Biographies

Herwig Kostron

Dr Kostron was Senior Neurosurgeon at the Department of Neurosurgery at the Medical University of Innsbruck. He retired from this institution in 2013 and now works in a private institution and at the University of Tbilisi, Georgia. He graduated from Medical School University Graz, Austria, in 1974 and was trained at the University Clinic Innsbruck, where he was head of the neuro-oncological unit. He received training in various institutions worldwide. He founded the Austrian Neurosurgical Oncologic Organization (ANCO) in 1985 and he received its honor membership in 2012. He volunteered to build up neurosurgery at Tbilisi Medical State University, Georgia, and performs humanitarian surgery two to three times a year. The honor medical doctor degree of this university was awarded to him in 2000.

His research interests cover clinical neuro-oncological trials, photodynamic applications for neurosurgery and transfection-enhanced drug delivery.

Since 1982, his research interest has focused on photodynamic therapy (Max Kade fellowship at MGH Boston 1982/83) and he has pioneered fluorescence-guided glioma resections combined with simultaneous photodynamic therapy and introduced photodiagnosis/photodynamic therapy into clinical practice in 1998. He was elected President of the International Photodynamic Association (IPA) and European PhotoMedicine (EPPM) and was the organizer of the IPA World Congress in 2011. His main interest focus is on bringing photodynamic therapy to wider clinical attention, which was expressed in the biannual “Brixen meetings—PDT/PDD in Clinical Practice” starting in 1995 and continuing for 20 years, and he was the founder and organizer of this international, highly acknowledged meeting. The current aim is to make photodynamic therapy the fourth standard therapy into oncology (besides surgery, chemotherapy and radiotherapy).

Tayyaba Hasan

Tayyaba Hasan is a Professor of Dermatology at Harvard Medical School (HMS) and Professor of Health Sciences and Technology (HST) at Harvard-Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), based at the Wellman Center for Photomedicine, Massachusetts General Hospital (MGH). She is an international expert in photodynamic therapy (PDT) and biomedical optics. Her research focuses on designing targeted PDT-based regimens for oncology and non-oncology applications, with 17 patents and over 200 publications. Dr Hasan is an inventor of the use of PDT for age-related macular degeneration, the only FDA-approved first-line application for PDT in the US. She is the founder and former Director of the Office for Research Career Development at MGH, and a recipient of numerous scientific and mentoring awards. These include the William Silen Lifetime Achievement in Mentoring Award from HMS, the 10th Anniversary Mentor Award from the National Postdoctoral Association, the Pioneer Award in Biomedical Optics for Bench to Bedside Translation from the National Institute of Health and the Special Director’s Award for Service to the HST Community from HMS and HST. She is the President of the International Photodynamic Association, Vice President of Science for the Pan American PDT Association and past-President of the American Society for Photobiology. Professor Hasan completed her postdoctoral training at the University of Pennsylvania and holds a BS in Chemistry as well as an MS in Organic Chemistry from the University of Karachi, Pakistan, an MPhil in Physical Chemistry from University of Islamabad, Pakistan, and a PhD in Physical Organic Chemistry from the University of Arkansas.

Mahmoud H. Abdel-Kader

Mahmoud H. Abdel-Kader (Dr.rer.nat.) is a Professor of Photochemistry at Cairo University and the President of the German University in Cairo. He received his PhD in Photochemistry at Stuttgart University, followed by postdoctoral positions at the University of Karlsruhe, Germany, and the EPFL, Switzerland. He was a Visiting Professor at Georgia Tech, USA, and the Institute for Laser Technology at Ulm University. Prof Abdel-Kader’s research interests include laser spectroscopy, solar photochemical conversions for malaria vector control and applications of nanoparticles in photodynamic cancer diagnosis and therapy.

Prof Abdel-Kader was awarded the 2012 “Excellence Award of Science” from Cairo University and, recently, in 2015, the “State Merit Award in Advanced Technological Sciences” from the Academy of Scientific Research and Technology in Egypt.

