Local Chapter Speakers | Controlled Release Society (CRS)

University of Auckland New Zealand	Dr. Darren Svirskis Darren Svirskis is Head of Research in the School of Pharmacy at the University of Auckland. Darren has expertise in bioelectronics and releasing drugs/bioactives in a controlled way from a range of injectable and implantable platforms. This includes developing bioelectronic implants to interrogate the electrical activity in the spinal cord, and to deliver and test electroceutical and pharmaceutical treatments following an injury to the spinal cord. Darren also develops injectable and implantable systems to sustain the delivery of growth factors and non-opioid, pain-relieving agents after major surgeries.
College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University China	Dr. Zhen Gu Dr. Zhen Gu is a Qiushi Distinguished Chair Professor and Dean of the College of Pharmaceutical Sciences at Zhejiang University. He also serves as the Director of the National Key Laboratory of Advanced Drug Delivery and Release Systems, and Deputy Director of Pharmaceutics Professional Committee of the Chinese Pharmaceutical Association. Dr. Gu's group studies controlled drug delivery, biomaterials and cell therapy. Dr. Gu has published over 300 research papers and applied over 100 patents, five of his innovations are under clinical trials.
Monash University Australia	Dr. Kristian Kempe Kristian is a Senior Lecturer in the Drug Delivery, Disposition and Dynamics (D4) Theme at the Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences (MIPS) and Materials Science and Engineering (MSE) at Monash University, Australia. Currently, he is the Deputy Head of D4, MIPS.He obtained his Ph.D. from the Friedrich-Schiller University Jena, Germany, under the direction of Prof Ulrich S. Schubert. He was an Alexander von Humboldt Fellow at The University of Melbourne in the group of Prof Frank Caruso, and a Senior Research Fellow at the University of Warwick with Prof David M. Haddleton. He is an editor of European Polymer Journal, and on the advisory board of Macromolecular Rapid Communications, Macromolecular Chemistry and Physics and RSC Applied Polymers
Seoul National University Republic of Korea	Dr. Jae-Young Lee Dr. Jae-Young Lee is an Associate Professor of Bioengineering and Drug Delivery Systems at Seoul National University’s College of Pharmacy, where he earned his B.S. and Ph.D. in Pharmaceutics in 2011 and 2017. He leads a lab focused on protein-based nanocluster systems, with research interests in biomaterial-based nano-platforms for cancer drug delivery and imaging, along with functional protein expression for therapeutic applications.
Zhengzhou University China	Dr. Ke Peng Dr. Ke Peng received her B.S. and M.S. degrees from the West China School of Pharmacy, Sichuan University, and earned her Ph.D. from the School of Pharmacy, Queen’s University Belfast, in 2021. Following two years of postdoctoral research at Queen’s University Belfast, she joined the faculty at Zhengzhou University. Dr. Peng's research focuses on transdermal and ocular drug delivery systems, with particular expertise in microneedle-based drug delivery for both hydrophobic molecules and macromolecules. She has published over 20 peer-reviewed articles and contributed a chapter to an academic book.
China Pharmaceutical University China	Hu-Lin Jiang Professor Jiang is the doctoral supervisor of China Pharmaceutical University and Distinguished Professor of Jiangsu province. Professor Jiang mainly engaged in the development and druggability research of small molecule and biological drugs, including the research and development of therapeutic drugs for tissue fibrosis, gene therapy, and intelligent nanotechnology for drug delivery. As the corresponding or first author, he published 175 SCI papers in international journals including Nat Commun, Sci Adv, Adv Mater, Adv Funct Mater etc. with 8500 citations, 51 H index. There are 52 patents being applied, 22 patents have been authorized for invention patents, one of which has transfer to the company with twenty million RMB. State Key Laboratory of Natural Medicines, China Pharmaceutical University, Nanjing, 210009,
SVKM's Dr. Bhanuben Nanavati College of Pharmacy India	Dr. Sujata Sawarkar, M. Pharm, Ph.D Dr. Sujata Sawarkar is Professor and Head of Department, Pharmaceutics, SVKM’s Dr. Bhanuben Nanavati College of Pharmacy, India. Before joining academics Dr. Sujata was associated with major pharmaceutical companies in formulation development of dosage forms for regulated and domestic market. Several products developed by her team have been commercialized. She has about 25 years of research and teaching experience. Her research interests include development of novel drug delivery and targeted systems for oral, ophthalmic, colonic and vaginal delivery, development of evaluation techniques, translational research. Dr. Sujata has been Executive Member of CRSIC since 2014 and Secretary of CRSIC for 2023 - 2025. She has received research grants worth 1.5 million USD from Industry and Government agency. She has presented about 60 research papers in national and international conferences. She has several papers published in peer reviewed journals, coauthored 10 book chapters, three books and 4 granted patents.
Zhejiang University China	Dr. Yuan Ping Dr. Yuan Ping is currently full professor and principal investigator at College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Zhejiang University.His current research mainly focuses on biomacromolecular drug delivery and gene therapy, and his multidisciplinary research has produced more than 80 original research papers in the fields of drug delivery, nanomedicine, biomaterials etc. As a corresponding author, he has published more than 40 research articles in prestigious journals, including Nature Biotechnology, Nature Nanotechnology, PNAS, Science Advances, etc. in the past 5 years. He also serves as the editorial board member in Journal of Controlled Release, Synthetic and Systems Biotechnology, and Asian Journal of Pharmaceutical Sciences.
Nanjing University China	Jinhui Wu, Ph.D Jinhui Wu received his Ph.D. in Biology from Nanjing University. From 2008 to 2010, he worked in Harvard-MIT Human Science & Technology under the guidance of Dr. Ali Khademhosseini. Currently，he is a full professor of Medical School of Nanjing University. His lab mainly focuses on engineering intelligent or responsive microbe for drug delivery.
Chang Gung University Taiwan	Dr. Jui-Yang Lai, Ph.D Dr. Jui-Yang Lai is currently a Full Professor at the Department of Biomedical Engineering, Chang Gung University, Taiwan. His primary research activities are centered on the design and development of functional biomaterials, either from natural or synthetic sources, for ophthalmic use, particularly on drug delivery, nanomedicine, and tissue engineering.