David S Schrump is a Surgical Chief who oversees clinical and translational research pertaining to thoracic and gastrointestinal malignancies, including the development of innovative molecular approaches to the diagnosis and treatment of these neoplasms. He has pioneered the development of epigenomic therapies for thoracic cancers. Using unique in vitro models and correlative experiments with surgical specimens, he has characterized epigenetic responses to tobacco carcinogens, and identified novel therapeutic targets in lung and esophageal cancers and pleural mesotheliomas. His clinical protocols have demonstrated that chromatin remodeling agents simultaneously induce growth arrest and augment immunogenicity of thoracic malignancies; these efforts have provided rationale for combining epigenetic regimens with immunotherapies for these neoplasms.

Genetics, Epigenetics

Dr. Bennani-Baiti, a former Howard Hughes Scholar and Human Genetics Fellow at University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, carried out research into the molecular mechanisms of gene regulation at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. He later joined the faculty of St. Louis University School of Medicine wherein he continued this work. He currently leads several research programs at the Children′s Cancer Research Institute into the systems biology of childhood cancers, with a particular interest in sarcomas and other mesenchyme-derived tumors. He is also interested in the deregulation of signaling pathways (e.g. p53, Notch) and miRNAs in cancer, in epigenetics and epigenomics, and in novel methods to inferring tumor biomarkers and drug targets from Omics datasets. Dr. Bennani-Baiti is an active member of the American Association for Cancer Research, AACR Pediatric Cancer Working Group, Epigenetics Society, International Society for Systems Biology, and Society for Mathematical Biology.

Epigenetics

Alyssa Alabassi is a British entrepreneur and UK trained and qualified practicing surgeon with extensive knowledge of the various layers of the health system in UK. She worked in an Advanced Computation Laboratory at Cancer Research UK devising IT solution for connected and integrated care pathways. She chaired international business meetings on Big Data, Population Based Solutions, Predictive Analysis and Connected Objects. Her research interest is in Breast Cancer and Familial Breast Disease and has successfully setup prevention clinics for patients at high risk of developing breast cancer.

Cancer

Kári Stefánsson, M.D., Dr. Med. has served as President, Chief Executive Officer and a Director since he founded deCODE genetics in August 1996. Dr. Stefánsson was appointed the Chairman of the Board of Directors of deCODE genetics in December 1999. From 1993 until April 1997, Dr. Stefánsson was a professor of Neurology, Neuropathology and Neuroscience at Harvard University. From 1983 to 1993, he held faculty positions in Neurology, Neuropathology and Neurosciences at the University of Chicago. Dr. Stefánsson received his M.D. and Dr. Med. from the University of Iceland and is board-certified in neurology and neuropathology in the United States. He has published numerous articles on the genetics of common/complex diseases and has been among the leaders of the world in the discovery of variants in the sequence of the human genome that associate with the risk of common/complex traits. Dr. Stefánsson was chosen by Time magazine as one of the 100 most influential men of the year for 2007 and by Newsweek as one of the 10 most important biologists of the 21 century. He was the recipient of the Jakobus Award 2007, The World Glaucoma Association Award for present scientific impact 2007, The European Society of Human Genetics Award 2009, and The Andre Jahre Award 2009.

Neuroepigenetics

Marvin H. Caruthers is a Distinguished Professor at the University of Colorado. A Guggenheim Fellow, Dr. Caruthers completed the Ph.D. at Northwestern University and post-doctoral studies at MIT. Professor Caruthers interests include nucleic acids chemistry and biochemistry. Approximately 35 years ago, the methodologies for chemically synthesizing DNA/RNA were developed in his laboratory and incorporated into instruments for synthesizing DNA/RNA as used by biochemists, biologists, and molecular biologists. He is the recipient of several academic and research awards including The National Academy of Sciences Award in the Chemical Sciences, The Prelog Medal, The Economists Award in Biotechnology, and The US National Medal of Science. Dr. Caruthers is an elected member of The US National Academy of Sciences, The American Academy of Arts & Sciences, The National Inventors Hall of Fame, and a Corresponding Member of the German Academy of Science Gottingen. He is a co-founder of Amgen and Applied Biosystems.

Bio-Organic & Bio-Inorganic, Nucleic Acids, Chemical Biology/Genetics

Dr. Hanna, the founder and CEO of Ribomed Biotechnologies, received her Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of California, Davis and did her postdoctoral work in Biochemistry and Molecular Genetics as an American Cancer Society Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of California, Berkeley. She was an Assistant Professor of Biological Chemistry at the University of California Irvine College of Medicine, where she received Young Investigator awards from the American Cancer Society and the Beckman Foundation, and an Associate Professor of Biochemistry until she founded Ribomed. Dr. Hanna is the inventor of the Abscription/CAPS technology. She has been awarded over $10 million in grants and contracts and her work has resulted in numerous publications and patents. Dr. Hanna also serves on the Grant Review Board for Praespero, an autoimmune disease foundation.

genetics, genetics disorders, cancer biology

David S Schrump is a Surgical Chief who oversees clinical and translational research pertaining to thoracic and gastrointestinal malignancies, including the development of innovative molecular approaches to the diagnosis and treatment of these neoplasms. He has pioneered the development of epigenomic therapies for thoracic cancers. Using unique in vitro models and correlative experiments with surgical specimens, he has characterized epigenetic responses to tobacco carcinogens, and identified novel therapeutic targets in lung and esophageal cancers and pleural mesotheliomas. His clinical protocols have demonstrated that chromatin remodeling agents simultaneously induce growth arrest and augment immunogenicity of thoracic malignancies; these efforts have provided rationale for combining epigenetic regimens with immunotherapies for these neoplasms.

Genetics, Epigenetics

Dr. Zhang graduated from Johns Hopkins University with PhD. He has worked at Harvard University Genome Centre as Senior System Biologist for years before joining University of Hong Kong in 2013. Dr. Zhang lab has broad interest in the interaction between genetics and epigenetics components, and its implications in tumorigenesis (Nature Immunology 2012). Epigenetic factors, such as chromatin-remodelers, epigenetics enzymes, and non-coding RNA, are key players to shape epigenetic landscape. His lab has made some breakthrough recently in cancer (epi)genetics, such as systematically cataloguing all of the chromatin regulators involved in tumorigenesis (Nucleic Acids Res 2017), developing a novel method to identify chromatin regulators (CRs) functioning as tumorigenesis driver, building a computer server to identify cancer master regulators, identifying a liver cancer stemness subtype regulated by a core microRNA regulatory circuitry, and characterizing DNA methylation at enhancer with causal effects on tumorigenesis (papers under revision).

genetic and epigenetic regulation in development and diseases

Dr. Alvaro Macieira-Coelho completed an MD at the University of Lisbon, Portugal, was an intern at the University Hospital, was a research associate at the Wistar Institute in Philadelphia, and completed a PhD at the University of Uppsala, Sweden. He was appointed Head of the Department of Cell Pathology, Cancer Institute, Villejuif, France and Research Director at the French National Institute of Health. He has authored 150 peer-reviewed articles and published nine books. Awards: Fritz Verzar prize, University of Vienna; Doctor Honoris Causa, University of Linköping; Johananof International visiting professor, Mario Negri Institute, Milan; Seeds of Science Career prize, Lisbon.