Sriram Anbil

Sriram Anbil is an HHMI Medical Research Fellow at Harvard Medical School and a medical student at the University of Texas School of Medicine at San Antonio (MS3). He is investigating biomodulation-based strategies to enhance photodynamic therapy regimens for the treatment of oral and pancreatic cancers. His research interests include the development of mechanism-based combinations for locally advanced and metastatic cancers using targeted approaches that include modulating cancer cell metabolism and exploiting differentiation and cell cycle-related pathways in vivo and in 3D tumor models. His goal is to integrate his preclinical experience with clinical interests in vascular and interventional radiology and minimally invasive surgery to translate photodynamic therapy and imaging-based regimens to patients with advanced-stage cancers.

Kristian Berg, Pål Selbo and Anette Weyergang

Dr Pål Selbo and Dr Anette Weyergang are researcher and post-doctorate, respectively, in Prof Kristian Berg’s research group of photochemical internalization (PCI) at the Norwegian Radium Hospital in Oslo Norway. In recent years, Dr Selbo has focused on PCI for targeting cancer stem cells, while Dr Weyergang’s main focus has been the development of recombinant cancer-targeted drugs for PCI-mediated delivery. Dr Selbo has been associated with Prof Berg’s PCI group since it was founded in 1995. Dr Weyergang has been in the group since 2003.

Emma Briars

Emma Briars is a Research Technician in the laboratory of Dr Tayyaba Hasan at the Wellman Center for Photomedicine at Massachusetts General Hospital. She received her BA in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology and Mathematics from Boston University in 2013. There, under the mentorship of Dr Daniel Segrè in the Biomedical Engineering Program in Bioinformatics, she studied the allosteric regulation of enzymes in metabolic networks. Her current research, under the mentorship of Dr Hasan, focuses on using photodynamic therapy and chemotherapy combinations in in vitro ovarian cancer models, including heterocellular 3D tumor models.

Stephen G. Bown

With a background in physics and gastroenterology, Prof Bown runs a clinical translational research group that is dedicated to understanding the interaction of light with living tissue and its use for the detection and treatment of human disease. He brings scientists and clinicians together to understand the biology of photodynamic therapy (PDT) in normal and diseased tissues and to take the results forward to clinical trials. His group reported the first image-guided, interstitial PDT for cancers of the prostate and pancreas. With over 300 scientific publications on the medical applications of lasers, invited lectures in 45 countries and visiting research fellows from 35 countries, he was awarded the PDT clinical lifetime achievement award at the International Photodynamic Association conference in Rio de Janeiro in May 2015.

Anne-Laure Bulin

Anne-Laure Bulin is a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Dr Tayyaba Hasan at the Wellman Center for Photomedicine at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. Before this, she studied material science at the École Normale Supérieure of Lyon (France). She received her PhD in 2014 from the University of Lyon (France), in which she studied the processes of energy relaxation in nanoscintillators. Since she joined Dr Hasan’s laboratory in 2014, she has become immersed in 3D tumor models, and she mainly focuses on adapting imaging techniques in order to study 3D models.

Paula García Calavia

Paula García Calavia completed her undergraduate studies at the University of East Anglia in Norwich (UK). She is now working on her PhD at the same university under the supervision of Prof David A. Russell. Her research is focused on the use of functionalized nanoparticles for the targeted photodynamic therapy of cancer.

Piergiacomo Calzavara-Pinton

Piergiacomo Calzavara-Pinton was born in Brescia on May 24th 1955, and he completed the training in dermatology at the University of Milan in 1983. From 1984 to 2001, he was the Chairman of the Photobiology Unit of the Department of Dermatology of the AO Spedali Civili of Brescia, Italy. He has been a full Professor of Dermatology and Chairman of the Department of Dermatology of the University of Brescia since 2001.

He is a member of the Board of Directors of the European Academy of Dermatology and Venereology (EADV), European Society for Photodermatology (ESPD), Società Italiana di Dermatologia e MST (SIDEMAST) and Gruppo Italiano di Studi Epidemiologici in Dermatologia (GISED). He is the representative of Southern Europe in the Scientific Programming Committee of the EADV. He is an ordinary member of the European Dermatology Forum (EDF), European Organisation for Research and Treatment of Cancer (EORTC), American Society for Photobiology (ASP) and European Group for Photodynamic Therapy (EURO-PDT).

He is the author or co-author of 215 full papers in peer-reviewed journals cited on PubMed, 55 chapters of books and 85 citable abstracts in peer-reviewed journals. His h-indices are 27 (Isi-WOB), 29 (Scopus) and 35 (Google Scholar).

