Science. His laboratory research focuses on understanding and therapeutically exploiting the molecular basis of brain tumor development and growth, with a focus on cell signaling and non-coding RNAs.

Ben Berkhout obtained his PhD in 1986 at Leiden University, performed postdoctoral research at the Harvard Medical School and at the National Institutes of Health, Bethesda (1989-1991). He initiated a molecular virology research line at the Academic Medical Center of the University of Amsterdam in 1991, became Head of the Laboratory of Experimental Virology and was appointed Professor of Human Retrovirology in 2002. Ben Berkhout has published over 500 peer-reviewed manuscripts on various topics concerning HIV-1 replication, virus evolution, virus discovery, new antiviral therapeutic strategies (RNA interference, CRISPR-Cas) and HIV-1 vaccine design.

Stefania Bulotta is researcher in Applied Biology at the Department of Health Sciences, University of Catanzaro 'Magna Graecia'. She graduated cum laude in Biology at the University of Pisa and she got the PhD degree in Pharmacology and Biochemistry of Cell Death. She currently teaches Animal Biology and Genetic course in School of Pharmacy and Nutraceutical, at University of Catanzaro. She is author/co-author of over 40 publications in peer-reviewed international journals, and she has numerous participations at national and international congresses. She is reviewer for several scientific journal. Her principal research fields focus on mechanisms involved in thyroid tumorigenesis and on the biological effects of nutraceuticals obtained from plants in experimental models of thyroid tumors.

Amancio Carnero graduated on Biological Sciences at the University of Granada where he initiated his scientific career in the Department of Genetics. Later, he moved to the Institute of Biomedical Research (CSIC) where he performed the doctoral thesis in the mechanisms of signal transduction mediated by the Ras oncogene, obtaining the title of doctor in sciences by the Department of Molecular Biology at the Autonomous University of Madrid in 1994.During this time he worked in the development of new techniques for mammalian genetic research to identify new targets involved in cancer. He based his work on identification and validation of new molecular targets.

Dr. Chen received his Ph.D. degree in Life Science from National Defense Medical Center, Taiwan. Dr. Chen had served as the director of Institute of Biomedical Sciences, Institute of Medical Technology, and Research Center for Translational Medicine in National Chung Hsing University. Currently, Dr. Chen is the Distinguished Professor at National Chung Hsing University and also the chairman of Taiwan Genomics and Genetics Society. He has published more than 100 scientific articles and obtained 12 patents. Dr. Chen has dedicated his academic career in interdisciplinary research, spanning mechanisms of cancer metastasis, gene signature discovery, anti-cancer drugs, and bioinformatics.

Dr William Cho is a Biomedical Scientist in Queen Elizabeth Hospital. His main research interests have been focusing on cancer studies utilizing high-throughput technologies to discover biomarkers for cancer diagnosis, treatment prediction and prognostication. He is a Guest Professor of a number of Universities. Dr Cho has published over 250 peer-reviewed papers (Lancet Oncology, Clinical Cancer Research, Clinical Chemistry, Annual Oncology, etc) covering cancer biomarkers, proteomics, microRNAs, Chinese medicine and plenty of books including "MicroRNAs in cancer translational research", "An omics perspective on cancer research", "Supportive cancer care with Chinese medicine", etc. These papers have received >7,000 citations.

Cinzia Di Pietro is Associate Professor of Biology and Genetics at the University of Catania, School of Medicine, Department of Biomedical and Biotechnological Sciences. She graduated in Biological Science and obtained the PhD in Molecular Biology at Bari University. She is the Head of Laboratory of Biology of Reproduction. Specifically, her group carry on studies on transcriptome alteration of oocytes and somatic follicular cells in relation to female reproductive aging. Her research group purified, for the first time, exosomes from human follicular fluid, identifying their microRNA cargo and, recently, identifying miRNA expression changes in reproductive aging.

