Speakers

Università degli Studi di Sassari, Italy

Eugenio Garribba is a full professor in the Department of Medicine, Surgery and Pharmacy of the Università degli Studi di Sassari, in Italy. He graduated in Chemistry in 1995 and obtained his PhD from the Università degli Studi di Sassari, in Italy in 2001.

Tokyo Metropolitan University, Japan

Kotohiro Nomura finished his master studies in University of Tokyo (1988), and then joined Sumitomo Chemical Co., Ltd as a researcher. He received his Ph.D. from Osaka University (1993) and joined MIT as a postdoc (Prof. R. R. Schrock). He became an associate professor in Nara Institute of Science and Technology (1998) and has been a full professor in Tokyo Metropolitan University since 2010. He has co-authored >350 publications, and one of his major subjects is vanadium complex catalysts for olefin metathesis, olefin polymerization and dimerization. Three major awards in Japan: The CSJ Award for Young Chemists in Technical Development (1996), Catalysis Society of Japan Award (Industrial field, 2001; Academic field, 2019).

University of Cyprus

Anastasios Keramidas graduated from the Department of Chemistry at University of Ioannina in 1988. He received the Ph.D. from the same University in 1992 under the supervision of Prof. T. Kabanos for research related to the bioinorganic chemistry of vanadium and more specifically in modelling the interaction of amide/peptide group with vanadium(III/IV/V) ions. In 1994 he moved to Colorado State University where he worked in the design and synthesis of new antidiabetic vanadium-based drugs under the supervision of Dr. D. Crans. Since 1997, he is an academic at University of Cyprus.

His current research focus on: 1) Interaction of Vanadium(III, IV, V) with para- quinones/semiquinones/hydroquinones and amidate ligands, focusing on metal-ligand pH, temperature and/or photo induced electron transfer, the selective chemical or photochemical water oxidation or dioxygen activation, 2) Synthesis and anticancer and/or antidiabetic properties of Vanadium(IV,V) - tocopherol / tocotrienol conjugated molecules, 3) Activation of CO2, O2 and H2O by metal complexes.

Osaka Metropolitan University, Japan

Toshiyuki Moriuchi received his bachelor’s degree in 1991 and his doctoral degree in 1995 under the supervision of Professor Toshikazu Hirao, both from Osaka University. He became Assistant Professor at Osaka University and was a postdoctoral fellow at California Institute of Technology with Professor Jacqueline K. Barton (1996 – 1997). Dr. Moriuchi was promoted to Lecturer in 2004 and Associate Professor in 2008. He was promoted to Professor at Osaka City University in 2018 and became Professor at Osaka Metropolitan University in 2022. He received the Inoue Research Award for Young Scientists in 1997, HGCS Japan Award of Excellence 2011 in 2012, the 15th Kansai Branch Award of the Society of Synthetic Organic Chemistry, Japan in 2017, and Nagase Foundation Award 2018 in 2018.

University of Algarve (UAlg), Portugal

Manuel Aureliano is an Associate Professor of Biochemistry (with Aggregation in Inorganic Biochemistry) at the Faculty of Sciences and Technology, University of Algarve (UAlg), Portugal. Besides Biochemistry, he teaches Inorganic Biochemistry, among others. At UAlg, he also served as director and/or vice-director of the Biochemistry degree (1997-2013; 2021-2023). He is regularly a peer reviewer (over 700 papers) for numerous scientific journals (more than 110 journals) and has served on the Editorial Boards of several Journals. Supervisor and/or co-supervisor of many pos-doc, PhD, MSc and undergraduate students (over 120). Author and/or co-author of about 120 peer-reviewed journal articles, reviews and book chapters. M. Aureliano is @“World Ranking of Top 2% Scientists”: Career and year (2020; 2021). IDs: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4858-3201;https://www.cienciavitae.pt//AA14-3490-DC5E.