cancer, genetics

Kári Stefánsson, M.D., Dr. Med. has served as President, Chief Executive Officer and a Director since he founded deCODE genetics in August 1996. Dr. Stefánsson was appointed the Chairman of the Board of Directors of deCODE genetics in December 1999. From 1993 until April 1997, Dr. Stefánsson was a professor of Neurology, Neuropathology and Neuroscience at Harvard University. From 1983 to 1993, he held faculty positions in Neurology, Neuropathology and Neurosciences at the University of Chicago. Dr. Stefánsson received his M.D. and Dr. Med. from the University of Iceland and is board-certified in neurology and neuropathology in the United States. He has published numerous articles on the genetics of common/complex diseases and has been among the leaders of the world in the discovery of variants in the sequence of the human genome that associate with the risk of common/complex traits. Dr. Stefánsson was chosen by Time magazine as one of the 100 most influential men of the year for 2007 and by Newsweek as one of the 10 most important biologists of the 21 century. He was the recipient of the Jakobus Award 2007, The World Glaucoma Association Award for present scientific impact 2007, The European Society of Human Genetics Award 2009, and The Andre Jahre Award 2009.

neurology, neuropathology, and neurosciences

Alyssa Alabassi is a British entrepreneur and UK trained and qualified practicing surgeon with extensive knowledge of the various layers of the health system in UK. She worked in an Advanced Computation Laboratory at Cancer Research UK devising IT solution for connected and integrated care pathways. She chaired international business meetings on Big Data, Population Based Solutions, Predictive Analysis and Connected Objects. Her research interest is in Breast Cancer and Familial Breast Disease and has successfully setup prevention clinics for patients at high risk of developing breast cancer.

Cancer

Sinisa Dovat completed his clinical training in Pediatrics at Pennsylvania State University, and in Pediatric Hematology/Oncology at UCLA-Children’s Hospital. He received his research training at Cornell University Graduate School of Medical Sciences and at the Howard Hughes Medical Institute at UCLA. As an independent investigator at University of Wisconsin, he focused his work on the regulation of the tumor suppression in childhood leukemia. He is the recipient of The Young Investigator Award by The American Society of Pediatric Hematology/Oncology and has been included in the best doctors in America list. Since September 2010, he has been serving as the Four Diamond Endowed Chair and Director of Translational Research and Developmental Therapeutics in Pediatric Hematology/Oncology at Pennsylvania State University College of Medicine, Hershey, PA. His research interests include epigenomic regulation and transcriptional control of cellular immortalization and senescence in leukemia and experimental therapy of malignant diseases.

Genetics

Malgorzata Wiench is a Lecturer in Cancer Biology at University of Birmingham. Uniquely based between the School of Dentistry and the Institute of Cancer and Genomic Medicine, she aims to understand the mechanisms by which chromatin organization and DNA methylation regulate gene expression in health and disease and to develop the basis for patient-tailored epigenetic cancer therapies. The investigations focus on the role of nuclear receptors, DNA methylation and hydroxymethylation in the functioning of distal regulatory elements. She has received grants from the Marie Curie Action (FP7) and Royal Society.

Epigenetics, Cancer biology

Bernd Kaina completed his PhD in Genetics from Universtity of Halle, Germany in 1976. He completed his Postdoctoral training at the Institute of Genetics in Gatersleben and continued his studies on DNA repair in the Department of Molecular Biology in Leiden, Netherlands and at the German Cancer Research Center in Heidelberg and, as a Heisenberg Fellow in the Department of Genetics of the Nuclear Research Center in Karlsruhe, Germany. In 1993, he obtained a full professorship at Institute of Toxicology of the University of Mainz and, since 2003; he acts as a Director of the Institute. His research program focuses on MGMT and the regulation of repair genes, DNA damage signaling, genotoxicity, cancer formation and death of cells exposed to radiation, chemical genotoxins and anticancer drugs. In a translational research program, his group studies the mechanisms of resistance of glioma, melanoma and other cancer cell types to alkylating anticancer drugs.

Cancer

Mario Bauer is a specialist in environmental health at the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research. His scientific work is focused on identification and risk assessment of environmental and individual genetic dispositions accounting for environment-related diseases. He is an expert in toxicology. Beyond his research interests he gives private lectures and seminars in environmental medicine at the University of Leipzig.

Environmental epigenetics, Aryl hydrocarpon receptor signaling

Dr. Bennani-Baiti, a former Howard Hughes Scholar and Human Genetics Fellow at University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, carried out research into the molecular mechanisms of gene regulation at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. He later joined the faculty of St. Louis University School of Medicine wherein he continued this work. He currently leads several research programs at the Children′s Cancer Research Institute into the systems biology of childhood cancers, with a particular interest in sarcomas and other mesenchyme-derived tumors. He is also interested in the deregulation of signaling pathways (e.g. p53, Notch) and miRNAs in cancer, in epigenetics and epigenomics, and in novel methods to inferring tumor biomarkers and drug targets from Omics datasets. Dr. Bennani-Baiti is an active member of the American Association for Cancer Research, AACR Pediatric Cancer Working Group, Epigenetics Society, International Society for Systems Biology, and Society for Mathematical Biology.

Dr. Bennani-Baiti is interested in the mechanisms of tumor pathogenesis, as well as in tumor, metastasis, and prognosis markers, with a current focus in childhood cancers. He has recently developed bioinformatic and mathematical methods to uncovering genes significantly associated with particular disease states from small-size cohorts (which cannot be analyzed with conventional statistical methods for lack of statistical power), the only cohorts available for most childhood and adult cancers. Using such methods, he has for example discovered the first metastasis and prognosis molecular markers of Ewing′s sarcoma, a highly aggressive tumor of bone and soft tissues that afflicts mostly children and young adults. He is also interested in inferring signaling pathway status and connectivity directly from tumor specimen. He is also conducting investigations into the epigenetic mechanisms of tumorigenesis.

H.E. Dr. Maryam Matar is the former Director General of the Community Development Authority (CDA), which undertakes to formulate social policies and deliver social services that are in line with and contribute to the achievement of the social development objectives of Dubai Strategic Plan 2007 – 2015, launched by H.H. Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum on February 3rd, 2007. In 2005, Dr. Matar was the leader of the executive team that set up social development strategies for Dubai Strategic Plan. Born in 1975, Dr. Matar holds a B.A. in Medicine and Surgery (1993-1998) and a degree from the Family Medicine Residency Program with distinction. She is also a graduate of the H.H. Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Program for Leadership Development with distinction, second batch (2003-2004). Furthermore, Dr. Matar is the founder and Executive Director of two non-profit civil associations, “UAE Down’s Syndrome Association” and “UAE Genetic Diseases Association”, which support families from 17 different nationalities. In addition, she has initiated several national community outreach programs such as “UAE Free of Thalassemia by 2012” and established a number of Wellness Centers in Higher Colleges of Technology and Dubai Ladies Club.