Olimpia Coppellotti

Olimpia Coppellotti is the Professor of Zoology at the University of Padova (Italy). Her research is focused on different subjects in protozoology: movement and energetic reservoirs in flagellates and ciliates; heavy metal detoxification and metallothioneins; morphological and taxonomic studies of Ciliophora from various environments; roles of Ciliophora as biological indicators; physiological adaptations of Protozoa to extreme conditions; and identification and classification of fossil microorganisms in Triassic amber. Since 2000, she begun an active scientific collaboration with Giulio Jori and her research was devoted to the photosensitization of Protozoa by means of porphyrinic compounds in order to inactivate pathogenic agents of water- and vector-borne diseases, and the development of photoactivatable formulates of low environmental impact in the larval control of malaria vectors.

Carl J. Fisher

Carl J. Fisher received his BSc degree in Biochemistry at McGill University, Montreal, Canada, in 2009. Following his undergraduate degree, Carl has been working on his doctorate at the University of Toronto in the Department of Medical Biophysics, conducting research at the Princess Margaret Cancer Centre. His current research interests focus on the use of photodynamic therapy (PDT) for the treatment of malignant gliomas. He is currently examining how modifications to glioma cellular sensitivity can improve PDT treatments and the use of quantitative magnetic resonance imaging to determine whether patient tumors are suitable for PDT treatment.

Warren Foltz

Dr Warren Foltz received his PhD from the Department of Medical Biophysics at the University of Toronto, specializing in quantitative magnetic resonance imaging (MRI) applied to oximetry and cardiac disease. Since 2007, he has been the MRI Physicist for the STTARR Innovation Centre (http://www.sttarr.ca) of the University Health Network (UHN) in Toronto, Canada. Within the UHN, he is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Radiation Oncology and a staff scientist for the Techna Institute (http://www.technainstitute.com). His research interests include the application of advanced and quantitative MRI techniques to preclinical disease models and their integration into clinical trials.

C. Frochot

C. Frochot graduated from the Ecole Nationale Supérieure des Industries Chimiques (ENSIC, Nancy, France) and obtained her PhD in Macromolecular Chemistry and Physical Chemistry in 1997. In 2000, she became a CNRS researcher and her interest is to develop novel photo-activable compounds for nanomedicine and photodynamic therapy. In particular, a large part of her research in the laboratory of reactions and chemical engineering LRGP UMR 7274 CNRS-University of Lorraine, France, concerns the study of the synthesis and photophysical properties of targeted photosensitizers designed for anti-vascular photodynamic therapy applications. She is the author of 90 publications, 9 book chapters and 33 invited talks.

Kinya Furukawa

Kinya Furukawa MD, PhD (born July 31 1958) Current position: Professor, Tokyo Medical University (TMU).

Passed the Licensing Examination of the National Medical Board (1985).

Resident in the Department of Surgery, TMU (1985–1986). Postgraduate research in the Department of Physiology, TMU (1987–1988), studying photosensitizers and their clinical applications. PhD in Physiology at TMU (1989). Visiting Researcher, Radiation Biology, Roswell Park Cancer Institute, Buffalo, NY, USA (1992–1994). Professor, Department of Thoracic Surgery, TMU (Ibaraki Medical Center; 2007). Vice President of TMU (Ibaraki Medical Center; since 2009) and Associate Editor of Photodiagnosis and Photodynamic Therapy (since 2011).

Charles J. Gomer

Charles J. Gomer, PhD, is Vice Chair of Pediatrics for Faculty Affairs and Professor of Pediatrics and Radiation Oncology at the University of Southern California. He is also director of the Radiation Biology Laboratory at Children’s Hospital Los Angeles. Dr Gomer’s research is in the areas of laser medicine, radiation biology, photodynamic therapy (PDT), oxidative stress and tumor biology. He has focused much of his PDT studies on mechanisms of action and translational opportunities. He is the recipient of the 2012 T. J. Dougherty Lifetime Achievement Award in Photodynamic Therapy Research.