Dr. Dua has a thorough knowledge and extensive experience in Pharmaceutics and Biological Sciences with special emphasis on Formulation Development and Chronic Inflammatory Airway Diseases such as asthma and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD). Dr. Dua has lecturing and curriculum development experience, which covers 14 years across national and international Universities along with 4 years of industrial experience. The research experience of Dr. Dua includes close to 12 years laboratory-based experience that covers both postgraduate studies and independent research activities during his lecturing tenure(s). He researches in two complementary areas; drug delivery and immunology as evidenced by extensive research and publication record of high quality in the field of drug delivery and pharmacology.

Dr. Mohamed Ahmed El-Esawi works as Associate Professor of Molecular Genetics at Botany Department, Faculty of Science, Tanta University, Egypt. Dr. El-Esawi received his B.Sc. and M.Sc. from Tanta University, and his PhD degree in Plant Genetics and Molecular Biology from Technological University Dublin in Ireland. Afterwards, Dr. El-Esawi joined the University of Warwick in the United Kingdom, University of Sorbonne (Paris VI) in France and University of Leuven (KU Leuven) in Belgium, and University of Cambridge in the UK as a Visiting Research Fellow. His research focuses on plant genetics, genomics, molecular biology, molecular physiology, developmental biology, plant-microbe interaction, and bioinformatics. He has authored several international journal articles and book chapters, and participated in more than 60 conferences and workshops worldwide.

Francisco J. Enguita was born in Zaragoza, Spain. He got his Ph.D. degree in Microbial Genetics in 1998. In 2006 he moved as a senior researcher to the Institute of Molecular Medicine at the Faculty of Medicine in the Lisbon University, where he is now an Assistant Professor. He is also director of the Cardiomics Unit located and the Lisbon Cardiology Center, belonging also to the Faculty of Medicine. His lab is applying a multi-disciplinary approach using structural biology, biochemistry, genetics and bioinformatics to unravel the role of non-coding RNAs in human diseases. More in detail,He is currently investigating the use of circulating miRNAs as biomarkers of cardiac diseases including infarction and atrial fibrillation, the physiological role of miRNAs in rare diseases, and the involvement of non-coding RNAs as regulators of infection caused by bacteria and fungi.

Dr. Kalpana Ghoshal is an Associate Professor of the Department of Pathology at the Ohio State University. She has nearly 30 years of experience in cancer research aimed to understand molecular basis of hepatocellular cancer, the most prevalent liver cancer. Currently, research in my lab focuses on elucidating the role of microRNAs in liver biology and the consequence of their deregulation in various liver disease including cancer.

Dr. Zhaohui Gong completed his PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from Zhejiang University, Hangzhou, China in 2006. He received numerous awards/honors and published more than 50 academic papers in peer-reviewed journals. Currently, he is working as a Professor of Molecular Oncology and Vice Dean of Medical School of Ningbo University.

Dr. Greene received his Ph.D. degree in Anatomy/Developmental Biology from the University of Virginia, and postdoctoral training in biochemistry/cell biology at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda, MD. He is currently a Professor in the Department of Surgical & Hospital Dentistry and Division of Craniofacial Development & Anomalies at the University of Louisville. He has published over 170 peer-reviewed studies dealing primarily with normal and abnormal embryonic development. Laboratory focus is on the action of miRNAs, DNA methylation, and histone modifications as targets of epimutational causes of birth defects.

Andrey Grigoriev is full professor in Department of Biology and Center for Computational and Integrative Biology, Rutgers University (USA). Upon graduating from Moscow Engineering Physics Institute, he developed computer games and won four gold medals for programming logical games at Computer Olympiads. His PhD in molecular biology is from VNIIGenetika in Moscow, followed by postdoctoral training at Max-Planck Institute for Molecular Genetics (Berlin). In addition to multiple research manuscripts on computational biology he published ten books on C programming. His laboratory works on a broad range of computational genomics problems including small RNA function.