Genetics

As Surgical Chief, Dr. Schrump oversees clinical and translational research pertaining to thoracic and gastrointestinal malignancies, including the development of innovative molecular approaches to the diagnosis and treatment of these neoplasms. He has pioneered the development of epigenomic therapies for thoracic cancers. Using unique in-vitro models and correlative experiments with surgical specimens, he has characterized epigenetic responses to tobacco carcinogens, and identified novel therapeutic targets in lung and esophageal cancers and pleural mesotheliomas. His clinical protocols have demonstrated that chromatin remodeling agents simultaneously induce growth arrest and augment immunogenicity of thoracic malignancies; these efforts have provided rationale for combining epigenetic regimens with immunotherapies for these neoplasms.

1) thoracic surgery, 2) cancer epigenetics, 3) microRNA, 4) lung cancer, 5) esophageal cancer, 6) malignant pleural mesothelioma

Jörn Walter (PhD) is professor and head of the Department of Epigenetics/Genetics. He has a strong record on DNA-methylation biology and mapping, marker development and epigenomic data interpretation. For BLUEPRINT he is leader of WP16 (training, communication & networking)

Genetics, Molecular Biology

Dr. Bennani-Baiti, a former Howard Hughes Scholar and Human Genetics Fellow at University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine, carried out research into the molecular mechanisms of gene regulation at the Memorial Sloan-Kettering Cancer Center. He later joined the faculty of St. Louis University School of Medicine wherein he continued this work. He currently leads several research programs at the Children′s Cancer Research Institute into the systems biology of childhood cancers, with a particular interest in sarcomas and other mesenchyme-derived tumors. He is also interested in the deregulation of signaling pathways (e.g. p53, Notch) and miRNAs in cancer, in epigenetics and epigenomics, and in novel methods to inferring tumor biomarkers and drug targets from Omics datasets. Dr. Bennani-Baiti is an active member of the American Association for Cancer Research, AACR Pediatric Cancer Working Group, Epigenetics Society, International Society for Systems Biology, and Society for Mathematical Biology.

Dr. Bennani-Baiti is interested in the mechanisms of tumor pathogenesis, as well as in tumor, metastasis, and prognosis markers, with a current focus in childhood cancers. He has recently developed bioinformatic and mathematical methods to uncovering genes significantly associated with particular disease states from small-size cohorts (which cannot be analyzed with conventional statistical methods for lack of statistical power), the only cohorts available for most childhood and adult cancers. Using such methods, he has for example discovered the first metastasis and prognosis molecular markers of Ewing′s sarcoma, a highly aggressive tumor of bone and soft tissues that afflicts mostly children and young adults. He is also interested in inferring signaling pathway status and connectivity directly from tumor specimen. He is also conducting investigations into the epigenetic mechanisms of tumorigenesis.

Kári Stefánsson, M.D., Dr. Med. has served as President, Chief Executive Officer and a Director since he founded deCODE genetics in August 1996. Dr. Stefánsson was appointed the Chairman of the Board of Directors of deCODE genetics in December 1999. From 1993 until April 1997, Dr. Stefánsson was a professor of Neurology, Neuropathology and Neuroscience at Harvard University. From 1983 to 1993, he held faculty positions in Neurology, Neuropathology and Neurosciences at the University of Chicago. Dr. Stefánsson received his M.D. and Dr. Med. from the University of Iceland and is board-certified in neurology and neuropathology in the United States. He has published numerous articles on the genetics of common/complex diseases and has been among the leaders of the world in the discovery of variants in the sequence of the human genome that associate with the risk of common/complex traits. Dr. Stefánsson was chosen by Time magazine as one of the 100 most influential men of the year for 2007 and by Newsweek as one of the 10 most important biologists of the 21 century. He was the recipient of the Jakobus Award 2007, The World Glaucoma Association Award for present scientific impact 2007, The European Society of Human Genetics Award 2009, and The Andre Jahre Award 2009.

neurology, neuropathology, and neurosciences

H.E. Dr. Maryam Matar is the former Director General of the Community Development Authority (CDA), which undertakes to formulate social policies and deliver social services that are in line with and contribute to the achievement of the social development objectives of Dubai Strategic Plan 2007 – 2015, launched by H.H. Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Al Maktoum on February 3rd, 2007. In 2005, Dr. Matar was the leader of the executive team that set up social development strategies for Dubai Strategic Plan. Born in 1975, Dr. Matar holds a B.A. in Medicine and Surgery (1993-1998) and a degree from the Family Medicine Residency Program with distinction. She is also a graduate of the H.H. Sheikh Mohammed Bin Rashid Program for Leadership Development with distinction, second batch (2003-2004). Furthermore, Dr. Matar is the founder and Executive Director of two non-profit civil associations, “UAE Down’s Syndrome Association” and “UAE Genetic Diseases Association”, which support families from 17 different nationalities. In addition, she has initiated several national community outreach programs such as “UAE Free of Thalassemia by 2012” and established a number of Wellness Centers in Higher Colleges of Technology and Dubai Ladies Club.

Genetics

Dr. Kaina obtained his Ph.D. in Genetics in 1976 from the Universtity of Halle, Germany. He completed his postdoctoral training at the Institute of Genetics in Gatersleben and continued his studies on DNA repair at the Department of Molecular Biology in Leiden, Netherlands, at the German Cancer Research Center in Heidelberg and, as a Heisenberg fellow, at the Department of Genetics of the Nuclear Research Center in Karlsruhe, Germany. In 1993, he obtained a full professorship at the Institute of Toxicology of the University of Mainz and, since 2003, he acts as a director of the Institute. His research program focuses on MGMT and the regulation of repair genes, DNA damage signaling, genotoxicity, cancer formation and death of cells exposed to radiation, chemical genotoxins and anticancer drugs. In a translational research program, his group studies the mechanisms of resistance of glioma, melanoma and other cancer cell types to alkylating anticancer drugs.

DNA repair and genotoxic signaling Mechanisms of chemical carcinogenesis Mechanisms of anticancer drugs and DNA damage-triggered apoptosis

Alyssa Alabassi is British entrepreneur and UK trained & qualified practicing surgeon with extensive knowledge of the various layers of the health system in the UK. She worked in an advanced computation laboratory at Cancer Research UK devising IT solutions for connected and integrated care pathways. She chaired international business discussions on Big Data, Population Based Solutions, Predictive Analysis and Connected Objects in healthcare delivery. Alyssa’s specialty is Breast Cancer and Familial Breast cancer and has successfully setup prevention clinics for patients at high risk of developing breast cancer.

Cancer

Epigenetic and transcriptional regulation in cancer.

Scientific Director Department of Urology, Director Center for Clinical Research Speaker. Prof. Schüles working group is specifically focused on finding out whether this is due to the removal of methyl groups from the chromatin or more likely due to the lack of demethylation. The group aims to obtain detailed information about the role of LSD1 by specifically looking at the dysregulation of it. As overexpression of LSD1 leads to the development of prostate and lung tumours in old mice the researchers will focus on finding out why this happens.