Michael R. Hamblin

Michael R. Hamblin, PhD, is a Principal Investigator at the Wellman Center for Photomedicine at Massachusetts General Hospital, an Associate Professor of Dermatology at Harvard Medical School and is a member of the affiliated faculty of the Harvard-MIT Division of Health Science and Technology. His research interests lie in the areas of photodynamic therapy (PDT) for infections, cancer and stimulation of the immune system, and in low-level light therapy for wound healing, arthritis, traumatic brain injury, neurodegenerative diseases and psychiatric disorders. He directs a laboratory of around a dozen postdoctoral fellows, visiting scientists and graduate students. His research program is supported by NIH, CDMRP, USAFOSR and CIMIT, among other funding agencies. He has published over 300 peer-reviewed articles and over 150 conference proceedings, book chapters and international abstracts and holds eight patents. He is Associate Editor for seven journals, on the editorial board of a further 20 journals and serves on NIH Study Sections. He has edited ten proceedings volumes together with ten other textbooks on PDT and photomedicine. In 2011, Dr Hamblin was honored by election as a Fellow of SPIE. He is a Visiting Professor at universities in China, South Africa and Northern Ireland.

Peter Hillemanns

Professor and Chairman of the Department of Obstetrics and Gynecology at MHH, coordinator of the German S3 Guideline for cervical cancer prevention, Vice Chair of the German Study Group Colposcopy, Dr Hillemanns started his research in the field of HPV-related diseases in the laboratory of R Richart/TC Wright at Columbia University, New York, in 1990. He was one of the first to explore the potential of fluorescence diagnosis/photodynamic therapy for CIN as well as HPV self-testing for non-responders in cervical screening. He has been the PI in a variety of HPV-related clinical studies such as HPV vaccination and CIN-related diagnostic and treatment studies.

Theresa Hommel

Dr Theresa Hommel studied medicine at Munster University and received her dermatologic training at Dusseldorf University and Klinikum Vest.

Colin Hopper

Shortly after his appointment at UCL Eastman and University College Hospital London in 1991, he became involved with the early safety studies on Photofrin photodynamic therapy (PDT) and subsequent early clinical applications in the treatment of field change disease of the oral cavity. He next started to work with Foscan, initially using surface illumination to treat early oral cancer, followed by the development of interstitial techniques for the treatment of deep-seated malignancies, but also difficult benign diseases such as lymphangioma. More recently, he was the principal investigator on a phase 1 study on photochemical internalization. He has published over 150 peer-reviewed articles and lectured in over 40 countries. More recently, he has been helping to develop PDT services in Bolivia and has an interest in developing PDT in developing countries.

Huang-Chiao Huang

Huang-Chiao Huang is a postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Wellman Center for Photomedicine at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School under the mentorship of Professor Tayyaba Hasan. His research interests are focused on the interface of biochemical engineering, nanotechnology, oncology and biomedical optics. A major area of focus is developing multifunctional nanocarriers that incorporate multiple theranostic agents with the goal of improving the efficacy of photodynamic therapy-based combination therapies and reducing systemic toxicities. Huang-Chiao holds a PhD in Chemical Engineering from the Ira A. Fulton Schools of Engineering at Arizona State University (Professor Kaushal Rege, Advisor) and a BS from National Taipei University of Technology.

Sadao Kaneko

Education and professional positions: MD, Hokkaido University School of Medicine, Sapporo City, Japan (1970). Resident of Neurosurgery, Hokkaido University Hospital, Sapporo City, Japan (1970–1976). Associate, Department of Neurosurgery, Hokkaido University Hospital, Sapporo City, Japan (1974). Ohio State University, Columbus, USA (1979–1981). Assistant Professor, Department of Neurosurgery, Hokkaido University Hospital, Sapporo City, Japan (1984). Director, Department of Neurosurgery, Iwamizawa Municipal General Hospital, Iwamizawa City, Japan (1985). Director, Iwamizawa Municipal Nursing School (1997–2003). Vice President, Iwamizawa Municipal General Hospital (2002–2003). Director, Kashiwaba Neurosurgical Hospital, Sapporo City, Japan (2003–2007). Chief Director, Kashiwaba Neurosurgical Hospital (2007–present).

