APDSC 2024: Showcasing Delivery Science in the Asia Pacific Region
In 2018, delivery scientists across Asia gathered in Singapore for the 1st Controlled Release Society Asia conference. As Dr. Ju Yen Fu recalls, it was a “very exciting event to meet scientists across Asia” and strengthened her own interest in contributing to CRS through the Malaysia Local Chapter. Six years later, she is now President of the Local Chapter and leads the planning of the Asia Pacific Delivery Science Conference (APDSC) 2024 which will be held this year from August 26-28 at Monash University Malaysia Campus. All CRS members in the region are encouraged to participate.
The historic meeting will celebrate the 10th year anniversary of the Malaysia Local Chapter. It will also be the first joint meeting between four CRS Local Chapters: Malaysia, Taiwan, Australia, and New Zealand. The vision for the event is to bring together drug delivery experts in the region, share recent findings, and create connections in the local community. “Within the Asia-Pacific region, we have so much to tell about delivery science and we have ample resources for natural biomaterials,” Dr. Fu shares. “Right now, we want to form a closely knit community through jointly organized meetings.”
Dr. Goh Choon Fu, co-chairperson on the organizing committee, echoes this vision: “The dream for every Local Chapter is that we are no longer working in silos. In countries like Malaysia, we need exposure and we want to bring local ideas to the global stage and into the future.”
The event will feature four keynote talks and several scientific sessions on topics including biomaterials, anti-cancer, nanotherapeutics, oral delivery, and transdermal delivery. The invited speakers and program will be updated on the conference website.
The participating Local Chapters will sponsor travel grants for selected registrants. In addition, an Outstanding Young Scientist Award will be presented at the meeting.
Both organizers credit CRS meetings with introducing them to the broader world of delivery science in their early years– that the field spans diverse applications including food and fertilizers and that there is a global community of delivery scientists through CRS– and led them to their current careers. Through their hard work and the support of the conference co-organizers and sponsors, APDSC 2024 will undoubtedly serve as an entry point for the region’s next generation of delivery scientists.
For conference updates, visit the conference website or MyCRS Twitter: https://twitter.com/CRSMalaysia
Andrea Joseph is a Postdoctoral Fellow at the Icahn School of Medicine. Follow her on Twitter: https://twitter.com/andrea_j0sep