Basic epigenetic mechanisms in cellular assays and explorative mouse models Validation of epigenetic control in animal models of disease Transfer of epigenetic principles to clinical applications

M. Cristina Cardoso studied Biology at the University of Lisbon (Portugal) and did her post-doctoral training at the Harvard Medical School (Boston, USA) where she worked on cell cycle regulation during terminal differentiation and functional organization of the mammalian nucleus. She then became a group leader at the Max Delbrück Center for Molecular Medicine (Berlin, Germany) and since 2008 she is a full Professor for Cell Biology and Epigenetics at the Department of Biology of the Technische Universität Darmstadt (Germany). Her main research area is the cell biology of the mammalian (epi)genome. She is also interested in developing methods for the intracellular delivery of peptides and proteins and studying protein-protein interactions in living cells.

Replication, Translation and Reprogramming of the Epigenome

Mario Bauer is a specialist in environmental health at the Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research. His scientific work is focused on identification and risk assessment of environmental and individual genetic dispositions accounting for environment-related diseases. He is an expert in toxicology. Beyond his research interests he gives private lectures and seminars in environmental medicine at the University of Leipzig.

Environmental epigenetics, Aryl hydrocarpon receptor signaling

Dr. Bob Bernstein is a Medical Epidemiologist (a “Disease Detective”), Public Health and Preventive Medicine thought leader, and seasoned Monitoring & Evaluation team leader with more than 30 years of experience in leading monitoring, evaluating, and improving Health, Population and Nutrition policies, programs, and practices through Health Services Research (HSR) and Health Impact Assessments, managing public-private partnerships, and providing classroom-based and on-the-job field-based training on behalf of CDC, USAID, U.N. agencies (WHO, UNICEF, UNDP, the World Bank and ADB), NGOs (Medecins Sand Frontieres), and private sector organizations (Singapore Health Services, Wyeth and Pfizer Pharmaceuticals) for developing country ministries of health in China, Indonesia, Malaysia, Philippines, Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), Singapore, Thailand, Vietnam, Tanzania, Ethiopia, Uganda, Kenya, Malawi, Zambia, Zimbabwe, Senegal and Cote d’Ivoire. He has substantial experience in strengthening institutional and human resources for Public Health work, including Emergency & Disaster Preparedness & Response, and more than eight years of direct practice in HIV/AIDS-related epidemiology and policy with USAID globally and with WHO/WPRO in Asia. He served as the US CDC Resident Advisor for Indonesia and KSA Field Epidemiology Training Programs and led teams of medical experts building capacity within their Ministries of Health for investigating and solving complicated public health issues. Dr. Bernstein is an Adjunct Associate Professor of Global Health at the Emory University Rollins School of Public Health, and Adjunct Professor of Global Health at the University of South Florida College of Public Health. He is the father of 11-year-old triplets and he is fluent in the languages of Indonesia and Malaysia.

Epidemiology,Public Health

David Wroth is a Director for Underwriters Laboratories Inc., identifying opportunities to address safety issues across the globe. In this capacity, he analyzes data from disparate sources and provides a framework for analysis and prioritization of solutions to improve safe living and working environments for people. His latest initiative is the UL Safety IndexTM, an algorithm seeking to quantify global safety using publically available data. David received a Bachelor of Science in Nuclear Engineering from Purdue University and a Masters of Business Administration from Lake Forest Graduate School of Management

Epidemiology,Public Health

Dr. Young graduated from the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health as Master and Doctor of Public Health, with specialization in Epidemiology and Social Medicine. He also took a Master’s degree in Sociology from Pennsylvania State University where he studied demography, biostatistics and quantitative research methods as a doctoral candidate. His research focuses on the distribution of air toxic exposure, neighborhood health effects, and vulnerability to chronic disease and health care disparities. He holds positions as Executive Vice President for Health Policy at Cooper University Health Care and Assistant Professor in the Department of Medicine of Cooper Medical School of Rowan University, where he is Director of the Center for Injury Epidemiology and Social Medicine.

Differential exposure, Population vulnerability; Socioeconomic deprivation; Townsend index, Neighborhood health effects; Social epidemiology.

Eric Plakun, MD is Associate Medical Director of the Austen Riggs Center and former Harvard Medical School clinical faculty. Editor of 2 books and author of fifty papers, he has made over a hundred scientific presentations. He is a Distinguished Life Fellow of the American Psychiatric Association, a member of the APA Assembly, past chair of the APA Committee on Psychotherapy by Psychiatrists, and leads its Psychotherapy Caucus. He was honored as the Outstanding Psychiatrist in Clinical Psychiatry by the Massachusetts Psychiatric Society, is a leader in organized psychiatry and an advocate for the value of psychotherapy and psychosocial treatment.

Psychotherapy

Diana Anderson currently holds the Chair of the Department of Biomedical Sciences at the University of Bradford, UK. She obtained her first degree in the University of Wales and second degrees in the Faculty of Medicine, University of Manchester. After tutoring at the University of Sydney, Australia, she became a research worker in the Department of Cancer Studies at the University of Leeds and at the Paterson Laboratories, Christie Hospital, Manchester. In 1974, she was appointed as Head of Mutagenesis Studies at ICI's Central Toxicology Laboratory. Professor Anderson joined BIBRA International in 1981 as Head of Genetic and Reproductive Toxicology and became Assistant Director and Group Forum Co-ordinator in 1987. In 1992, she became Senior Associate and Coordinator of External Affairs at BIBRA. She has served on the editorial board of 8 international journals, has around 300 publications and edited/authored several books. She has successfully supervised 9 PhD and 2 MSc students and has been invited to speak at many international meetings and chair many symposia. She has helped establish new research laboratories in India and Korea under the auspices of the British Council and UNIDO. Funded by various international agencies, scientists from America, Australia, the Czech Republic, India, Korea, Poland, Spain and Turkey have received training under her supervision. She has organised both national and international meetings and is a member of various national and international committees, including the European Union Scientific Committee for Animal Nutrition (SCAN) and is a consultant for many international organisations, including the WHO, NATO, TWAS and the OECD.

cancer, oxygen radicals, human biomonitoring, unbalanced precursor pools, dietary imbalance, male-mediated developmental defects, nanotoxicology, general toxicology

Anil Mehta is a Clinical Reader undertaking biochemical and epidemiological research into the children’s disease cystic fibrosis (CF) with 50% time as a consultant paediatrician. His lab-based pharmacology lies at the interface between the biochemistry and physiology of epithelial barrier function. His focus is on novel drug development, analysis of health outcomes and wider rare disease policy for better informed policy making by the EU. The latter is a priority for the EU through their Rare Disease Directive that will require the NHS to plan care for all rare disease patients, where he is a tutor to the EU’s Rare Diseases Organisation - EURORDIS.