Member of The Japan Neurosurgical Society, The Japan Cancer Society, The Japanese Congress of Neurosurgical Surgeon, The Japan Society of Laser Medicine, The Japanese Photodynamic Association, The Japan Society for Neuro-Oncology, The Japan Stroke Society and The International Photodynamic Association.

Harubumi Kato

Harubumi Kato, MD, PhD (born October 3, 1942). Current positions: Professor Emeritus, Tokyo Medical University; Professor, International University of Health and Welfare; and Honorary President, Niizashiki Chuo General Hospital.

Professor of Department of Surgery of Tokyo Medical University (1990–2008).

Chairman, PDT Research Committee Ministry of Health and Welfare (1986) and Japan Lung Cancer Society (2008).

Presidents: International Academy of Cytology (1998), International Association for Study of Lung Cancer (2000), World Congress of the International Photodynamic Association (2003), International Society for Laser Surgery and Medicine (2003) and World Congress for Bronchology (2008).

Awards: The “von Tappeiner” Medal, International Photodynamic Association (2005), IASLC Merit Award and International Association for the Study of Lung Cancer (2005).

Yasufumi Kato

Yasufumi Kato, MD, PhD (born October 22, 1971). Current position: Assistant Professor, Department of Thoracic Surgery, Tokyo Medical University (TMU).

Passed the Licensing Examination of the National Medical Board (1998). Resident in the Department of Surgery, TMU (1998–1999). Assistant Professor in the Department of Thoracic Surgery, TMU (since 2008). Postdoctoral research fellow, Division of Medical Oncology, University of Colorado Denver (2009–2010). Assistant Professor in the Department of Thoracic Surgery, TMU (Ibaraki Medical Center; since 2015).

Barbara Krammer

Barbara Krammer holds a PhD in Biology and Biophysics from the University of Salzburg, where she has been Associate Professor since 1991. As head of the working group “Photodynamic Therapy and Cellular Biophysics” at the Department of Molecular Biology, she is the lecturer and supervisor of numerous theses and participates in national and international research cooperations and conferences. Her current research interests include photodynamic tumor therapy and fluorescence diagnosis, photodynamic processes, anticancer therapeutics, visible light and low-level radiobiological effects on health and skin-related questions, using spectrophotometry, cell culture tests and detections of apoptosis, cell cycle changes, gene expression, signaling pathways and immune reactions.

Lothar Lilge

Lothar Lilge completed graduate training at the Johann Wolfgang Goethe University, Frankfurt, Germany, the Westfaehlische Wilhelms University, Muenster, Germany, and the Wellman Laboratories of Photomedicine, Boston, MA, USA, prior to joining Dr B. C. Wilson in Hamilton for his postdoctoral training. At that time, he embarked on studies pertaining to photodynamic therapy (PDT), with an initial focus on intracranial neoplasms and aspects of dosimetry, which he still maintains to this day. Dr Lilge’s interests expanded to the evaluation of Ru(ii) complexes as photosensitizers and the used of PDT in antimicrobial applications, with a particular interest in relevant small animal models.

N. Loebel

Dr Loebel serves as President and Chief Technology Officer to Ondine Biomedical, Inc., specializing in product research and development, photochemistry, systems integration and cross-functional team building. His research focus has centered on novel photochemistries, rheological modeling of periodontal disease and tooth mobility, fiber optic waveguide propagation theory, evanescent coupling and the applications of optical fibers to interferometric sensors. He has experience in dental and medical product development and manufacturing, corporate management and business development in public and private market environments. He has authored numerous publications and patents and lectures regularly on antimicrobial photodynamics around the world.

Zvi Malik

Zvi Malik received his PhD in 1976 in Biology from the Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel. Positions: 1976–1978, postdoc at the Hematology Research Center; 1979–1990, Senior Lecturer at the Life Sciences Faculty, Bar Ilan University, Israel; since 1991, Professor at the Life Sciences Faculty. His research topics focused on the regulation of porphyrin synthesis in cancer cells, ALA photodynamic therapy and ALA-induced hemoglobin synthesis and erythroid differentiation.

Vincent Maunoury

Vincent Maunoury, MD, PhD, has been working for 35 years in the digestive endoscopy unit of the Gastroenterology Department at the University Hospital of Lille, France. His first activity mainly concerned thermal laser treatment with Professor JM Brunetaud. He then developed endoscopic ultrasonography in the north of France. He was also involved in the development of photodynamic therapy in the French Society of Digestive Endoscopy in association with Professors Serge Mordon and Jean Boyer.

