Targeting Chronic Inflammatory Lung Diseases Using Advanced Drug Delivery Systems

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.

Lisa G. Pont is a Professor in the Discipline of Pharmacy, Graduate School of Health at the University of Technology Sydney. Pont is a pharmacoepidemiologist with expertise in medicine utilization and health service research to evaluate, understand, and improve the quality and safety of medicine use in practice. Her research explores current practices and patterns of medicines use across populations with a focus on the safety and quality of prescribing and medicines use. Throughout her career, Professor Pont has received a number of awards including two national NPS MedicineWise awards in 2014 and in 2016 for her research. She is a registered pharmacist and was awarded the Society of Hospital Pharmacist of Australia Medal of Merit in 2018.

Kylie A. Williams is a pharmacist and academic leader. She is a founding member of the Graduate School of Health at University of Technology Sydney (UTS), where she is currently the Head of Pharmacy and the Deputy Head of School Learning & Teaching. She has over 25 years of academic experience in learning and teaching, curricula development, research, and academic leadership. Professor Williams leads a research team focused on development, implementation, and evaluation of new models of pharmacy and health service delivery. Alongside her research expertise, Professor Williams is internationally recognized for her curriculum development, and has received a number of teaching grants and awards and has coauthored numerous teaching-related peer-reviewed journal articles, professional books, and educational articles for pharmacists.