Hirak K Patra, PhD, FRSB, FHEA, FIBMS, Department of Surgical Biotechnology, UCL Division of Surgery and Interventional Sciences, University College London, UK
Professor Hirak K Patra is among the next generation of scientists with cross-discipline interests, and is serving as a full (Chair) Professor of Precision Nanosystems and Advanced Therapeutics at the University College London (UCL), UK. He is an expert in nanomedicine and regenerative medicine. Before moving to UCL from Cambridge, Hirak was a fellow (Jr, B1) at the Wolfson College at the University of Cambridge, and he implemented his EU Marie Skłodowska Curie Individual European Fellowship at the Department of Chemical Engineering and Biotechnology at the University of Cambridge. Prof Patra has published his research in more than 50 articles, holds granted US patents, and has edited 3 books and special issues in several journals.
Agata Przekora, PhD, Department of Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, Medical University of Lublin, Poland
Professor Agata Przekora, PhD is a Polish biotechnologist and materials scientist. She obtained her PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences in 2014. She takes up the position of full professor and the head of the Department of Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine of Medical University of Lublin (Poland). Her study focuses on the development of novel biomaterials for regenerative medicine applications. She has also developed many unique protocols for the preclinical evaluation of biomaterials under in vitro conditions, limiting the use of animal models in scientific research. She is the author/co-author of 12 patents and 89 publications with a total score of IF = 443.277 (Hirsch Index = 26).
Richard Schäfer, MD, FRSB, Medical Director Transfusion Medicine, Institute for Transfusion Medicine and Gene Therapy, Medical Center, University of Freiburg, Germany
After graduating in medicine at Heidelberg University (Medical Faculty Mannheim), Professor Richard Schäfer, MD, FRSB was clinically trained in internal medicine and transfusion medicine. In his scientific career he has been working extensively in the mesenchymal stromal cell (MSC) and induced pluripotent stem cell (iPSC) fields at Harvard, Stanford, Tübingen, Frankfurt and Freiburg Universities, where he developed and pursued a research program focusing on functional heterogeneity of stem cells and cell therapeutics. He headed the Department for Cell Therapeutics at the Institute for Transfusion Medicine and Immunohematology at Frankfurt University, and since 2021 he is the Medical Director Transfusion Medicine at the Institute of Transfusion Medicine and Gene Therapy at Freiburg University, where he is also leading the Freiburg iPSC core facility. Prof Schäfer has served in various positions in professional societies in the fields of transfusion medicine, biotherapies and stem cells including Secretary of the AABB (Association for the Advancement of Blood & Biotherapies). He has authored/co-authored more than 100 publications (cumulative IF>400; Hirsch Index =31).
