Advanced Drug Delivery Systems in the Management of Cancer

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.

Meenu Mehta is a research scholar at the Discipline of Pharmacy, Graduate School of Health, the University of Technology Sydney. Her research is focused in the area of pharmaceutical technologies developing novel drug delivery systems for chronic respiratory diseases such as asthma, chronic obstructive lung disease (COPD), and lung cancer. She has obtained her M. Pharm degree in Pharmaceutical
Sciences in India, where she has gained working experience in several areas such as drug development, analytical methods, pharmacognosy studies, microwave techniques, and nanotechnology-based novel drug delivery systems. Mehta has received various awards and carries an impressive bibliography of scientific papers published in journals of international repute. Terezinha de Jesus Andreoli Pinto is a Professor at the School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Sao Paulo. Professor Terezinha holds more than 40 years of sound experience in academia and researches on parenterals (formulation, analytical, microbiological, and performance methods) and medical devices. Professor Terezinha authored 180 articles in scientific journals, more than 12 book chapters and also holds two patents. Alongside her career, Professor Terezinha took on management roles in the University, such as being dean of School of Pharmacy for two mandates (2004-2008 and 2012-2016) and also being chair of Deliberative Board of FURP-a pharmaceutical firm that manufactures products from the WHO Essential Medicines list, run by Sao Paulo State Government. Strong scientific skills allied to leadership and management allowed her to establish agreements with internationally prestigious institutions including the University of Alberta, Lisbon, and Bath. Under her supervision, the CONFAR Laboratory was set up, the only Brazilian state university laboratory accredited by the National Institute of Metrology, Quality and Technology (INMETRO) (ISO/IEC 17025) and, authorized by the National Agency of Sanitary Surveillance (ANVISA) and the Ministry of Agriculture, Livestock, and Supplies (MAPA), and is considered a reference both in Brazil and overseas, in the analytical area. Professor Terezinha is also involved with standard-setting activities in agencies such as Brazilian Pharmacopeia (as coordinator of the Brazilian Pharmacopeia Drug Product and Medical Devices technical committee, and currently member of Biological and Biotechnological Products Committee), International Standard Organization (ISO) as Brazilian Association of Technical Norms (ABNT) representative and also the United States Pharmacopeia stakeholder with participation in convention current cycle. 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. Michael J. Rathbone is founder and managing director of his own company, ULTI Pharmaceuticals, New Zealand. He is also an associate of the School, Discipline of Pharmacy, Graduate School of Health, University of Technology Sydney, NSW, Australia. He was formerly professor of Pharmaceutical Technology and dean, School of Pharmacy, International Medical University, Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. Prior to this he was associate professor of Pharmaceutics, School of Pharmacy, Griffith University, Australia where his responsibilities included Acting Head of School. Previous to his appointment at Griffith University, he was the director of Research and General Manager InterAg, New Zealand, where he spearheaded the companies veterinary controlled drug delivery research and directed their national and global collaborative research activities. Dr. Rathbone obtained his undergraduate degree in Pharmacy at Leicester Polytechnic (De Montfort University), UK (1980), and PhD in Pharmaceutics from the University of Aston, Birmingham, UK (1986). Dr. Rathbone has innovated many novel veterinary drug delivery systems, several of which have been registered on the New Zealand, Australian and United States markets. He is a fellow of the Controlled Release Society, has served on the Board of Directors of the CRS and has received several prestigious awards for his contribution to the science and technology of controlled release. He has edited eight books in the area of modified release drug delivery and 10 special theme issues of journals such as Advanced Drug Delivery Reviews and Journal of Controlled Release. His knowledge of the entire spectrum of innovation, product research & development, cGMP analysis, manufacturing scale-up, QC analysis, stability testing, and registration provides him with an extensive overview, and unparalleled experience of the veterinary pharmaceutical industry.