Dr. Kebin Hu, MD, PhD is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Cellular and Molecular Physiology and Department of Medicine at the Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, USA. His research is to determine the cellular and molecular mechanisms of inflammation and tissue fibrogenesis, identify novel signal mediators, and develop therapeutics. He has made seminar contributions to the understanding of the cellular and signaling mechanisms of tissue plasminogen activator, a matrix-degrading protease but promotes fibrosis and inflammation, in response to kidney injury. His laboratory has defined several novel signaling mechanisms in the regulation of macrophage differentiation and functions.

Paul Hurd obtained his PhD from the University of Sheffield and performed post-doctoral research at Kings College London and the Gurdon Institute, University of Cambridge. He is currently a Principal Investigator, Group Leader and Senior Lecturer (Associate Professor) in Epigenetics at Queen Mary University of London. He has over 20 years of experience in epigenetics and chromatin biology.

Dr. Jiang, who received his PhD in animal science from Purdue University and is currently a professor in the Department of Animal and Poultry Sciences at Virginia Tech, studies the cellular, molecular, and genomic mechanisms that control development and growth in animals, in particular, cattle. Dr. Jiang’s teaching interests include animal physiology and endocrinology.

Jingfang Ju, Ph.D. is the Co-Director of Translational Research Laboratory at Stony Brook University and Professor in Pathology. He received his Ph.D. in Biochemistry/Molecular biology from the University of Southern California. He was a postdoctoral fellow at the Yale Cancer Center of Yale University School of Medicine. Currently Dr. Ju is leading a translational research program at Stony Brook University School of Medicine focusing on elucidating the molecular mechanism of translational control mediated by microRNAs in cancer and cancer stem cell chemoresistance. He has published over 85 manuscripts and with several patents on microRNAs as biomarker and therapeutic molecules in cancer. The ultimate goal is to improve clinical management of gastrointestinal cancer outcome by using miRNA based precision medicine.

Dr. Koga graduated and received his medical degree from Kumamoto University in 1999. He was trained at the Department of Gastroenterological Surgery, Kumamoto University. He performed basic research into invasive pancreatic cancer during postgraduate study from the Kumamoto University Graduate School of Medicine; he obtained his PhD from the same university. In 2006, he joined the faculty of the Division of Developmental Therapeutics, Exploratory Oncology Research & Clinical Trial Center, National Cancer Center, Japan, as a Research Resident and Research Fellow. At NCC he investigated a new method of colorectal cancer screening by gene and miRNA expression assay using colonocytes isolated from feces.

Zhongxing Liang, Ph.D., is Assistant Professor of Department of Radiology and Winship Cancer Institute, Emory University. Dr. Liang received his Ph. D. degree from the University of the Mediterranean Aix-Marseille II, France. Dr. Liang’s primary research interesting is to investigate the mechanisms of microRNA involvement in multidrug resistance and metastasis of tumor cells. He is interested in drug discovery for targeted molecular imaging and therapy of cancer. Dr. Liang has authored more than 90 publications, 3 patents, and 3 books.

Dr. Madhyastha completed his B.Sc. degree from the Mangaluru University, Masters from the Saurasthra University, Gujarat, and Ph.D. degree in Applied Biosciences from the Sardar Patel University, Gujarat. Later on, he also obtained his second Ph.D. degree in Molecular Medicine from the University of Miyazaki, Japan. He started his career as a scientist in Shri Murugappa Chettiar Research center, Chennai, India, where he worked on single cell protein cultivation technology under the leadership of Prof. C.V. Sheshadri (Retd. Prof. of IIT-Kanpur) which was subsequently expanded to major Spirulina producing industries namely Parry Spirulina, Chennai. Later on, he pursued postdoctoral research from the Miyazaki University and attained a faculty position in the Applied Physiology from same the University of Miyazaki.

