SAMUEL ACHILEFU, PhD

Dr. Samuel Achilefu is the inaugural chair and professor of the Department of Biomedical Engineering at the University of Texas Southwestern (UTSW) in Dallas. He is the Lyda Hill Distinguished University Chair and holds other faculty appointments as a professor of radiology and the Simmons Comprehensive Cancer Center. Before joining UTSW in February 2022, Dr. Achilefu spent over 20 years at Washington University in St. Louis, MO, where he was the inaugural Michel M. Ter-Pogossian professor of radiology and served as the vice-chair for Innovation and Entrepreneurship, and director of the Biophotonics Research Center at the Mallinckrodt Institute of Radiology.  Dr. Samuel Achilefu is an expert in the molecular imaging of human diseases, utilizing multimodal imaging methods to address imaging challenges, with a focus on optical imaging platforms. His current research interests include image-guided cancer surgery, portable imaging devices, and nanotechnology. Through a multidisciplinary team of investigators, he has guided multiple research endeavors from concept to clinic. Recently, he served as director of the Washington University Molecular Imaging Center, the Center for Multiple Myeloma Nanotherapy, and a privately funded Theranostic Innovation Program.

Dr. Achilefu is an inventor of 66 U.S. patents, published over 300 scientific papers, and received over 30 local, national, and international honors and awards for research excellence, including the first Distinguished Investigator Award (Department of Defense Breast Cancer Research Program), the Britton Chance Biomedical Optics Award, and the St. Louis Award. He is a fellow of many professional societies, including the SPIE, Optica (formerly OSA), Royal Society of Chemistry, AAAS, the Royal Society of Medicine, and the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering. Dr. Achilefu is a member of the National Academy of Medicine, the National Academy of Inventors, and the National Advisory Council for Biomedical Imaging and Bioengineering.

DR. LISA BODEI

Dr. Lisa Bodei is an Attending Physician and Director of Targeted Radionuclide Therapy in the Molecular Imaging and Therapy Service at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center (MSK).

Dr. Bodei graduated from the Medical University of Pisa and earned her Doctor of Medicine degree in 1995 and remained at Pisa University as a Resident in Nuclear Medicine at the School of Specialization until 1999.

In 2009, Dr. Bodei was awarded a PhD (magna cum laude) from the Department of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging, University of Groningen, The Netherlands, for her work in peptide receptor radionuclide therapy using somatostatin analogs.

Dr. Bodei’s main research interests are in theranostics, particularly peptide receptor radionuclide therapy with somatostatin, bombesin, and PSMA analogues for diagnosis and therapy, and translational research applied to radiopeptide therapy of neuroendocrine tumors.

Dr. Bodei has authored more than 180 articles in international peer-reviewed journals and published eight invited book chapters. She currently serves as the associate editor of the Journal of Nuclear Medicine, section editor for Molecular Imaging and Therapy of Clinical Imaging on the editorial boards of several scientific journals including the Journal of Nuclear Medicine and the European Journal of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging.

Dr. Bodei has given numerous lectures at national meetings in Europe and international meetings in the US and Europe.  She has served on many committees both as a participant and at an executive level.

Professor Paul Donnelly

Professor Paul Donnelly research group is based at the School of Chemistry and Bio21 Molecular Science and Biotechnology Institute at the University of Melbourne. His research interests lie in inorganic chemistry and its application to medicine as well as the roles of metals in biology.

He has co-authored 170 research publications. He has a particular interest in the design and synthesis of new metal-based theranostic agents. His research into metal-based compounds for imaging and therapy has stimulated several clinical trials that span copper and zirconium radiopharmaceuticals to potential therapeutics for Motor Neuron Disease. Donnelly is the founding scientist of two start-up companies, Clarity Pharmaceuticals and Procypra Therapeutics (sold Collaborative to Medicinal Development). Both companies aim to translate basic research to the clinic. Professor Donnelly has received several awards in recognition of his research including the David Syme Prize (best original research work in biology, physics, chemistry or geology in Australia), Grimwade Prize for Industrial Chemistry, Biota Award for Medicinal Chemistry, Dean’s Award for Research Excellence, as well as the Rennie Medal and the Alan Sargeson Lectureship from the Royal Australian Chemical Institute.

Twan Lammers, PhD

Twan Lammers obtained a D.Sc. in Radiation Oncology from Heidelberg University in 2008 and a Ph.D. in Pharmaceutics from Utrecht University in 2009. In the same year, he started the Nanomedicine and Theranostics group at the Institute for Experimental Molecular Imaging at RWTH Aachen University. In 2014, he was promoted to full professor of medicine at RWTH Aachen University Clinic.

His group aims to individualize and improve the treatment of severe diseases by combining drug targeting with imaging. To this end, image-guided (theranostic) drug delivery systems are being developed, as well as materials and methods to monitor tumor growth, angiogenesis, inflammation, fibrosis and metastasis. He has a particular interest in imaging-based and tissue biomarkers to predict tumor-targeted drug delivery, to thereby provide a basis for patient stratification and promote cancer nanomedicine clinical translation.

Lammers has published over 250 research papers and reviews (>20000 citations, h-index 75), and received multiple scholarships and awards, including a starting and consolidator grant from the European Research Council (ERC), the Young Investigator Award of the Controlled Release Society (CRS), the Adritelf International Award for Pharmaceutical Science, and the Belgian Society for Pharmaceutical Science International Award.

He is on the editorial board of 10 journals and acts as a handling editor for the Journal of Controlled Release (JCR), Drug Delivery and Translational Research (DDTR), and Molecular Imaging and Biology (MIB). Since 2019, he is included in the Clarivate Analytics list of Highly Cited Researchers.