SPEAKER

Ana Jaklenec
Ana Jaklenec
Dr. Ana Jaklenec is a Research Scientist and co-Principal Investigator at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in the laboratory of Dr. Robert Langer at the David H. Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research. Her group is focused on engineering delivery systems for global health. Dr. Jaklenec has over 10 years of experience in the area of bioengineering, materials science, micronutrient and vaccine stabilization and delivery. Dr. Jaklenec holds a B.S. in Biomedical Engineering from Boston University and a Ph.D. in Biomedical Engineering from Brown University. She is the recipient of the Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award (NRSA) from the National Institutes of Health (NIH). Dr. Jaklenec was elected to the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) College of Fellows in 2022 for her work in controlled delivery of vaccines and heat-stable micronutrients for global health that can change the world. She was also elected to the Controlled Release Society (CRS) College of Fellows in 2022 for her research at the interface of engineering and immunology that utilizes precise fabrication and design of materials at the nano- and micro-scale for use in controlled drug delivery for global health. She has supervised over 50 pre- and postdoctoral students and has written over 30 articles in high impact journals and has over 20 issued and pending patents worldwide. She is an active member of the Biomedical Engineering Society, Controlled Release Society, and the Society for Biomaterials.

Lena Kranz
Lena Kranz
Focus on preclinical research on RNA vaccines, RNA-based immunomodulators, combination therapy.
BioNTech, Mainz
2020 to present | Director Cancer Vaccines
BioNTech RNA Pharmaceuticals, Mainz
2018 to 2020 | Head of Cancer Vaccines
BioNTech RNA Pharmaceuticals, Mainz
2017 to 2018 | Scientist
University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz
2015 to 2017 | Scientist
University Medical Center of the Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz
2011 to 2015 | PhD in Immunology

Joel Rurik
Joel Rurik
Joel Rurik is a fourth year PhD candidate in Dr. Jonathan A. Epstein’s laboratory at Perelman School of Medicine at the University of Pennsylvania. He studied molecular biology and history at George Fox University, graduating Magna Cum Laude with a B.S. in 2016. His current research is focused on using novel RNA delivery technologies to generate immuno-medicine therapeutics in vivo and is investigating how the cardiac mesenchyme interacts with the immune system following injury. Long-term, Joel is fascinated by the adaptive immune system and wants to leverage these powerful cells for human health.

Giovanni Traverso
Giovanni Traverso
Prof. Traverso is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Mechanical Engineering at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and in the Division of Gastroenterology, Brigham and Women’s Hospital (BWH), Harvard Medical School. Prof. Traverso grew up in Peru, Canada and the United Kingdom. He received his BA from Trinity College, University of Cambridge, UK, and his PhD from the lab of Prof. Bert Vogelstein at Johns Hopkins University. He subsequently completed medical school at the University of Cambridge, internal medicine residency at the Brigham and Women’s Hospital and his gastroenterology fellowship training at Massachusetts General Hospital, both at Harvard Medical School. Prof. Traverso’s previous work focused on the development of novel molecular tests for the early detection of colon cancer. For his post-doctoral research, he transitioned to the fields of chemical and biomedical engineering in the laboratory of Professor Robert Langer at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) where he developed a series of novel technologies for drug delivery as well as physiological sensing via the gastrointestinal tract.
His current research program is focused on developing the next generation of drug delivery systems to enable efficient delivery of therapeutics through the gastrointestinal tract as well developing novel ingestible electronic devices for sensing a broad array of physiologic and pathophysiologic parameters. Additionally, Dr. Traverso continues his efforts towards the development of novel diagnostic tests that enable the early detection of cancer.

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