Peng Miao received his BS and MS degrees from School of Life Sciences at Nanjing University. Afterwards, he received his PhD degree from University of Chinese Academy of Sciences (CAS) in Biophysics with CAS President’s Award. Currently, he is a professor of Suzhou Institute of Biomedical Engineering and Technology, CAS. His research is focused on bioanalytical chemistry and microRNA diagnostics.

As a Senior Research Biologist at the US FDA, Dr. Baitang Ning is responsible for leading a research team focused on molecular pharmacology and toxicology in the application of personalized medicine. He has designed, developed and established in silico, in vivo, in vitro and molecular approaches to evaluate genetic and epigenetic mechanisms for pharmacological and toxicological effects involving drug metabolizing enzymes and drug targeting enzymes. The results of his work provide an enhanced mechanistic understanding of drug toxicity and efficacy. Dr. Ning’s research efforts have resulted in 80+ peer-reviewed research articles or book chapters, which have been cited 4000+ times.

Dr. Peng is a full-time professor in the State Key Laboratory of Biotherapy, West China Hospital, Sichuan University, China. After receving the B.S., M.S. and Ph.D. degrees at Sichuan University, Dr. Peng moved to the Ohio State University for postdoc training, and continued his research at Columbia University and University of California, San Diego. Dr. Peng’s lab focuses on dissecting the role of non-coding RNAs during tumorigenesis. He has published over 50 papers and currently serves as associate editor for Molecular Cancer.

Giuseppina De Petro, is a full professor of Applied Biology and Molecular Genetics at the faculty of Medicine in the University of Brescia, Brescia, Italy. The main courses are: General Biology and Genetics for Medical Students, Biology and Genetics applied to dentistry for Dental students, Cellular and Tissue Therapies for Medical Biotechnologists; non-coding RNAs and epigenetics for PhD students in Molecular Genetics, Biotechnologies and Experimental Medicine. She is a group leader working in the Division of Biology and Genetics, Department of Molecular and Translational Medicine, Brescia and developing research lines on RNA interference, microRNAs and epigenetics. Her studies led to the experimental validation of miR-23b as negative coregulator of urokinase and MET; now miR-23b is studied as therapeutic tool for human hepatocellular carcinoma and as biomarker of conventional anticancer treatments.

Dr. Postigo is a ICREA Professor of Life and Medical Sciences at the IDIBAPS Research Institute (Barcelona, Spain). He has over 20 years of research experience. Dr Postigo is also Adjunct Visiting Professor at the J Brown Cancer Center at the University of Louisville (KY, USA). His work focuses on the role of ZEB transcription factors in cell differentiation and cancer.

Dr. Edward Ratovitski obtained his Ph.D. Degree in Molecular Biology and Cancer Biology (1979) from the N.N. Petrov Cancer Research Institute (Leningrad, Soviet Union). Currently Dr. Ratovitski is an Adjunct Professor in the Head and Neck Cancer Research Division of the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine (Baltimore, MD, USA) and the Department of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, George Washington University (DC, USA). He has published more than 136 scientific publications, and is a named inventor of five issued US patents. Dr. Ratovitski is an Editorial Board Member of the MicroRNA journal published by Bentham Science Publishers.

Dr. Sehgal’s current research interests focus on novel therapies currently in the development for the treatment of patients with hematologic malignancies for prevention and control. Dr. Sehgal has discovered many of the therapeutic targets (Epigenetics, immune-oncogenic) in pre-clinical hematological mouse model for cancer prevention and control, particularly, the involvement of stromal factors in tumor microenvironment of B cell lymphomas. Dr. Sehgal initiated to understand the Ibrutinib resistance in ABC-DLBCL and currently working on how to prevent the resistance and the investigation led clinical trial. His findings have accelerated the Immuno-oncology field by exploring new targets for therapy.

