Invited Speakers
William E. Bentley - Keynote Speaker
William E. Bentley is the Robert E. Fischell Distinguished Chair of Engineering and the Inaugural Director of the Robert E. Fischell Institute for Biomedical Devices. He is also appointed to the Department of Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering at the University of Maryland, College Park and the Institute for Bioscience and Biotechnology Research. At Maryland since 1989, Dr. Bentley has focused his research on the development of molecular tools that facilitate the expression of biologically active proteins, having authored over 300 related archival publications. He is a fellow of AAAS, ACS, AIMBE, and the American Academy of Microbiology. He has served on advisory committees for the NIH, NSF, DOD, DOE, FDA, USDA, and several state agencies and has mentored over 40 PhDs and 25 postdocs, many now in leadership roles within industry (24), federal agencies (5) and academia (26). He co-founded a protein manufacturing company, Chesapeake PERL, based on insect larvae as mini bioreactors.
Michael D. Buschmann
Michael Buschmann received a B. Engineering Physics from the University of Saskatchewan in 1984, and a Ph.D. in Medical Engineering and Medical Physics from MIT and Harvard University in 1992, and postdoctoral training from the University of Bern, Switzerland from 1992-1994. From 1994 to July 2017, Dr. Buschmann was Professor of Biomedical Engineering and Chemical Engineering at Polytechnique de Montréal. As of Aug 1, 2017 he is Chair of the Department of Bioengineering in the Volgenau School of Engineering at George Mason University in Fairfax Virginia, USA. He developed novel methods and instrumentation for biomechanical testing of tissues that were translated into commercialized instruments by Biomomentum Inc. Subsequently Dr. Buschmann led a multifaceted research program in biomaterials for tissue regeneration that resulted in successful clinical translation of a cartilage repair product that is marketed internationally by Smith and Nephew. At his new lab, he is focusing on new technologies to deliver messenger RNA for vaccines and for protein replacement therapies. Dr. Buschmann has over 150 peer-reviewed manuscripts, 20 patent applications (9 granted), an H-index over 60, won 19 research prizes, and founded 3 successful biomedical companies.
Rohan Fernandes
Rohan Fernandes, PhD, is an Assistant Professor of Medicine at the GW School of Medicine and Health Sciences and a researcher at the GW Cancer Center. Building on his background and training in bioengineering, Dr. Fernandes’ research focuses on “immunoengineering” for cancer and infectious diseases. A particular focus area is the synthesis of nanoparticles that can be used to elicit robust responses from the immune system for the treatment of diseases, particularly disseminated cancer. Dr. Fernandes will present his research in neuroblastoma, a solid tumor cancer that accounts for 10–15 percent of pediatric cancer deaths. Most recently he is PI on a grant from the Alex’s Lemonade Stand Foundation for Childhood Cancer to investigate the use of nanomedicine and immunotherapy to improve treatment and prognosis for neuroblastoma patients. Fernandes received his PhD from the University of Maryland and completed his postdoctoral training at Johns Hopkins University. He has authored publications and his work has been cited in top journals in the fields of bioengineering and nanotechnology including Nature Nanotechnology, ACS Nano, Small, and Nanomedicine. He is an inventor on several patents and is the founder of ImmunoBlue, LLC, a small business established to clinically translate and commercialize technologies developed by his group at GW.
Rong Li
Dr. Rong Li is the Chair of the Department of Biochemistry and Molecular Medicine at the George Washington University School of Medicine & Health Sciences. He did his PhD thesis work at the University of California Berkeley and received his postdoctoral training at the Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory. Prior to his current faculty position at GWU, he was on the faculty of the University of Virginia School of Medicine from 1996-2006 and the University of Texas Health Science Center in San Antonio from 2007-2018. As the co-leader of the scientific programs at the NCI-designated Cancer Centers of these two institutions, Dr. Li played an active role in multiple successful competitive renewals of the NCI designation.
Luyao Lu
Luyao Lu received his B.S. degree in Chemistry from Nanjing University in 2010, and his Ph.D. degree in Chemistry at the University of Chicago in 2015. He was a postdoctoral fellow at UIUC and Northwestern University from 2015 to July 2018. He joined the faculty of George Washington University in the Department of Biomedical Engineering in August 2018. Dr. Lu’s research interests focus on developing novel optoelectronic materials and devices for advanced optical sensing and manipulation of cell activity. Dr. Lu has published over 20 peer-reviewed papers in high impact journals including Nature Photonics, Nature Materials, Nature Communications, PNAS with a total citation over 3600. He has received a number of awards including 2013 Albert J. Cross Prize for Excellence in Research, Teaching, and Departmental Citizenship from University of Chicago and 2016 IUPAC-Solvay International Award for Young Chemists.
Arnaud Martin
Arnaud Martin has been an Assistant Professor in Evolutionary Developmental Biology in the GW Dpt. of Biological since Jan 2016. He holds a Master from the Ecole Normale Supérieure de Lyon (France), a PhD from UC Irvine, and did his post-doctoral research at Cornell University and UC Berkeley. He specializes in the genetics and evolution of butterfly wings, and teaches Developmental Biology (BISC2214) and the Genome Editing Lab (BISC2215).
