Co-Chair & Moderator: Dr. S. Rahima Benhabbour
Dr. Benhabbour is an Associate Professor in the UNC-NCSU Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering. Her Lab (https://benhabbour.web.unc.edu/) focuses on harnessing innovative engineering and chemistry tools to develop the next generation drug delivery systems for disease treatment or prevention. Dr. Benhabbour is inventor in 6 patents and has received multiple awards including 2022 Member of the Year Award (CRS), Faculty Research Award (UNC BME), the 2021 Young Investigator Award (CRS TMD FG), a David Sokal Innovation Award (MCI), a KL2 Award, and Eshelman Institute for Innovation (EII) Awards. She is also the Founder & Director of Anelleo, Inc. (AnelleO, https://anelleo.com/), a UNC spinoff company pioneering an innovative 3D printed intravaginal ring platform technology for unmet women’s health indications.
Co-Chair & Moderator: Dr. Hagar Labouta
Hagar Labouta is a Keenan Research chair of Nanomedicine at Unity health Toronto and Assistant Professor at the Leslie Dan Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Toronto. She has research experience in nanomedicine, drug delivery, and biomedical engineering. She got her Ph.D. in pharmaceutical nanotechnology from Saarland University (Germany) and completed several Postdocs at Helmholtz institute (Germany), and University of Calgary (Canada). Her team is using microfluidics to design lipid-based nanoparticles for the aim of breaching biological barriers in applications related to Women’ Health. To ensure clinical translation of the novel therapies designed in her lab, her team develops humanized organ-on-a-chip models for preclinical evaluation of nanoparticles. Her lab is well-funded by national and international funds. Dr. Labouta has a strong publication record and is a co-inventor on an international patent for the development of nanosystems for intracellular targeting. She has also worked with the WHO on two health-related projects. She has won several awards and fellowships including Member of the Year Award from the Controlled Release Society (USA), Interstellar Award from New York Academy of Sciences (USA), Innovation and Career Development Award by the Biomedical Engineering Society (USA), Apotheker Jacob Prize (Germany) and curriculum award for the Nanoscience Minor Program (Canada).
Prof. Gilda Tachedjian, BSc(Hons) PhD
Prof Gilda Tachedjian is a virologist and Heads the Life Sciences Discipline and Retroviral Biology and Antivirals Group at the Burnet Institute. Prof Tachedjian combines interdisciplinary fundamental, translational, and clinical research to identify and develop antimicrobial strategies to prevent and control emerging pathogens including HIV. She has made major contributions to the preclinical/clinical development of a topical microbicide to prevent transmission of HIV. Her current research includes defining the role of the vaginal microbiome in modulating the risk of HIV/STIs and adverse reproductive health outcomes and translating these findings into novel strategies to transform women’s sexual and reproductive health.
Dr. Margaret Ilomuanya, BPharm., MSc., PhD
Dr. Margaret ILOMUANYA is an Associate Professor and Head of Department, Pharmaceutics and Pharmaceutical Technology, Faculty of Pharmacy University of Lagos, Nigeria. Her laboratory (https://margaretilomuanya.com.ng/) focuses on novel drug delivery techniques, for development of HIV microbicides, contraceptive technologies, cosmeceuticals, and wound healing applications. She piloted the development of a topical herbal antiacne/antibacterial cream from bench side to bed side though the Nigerian medicines’ development project in 2021. She heads the GMP Laboratory at the University of Lagos, for formulation of clinical trial ready batches of research driven HIV prevention products. She has authored over 90 peer reviewed publications, book abstracts and conference papers. She is the recipient of various Nation and International grants. She is currently pioneering innovative electrospun dosage forms for drug delivery in women’s health. She is the editor in Chief, Nigerian Journal of Pharmacy and is actively involved in public health engagement through research.
Dr. Mark R. Prausnitz
Mark R. Prausnitz is Regents’ Professor, Regents' Entrepreneur and J. Erskine Love, Jr. Chair in Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology. He carries out research on biophysical methods of drug delivery using microneedles, lasers, ionic liquids and other microdevices for transdermal, ocular and intracellular delivery of drugs and vaccines. He has published more than 330 journal articles and has co-founded eight start-up companies including Micron Biomedical and Clearside Biomedical.
Ethan Watt, MSc
After completing my undergraduate degree at the University of Guelph in Ontario, I began my graduate studies at the University of Waterloo in 2022. I have previous background in the synthesis of biobased polymers and have since shifted my research interests due to the importance of personalized healthcare and need for disease mitigation strategies. Specifically, I have had experience in the development and optimization of responsive nanoparticles for therapeutic applications and am continuing this work through my graduate career.
