Professor Dass obtained his B App Sci (Hons) and PhD from Charles Sturt University, Australia. Prof. Dass has 22 years of basic and applied research in cancer. He has worked on big pharma projects (Amgen, Novartis, Glaxo-Wellcome, Johnson & Johnson). He has published in Nature Medicine, Journal of the National Cancer Institute, Journal of Controlled Release and Biomaterials. Prof. Dass has published 147 papers to date, 165 conference presentations, a h-index of 33, with total number of citations for his papers at ~3400. He has also reviewed original research papers in New England Journal of Medicine, Lancet and Nature Communications.

Professor Dass and his team are looking into the drug doxorubicin, which is used mainly to treat bone tumours, but can cause a number of side-effects in patients. This research is studying ways that the drug can be administered from an aggressive “hitting it on its head” approach to a gentler alternative that would reduce side-effects and still kill the tumour.

Charles J. Malemud received his Ph.D. from George Washington University in 1973 and completed postdoctoral studies at the State University of New York at Stony Brook in 1977. Since 1977, Dr. Malemud has been a member of the faculty at Case Western Reserve University School of Medicine where he is presently Professor of Medicine & Anatomy in the Division of Rheumatic Diseases and Senior Investigator in the Arthritis Research Laboratory. He has published more than 190 papers, chapters and reviews primarily in the field of chondrocyte biology. Professor Malemud is on the editorial board of several rheumatology, immunology and musculoskeletal journals and is Editor-in-Chief of the Journal of Clinical and Cellular Immunology.

Charles J. Malemud research interests include Biology of the Musculoskeletal System, Intracellular Signal Transduction Pathways, Inflammation, Pro-inflammatory, Anti-Inflammatory & Anabolic Cytokines Apoptosis, Matrix, Metalloproteinases, Osteoarthritis, Rheumatoid Arthritis, Fibromyalgia and Autoimmune Disorders

Dr. Jun Li has received his M.D. from Sun Yat-sen University and his Ph.D. and postdoctoral training from University of Alabama at Birmingham (UAB). He focuses on developing novel therapies for autoimmune diseases including rheumatoid arthritis. Dr. Li is currently an Instructor of Medicine at UAB.

Jun Li major research interests include targeting M1 inflammatory macrophages in RA, determining the pathogenic roles of fucosylation in RA, and identifying the bidirectional interaction between macrophages and T cells in RA. Dr. Li’s work is supported by an Arthritis Foundation Post-doctoral Fellowship Award.

Dr Wim B van den Berg was born in 1950 and completed his studies in biochemistry, with sub-specialization in pharmacology and pathology at the free university in Amsterdam. Following his PhD in exp Pathology he moved to Nijmegen and started the Rheumatology research lab and advanced therapeutics in 1979. The research focuses on mechanisms of chronicity and joint destruction in arthritis and osteoarthritis, with an emphasis on cytokines and growth factors, such as IL-1, IL-17 and TGFb. Major expertise is developed in murine RA and OA models, including transgenic mice, adenoviral gene transfer and advanced therapeutics. He received the OARSI basic science award and the Federa award in 2001 and the Dutch rheumatology medal in 2002. In 2011 he received the IAIS (Int association of inflammation societies) life time achievement award.He published over 400 international papers, is deputy editor for basic science of Osteoarthritis and Cartilage, a board member of OARSI and a member of the editorial board of major arthritis journals.

Wim B van den Berg Research interests are focused on the role of cytokines and growth factors in chronicity of joint inflammation and mechanisms of destruction of cartilage and bone. Major expertise is in the development of murine models for arthritis and osteoarthritis and in the translation of experimental findings to advanced therapeutic modalities, including gene therapy.

Snezana Tomasevic Todorovic has completed her M.S. in 2001 year and PhD in 2009 year at Faculty of Medicine, University of Novi Sad, Serbia. She is an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Medicine, Basic health care professional studies, Basic studies of rehabilitation and special education, Basic studies of Physiotherapy School of Medicine, University of Novi Sad. Since 2002, she has been working as physiatrist and rheumatologist, and a specialist of quantum medicine in the Clinic for Medical Rehabilitation, Clinical Center of Vojvodina, Serbia. She has published more than 35 peer reviewed articles. Currently, she holds the position of vice-president of Serbian Association of Physiatrists, President of the Section of Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Physicians of Vojvodina, Serbian Medical Society, and is a member of the Rheumatology Association of Serbia as well.

Snezana Tomasevic research interests include Rheumatic Diseases & Rheumatoid Arthritis Arthritis