iSRS 2025 Keynote Speakers
Prof Ben Davis
Ben Davis got his B.A. (1993) and D.Phil. (1996) from the University of Oxford. During this time, he learned the beauty of carbohydrate chemistry under the supervision of Professor George Fleet. He then spent two years as a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Professor Bryan Jones at the University of Toronto, exploring protein chemistry and biocatalysis. In 1998, he returned to the U.K. to take up a lectureship at the University of Durham. In 2001, he moved to the Dyson Perrins Laboratory, University of Oxford, and received a fellowship at Pembroke College, Oxford. He was promoted to Full Professor in 2005.
His group’s research centers on the chemical understanding and exploitation of biomolecular function (Synthetic Biology, Chemical Biology, and Chemical Medicine), with an emphasis on carbohydrates and proteins. In particular, the group’s interests encompass synthesis and methodology; target biomolecule synthesis; inhibitor/probe/substrate design; biocatalysis; enzyme & biomolecule mechanism; biosynthetic pathway determination; protein engineering; drug delivery; molecular biology; structural biology; cell biology; glycobiology; molecular imaging and in vivo biology.
Ben was elected a Fellow of the Royal Society in 2015, and the Academy of Medical Sciences in 2019. Ben is the Science Director of the Next Generation Chemistry theme and became the Interim Director for the Franklin in November 2023.
Prof Maria Kavallaris
Maria Kavallaris is Professor and Founding Director of the Australian Centre for NanoMedicine at UNSW Sydney, and Head of Translational Cancer NanoMedicine Theme at the Children’s Cancer Institute, Australia. Working at the interface of medicine, science and engineering, their innovation in driving interdisciplinary research in cancer nanomedicine has led to industry and clinical linkages for the development of cancer therapeutics and devices. Contributions to innovation are recognised through awards including the 2017 Premiers Science and Engineering Award for Leadership in Innovation in NSW, 2019 Lemberg Medal, and 2021 ANSTO Eureka Prize for Innovative use of Technology. She is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Health and Medical Sciences and the Royal Society of New South Wales. In 2019, Maria was appointed a Member (AM) of the Order of Australia. In 2020, was named the NSW Woman of the Year, in 2022 received the Presidential Medal for Outstanding Contributions from the Republic of Cyprus, and in 2023 won the Royal Society of NSW Walter Burfitt Prize.
Prof Mikako Ogawa
Mikako Ogawa is a professor of Faculty of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Hokkaido University since 2015. After graduate from Graduate School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Kyoto University, Japan in 2000, she was working for National Institute for Longevity Sciences, National Cardiovascular Center Research Institute, and Hamamatsu University School of Medicine, Japan.
She received PhD in 2007 from Kyoto University. She was also worked as a visiting fellow in Molecular Imaging Program NCI/NIH, USA from 2007-2009.
Her research interest are “theranostics”, combination of molecular imaging and targeted therapy, especially for nuclear and optical imaging technologies.
Dr. Michael R. Zalutsky
Michael R. Zalutsky, Ph.D., is the Jonathan Spicehandler, M.D., Professor of Neuro-Oncology Research and a Professor in the Departments of Radiology, Radiation Oncology, Pathology, and Biomedical Engineering at Duke University. Prior to joining the faculty at Duke, Michael held positions at Argonne National Laboratory, University of Chicago, and Harvard Medical School.
The author of more than 400 scientific publications and patents, his primary research interest is radiochemistry applied to cancer imaging and targeted radionuclide therapy. A major focus of his research has been the development of targeted radiotherapeutics labeled with the alpha particle emitter Astatine-211, including its production, labeling chemistry, radiation dosimetry and first clinical translation. In addition, his laboratory has been responsible for the development and validation of many of the most widely used methodologies for labeling antibodies and single domain antibody fragments (a.k.a. nanobodies) with radiohalogens including Fluorine-18, Iodine-131 and Astatine-211.
Dr. Zalutsky’s honors and awards include the Berson-Yalow Award and the Aebersold Award from the Society of Nuclear Medicine for outstanding achievement in basic nuclear medicine science, and a MERIT Award from the National Cancer Institute for his research in targeted alpha-particle radiotherapy.