Invited Speakers

Professor Saif A. Khan. The National University of Singapor

Saif A. Khan obtained a Bachelors degree in Chemical Engineering at the University Department of Chemical Technology (UDCT), Mumbai where he was the university gold medallist. He received his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2006, where he was a Presidential Fellow. In 2006, he joined the National University of Singapore (NUS), where he is currently a tenured Associate Professor of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering. His research group at NUS develops new microfluidics-based ‘factories’ for the continuous manufacture of pharmaceuticals and advanced materials in collaboration with several industrial partners worldwide. He has also co-founded two start-up companies focused on advanced materials manufacture and opthalmic drug delivery.

Microfluidic Factories for Advanced Materials: From metallic nanoparticle catalysts to designer pharmaceutical drug products

The science of microfluidics is revolutionizing the way we explore, discover and manufacture advanced structured materials. The ability of microfluidics to generate fluid-fluid interfaces and compartments with high precision, when coupled to intrinsically tunable molecular and thermal transport phenomena in such systems, allows us to go well beyond the paradigm of the synthetic flask or stirred-batch reactor in the laboratory and industry respectively. In this lecture, I will showcase a decade of research encompassing the microfluidics-enabled manufacture of advanced materials at various length scales, for a broad spectrum of applications. The talk will begin at the smallest scale – that of nanoparticles, and showcase the controlled synthesis of plasmonic and catalytically active metal-based nanoparticles and composites, highlighting the clear, fundamental advantages of small-scale flow systems in achieving high precision synthesis. In particular, I will focus here on novel biphasic and triphasic segmented flow reactor systems. Next, I will briefly showcase the use of microfluidics in the creation of soft micro-scale materials, such as hydrogels, for a variety of applications in chemical and biological sensing and as structured, edible food materials. Finally, I will discuss how microfluidics-based processes are enabling new ways to envision pharmaceutical drug products, by enabling precise control over the solid state of the drug substance. In particular, I will discuss a recently developed technique which allows for crystallization and formulation of drug substances to be carried out in a single processing step, leading to monodisperse spherical granules with unprecedented control over crystal attributes such as shape, size and polymorphism. Every part of the talk will be accompanied by examples of industrial application of these methods and materials, which we have actively been pursuing in collaboration with industry partners worldwide, including multinationals and start-up enterprises.

Professor John de Mello. The Norwegian University of Science

John De Mello is a Professor of Chemistry and the Director of Nanotechnology at the Norwegian University of Science and Technology (NTNU). His research is focused on the use of flow chemistry for the synthesis of a broad range of functional materials. He was a recipient of the Royal Society's Brian Mercer Award for Innovation in Nanotechnology, and is a former Royal Society Industry Fellow.

Automated Flow Reactors for the Controlled Synthesis of Functional Materials

The controlled and reproducible production of high quality functional materials is of paramount importance in numerous areas of science and technology. In this presentation I will describe how flow chemistry can offer a versatile and scalable approach to synthesising a broad range of functional materials, and how it can deliver significant improvements in control compared to conventional flask-based methods. I will focus in particular on the use of automation methods in flow chemistry and on the design of “intelligent” reactors that are capable of automatically optimising the yield or properties of a target product.

Professor Hélder A. Santos. The University of Helsinki

Prof. Hélder A. Santos (D.Sc. Tech., Chem. Eng.) received his doctorate degree (2007) in Chemical Engineering from Helsinki University of Technology, Finland. Currently, an Associate Professor (tenure track) in Pharmaceutical Nanotechnology, Head of Division of Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Technology, Head of the Preclinical Drug Formulation and Analysis Group, and Director of the Doctoral Program in Drug Research at the Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Helsinki. He is also a Fellow Member of the recently established Helsinki Institute of Life Science (HiLIFE), leader of the nanomedicines and biomedical engineering group (www.helsinki.fi/~hsantos), and one of the World Portuguese Network Advisers for Science.

Dr. Santos research interests include the development of nanoparticles/nanomedicines for biomedical and healthcare applications. His current work makes the bridge between engineering, pharmaceutical and medical research. His main research focus is in the use of biodegradable and biocompatible nanoporous silicon nanomaterials, polymers, the application of microfluidics technology for nanoparticle production for simultaneous controlled drug delivery, diagnostic and treatment of cancer, diabetes, and cardiovascular diseases, and further translation of these nanotechnologies into the clinic.

Dr. Santos is author of more than 266 publications in prestigious high impact peer-reviewed journals, and author of more than 26 book chapters and more than 238 conference proceedings/abstracts. He has given over 138 invited talks at prestigious conferences, universities and summer schools around the world.

Dr. Santos has received a number of prestigious awards and grants, such as the "Talent Prize in Science" attributed by the Portuguese government in 2010, the European Research Council Starting Grant in 2013 and ERC Proof of Concept in 2018, the Young Researcher Award in 2013 and honour distinction for the exceptional scientific productivity in 2014, both attributed by the Faculty of Pharmacy at the University of Helsinki, the Academy of Finland Award for Social Impact in 2016, and honor nomination for the USERN Prize in Biological Sciences in 2017.

Microfluidic Fabrication of Nanoparticles for Biomedical Applications

The recent cutting-edge advances on porous silicon (pSi) and polymeric-based nanomaterials is anticipated to overcome some of the therapeutic window and clinical applicability of many drug/peptide molecules and can also act as innovative theranostic platform and tool for the clinic in the future. In this work, prominent biomaterials, such as nanocomposites made of pSi nanomaterials and polymeric structures are presented and discussed as potential platforms for the individualization of medical intervention. These nanocomposites are promising advanced drug delivery technologies for biomedical applications. Examples on how these nanocomposites can be prepared and scaled-up using microfluidics, as well as how they can be used to enhance the bioavailability of drug/peptide molecules, demonstrating their cytocompatibility, in vivo biocompatibility, intracellular targeting in cancer cells, and theranostic applications, will also be presented and demonstrated.[1–19] Applications for cancer and diabetes diseases, among others, of the developed nanocomposites will be discussed and elucidated.

[1] Liu et al., ACS Appl. Mater. Interfaces 2013, 5, 12127.

[2] Herranz-Blanco et al., Lab Chip 2014, 14, 1083.

[3] Liu et al., Small 2014, 10, 2029.

[4] Pessi et al., Int. J. Pharm. 2014, 472, 82.

[5] Zhang et al., Adv. Mater. 2014, 26, 4497.

[6] Araújo et al., ACS Nano 2015, 9, 8291.

[7] Liu et al., Biomaterials 2015, 39, 249.

[8] Herranz-Blanco et al., Adv. Funct. Mater. 2015, 14, 1448.

[9] Liu et al., Adv. Mater. 2015, 27, 2298.

[10] Patent No. ES2626263A1, 2017.

[11] Liu et al., Nano Lett. 2017, 17, 606.

[12] Li et al., Acta Biomater. 2017, 48, 238.

[13] Liu et al., Lab Chip 2017, 17, 1856.

[14] Herranz-Blanco et al., Int. J. Pharm. 2017, 516, 100.

[15] Fontana et al., Adv. Mater. 2017, 29, 1603239.

[16] Liu et al., Adv. Drug Deliv. Rev. 2018, 128, 54.

[17] Martins et al., Exp. Opin. Drug Deliv. 2018, 15, 469.

[18] Zhang et al., Nano Lett. 2018, 18, 1448.

[19] Liu et al., Adv. Mater. 2018, 30, 1703393.

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