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Dr. Maurizio Porfiri is an Institute Professor at New York University Tandon School of Engineering, with appointments at the Center for Urban Science and Progress and the Departments of Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, and Civil and Urban Engineering. He received M.Sc. and Ph.D. degrees in Engineering Mechanics from Virginia Tech, in 2000 and 2006; a 鈥淟aurea鈥� in Electrical Engineering (with honors) and a Ph.D. in Theoretical and Applied Mechanics from the University of Rome 鈥淟a Sapienza鈥� and the University of Toulon (dual degree program), in 2001 and 2005, respectively. He has been on the faculty of the Mechanical and Aerospace Engineering Department since 2006, when he founded the Dynamical Systems Laboratory.

Dr. Porfiri is a Fellow of the American Society of Mechanical Engineers (ASME) and the Institute of Electrical and Electronic Engineers (IEEE). He has served in the Editorial Board of ASME Journal of Dynamics systems, Measurements and Control, ASME Journal of Vibrations and Acoustics, Flow, IEEE Control Systems Letters, IEEE Transactions on Circuits and Systems I, Mathematics in Engineering, and Mechatronics. Dr. Porfiri is engaged in conducting and supervising research on complex systems, with applications from mechanics to behavior, public health, and robotics.

He is the author of more than 350 journal publications and the recipient of the National Science Foundation CAREER award. He has been included in the 鈥淏rilliant 10鈥� list of Popular Science in 2010 and his research featured in all the major media outlets, including CNN, NPR, Scientific American, and Discovery Channel. Other significant recognitions include invitations to the World Laureate Forum and to Frontiers of Engineering Symposia organized by National Academy of Engineering; the Outstanding Young Alumnus award by the College of Engineering of Virginia Tech; the ASME Gary Anderson Early Achievement Award; the ASME DSCD Young Investigator Award; and the  ASME C.D. Mote, Jr. Early Career Award.

Prof. Spangler鈥檚 research aims to expand the repertoire of protein therapeutics by redesigning naturally occurring proteins and engineering new molecules to overcome the deficiencies of existing drugs. Integrating cutting-edge tools from structural biophysics, biomolecular engineering, and translational immunology, her research focuses on developing innovative platforms for the discovery and design of proteins that recruit novel mechanisms for disease therapy. In particular, Spangler鈥檚 group is interested in engineering antibody-based molecules that reshape immune cell behavior for targeted treatment of cancer, infectious diseases, and autoimmune disorders. The overarching goal of her interdisciplinary research program is to establish new insights into protein behavior and the extent to which it can be manipulated for medically relevant applications.

Dr. Feilim Mac Gabhann is an associate professor of biomedical engineering at the Whiting School of Engineering and the Johns Hopkins School of Medicine. He is also a core faculty member of the Institute for Computational Medicine. 

His research focuses on microvascular development and remodeling. Dr. Mac Gabhann serves as the director of the Hopkins Office for Undergraduate Research.

His team is currently engaged in projects that include inhibiting vascular endothelial growth factor signaling in cancer and promoting vascular endothelial growth factor signaling in ischemic disease.

Dr. Mac Gabhann received his undergraduate degree in chemical engineering from University College Dublin. He earned his Ph.D. in biomedical engineering from Johns Hopkins. He completed his postdoctoral fellowship at the Cardiovascular Research Center at the University of Virginia before returning to Johns Hopkins to join the faculty.

His work has been recognized with numerous awards, including the NIH Pathway to Independence Award, the American Physiological Society Arthur C. Guyton Award for Excellence in Integrative Physiology and the Alfred P. Sloan Foundation Research Fellowship.

Pinunta Nittayacharn received her B.Eng and M.Eng in Biomedical Engineering from Mahidol University, in Salaya, Thailand, in 2011 and 2014 with research distinction in biopolymer and local drug delivery systems for cancer treatment. After graduation, Pinunta held a position as a full time researcher and lecturer at the Department of Biomedical Engineering, Mahidol University, for two years. She is currently pursuing a doctorate in Biomedical Engineering at Case Western Reserve University in Cleveland, OH and is supported by a scholarship from the Royal Thai Government. She joined Professor Agata Exner鈥檚 lab in the Fall of 2016 as a Ph.D. student and is currently a fourth-year Ph.D. candidate. She has started to focus on her new research interests about developing drug-loaded nano-scale ultrasound contrast agents (nanobubbles) for image-guided and drug delivery in cancer treatment. Enhancements in drug accumulation and penetration will allow for greater therapeutic efficiency of cancers. In particular, she works on improving the drug loading capacity of nanobubbles. This approach has great potential for maximizing the treatment directly at the tumor site while minimizing systemic side effects. 

PhD, Civil Engineering (Computational Mechanics), University of Kansas
MS, Computer Science, University of Kansas
MS, Structural Engineering (Structural Dynamics), Zhejiang University, China
BS, Civil Engineering, Zhejiang University, China



Biography
Dr. Jiang's work falls under technological developments in translational research. Specifically, his work straddles biomechanics, biomedical imaging, and computational intelligence. He is actively developing computational tools for quickly transforming raw biomedical imaging data into simple but clinically/biologically relevant biomechanical parameters of soft tissue pathologies (e.g., elasticity) and blood flow characteristics (e.g., kinetic energy, pressure gradient). His current and past work also involves close clinical and industrial collaborations. His translational work is highlighted by his contribution to a real-time elastography system by Siemens, which is available in the clinical workflow.
By leveraging his multidisciplinary experience in medical imaging, image/signal processing, computational intelligence, and biomechanics, Dr. Jiang looks forward to further expanding collaborations and developing a research lab that focuses on developing tools to improve precision medicine. The insight gained from these developments will hopefully provide both clinical and basic scientists information regarding the micromechanical environment of diseased lesions such as cancers and cardiovascular diseases during imaging and subsequent therapeutic interventions.

Anton is a research and teaching academic, and the Applied Chemistry and Translational Biomaterials (ACTB) Group leader at the Clinical and Health Sciences (CHS) Unit at the University of South Australia (UniSA). His research group works at the interface between chemistry, biomaterials and pharmaceutical sciences to develop innovative solutions to current and emerging biomedical and environmental challenges. Anton also teaches into first year chemistry, and second year analytical and organic chemistry courses.    
The ACTB Group has a strong focus on the translation of fundamental principles to applied outputs and end-user informed solutions. Currently the group is collaborating with various biotech (Carina Biotech; Vetter Pharm.; D&R Pharm.; CRC CTM) and conservation (FAME; Ecological Horizons) groups to develop innovative technologies to deliver more efficient, efficacious and sustainable processes.  
After completing a PhD in Organic and polymer chemistry from the University of Reading (UK) under the supervision of Prof. Wayne Hayes in 2006, Anton joined the Polymer Science Group at the University of Melbourne as a Postdoctoral Fellow, where he worked on several CRCs (CRC for Polymers; Cotton Catchment Communities CRC) and ARC Linkage (DuPont; PolyActiva) funded projects. In 2009, he was awarded an Australian Research Council Postdoctoral Fellowship. In 2013, Anton moved to UniSA as a Senior Research Fellow to contribute and manage several CRC projects (Vision CRC; Wound Management Innovation CRC; CRC for Cell Therapy Manufacturing (CTM)), before joining Pharmacy School (now CHS) in 2015 to establish the ACTB Group.