Dr. Andrea Joseph
Dr. Andrea Joseph is a postdoctoral fellow in the Department of Obstetrics, Gynecology, and Reproductive Sciences at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai and is a member of the Women's Biomedical Research Institute. Her research bridges engineering and reproductive biology with a dedicated focus on the use of nanotechnology for understanding and improving maternal, fetal, and neonatal health. As an NIH F31 graduate research fellow, Dr. Joseph developed biodegradable, polymeric nanoparticles for the delivery of small molecule and large enzyme therapeutics to the injured neonatal brain. Looking earlier in life, Dr. Joseph's postdoctoral projects probe the ways inflammation is initiated in pregnancy, focusing on microbial-immune interaction as a key mediator of preterm birth. Specifically, her proposed work investigates how extracellular vesicles (EVs) derived from vaginal bacteria propagate inflammation in the reproductive tract and how EVs may be engineered for bio-inspired, anti-inflammatory drug delivery. In the Controlled Release Society, she has previously been Sponsorship Chair and Treasurer of the Young Scientists Committee and currently serves as Secretary/ Treasurer of the Women in Science group and regular contributor to the Newsletter. She also is a Director of the National Postdoctoral Association to advocate for early career researchers and women in science.
Mr Luis, Pérez Dávalos, M.D
Luis Pérez Dávalos is a Ph.D. student in Pharmaceutical Sciences at the University of Toronto. His current research aims to develop a therapy for preeclampsia using lipid nanoparticles for targeted delivery in a placenta-on-a-chip model.
After obtaining his medical degree, Luis joined Dr. Tessy López Goerne in studying inorganic nanoparticles for decontamination, wound care, and cancer. Then, he collaborated with a lab startup in Calgary to bring nanomedicine applications from the bench to the market. In 2022, he joined Dr. Hagar Labouta’s lab, where he contributes to developing innovative solutions to complex challenges in maternal-fetal health.
Dr. Jasmine L. King, PharmD, PhD
Dr. King is a Postdoctoral Research Associate in the UNC-NCSU Joint Department of Biomedical Engineering. Her research combines engineering and pharmaceutical science tools to develop innovative and novel drug delivery platforms for prevention and treatment of various diseases. Dr. King has received several awards including 2023 Merck Best Poster Award (CRS), UNC-Duke Clinical Pharmacology Fellowship Award, Eshelman Institute for Innovation (EII) Award, Eshelman Institute Rankin Innovator Award, North Carolina Translational and Clinical Sciences Institute (NC TraCS) Award, and Biomaterials Day Oral Presentation Award. She is also passionate about expanding access to STEM education and advocating for diversity in STEM and women in science.
Dr. Elizabeth Tolley, PhD, MA
Dr. Tolley is a Senior Scientist and Director of the Behavioral, Epidemiological & Clinical Sciences Unit of FHI 360. Betsy and her team apply design thinking approaches and a range of quantitative and qualitative research methods to obtain end-user feedback on sexual and reproductive health technologies across the critical path of product development.
Dr. Rebecca Callahan, PhD, MPH
For the past decade Rebecca Callahan has served as Research Scientist and, more recently, Director of Research & Operations with FHI 360"s Product Development & Introduction team where she leads research related to user preferences for new contraceptives currently in development and oversees operational aspects of PDI's work in contraceptive R&D. Prior to her position with FHI 360, Dr. Callahan worked with the USAID Office of Population & Reproductive Health. She has a PhD in Public Health from the Johns Hopkins University and an MPH from Emory University.
Dr. Parambir Bhangu
Parambir Bhangu is an Executive Director, External Innovation and Emerging Science at Organon, a global healthcare company dedicated to redefining the future of women’s health and with a mission to deliver impactful medicines and solutions for a healthier every day. To help Organon deliver on the company mission and vision, Parambir supports search and evaluation, due diligence and execution of business development opportunities in strategic focus areas for Women’s Health indications, as well as Established Medicines.
Parambir has an extensive background across Medical Affairs and Clinical Development. In his previous role, as the Country Medical Director, he built and led the Canadian Medical Affairs organization at Organon. Before Organon, at Merck he was the Director, Medical Affairs in Canada leading the Vaccines, Women’s Health and New Products portfolios.
Prior to Merck, Parambir was with Pfizer, also in Medical Affairs roles, having transitioned his career path from Clinical Development, where he spent 7 years of his early career in Global Project Management.
From an educational standpoint, Parambir holds a PhD in Biology from the University of York, United Kingdom
Dr Helena Nicklasson, PhD
Dr. Nicklasson is the Vice president of Product Development & Drug Delivery at Ferring Pharmaceuticals, which is a research-driven, specialty biopharmaceutical group committed to helping people build healthy families and live better lives. Dr. Nicklasson is a pharmacist with a PhD in Pharmaceutics from Uppsala University in Sweden and 25 years’ experience within Pharmaceutical R&D, especially drug product design and manufacturing, drug delivery and sourcing of pharmaceutical services. Dr. Nicklasson has experience from small to large size pharma companies where she has held different roles as line manager, project manager and scientist. Dr. Nicklasson is a member of the steering committee of SweDeliver and a board member of MVIC.