Therapies for childhood,Rare Diseases

Dr. Eremeeva received her MD in biochemistry from the Russian National Research Medical University, her PhD in microbiology from the Gamaleya Research Institute, Moscow, Russia and her ScD in microbiology and cellular biology from the University of the Mediterranean, Marseilles France. Her postdoctoral studies were at the University of Maryland, School of Medicine, Baltimore, USA. She is an Associate Professor and Director of the Core Laboratory at the Jiann- Ping Hsu College of Public Health of the Georgia Southern University. She has published more than 100 peer-reviewed articles, book chapters and conference papers on different aspects of rickettsiae and rickettsial diseases including discovery of emerging pathogens and descriptions of new rickettsioses.

Biochemistry,Microbiology,Rickettsial diseases

David J Galton is Emeritus Professor at London University. He gained doctorates in Medicine (M.D. for work done in the USA) and in Science (D.Sc.). He has published 8 books, and more than 250 research papers on genetics of common metabolic disorders; nine students from his laboratory have become Professors. He served as consultant physician to St. Bartholomew’s Hospital and Moorfield’s Eye Hospital, London. David J Galton has served in various senior positions as the former Chairman of Clinical Science U.K, Chairman of HEART UK and Secretary to the European Atherosclerosis Society. He is an elected Fellow of 2 Royal Colleges, the Physicians (FRCP) and Ophthalmologists (FRCOphth).

Metabolic regulation, SNP analysis, genetics of lipid disorders, atherosclerosis.

Maha Bouzid is currently a Senior Research Associate at Norwich Medical School, University of East Anglia. Her broad research interests are bacterial and parasitic zoonotic diseases. Her primary interests are the molecular biology, epidemiology, and pathogenesis of waterborne parasites, namely, Cryptosporidium and Giardia. She has a master’s in microbiology and a Ph.D. in Medical Microbiology awarded from the University of East Anglia, investigating mechanisms of virulence in Cryptosporidium species using genomic data. Her research interests have recently expanded to account for the effect of climate change, mainly on vector-borne and waterborne diseases.

Her broad research interests are bacterial and parasitic zoonotic diseases. Her primary interests are the molecular biology, epidemiology, and pathogenesis of waterborne parasites, namely, Cryptosporidium and Giardia

Dr. Longjian Liu, MD, PhD, MSc, FAHA, is a tenured associate professor of epidemiology and biostatistics at Drexel University Dornsife School of Public Health, and associate professor of medicine at Drexel University College of Medicine, Philadelphia, PA U.S.A. He serves as an academic advisor and chair for MPH and PhD students. Dr. Liu’s research expertise is in cardiovascular disease and diabetes epidemiology with focusing on disease etiological study, the complex of multiple comorbidity, drug-diet interaction and pharmaco-epidemiology in aging, and global health. He serves as the Principal Investigator for the Study of Climate Change, Air Quality and Public Health, and the Study of Glucose-Lowering Therapy and CVD Risk Reduction in Patients with Diabetes. Dr. Liu assisted the textbook of the World Health Organization STEPwise Approach to Chronic Disease Risk Factor Surveillance. He serves on Review Panels for U.S. NIH and AHRQ, and UK MRC, and Italy Ministry of Health’s research proposals. Dr. Liu has published more than 70 articles in peer-reviewed journals, had a total Impact Factor of more than 180, and has published numerous book chapters and scholarly monographs. Dr. Liu has been named a Fellow of American Health Association since 2008.

Advanced Biostatistics and Epidemiology Applied in Health Insurance and claim Data Study, Cardiovascular and Diabetes Epidemiology and Prevention, Epidemiology and Biostatistics for Public Health Practice, Global Climate Change, Air Pollution and Urban Health

Dr. Roberto Antonio Flores has been Graduated from National University of Tucuman, Argentina as Medical Doctor, with the specialties including Internal Medicine, Social and Community Medicine and Diploma in Cardiology from the National University of Tucuman and Medical Clinic National Academy of Medicine Argentina. Later on he obtained his post-graduation from National University of Cuyo with subjects Pharmacology & Biology and then started working at The Nurses School, Faculty of Humanities, Social Sciences and Health, National University of Santiago del Estero, Argentina where he has continued his research. Presently he has been working at the at the Regional Hospital Dr. Ramon Carrillo, Santiago del Estero City. He has got eminent memberships in many Scientific Societies including Internal Medicine and Cardiology at the Society of Santiago del Estero, Argentina, Membership of Argentina Federation of Cardiology, Membership of Hypertension Committee of Argentina Federation of Cardiology, Membership of Inter American Society of Cardiology and Board of Epidemiology of Inter American Society of Cardiology.

Epidemiology

Dr. Bratati Banerjee completed Diploma in Public Health, DNB in Social&Preventive Medicine, PG Diploma in Hospital&Health Management, WHO Fellowship in Epidemiology of Non-Communicable Diseases,currently working as Professor. She has published 30 papers in indexed national and international journals. She is author of a book Public Health Legislation in India and Editor of a book Health Policies and Programmes in India; member of Editorial Board of reputed journals and conducting funded research projects. Her complete biography was included in ‘Marquis Who’s Who in the World’ 2007,2008,2009. She has been awarded Fellowship of Indian Public Health Association and Indian Association of Preventive&Social Medicine.

Epidemiology, Non communicable diseases, Child health, Management

Sophia Salenius is Managing Director of RegPoint Ltd, a health services company supplying wireless technology to the global healthcare community. She is a leading expert in the international IT healthcare field and a sought after guest speaker at professional conferences around the world. Ms. Salenius is well known as the inventor behind the unique mHealth solution for public health threat detection and management called RegPoint. Her invention is also used in a wireless early warning and advice solution for natural disasters such as earthquakes, tsunamis and hurricanes, as well as to combat public health threats including chronic diseases and epidemics such as SARS and the Avian A flu.

epidemics

Dr. Roberto Antonio Flores has been Graduated from National University of Tucuman, Argentina as Medical Doctor, with the specialties including Internal Medicine, Social and Community Medicine and Diploma in Cardiology from the National University of Tucuman and Medical Clinic National Academy of Medicine Argentina. Later on he obtained his post-graduation from National University of Cuyo with subjects Pharmacology & Biology and then started working at The Nurses School, Faculty of Humanities, Social Sciences and Health, National University of Santiago del Estero, Argentina where he has continued his research. Presently he has been working at the at the Regional Hospital Dr. Ramon Carrillo, Santiago del Estero City. He has got eminent memberships in many Scientific Societies including Internal Medicine and Cardiology at the Society of Santiago del Estero, Argentina, Membership of Argentina Federation of Cardiology, Membership of Hypertension Committee of Argentina Federation of Cardiology, Membership of Inter American Society of Cardiology and Board of Epidemiology of Inter American Society of Cardiology.

Epidemiology

Dr. Jose R Calvo is a Physician, University Professor, consultant in organizing big scientific events and expert in communication skills, able to provide leadership for organizations, encouraging and promoting participation and openness, leading by example, being absolutely accesible. Jose is creative, looking for better and more effective solutions for any kind of problems with ability to try different and imaginative approaches, using a mix of diplomacy and sense of humor. One of my abilities is the capacity to connect people and create a appropriate environment for doing business with them Jose also a teacher who loves to teach, not only on subjects more linked to my professional background ,but also giving seminars and courses about how to tech effectively, how to communicate with impact and how to motivate to leadership.