Universidad de la República, Montevideo, Uruguay

Dinorah Gambino is a full professor of inorganic chemistry in Facultad de Química, Universidad de la República, Montevideo, in Uruguay. She received one PhD in Chemistry (Inorganic Chemistry) in 2001, and another in Pharmaceutical Chemistry in 1986. She is in the highest level (level III) of the National System of Researchers (SNI), National Agency of Research and Innovation (ANII), Uruguay. More than 20 years ago, she began working on the development of prospective anti-parasitic metal-based drugs. Her research group is currently especially interested in the development of new metallodrugs bearing activity on Trypanosoma cruzi but also on Trypanosoma brucei, Leishmania infantum and Mycobacterium tuberculosis. Due to the multidisciplinary aspects of the research, the group established strong collaborations with researchers working in different areas like Medicinal Organic Chemistry, Molecular Biology, Analytical Chemistry, Theoretical Chemistry, Physics, among others. In addition, the group showed a previous long-term research work on Bioinorganic Chemistry aspects related with Radiopharmacy and Radiochemistry.

Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla Puebla, Mexico

Enrique Gonzalez Vergara is a full professor in the Benemérita Universidad Autónoma de Puebla, Puebla, in Mexico. Enrique Gonzalez Vergara has trained more than 50 people with degrees of Bachelor, Master, Doctoral, and Postdoctoral. He has PROMEP Profile (2020-2025) and belongs to the National System of Researchers with Level II (2021-2025). He has been the coordinator of BUAP of the graduate program in Chemistry, Coordinator of the Chemical Center ICUAP, coordinator of the Biology in Science Education graduate program, and area coordinator of Inorganic Chemistry of the graduate program in Chemistry. Half of its production is dedicated to teaching and scientific dissemination, which has earned him recognition by the State Council of Science and Technology of the State of Puebla (2007). He has been an evaluator of CONACYT for graduate applications abroad and a project evaluator. In research, he has contributed to the bioinorganic chemistry of chromium, as well as natural and synthetic peroxidases and medical and environmental pollution applications. Antidiabetic, anticancer, and antiCOVID-19 drugs based on Vanadium and Copper are currently being developed in his laboratory. He is the director of the Digital Outreach Journal of the Science Institute BUAP (RD-ICUAP) and belongs to the editorial board of the Journal of Trace Element Research.

University of Vienna, Austria

Annette Rompel studied Chemistry at the Westfälische Wilhelms University, Münster, Germany, where she received her doctoral degree. Besides research at the University of California, Berkeley, and the Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, she was a visiting scientist at the RIKEN, Institute of Physical and Chemical Research, Sendai, Japan, and the University of Southern Denmark, Odense, Denmark. Since 2008, she is the Head of the Department of Biophysical Chemistry at the University of Vienna. Her main research interests are the structure/function elucidation of metalloenzymes and the synthesis and characterization of biologically active POMs.

Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece

Thanos Salifoglou received his Ph.D. from the University of Michigan (1987), and then proceeded with research and reaching positions at MIT, Tufts Medical School, and the University of Crete in Greece.  Since 2003, he has been serving as Director of the Laboratory of Inorganic Chemistry and Advanced Materials, and Professor of Chemical Engineering at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki, Greece, specializing in Biological Inorganic and Molecular Biological systems linked to health and disease.  He has been a) pioneering structural speciation approaches to understanding metal ion structure-specific influence and impact on cellular (patho)physiology in diabetes (I and II, insulin resistance), cancer (lung, breast and colon cancer) and neurodegenerative diseases (Alzheimer, MCI), and b) developing (nano)biomaterials interfacing synthetic, molecular biology and biomolecular engineering through molecular markers, key to health risk assessment, diagnosis and potential theranostics. He (co)authored 141 publications, 204 invited talks, and 573 presentations at (inter)national conferences.

Universidade Lusófona, Lisbon, Portugal

Manas Sutradhar is an Assistant Professor at the Universidade Lusófona, Lisbon, Portugal and an integrated member at the Centro de Química Estrutural, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa, Portugal. He was a post‐doctoral fellow at the Institute of Inorganic and Analytical Chemistry of Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz, Germany and a  researcher at the Centro de Química Estrutural, Instituto Superior Técnico, Universidade de Lisboa. He has published 73 papers in international peer review journals (including 3 reviews + 1 reference module), giving him an h-index 28  and more than 2250 citations (ISI Web of Knowledge). In addition, he has 11 book chapters in books with international circulation and one patent. He is one of the editors of the book Vanadium Catalysis, published by the Royal Society of Chemistry and Catalysis for a sustainable environment, Wiley (in Press). His main areas of work include metal complexes with aroylhydrazones, oxidation catalysis of industrial importance and sustainable environmental significance, magnetic properties of metal complexes, and bio-active molecules. The major contributions of his research work are in the areas of vanadium chemistry and oxidation catalysis. He received the 2006 Young Scientist Award from the Indian Chemical Society, India and the Sir P. C. Ray Research Award (2006) from the University of Calcutta, India.