Keyvan Moghissi

Professor Keyvan Moghissi studied Medicine at the University of Geneva and obtained BSc, MD and MS Chir qualifications. His postgraduate training was in Switzerland and the UK. He is FRCS (Ed & Eng), Membre (Etranger) de l’Academie de Chirurgie (Paris) and FETCS. He has been involved in laser surgery and photodynamic therapy for the past 30 years. He is the author of four textbooks and over 400 publications. His current position is Consultant Cardiothoracic Surgeon and Director of the Yorkshire Laser Centre. He is an Honorary Consultant at a number of institutions and a Visiting Professor at Guangzhou University.

Serge R. Mordon

Professor Serge R. Mordon, PhD, is working in Lille, France, for the French National Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM). He is the director of INSERM U 1189 (Laser Therapies Assisted by Image and Simulation for Oncology) and the director of the Photomedicine Center (Lille University Hospital). Since 1981, he has been involved in the medical applications of lasers, particularly in dermatology and plastic surgery. He has focused his research on focal laser ablation and photodynamic therapy. He is an internationally recognized expert in laser–tissue interactions and laser applications in medicine. He has authored over 400 articles and book chapters. Professor Mordon is the author of 16 issued patents. He is the President of The French Medical Laser Society and Board Member of several professional societies. He is an associate editor of the editorial board for the journal Lasers in Surgery and Medicine.

Santi Nonell

Santi Nonell is Professor of Physical Chemistry at the Institut Químic de Sarrià (IQS), University Ramon Llull, Barcelona, Spain, and Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry. He earned his PhD for work carried out at the Max-Planck-Institut für Strahlenchemie and conducted postdoctoral research at Arizona State University and the University of California, Los Angeles. His core research interests lie in the area of biological photochemistry, with a focus on singlet oxygen and the photochemical aspects of photodynamic therapy, for which he has published more than 140 papers and numerous book chapters.

Girgis Obaid

Girgis Obaid is currently a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Wellman Center for Photomedicine at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School. His current research efforts are guided and mentored by Professor Tayyaba Hasan and all revolve around bioconjugated targeted nanotherapeutics for the selective photodynamic therapy and optical bioimaging of cancer. Girgis’ expertise spans antibody and protein engineering, conjugation chemistry and nanomedicine to improve the efficacy, selectivity and safety of current and emerging cancer therapeutics. Girgis received his PhD in targeted nanoparticle platforms from the School of Chemistry at the University of East Anglia (UK) under the guidance of Professor David Russell in 2013, and received a First Class BSc (Hons) degree in Biochemistry from the University of East Anglia in 2009.

Bernhard Ortel

Bernhard Ortel is a Chicago-based dermatologist who has contributed to basic and clinical research in photomedicine and photodynamic therapy (PDT). He was trained at the University of Vienna, Austria, focusing his clinical dermatology research on photomedicine. From 1994 to 2005, he investigated molecular mechanisms in PDT at the Wellman Center of Photomedicine of the Harvard Medical School in Tayyaba Hasan’s team. In 2005, Bernhard joined the University of Chicago, resuming his clinical career in dermatology. Currently, he is the Division Head of Dermatology at NorthShore University HealthSystem, an academic affiliate of the University of Chicago. He teaches as Clinical Professor at its Pritzker School of Medicine.

Thierry Patrice

Fascinated by colors, Thierry Patrice started his career in photobiology by learning photography at approximately 14 years of age and then watercolor painting. He became an MD cum laude in 1981 at the University of Nantes and completed his PhD in Biotechnology (Optoelectronics) in Lille II University. He was nominated as a Professor in 1990, teaching physiology and biophysics. In parallel, he specialized in oncology. He started a research laboratory devoted to photobiology and introduced photodynamic therapy in France and probably in Europe in GI, ENT, lung and neurosurgery. Since 2008, he has used photoreactions and singlet oxygen to explore resistance to oxidation in living tissues. He has been the President of the International Photodynamic Association (IPA; 1998–2001) and organized the IPA World Congress in Nantes in 1998.

He is convinced that light and photobiology influence life on a much broader scale than generally considered.