Public Health

Dr Massimo Cecaro after completing the high school in humanistic studies, he moved to the University of Camerino, where he got a Master Degree in Veterinary Medicine and in University of Teramo he successfully got the Specialization. Since the age of 14, he has worked as radio speaker, tv presenter and reporter for a wide range of artistic and scientific events. At the age of 24 he obtained a qualification to practice as a Journalist and in 2007 he was admitted to the National Association of Medical Press (ASMI), where he currently hold the position of General Secretary. He is Resident Member of MJA Medical Journalists’ Association (London). He is Member of EFSA's Expert Database. He has been an invited speaker,mentor and chairman at International events in the field of Public Health and Safety in Canada, US, Europe and Asia. He has been author of several scientific works in public health. He is alsodirector in Italy of a prestigious Educational Centre for work safety and public health. He is actively involved in international projects to improve the role of mass-media in medical sciences, and awarded in Philadelphia, Valencia and Las Vegas with International special recognition. He is serving as an editorial member of several reputed journals like: “Journal Food Processing Technology”, “Journal of Veterinary Science & Technology”, and Editor in Chief in the “Occupational Medicine & Health Affairs” and in “Journal of Mass Communication”. He is Reviewer for "Journal od Cancer Science & Therapy”. He is Organizing Commette Member of several International Conferences in US and in Europe.

work safety, public health, medical sciences

Dr Massoud Toussi joined IMS Health in 2011 to build its actual offer in pharmacoepidemiology and drug safety in the context of the then upcoming pharmacovigilance regulation released by the European Medicines Agency (EMA). In this role, he developed the “Epidemiology, Safety and Risk Management” activity of the company from business plan to hiring people and direct involvement in business development, bidding, designing, and conduct of post-authorization safety studies (PASS), comparative effective research (CER), drug utilization studies (DUS), surveys and systematic reviews. Currently, through a network of 18 people across Europe (the Centre of Excellence), we commercialize and implement robust multi-country studies designed and conducted to comply with the requirements of EMA, competent authorities and health technology assessment (HTA) bodies. We conduct studies based on both primary data collection, databases (claims, EMR, registries, etc) and hybrid methods. A highly connected person, Dr Massoud Toussi consider himself as a salesman of ideas, solutions and talents, acting in a highly scientific market. Dr Massoud Toussi lead a work stream in the Database special interest group in the International Society of Pharmacoepidemiology (ISPE), and represent his company in the European Network of Centers for Pharmacoepidemiology and Pharmacovigilance (ENCePP), HTA Intrenational (HTAi), and the International Society of Pharmacoeconomics and Outcomes Research (ISPOR). Dr Massoud Toussi also a member of the Editorial Board of the American Medical Journal.

Epidemiology

Astrid VABRET (52 years old, MD, PhD) is professor of Virology at the Université de Caen BasseNormandie and Head of the Virology Department at the University Hospital of Caen.She is involved in the epidemiological surveillance of respiratory infections and has been the Director of the National Center of Reference for Respiratory paramyxoviridae and measles since 2009. A Vabretis the member the research unit named EA4655, U2RM (Research Unit in Microbe Risk). This research unit includes 3 research teams, which two are dedicated to microbiology and one to virology. This virology team is headed by Astrid Vabret, and the two key words defining the research field are Nidovirales (Coronavirus and Arterivirus) and Paramyxoviridae. This team was named as “comparative respiratory virology” and include both medical and veterinary scientists. Astrid Vabret is the principal investigator of EPICOREM project (founded by National Research Agency ANR 2013). This multidisciplinary project (Ecoepidemiology of Coronaviruses, from wildlife to Humans: emergence threat assessment) encompasses many aspects of coronaviral ecology. Astrid Vabret has authored a number of publications in peer-reviewed journals (136 papers referenced in PubMed). She published the first report of human coronavirus OC43 outbreak in France in 2003, in addition to the first detection of human coronaviruses NL63 and HKU1 in France in 2005 and 2006 respectively. She was involved in the European project EPISARS that responded to the emergence of SARS-CoV in 2004.

Virology

Prof. Aizhong Liu, has graduated from Hunan Medical University in 1987. He has received his professional doctorate of Epidemiology and Biostatistics in 2005. During 2005-2008 he pursued his post doctoral research in Queen’s University, Canada. Affiliations: He is serving as the chairman of Community Health Management Committee and standing Professional Committee of Epidemiology in Hunan Province. He is also an Executive Director in Hunan Province Health Management Association and Hunan Province Children’s Health management committee. He also holds the privilege as Vice-chairman for Hunan Province Clinical epidemiology and evidence based medicine professional committee. He has also served as National Occupational Skill Testing assessor of Health management division. He is also the Deputy Editor of “U.S Chinese Journal of Lymphology and Oncology”, “Psychiatry research "," Chinese Journal of Epidemiology "," Evaluation expert - South University "(Medical Sciences), Communication Editorial -" China Epidemiology ",Editorial Board Member -" Journal of Nanchang University (Medical Sciences) "," Chinese medicine "," Modern Medicine "and" Chinese Journal of Clinical meta "

Epidemiology

Ernest Drucker is Professor Emeritus in the Department of Family and Social Medicine, Montefiore Medical Center/Albert Einstein College of Medicine; and Senior Research Associate and Scholar in Residence at John Jay College of Criminal Justice of The City University of NY. He is licensed as a Clinical Psychologist in NY State and conducts research in AIDS, drug policy, and prisons and is active in public health and human rights efforts in the US and abroad. For 25 years Dr. Drucker was Director of Public Health and Policy Research at Montefiore/Einstein, founding Director of Montefiore's 1000 patient drug treatment program until 1990; an NIH funded principal investigator since 1991 and author of over 100 peer reviewed scientific articles, texts, and book chapters. He was founding Associate Editor of The International Journal of Drug Policy; founder and Editor in Chief ( with John Booth Davies) of Addiction Research and Theory ( 1993- 2005); and is now founding Editor in Chief of Harm Reduction Journal. Dr. Drucker was a founder (in 1994) of the International Harm Reduction Association; founder and Chairman of the Board of Doctors of the World / USA (1993-1997). He has been a Fellow of the Lindesmith Center at the Open Society Institute, a senior Soros Justice Fellow since 2004, and is a 2010-2011 Senior Specialist in Global Health of the US/Australian Fulbright Program at the Law School of the University of New South Wales. His book, A Plague of Prisons: The Epidemiology of Mass Incarceration in America, was published by The New Press in Sept of 2011.

Family and Social Medicine

Public health physician with more than 20 years experience in health communication and health policy, especially in sexual and reproductive health (SRS), with a focus on family planning, safe motherhood, HIV/AIDS/STIs, breast and cervix cancers. Extensive experience also in communicable diseases and influenza and pandemic preparedness. Experience in working in Europe, both within as well as outside of EU. Familiarity in working with EU, USAID and UN systems. Coordinated health promotion in Romania: modernizing, fundraising, public budget funding. Set up a non-governmental organization (NGO) in 1991 on delivering SRS education for young people using peer education. - "Youth for Youth Foundation" Conducted a series of radio and TV programs on health-related issues. PhD in public health. Member in the Board of Trustees at IUHPE.