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3349-9154[Q1] 

Colorado State University, USA

https://cranslab.colostate.edu/crans-brief-resume/

Her interest is in the fundamental chemistry and biochemistry of drugs with particular interest in vanadium and other transition metal ions as metals in medicine and their mechanisms of toxicity. Her group has synthesized new compounds and characterized them and tested their biological properties. They have been studying the fundamental coordination chemistry of vanadium and other transition metal compounds in aqueous solution and model systems for what might occur in the varied environments of biological systems. Studies of lipid systems and micro-emulsion environments help them understand how drugs and metabolites interact and penetrate lipid interfaces. New projects involve menaquinone metabolism and inhibition of electron transport in tuberculosis bacteria and characterization of amyloid interactions with metal ions and their aggregation leading to a better understanding of new and existing drugs. Solution studies are carried out using 1D and non-routine 2D NMR spectroscopies, EPR, UV-vis, and IR spectroscopy. Biochemical studies with vanadium can be characterized as studies of trace metal metabolism in biological systems ranging from isolated proteins to cell culture to plants to animals and humans. 

Instituto Superior de Engenharia de Lisboa (ISEL), Portugal

https://orcid.org/0000-0003-4060-1057

Elisabete C.B.A. Alegria is an Adjunct Professor at the Chemical Engineering Department of Instituto Superior de Engenharia de Lisboa (ISEL) from Polytechnic Institute of Lisbon, Portugal. She is Researcher (Core Member) at Centro de Química Estrutural (Coordination Chemistry and Catalysis Group). She has authored 87 papers in international peer review journals (h index 23, > 1700 citations), 4 patents, 5 book chapters and more than 180 presentations at national and international scientific meetings. Honorary Distinction (2017-2020) for the Areas of Technology and Engineering (Scientific Prize IPL-CGD). Editorial board member, Guest Editor and Reviewer in several scientific journals. Her main research interests range over Coordination and Sustainable Chemistry, Homogeneous and Supported Catalysis, Stimuli‐Responsive Catalytic Systems, Green synthesis of metallic nanoparticles for catalysis and Biomedical applications. Mechanochemistry (synthesis and catalysis) and Molecular Electrochemistry.

University of Amsterdam, The Netherlands

Ron Wever received his PhD in 1975 at the University of Amsterdam. In 2002 he was appointed as professor in biocatalysis and bioorganic chemistry at the University of Amsterdam. Over the years many lines of research were followed among other onperoxidases and metalloenzymes, of which the study of the vanadium haloperoxidases was the main target. For his work on these vanadium enzymes he was awarded with the Vanadis Award in 2016.  He cooperated with research groups in Japan, Germany, USA, and Portugal, co-authored 290 publications that have been cited >12,000 times and wrote and contributed to about 35 chapters in books. He is also inventor of 3 PCT patents and 3 European patent applications. 

Illinois State University in Normal, IL USA

Craig C. McLauchlan is the Associate Vice President for Research and Graduate Studies and a Professor in the Chemistry department at Illinois State University in Normal, IL USA.  He received his A.B. from Harvard in 1996 and his Ph.D. from Northwestern in 2000 and started his career at ISU in 2002.  McLauchlan has taught courses at all levels in the chemistry department at ISU and he has lectured to over one thousand students and also mentored over thirty students in his research laboratory.  McLauchlan has received several teaching awards, including the Illinois State 2005-2006 University Teaching Initiative Award and the 2012 Outstanding University Teacher award.  McLauchlan’s research group focuses on coordination chemistry primarily involving vanadium, among other metals, for use as oxidation catalysts and/or enzyme inhibitors.  More recently he has used his training in X-ray crystallography to examine coordination chemistry and bioinorganic chemistry areas, including those involving decavanadate.  He is on the International Vanadium Symposium International Advisory Board and is currently the Secretary.  He served as Chair of the Department at ISU from 2013 to 2020 (the first three years as Interim Chair), and assumed the role of AVPRGS in July of 2020.  McLauchlan’s portfolio at ISU includes duties as the chief research officer, serving as institutional official, oversight of the graduate school, and enhancing innovation.  