Ondrej Slaby is an associate professor of biochemistry at the Faculty of Science at Masaryk University (MU) in Brno and the 1st Faculty of Medicine at Charles University in Prague, Czech Republic. He also works as research group leader (group Molecular Oncology II) at the Central European Institute of Technology (CEITEC) at MU in Brno and as a scientific secretary at the Masaryk Memorial Cancer Institute in Brno. Dr. Slaby has published extensively in the field of non-coding RNAs and solid cancer with special focus on their translational potential in diagnostics and as the therapeutic targets (h-index 27).

Matthias B. Stope (PhD, MD) is a molecular biologist working in the cancer laboratory at the Department of Urology at the University Medicine Greifswald, Germany. He studied chemistry and biology and is a member of several editorial boards of international journals and scientific societies. His research interests include identification and characterization of molecular pathways mediated by microRNAs and heat shock proteins that contribute to cell biology and pathology of cancer to develop new therapeutic and diagnositc strategies based on biological understanding.

Dr. Tran started his independent research group in 2013, and completed PhD in ncRNAs. During his postdoctoral training, he published his seminal paper on the expression of miRNAs in head and neck cancer (HNSCC). This was the first study to characterise genome-wide expression of mature miRNAs in different subtypes of HNSCC. He designed and led a study to understand the molecular function of ncRNAs in salivary gland tumors. This expertise led him to develop two central themes in laboratory: 1) using ncRNAs as biomarkers for early detection of head and neck cancer; 2) understanding their role in cancer development.

Dr. San Ming Wang was trained in Swiss Institute for Experimental Cancer Research (M.D.), did his postdoctoral in Northwestern University and University of Chicago. His study is focused on genomics using next-generation sequencing and bioinformatics approaches. He has worked on the areas of transcriptomics, genome structure variation, and genetic predisposition in familial breast cancer.

Dr. Yang is the President of National Taiwan University (NTU) and Professor in the Department of Internal Medicine, NTU College of Medicine. His major research interests are pulmonary and critical care medicine, molecular and cellular biology, lung cancer genomics and personalized cancer therapy. He is leading the translational research and implementation of precision therapy for lung cancer in Taiwan. His research group identified novel genes and pathways that associated with lung cancer progression. They identified specific gene expression and microRNA biomarkers that might be beneficial for precision therapy of lung cancer patients.

Dr. Je-Hyun Yoon is Assistant Professor in the Department of Biochemistry of Medical University of South Carolina, USA. Dr. Yoon’s research mainly focuses on understanding the “RNP Code”, that is, the composition and function of RNA-binding proteins and microRNAs bound to mRNAs and long noncoding RNAs. He is interested in elucidating the rules that govern the assembly of RBPs into RNA-containing functional complexes, the influence of signaling events that regulate RNPs, and the impact of specific RBPs and RNAs on RNP activity and ensuing gene regulation. He is particularly studying the consequences of RNPs on celluar senescence and aging.

Dr. Baohong Zhang is currently a full professor in Department of Biology at East Carolina University (USA). Dr. Zhang worked at Chinese Academy of Agricultural Sciences for more than 10 years before he went to US for Ph.D. study. Dr. Zhang has been working on the field of genetic and genomics for more than 30 years. He has published more than 150 SCI papers with more than 10,000 citations, many of them are listed as hot papers and highly cited papers by SCI. He also serves as associated editor and/or guest editor for more than 10 SCI journals, including Scientific Reports, PLOS One, Plant Molecular Biology, Plant Biotechnology Journal and Gene.

Dr. Anton Jan van Zonneveld is professor of Experimental Vascular Medicine at the Department of Medicine at the Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden the Netherlands. A molecular biologist by training (University of Leiden) he received his PhD at the University of Amsterdam (Prof dr. P. Borst, Co-promotor Prof. H. Pannekoek) and postdoctoral training at the Research Institute of Scripps Clinic, La Jolla, California, USA. Dr. van Zonneveld is currently head of the Einthoven Laboratory for Experimental Vascular Medicine at the LUMC. Dr van Zonneveld has published over 140 peer reviewed papers mostly related to vascular biology and posttranscriptional control of the vascular response to injury.