Epidemiology

Dean, Faculty of Applied Medical Sciences

virology

Dr. Yury Evgeny Razvodovsky is a psychiatrist specializing in social psychiatry. He has worked as Associate Professor at the department of psychiatry in Grodno State Medical University (Belarus). Currently he is a senior research scientist at the Central Scientific Laboratory in Grodno State Medical University. He has published more than 600 papers in English and Russian language peer-reviewed journals and conference papers focusing on psychosocial distress and epidemiology of suicides and alcohol/drugs-related problems in transitional society. He is a founding member of International Society of Addiction Medicine (ISAM) and active member of National Association of Psychiatrists.

social psychiatry

Diana Anderson currently holds the Chair of the Department of Biomedical Sciences at the University of Bradford, UK. She obtained her first degree in the University of Wales and second degrees in the Faculty of Medicine, University of Manchester. After tutoring at the University of Sydney, Australia, she became a research worker in the Department of Cancer Studies at the University of Leeds and at the Paterson Laboratories, Christie Hospital, Manchester. In 1974, she was appointed as Head of Mutagenesis Studies at ICI's Central Toxicology Laboratory. Professor Anderson joined BIBRA International in 1981 as Head of Genetic and Reproductive Toxicology and became Assistant Director and Group Forum Co-ordinator in 1987. In 1992, she became Senior Associate and Coordinator of External Affairs at BIBRA. She has served on the editorial board of 8 international journals, has around 300 publications and edited/authored several books. She has successfully supervised 9 PhD and 2 MSc students and has been invited to speak at many international meetings and chair many symposia. She has helped establish new research laboratories in India and Korea under the auspices of the British Council and UNIDO. Funded by various international agencies, scientists from America, Australia, the Czech Republic, India, Korea, Poland, Spain and Turkey have received training under her supervision. She has organised both national and international meetings and is a member of various national and international committees, including the European Union Scientific Committee for Animal Nutrition (SCAN) and is a consultant for many international organisations, including the WHO, NATO, TWAS and the OECD.

cancer, oxygen radicals, human biomonitoring, unbalanced precursor pools, dietary imbalance, male-mediated developmental defects, nanotoxicology, general toxicology

2012- Tenure-Track Assistant Professor, Department of Public Health, College of Health and Human Services, Western Kentucky University, Bowling Green, KY, USA. 2011-2012 Adjunct Faculty, Department of Health Administration, Public Health and Gerontology, School of Public Service Leadership, Capella University, Minneapolis, MN, USA. 2008-2011 Assistant Professor, Division of Epidemiology, Department of Community Health, Saint Louis University School of Public Health, Saint Louis, Missouri, USA. 2003-2007 Visiting Fellow of Cancer Epidemiology, OEEB, Division of Cancer Epidemiology and Genetics,US National Cancer Institute, National Institutes of Health (NIH), Rockville, Maryland, USA. 2002-2003 Research/Teaching Assistant, data search and management, Department of Epidemiology, Johns Hopkins University Bloomberg School of Public Health; data management and data analysis in the Emergency Department, Johns Hopkins School of Medicine, Baltimore, Maryland, USA. 2000-2002 Research Assistant, Environmental Toxicology and Molecular Medicine Program, Clemson University, Clemson, South Carolina, USA 1996-2000 Assistant Professor and Director of Food Toxicology Program, Department of Food Sciences and Engineering, Zhejiang Gongshang University, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, P.R. China. 1994-1996 Research Associate, Department of Toxicology, Zhejiang University School of Public Health, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, P.R. China. 1992-1994 Faculty, Department of Epidemiology, Zhejiang University School of Public Health, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, P.R. China. 1991-1992 Residence/Intern in Preventive Medicine, Centers for Disease Control and Prevention in Xia- Cheng District, Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, P.R. China. 1990-1991 Residence/Intern in Clinical Medicine, Railroad Ministry Hospital in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province, P.R. China.

Personal Statement: The goals of my career are to use epidemiologic research methods and the principles of toxicology to solve priority issues in public health and clinical medicine/health care and to train new epidemiologists for public health and other public health workers. I have expertise in epidemiologic research methods, application of epidemiologic research methods in public health and other health sciences, cancer etiology, cancer screening, cancer and other chronic and infectious diseases prevention and control in the community, toxicology, food toxicology, food and nutrition, environmental toxicology, reproductive toxicology, environmental exposure assessment, molecular medicine, application of biostatistics in epidemiology, writing, editing and commenting research articles, reviews, and grant proposals in both English and Chinese. Especially, I have a unique expertise in translating basic research into animal/tissue research and into clinical and population research and vice versa and interpret the clinical and population research results using the biologic mechanisms from basic and animal/tissue research.

Associate Member, Institute of Bioinformatics Associate Member, Biomedical Institute Adjunct Investigator, Emory Vaccine Center Academic Editor, PLoS One Associate Editor, BMC Infectious Diseases

Epidemiology and Biostatistics

Prof. Aizhong Liu, has graduated from Hunan Medical University in 1987. He has received his professional doctorate of Epidemiology and Biostatistics in 2005. During 2005-2008 he pursued his post doctoral research in Queen’s University, Canada. Affiliations: He is serving as the chairman of Community Health Management Committee and standing Professional Committee of Epidemiology in Hunan Province. He is also an Executive Director in Hunan Province Health Management Association and Hunan Province Children’s Health management committee. He also holds the privilege as Vice-chairman for Hunan Province Clinical epidemiology and evidence based medicine professional committee. He has also served as National Occupational Skill Testing assessor of Health management division. He is also the Deputy Editor of “U.S Chinese Journal of Lymphology and Oncology”, “Psychiatry research "," Chinese Journal of Epidemiology "," Evaluation expert - South University "(Medical Sciences), Communication Editorial -" China Epidemiology ",Editorial Board Member -" Journal of Nanchang University (Medical Sciences) "," Chinese medicine "," Modern Medicine "and" Chinese Journal of Clinical meta "

Dr. Liu’s research interests are environmental epidemiology, injury epidemiology, clinical epidemiology, comprehensive assessment of treatment outcomes, and the utilization of advanced analytic tools (e.g., Markov models, Kaplan-Meier method, Log-rank test, COX regression models, and TOPSIS method) for complex population health databases.