Universidade NOVA de Lisboa, Portugal

Since 2009, when she became an independent researcher, Alexandra R Fernandes has been involved in two main areas: Diagnostics and Therapy. Her research has been focusing:
1) development of novel diagnostic tools for the genetic diagnostics of cardiomyopathies. In the context of this area of research, she has been involved in several national and international collaborations. This research work has been translated to a diagnostic company –HEARTGENETICS SA, where she was a co-founder (2013) and COO (between
2013-2015).
2) The application/validation of novel cancer diagnostics tools inclinical samples. Part of this research has been translated to Nano4 Global Lda, where she was a co-founder (2015) and presently COO.
3) The identification of new promising compounds for cancer therapy, in the characterization of their biological targets and their target delivery to cancer cells. She has been interested in the identification of markers of resistance to cancer therapy (mostly in chronic myelogenous leukemia and breast cancer). To accomplish these goals, she
has been using in vitro studies with tumour cell lines (2D, 3D spheroids) primary cultures of cancer patients, patient-derived organoids, blood samples and more recently also in vivo studies using eggs embryos, zebrafish and mice. In the context of this area of research, she has been involved in several national and international collaborations and projects.
She has also been using the dog as a model organism for the study of canine mammary tumours namely by studying the proteome and the transcriptome of canine mammary tumours with different morphologies and stages to identify new fusion products, new mutations or miRNAs involved in tumour progression. The creation of a database of primary cultures and tissues is also an objective of this research. She has recently developed a new cell line that has been licensed to Applied Biological
Materials (ABM) Inc
(https://www.abmgood.com/FR37-CMT-Tumor-Cells-T8002.html). She has been involved in Expert Evaluation of International R&D Projects and Grants (Austrian Science Fund I projects; ANR - Agence Nationale de la Researche; Czech Science Foundation; Welcome Trust, etc)
Since 2009 she has been involved in several national and International funded Research Projects (5 has PI/Co-PI (2 with Industry) and 31 as Team member (5 European, 26 National)).
She has experience as a scientific adviser (Post-Doc Supervision: 4(since 2013); PhD Supervision: 16 (since 2011); PhD Jury – member in 11 PhD National Thesis and 3 PhD International Thesis; Master Supervision: 52 (since 2010); Master Jury: 100; Graduation Thesis Supervision: 80; Graduation Thesis Jury: >110; Erasmus - Post-Doc: 2;
PhD students: 4; Master students: 1; graduation students: 7. She has published 10 book chapters, more than 180 papers in International Journals with referees, 3 papers in Proceedings of International Conferences (with referees), 3 papers in National Journals with referees. She has 50 oral communications in International and National Meetings (with referees) and more than 100 communications in Panel.

University of Sydney, Australia

Professor Lay completed his PhD at ANU (1981) and he joined the University of Sydney as a lecturer (1985) where he progressed to a professorship in 1997 and Head of School (2001-2002) and is currently Emeritus Professor of Chemistry.  He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Science and received its David Craig Medal in 2013; and is also a Fellow of the Royal Society of New South Wales. He has held two Australian Research Council Professorial Fellowships (2002-2007, 2009-2013), was awarded the Rennie, Burrows and H. G. Smith Medals of the RACI of which he is a Fellow, and was awarded the Synchrotron Lifetime Achievement Award from the Australian Nuclear Science & Technology Organisation. 

His research covers a broad range of bioinorganic chemistry (including anti-diabetic and anti-cancer drug design) and medical applications of biospectroscopies, which current emphasis on vanadium anti-cancer drugs.  His research directed at new applications of synchrotron science to understanding disease processes and disease treatments has paved the way for new protocols at the forefront of biomedical research.