Imran Rizvi

Imran Rizvi is an Instructor in Medicine and Dermatology at Harvard Medical School, an Associate Bioengineer at the Division of Biomedical Engineering and the Department of Medicine at Brigham and Women’s Hospital and an Assistant in Biomedical Engineering at the Wellman Center for Photomedicine, Department of Dermatology at Massachusetts General Hospital. His research interests are focused on the interface of oncology, bioengineering and biomedical optics. A major area of focus is developing physiologically relevant 3D tumor models that incorporate critical cellular, stromal and physical cues with the goal of improving the translational efficiency and efficacy of combination therapies involving photodynamic therapy. Imran completed his postdoctoral training at the Wellman Center for Photomedicine at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School under the mentorship of Professor Tayyaba Hasan. He holds a PhD in Engineering Sciences from the Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth College (Professor Brian Pogue, co-advisor), an MS in Tumor Biology from the Lombardi Comprehensive Cancer Center at Georgetown University (Professor Stephen Byers, advisor) and a BA from Johns Hopkins University.

David Russell

David Russell is a Professor of Chemistry at the University of East Anglia, Norwich, UK. Previously, David obtained his PhD from the University of Manchester, UK, and then spent 4 years as a postdoctoral research fellow in Canada. In 1991, David joined the faculty in the School of Chemistry at the University of East Anglia. David’s research is focused on the synthesis and functionalization of nanoparticles, particularly gold nanoparticles. These nanoparticles are functionalized with both a photosensitizer and a biological ligand, such as antibodies or lectins, for targeted photodynamic therapy of cancer. Additionally, nanoparticles functionalized with either antibodies or carbohydrates have been synthesized for the development of in vitro diagnostics. This latter work has led to the formation of two spin-out companies, Intelligent Fingerprinting Ltd and Iceni Diagnostics Ltd.

Yoram Salomon

Professor Yoram Salomon, born in Israel, graduated in 1972 as a PhD in Biochemistry at the Hebrew University in Jerusalem. As a postdoc at NIH and subsequently at the Weizmann Institute from 1975, his research centered on cellular signaling, mainly the regulation adenylate cyclase by peptide/protein hormone receptors and G-proteins. In the early 1990s, Yoram’s research interests shifted towards cancer research and therapy. In collaboration with Professor Avigdor Scherz at Weizmann, they developed a novel mode of photodynamic therapy using a novel Pd-bacteriochlorophyll sensitizer that eradicates solid tumors through vascular occlusion and subsequent tissue collapse, based on cytotoxicity of superoxide, hydroxyl and nitric oxide radical species. This treatment has recently completed phase III clinical trials for prostate cancer therapy, has been approved for use in Mexico and is in stages of approval elsewhere.

Kimberley Samkoe

Kimberley Samkoe is an Assistant Research Professor at the Department of Surgery at Geisel School of Medicine and an Adjunct Assistant Professor at the Thayer School of Engineering at Dartmouth College (Hanover, NH). Dr Samkoe’s current research interests involve the application and imaging response to photodynamic therapy. In addition, her research focuses on molecular fluorescence imaging for quantitative assessment of the in vivo molecular expression of proteins for cancer diagnosis, therapeutic monitoring and surgical resection.

Avigdor Scherz

Avigdor Scherz holds the Robert and Yadelle Sklare Professorial Chair in Biochemistry at the Weizmann Institute of Science, Rehovot, Israel. Together with Professor Yoram Salomon, he received the Lombroso Award in cancer research for 2012. He was born in Jerusalem, graduated from the Hebrew University in Jerusalem as a PhD in Chemistry and joined the Weizmann Institute after completing postdoctoral studies at Washington University in Seattle. His research focuses on the destructive and constructive interactions of light with biological matter. This gained knowledge is applied in advancing novel therapeutic modalities and stress-tolerant photosynthetic systems using multidisciplinary approaches. Synthesis of water-soluble bacteriochlorophyll derivatives in Scherz’s laboratory (e.g. WST11) provided the means for a novel form of vascular-targeted photodynamic therapy (VTP) by Scherz and Salomon. WST11 VTP has recently completed a Phase III clinical trial in Europe and Latin America on patients with early-stage prostate cancer and was granted approval for use in Mexico. Approval in Europe and elsewhere is currently under consideration and expected in the near future. Together with Dr Coleman and others at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, WST11 VTP in combination with immune modulation is now being tested for other localized and disseminated malignancies. Application of WST11 radical generation for the treatment of keratoconus and degenerative myopia is currently established in the laboratory.