Eleni Anastasiadou received her Ph.D. from La Sapienza, University of Rome, Italy and focused on the interactions of cellular miRNAs with Epstein Barr Virus latent proteins in lymphoma. Her pioneering work led to identification how viral proteins subvert cellular miRNAs and contribute to cancer. Currently she is examining the role of miRNAs in regulating immune responses to hematological cancers. She has developed 3D microfluidic chip based platforms for drug delivery to test therapeutic potential of miRNAs in cancers and tissue repair. Her principle interest is in identifying novel translational approaches for RNA aided cancer immunotherapy at Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center/Harvard Medical School.

Dr. Roel Bijkerk is an assistant professor in the Department of Medicine (section Nephrology) at the Leiden University Medical Center, Leiden, The Netherlands. He received his PhD from the University of Leiden (promoters Prof Dr. A.J. van Zonneveld and Prof. Dr. T.J. Rabelink) and pre- and postdoctoral training at Harvard Medical School, Boston, Massachusetts, USA (Prof. B.D. Humphreys) and Leiden University Medical Center. The studies of Dr. Bijkerk mostly concern the role of post-transcriptional regulation in kidney disease and regeneration, vascular integrity and diabetes.

Dr. Deepak Chitkara received his Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical Sciences from the National Institute of Pharmaceutical Education and Research (NIPER), SAS Nagar, India. He was an exchange research scholar at the University of Tennessee Health Science Center, Memphis, TN for one year. After that, he did his post-doctoral training at the University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, NE in the area of miRNA therapeutics for cancer. Currently, he is working as Assistant Professor at Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS)-Pilani, Rajasthan, India. His research interest is in designing polymeric nano-carriers for small molecules and miRNAs with a special focus to achieve a spacio-temporal control over intracellular as well as in vivo delivery of miRNA mimics/antimirs by modifying polymeric carrier properties.

Sercan ERGUN is working as Asst. Prof. Dr. in the Department of Medical Biology, Basic Sciences Division, Faculty of Medicine, Ordu University. He was included as a researcher in a team briefly studying epigenetic changes in disease mechanisms of different types of cancers, including oncogenic/tumor suppressor gene and miRNA expression level changes, cell death mechanism analysis, development of some cancer therapy agents’ efficiencies via miRNAs. Also, he is analyzing some plant extracts and newly designed metal-bound compounds with respect to their anti-cancer potential and their effects on non-coding RNAs. Now, he is part (as a researcher) of a team studying in silico miRNA and ceRNA analysis, miRNA heterogeneity, piRNA expression changes in different cancer types , especially urological cancers. He has many articles related to these studies. He and his team have many studies on different diseases other than cancer, like Glanzmann's Thrombasthenia, Hemophagocytic Lymphohistiocytosis, Immune Thrombocytopenic Purpura, Familial Mediterranean Fever, Βeta (β)-Thalassemia, Secondary Hyperparathyroidism. He has a number of articles on them.

Dr. Shoyele is currently an Associate Professor of Pharmaceutical Science at Thomas Jefferson University.He has published multiple peer reviewed papers and meeting abstracts all in the areas of nanotechnology. He has also published 2 book chapters. He also has numerous patents filed in the area of nanotechnology. He is well known by his peers and he serves as an adjunct reviewer for multiple journals in the area of nanotechnology and drug delivery.

Dr. Sara Tomei is a scientist and core facility manager with 10+ years experience in genomics. Dr. Tomei received her PhD in Molecular Oncology from the University of Pisa Italy. Prior to joining Sidra Medicine, Dr. Tomei was appointed as Research Fellow at the NIH (United States) and at Weill Cornell Medical College in Qatar. As a scientist, her current interest focuses on the development and application of the most recent genomic technologies to improve the diagnosis and therapeutics of cancer and human diseases.