Mr. Eduardo Fernandez, MSE, MBA
Eduardo Fernandez, SVP of Business Operations and Business Development, Exeltis USA
Eduardo is currently SVP of Business Operations and Business Development at Exeltis USA, Inc. a Global Women’s Health focused Company. Roles and responsibilities include Pipeline Innovation programs, Portfolio management as well as Business Development and M&A.
Prior to joining Exeltis USA in 2012, Eduardo developed his career for over 11 years as Strategy and Business Consultant in Global firms like PricewaterhouseCoopers and Capgemini Consulting
Dr. Tina Bürki-Thurnherr
Dr. Tina Buerki-Thurnherr is a biologist with a PhD from ETH Zurich (2006). She continued her scientific career at Empa, where she is currently leading the Particles@Barriers group (since 2015). She has extensive expertise in the assessment of nanosafety and particles-biobarrier interaction studies (placenta, intestine, lung). To achieve results of high predictive value, she develops and employs advanced human in vitro and ex vivo biobarrier models to establish the groundwork towards the systematic understanding of particle uptake, translocation and biological effects at biological barriers in dependence of material properties. Her research is pivotal for the safe design and use of nanomaterials in industrial, commercial and medical applications and the protection of vulnerable populations. She was investigator and/or co-applicant in several projects founded by the EU (NANOMMUNE, MARINA, NANOSOLUTIONS, GRAPHENE FLAGSHIP, MACRAME), BMBF (NanoUmwelt) and the Swiss National Science Foundation (SNSF). Currently she is principal investigator of a SNSF-funded Sino-Swiss Science and Technology Collaboration (Empa- Zhejiang University China) on the development of intelligent single-atom nanozymes for effective and safe therapy of inflammatory diseases in pregnancy and received funding for the development of a placenta-embryo chip in collaboration with ETH Zurich.
Kelsey Swingle, B.S.E.
Kelsey Swingle is a Ph.D. candidate and National Science Foundation Graduate Research Fellow in Bioengineering in the lab of Dr. Michael Mitchell at the University of Pennsylvania. Her thesis work focuses on the design of ionizable lipid nanoparticle platforms for nucleic acid delivery to treat maternal and fetal conditions during pregnancy. Specifically, she is engineering lipid nanoparticles encapsulating vascular endothelial growth factor (VEGF) mRNA to induce vasodilation in the placenta to treat pre-eclampsia during pregnancy.
Dr. Ru-fong Joanne Cheng, FACOG
Dr. Ru Cheng leads the Women’s Health Innovations team which supports the development and adoption of high-quality health products that address the needs of women and girls in low- and middle-income countries. The WHI team also serves as a unifying voice on women’s health, collaborating with others to direct more funding and attention to women’s health R&D
A board-certified obstetrician-gynecologist, Ru joined the foundation in 2023 after more than 15 years in the biopharmaceutical industry, where she held roles of increasing responsibility in the clinical development of drugs and devices for women’s health at Pfizer, Bayer, and Johnson & Johnson; prior to that she was an assistant professor at Rutgers RWJMS. Ru holds degrees from Duke (BA Chemistry), The Ohio State University College of Medicine (MD), and completed her residency at what is now Drexel University College of Medicine.
Dr. Daniel S. Johnston, PhD
Daniel S. Johnston earned his Ph.D. from The Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health and conducted postdoctoral studies at Washington State University. He spent almost 10 years at the pharmaceutical company Wyeth/Pfizer, where he led projects focused on early-stage drug discovery for contraception and developed translational research expertise in the therapeutic areas of women’s health and oncology. Between 2010 and 2016, Daniel worked as Vice President of Pharmaceutical Research for Delcath Systems and as Director of Preclinical Research and Development at Cellphire, Inc. In 2016, Daniel moved to the NICHD, where he is chief of the Contraception Research Branch, acting chief of the Fertility & Infertility Branch and acting chief of the Gynecologic Health and Disease Branch.
Dr. Nesma Ibrahim
Nesma started at Springer Nature in 2022 as an editor for Nature Reviews Bioengineering, where She participated in launching the Journal. Nesma received her BSc and MSc in pharmaceutical sciences from Alexandria University in Egypt. She then completed her PhD studies at Saarland University, Germany, investigating theranostic nanoparticles for antigen delivery and strategies for transcutaneous applications. During her Postdoc at the University of Helsinki, Finland, she studied microneedles as a platform for drug delivery.