Aleksander Sieroń

Professor Aleksander Sieroń, MSc of Eng., MD, PhD, Dr HC, is a clinician. He is head of the Clinical Department of Internal Medicine, Angiology and Physical Medicine at the Medical University of Silesia. He is the creator and head of the first and the only Polish Centre of Laser Diagnosis and Therapy, whose main activity is photodynamic medicine. He is a specialist in internal medicine, cardiology, angiology, hypertensiology and physical medicine. Apart from being active in EPPM, he is a member of UEMS Council Angiology/Vascular Medicine Division. He is an author of numerous publications, books and handbooks devoted to photodynamic diagnosis and therapy. He is the President of the Polish Society of Photodynamic and Laser Medicine.

Alexis Sidoroff

Alexis Sidoroff is a dermatoveneorologist who was born in 1962 and schooled and received his general medical education in Innsbruck, Austria. He has been working at the Department of Dermatology and Venereology since 1991 (heads: Professors Peter Fritsch and Matthias Schmuth). He has been involved in photodynamic therapy (PDT) since the early 1990s, mostly at a clinical level. He has conducted research in the laboratory of the dermatological department in Regensburg/Germany (RM Szeimies). He is a founding member of Euro-PDT and a routine user of PDT for 25 years. He has been an official and unofficial co-organizer of the “Brixen meetings” since their very beginning. He is a co-author of numerous PDT guidelines in dermatology, always approaching the topic with the patient’s benefit in mind.

Rolf-Markus Szeimies

Professor Rolf-Markus Szeimies studied medicine at the University of Munich. His specialty training was in dermatology at universities in both Munich and Regensburg. Since November 2009, he has been Head of the Department of Dermatology and Allergology, Klinikum Vest, Academic Teaching Hospital, Ruhr-University in Recklinghausen. His PhD thesis was accepted in 1997 for his research on topical photodynamic therapy (PDT) in dermatology. His main research interests are in dermatooncology, the use of lasers in dermatology and aesthetics and photobiology, especially PDT. Professor Szeimies has published more than 200 articles in peer-reviewed journals and over 40 chapters in books. He is a member of national and international guideline committees for the treatment of non-melanoma skin cancer and for PDT. Professor Szeimies is currently Vice President of the European and the International Society for Photodynamic Therapy in Dermatology.

Jitsuo Usuda

Jitsuo Usuda, MD, PhD (born June 14, 1968). Current position: Professor in the Department of Thoracic Surgery, Nippon Medical School. Passed the Examination of the National Board (1994). Resident in the Department of Surgery, Tokyo Medical University Hospital (1994–1996). Research resident, Pharmacology Division, National Cancer Center, Research Institute (1996–1998). Research Scholar in the Department of Radiation Oncology, School of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University (2001–2002).

Research Associate in the Department of Radiation Oncology, School of Medicine, Case Western Reserve University (2002–2003). Associate Professor in the Department of Thoracic Surgery, Tokyo Medical University (since January 2012). Professor in the Department of Thoracic Surgery, Nippon Medical School (since December 2012).

Thomas Verwanger

Dr Thomas Verwanger completed his PhD at the Institute of Physics and Biophysics at the University of Salzburg, where he is currently employed as a postdoctoral researcher. His research focuses on the molecular biological effects of photodynamic tumor therapy and the mechanisms of cell damage and endogenous protection in the course of radon therapy.

Brian C. Wilson

Brian C. Wilson, PhD, is Professor of Medical Biophysics in the Faculty of Medicine at the University of Toronto and Princess Margaret Cancer Centre, Canada. He has been active in photodynamic research since 1981, with primary interests in the biophysical and technological aspects, as well as clinical translation for the treatment, detection and surgical guidance of solid tumors. His work on photodynamic therapy and PDD are part of a larger program in biophotonics and nanobiotechnology research that spans therapeutics, diagnostics and analytics and includes close collaboration with clinical specialists and with industry.