Technological Advances and Innovations in the Treatment of Chronic Respiratory Disorders

Gabriele holds a Bachelor's Degree in Biotechnology ("La Sapienza" University of Rome, Italy) and a Master'sdegree in Genetic Sciences and Technologies (University of Sannio, Benevento, Italy). He has justcompleted a PhD in Pharmacy (thesis under examination) at the Discipline of Pharmacy, Graduate Schoolof Health, UTS, with a thesis on the development of advanced drug delivery systems for respiratory diseases.Gabriele has extensive experience as an industry-based researcher, particularly in the setup andevaluation of animal (mouse and rat) models of cancer and inflammatory diseases and in the preclinicalin vivo testing of the safety, efficacy and pharmacokinetic properties of novel anti-cancer and anti-inflammatorydrugs.Gabriele's current expertise and research interest cover the in vitro advanceddrug delivery of phytoceuticals and nucleic acid-based therapeutics (decoy oligodeoxynucleotides,miRNAs) for the treatment of respiratory inflammatory diseases and lung cancer.

Dr Ronan MacLoughlin, PhD MBS, is currently director of Research and Development, Science and Emerging Technologies in Aerogen limited and Irish medical device company specializing in respiratory drug delivery. He has more than 25 years of experience in the design and development of aerosol drug delivery systems and drug/device combination products. He currently has more than 120 articles, and multiple conference presentations and conference papers combined with several patents. He holds the position of adjunct associate professor in Trinity College Dublin’s (Ireland) Department of Pharmaceutics and Pharmaceutical Technology, honorary Senior Lecturer in the Royal College of Surgeons Ireland (RCSI), nonexecutive director on the board of several startup and scaling Med tech and pharmaceutical companies. Additionally, he is currently chair of the pediatric and cystic fibrosis working group within the International Society for aerosols in medicine. In 2024 he was honored with the Thomas T Mercer award, recognizing Dr MacLoughlin’s excellence in the areas of pharmaceutical aerosols and inhalable materials.development of drug delivery systems and drug device combinations, he has >220 collaborative publications,as well as 12 granted patents.His most recent focus has been on enabling several clinical programs making use of aerosolised prophylacticsand therapeutics for COVID-19, and his work on delivery of inhaled vaccines has resulted in theworld’s first approval for an orally inhaled vaccine for COVID-19 (Convidecia Air). His contribution to thestate of the art in fugitive medical and patient-derived aerosols was central to the evolution of severalcritical care consensus statements around the safe use of aerosol therapy during the COVID-19 pandemic.

Prof. Santos (D.Sc. Tech., Chem. Eng.) is a Full Professor in Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Groningen. He is also Research Director at the University of Helsinki, Faculty of Pharmacy. Prof. Santos is also the co-founder of the startups Capsamedix Oy and Medixmicro Oy, and Coordinator of MSCA-ITN P4 FIT network in tendon repair (~4.1 m€). He holds Visiting Professorships at the Shanghai Jiao Tong University School of Medicine and University of Tartu. Prof. Santos research interests include the development of nanoparticles/nanomedicines and biomaterials for biomedical applications, particularly cancer and heart diseases. His lab makes the unique bridge between medical engineering, pharmaceutical nanotechnology and tissue engineering by combining unique techniques to develop novel therapeutic formulations for translation into the clinic. He is also in Editorial board member of several international journals, and Associate Editor of Nano Select, Smart Materials in Medicine, and Drug Delivery and Translational Research, among others. Prof. Santos has received prestigious awards/grants, for example, the "Talent Prize in Science" in 2010 attributed by the Portuguese Government, ERC Starting Grant in 2013 and ERC Proof-of-Concept Grant in 2018, Young Researcher Award in 2013 attributed by Faculty of Pharmacy, the Academy of Finland Award for Social Impact in 2016, and the CRS Young Investigator Award 2021.

Dr. Saritha Shetty Associate Professor, Pharmaceutics Shobhaben Pratapbhai Patel School of Pharmacy & Technology Management SVKM’s NMIMS, V.L.Mehta Vile Parle (west), Mumbai, has a research experience of over 16 years working in the area of drug delivery and analytical method development. Before joining academics, she served as Scientist at Syngene International. Pvt. Ltd. (A Biocon Group), Bangalore, India. During this tenure, she has completed projects of major client like Baxter ACC – (Baxter Anesthesia Critical Care, USA) for analytical method development and validation using HPLC and GC. Dr. Shetty has her research interest in areas of developing drug delivery systems for infectious diseases. She has developed novel and effective formulations for topical and transdermal systems, mucoadhesive systems for respiratory and oral delivery. Edit

Dr. Divya Suares Assistant Professor, Pharmaceutics Shobhaben Pratapbhai Patel School of Pharmacy & Technology Management, SVKM's NMIMS, V.L. Mehta Road has a search experience of over 14 years in the area of drug delivery. Dr. Divya completed her Bachelor’s Degree in Pharmacy and Master’s Degree in Pharmaceutics from Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences, India. She completed her Doctor of Philosophy in Pharmaceutical Sciences from NMIMS deemed-to-be University, wherein her research project involved development and evaluation of lipid based formulation of Rosuvastatin. Dr. Divya’s research interest encompass the development of drug delivery systems via the oral, topical, intranasal route for the management of various disorders, development of effective formulations for wound healing and pediatric-friendly drug delivery systems. Edit

Kamal Dua is an Associate Professor in the Discipline of Pharmacy at the University of Technology Sydney (UTS). Dr Dua has been recognised and named as one of Australia’s Top 250 researchers in 2025 and 2024 in Research Magazine by “The Australian in the research discipline of Health and Medical sciences, and #1/research leader in the area of Pharmacology and Pharmacy (2025) and Toxicology (2024) respectively. With over 17 years of research experience, he has specialised in drug delivery targeting inflammatory diseases. Additionally, Dr Dua also leads drug delivery research at the Woolcock Institute of Medical Research. In this role, he focuses on advancing targets identified in research projects to develop innovative formulations, taking the first steps toward clinical translation. Dr Dua’s research encompasses two complementary areas: drug delivery and immunology. His work explores how these disciplines can mutually benefit, contributing to the goal of promoting longer and healthier lives for the community. His commitment to synergy is reflected in his extensive publication record in reputable journals. Dr Dua’s research interests are centered on harnessing the pharmaceutical potential of modulating critical regulators, such as interleukins and microRNAs. He also specialises in developing new and effective drug delivery formulations for managing inflammation in chronic airway diseases and cancer.