Polymers in Therapeutic Delivery

Tomoko Fujiwara is Associate Professor in the Chemistry Department at The University of Memphis. She received her Ph.D. in Polymer Science from Kyoto Institute of Technology in 2001. After postdoctoral training at Virginia Commonwealth University, she started her academic career at Boise State University, then moved to The University of Memphis in 2007. Tomoko is a synthetic polymer chemist and develops polymeric membranes, hydrogels, fibers, andnanoparticles for biomedical applications such as drug and gene delivery systems, medical implants, and tissue regeneration. She has authored over 70 publications.X. Michael Liu is Director of CMC and Pharmaceutical Development at Glaukos Corporation in San Clemente, California. Liu is an accomplished scientific leader in medical devices and pharmaceutical industries. He earned his M.S. and Ph.D. in Chemistry from University of Massachusetts, M.S. in Product Development from Rochester Institute of Technology, and B.S. in Biochemistry from SunYat-sen University. Liu has authored more than 25 peer-reviewed journal articles and 20 patents/patent applications. He serves as an editorial board member for International Journal of Analytical Mass Spectrometry and Chromatography and International Journal of Analytical Techniques. He has organized/co-organized various technical symposia in the areas of polymer applications, characterization, and drug delivery at National ACS meetings. His current research interests include novel drugdelivery systems, combination drug product development, and establishments of polymer structure/process/performance relationships in biopharmaceutical and medical device industries.Yuichi Ohya is Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Materials Engineering at Kansai University. He received his B.S. degree from Kyoto University in 1987 and Ph.D. in Engineering from Kyoto University in 1993. He has served as the director of the Collaborative Research Center of Engineering, Medicine and Pharmacology(CEMP) at Kansai University since 2015, and is the project leader of Kansai University Medical Polymer (KUMP) Project (2016-2020), selected as a Private University Research Branding Project by MEXT, Japan. His research interests are polymeric biomaterials, especially biodegradable polymers, and their applications as drug delivery systems, regenerative medicine, and medical devices. He has published over 145 peer-reviewed original articles and 35 reviews or book chapters. He received the Awardof Japanese Society for Biomaterials in 2017 and the SPSJ Mitsubishi Chemical Award in 2018.Yongmei Wang is Professor in the Chemistry Department at The University of Memphis. She received her B.S. degree from University of Science and Technology of China in 1985 and Ph.D. in Chemistry from University of Notre Dame in 1990. Her research interests are theoretical/ computational studies for polymer characterization, polymer-based gene and drug delivery, and applications in nanomedicines. She haspublished over 80 peer-reviewed journal articles, organized/ co-organized symposiums in the areas of separation and characterization of macromolecules and nanoparticles, gene delivery, and nanomedicines.