Dr. Verma is Chief of the Epidemiology and Genomics Research Program's (EGRP) Methods and Technologies Branch (MTB), and oversees its research portfolio and initiatives that focus on methods to address epidemiologic data collection, study design and analysis, and to modify technological approaches developed in the context of other research endeavors for use as biomarkers and methods to understand cancer susceptibility. He is responsible for stimulating EGRP-funded research on epigenetic approaches in cancer epidemiology and has been instrumental in developing epigenetics research for NIH as a whole. Dr. Verma helped to develop a Request for Applications (RFA) on Environmental Influences on Epigenetics with the National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences (NIEHS) and represents the Division of Cancer Control and Population Sciences (DCCPS), in NIH's Roadmap Initiative on EpigeneticsExternal Web Site Policy. He helped develop an RFA on Comparative Systems Genetics of Cancer with NCI's Division of Cancer Biology (DCB), and is known within the extramural research community as an EGRP Program Director for Program Announcements (PAs) on Small Grants for Cancer Epidemiology and Pilot Studies in Pancreatic Cancer. He also organized a workshop to explore developing a concept for a research initiative on mitochondrial DNA and cancer epidemiology. Dr. Verma was, and continues to be, a co-Program Director for initiatives in gene-environment interactions in cancer etiology, including the Breast and Prostate Cancer and Hormone-Related Variants Cohort Consortium (BPC3), which is a collaborative project to pool data and biospecimens from a group of large prospective cancer epidemiology cohorts. Dr. Verma joined EGRP as a Program Director in 2004. In 2005, he was appointed Acting Chief of EGRP's former Analytic Epidemiology Research Branch (AERB). When EGRP reorganized in 2007, he was appointed Acting Chief of MTB and of the Host Susceptibility Factors Branch (HSFB), for which he served as Acting Chief through 2008. Before joining EGRP, he was a Program Director in NCI's Division of Cancer Prevention (DCP), where he worked in the areas of biomarkers, early detection, risk assessment, and prevention. He also was Coordinator of DCP's Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) and Small Business Technology Transfer (STTR) Programs. He was on the faculty in the Biochemistry Department of Georgetown University before joining NIH.

Biomarkers,Epigenetics,Epidemiology Technologies Proteomics,MicroRNA,Methylation,Mitochondria Nanotechnology,Risk Assessment,Susceptibility Factors,Systems Genetics,Metabolomics

Dr Diana Anderson has published over 400 papers; edited/authored 8 books; series editor for “Current Toxicology” J Wiley and Sons and “Issues in Toxicology” Royal Society of Chemistry; editor of 4 special issues in Mutation Research, 1 of Enviromental and Molecular Mutagenesis, 3 of Teratogenesis, Carcinogenesis and Mutagenesis and part of one for Mutagenesis.

cancer, oxygen radicals, human biomonitoring, unbalanced precursor pools, dietary imbalance, male-mediated developmental defects, nanotoxicology, general toxicology

Latent variable analysis, Longitudinal data analysis, Twin and family study, Behavior genetics, Substance abuse research, Personality, Suicidality, Health behaviors, and Psychiatric epidemiology

Dr. Lynn M. Jamieson is a Full Professor in the Department of Recreation, Park, and Tourism Studies at Indiana University. She has served as both Chair of the Department for seven years, as Assistant Chair for 6 years and is formerly Coordinator and Professor in the Recreation Administration Program at California Polytechnic State University in San Luis Obispo, California. In addition to academic appointments, Dr. Jamieson has served in administrative capacities in three park and recreation departments: Corpus Christi, Texas, San Diego, California and Johnson County, Kansas. She is co-author of five texts and author of numerous articles and text chapters in the area of recreational sports, commercial recreation, management and tourism. In the area of research and evaluation, Dr. Jamieson has emphasized management, curriculum development in recreational sports, sport violence, visitor behavior, and youth development as it pertains to causal factors and outcomes. Over 60 articles and 70 presentations have been delivered in her areas of expertise. She is a Certified Recreational Sports Specialist (CRSS), a Certified Park and Recreation Professional (CPRP), and a member of several professional organizations that represent various aspects of the leisure industry. More recently, she has conducted lectures and research presentations in China, Hong Kong, Costa Rica, Taiwan, Scotland, Turkey, England, Canada, Tanzania, the United States, and Australia on the topics of sport curriculum, sport and leisure policy, sport and leisure management, and epidemiological factors in violence that occurs in sport, tourism, and leisure settings. Since 1986, Dr. Jamieson has been co-owner of the consulting firm Visions – a leisure and tourism planning company.

Research methods, tourism collateral materials, causal factors in sport and leisure violence, cross-cultural study of sport and leisure governmental policy, role of parks in a healthy lifestyle

Lequan Min, is currently a Professor with Mathematics and Physics School, and the PHD supervisor with the Automation School at the University of Science and Technology Beijing.He has authored and co-authored over 200 scientific journal and conference papers.

His current research interests are modeling and simulations of complex systems, in particularly virus infections and epidemic spreading.

Professor Arjumand Warsy, completed her Ph.D from Nottingham University, UK, at the age of 26 years. She worked as a Postdoctoral fellow at Birmingham University, UK for two years and in 1977 joined the Department of Biochemistry, King Saud University, Riyadh, where she is working as a professor for the last 23 years. She has published over 219 papers in National and International Journals. She is a member of different committee and has received the Best Staff from the President of KSU. Her research interest is in the study of molecular basis of genetic diseases

Her research interest is in the study of molecular basis of genetic disease.

Dr. Kaushik Chattopadhyay is a Research Fellow at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine, UK. He has completed (A) Postgraduate Certificate in Research Skills, St. George’s Medical School, UK (B) European Master in Public Health, a dual degree sponsored by the European Commission (Erasmus Mundus): Master of Public Health (Distinction), The University of Sheffield, UK and MSc Public Health (Health Economics and Financial Management), Jagiellonian University, Poland (C) Bachelor of Ayurvedic Medicine and Surgery, University of Calcutta, India. He has also worked in other renowned academic institutes such as King’s College London and St. George’s Medical School, UK.

Epidemiology and clinical trials, traditional therapies, non-communicable diseases, environmental and occupational health

Blum received his B.S. in pharmacy from Columbia University in 1961, his M.S. in medical science in 1965 from the New Jersey College of Medicine, and his Ph.D. in pharmacology in 1968 from the New York Medical College. Blum completed post-doctorate research in psychopharmacology at the Southwest Foundation for Research and Education where Irving Geller was his mentor. He also completed a fellowship in pharmacogenetics under Gerald McClearn at the University of Colorado College of Pharmacy (Boulder) in 1977. Blum's most important work was a 1990 study he co-led with Ernest Noble, the former director of the National Institute on Alcohol Abuse and Alcoholism, that correlated the dopamine D2 Receptor Taq 1 allele with alcoholism. This study was published in the Journal of the American Medical Association. Blum expanded his research of genes involved in brain reward circuitry. By the early 1980s there were many suggestions that alcoholism had genetic antecedents and a high heritability. This research stimulated further studies of gene associations. Though the press has called his finding the "alcoholic gene," Blum believed his work to be of broader scope, calling this gene a "reward gene" which covers other addictive behaviors including drug addiction, smoking, overeating, and pathological gambling.

Neuropsychiatry and Genetics, Nutritional Genetics, and Pharmacogenetics

Statistical genetics,Statistical models for genomic imprinting, Large scale genome-wide association study,statistical genomics,Longitudinal data analysis, Functional data analysis, Mixture model,Statistical applications in biological sciences