Professor Paula T. Hammond is an Institute Professor at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, Head of the Department of Chemical Engineering and a member of MIT’s Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research.

Her research in nanomedicine encompasses the development of new biomaterials to enable drug delivery from surfaces with spatio-temporal control. She investigates novel responsive polymer architectures for targeted nanoparticle drug and gene delivery, and is known for her work on nanoparticles to target cancer, and thin film coatings to release factors that regenerate bone and assist in wound healing. Prof Paula is a member on the Scientific Advisory Board of LayerBio, Moderna Therapeutics and a Board Member of Alector Inc. She is a member of the US President’s Council of Advisors on Science and Technology (PCAST).

Prof Paula graduated from MIT with a B.S. in Chemical Engineering and received her M.S. in Chemical Engineering at Georgia Tech, before returning to MIT for her PhD. She then did her NSF Postdoctoral Fellow at the Harvard University Chemistry Department before returning to MIT as a faculty member.

Prof Mary Chan is the 2019 Board of Trustees Chaired Professor of Chemical and Biomedical Engineering at the Nanyang Technological University Singapore (NTU Singapore). She holds a joint appointment at the Lee Kong Chian School of Medicine at NTU. She is also the Director of the Centre for Antimicrobial Bioengineering, and the Nanyang Food Technology Centre (NAFTEC). She is a Fellow of the America Institute of Medical and Biological Engineering. She is also an associate editor of the American Chemical Society (ACS) Applied Materials & Interfaces.

Her main research interests are in polymers in nanoscience and biotechnology. She has published extensively, with more than 240 papers in top-tier journals. She is a leader in the field of antibacterial and antibiofilm polymers. Her research group at NTU has invented a new class of potent cationic antimicrobial polymers which are non-toxic and biocompatible. Her antibacterial polymers are more environmentally friendly than current disinfectants and are being applied as device coatings and solutions to fight the global Antimicrobial Resistance (AMR) public health crisis.

Prof Mary received her BEng (Chemical) and PhD (Polymers) from the National University of Singapore and MIT respectively.

Dr Koh is a Senior Research Fellow at National University of Singapore (NUS) conducting food supply chain resilience research. He has been in senior management and C-suite roles for many multinationals and large Asian corporates. He was General Manager of Shell Marine for Asia Pacific and Middle East where he managed a business portfolio of US$2 billion and General Manager for Shell China. He was also Head of Investments for Singapore’s leading government-owned investment firm Temasek Holdings in the Aviation and Logistics sector. He was also Temasek Holdings’ first Shanghai Chief Representative. He served as the Asian CEO for the largest protein import platform in China and designed several large scale cold storage facilities.

Dr Koh received his Doctorate from the Singapore Management University (SMU). He is also an alumnus of both Harvard Business School AMP and INSEAD MBA program. He serves as an Advisory Board member of SMU Academy, Foodbank Singapore and his alma mater, Dunman High School. He is an Adjunct Professor at SMU, NTU and also a Programme Director for Nanyang Technological University (NTU) Entrepreneurship Centre.

Dr Zhang is a Senior Postdoctoral Associate at the Singapore-MIT Alliance for Research and Technology (SMART). Dr Zhang’s research interest and expertise include antibiotic preclinical studies, anti-biofilm polymers, antimicrobial peptidomimetics, and nanoparticle formulation. She has over 10 years’ experience working with novel antimicrobial small and large molecules, and drug formulation. She also pioneered the research of applying the polyimidazolium (PIM) technology for veterinarian applications. Some of Dr Zhang’s key inventions include the discovery of a novel antimicrobial peptidomimetic with anti-biofilm properties against Methicillin resistant S. aureus.

Dr Zhang received her PhD at the Nanyang Technological University, under the cosupervision of Professor Mary Chan and Professor Kevin Pethe. She received her postdoctoral training in Professor Gui Bazan’s group at the National University of Singapore, prior to joining Professor Paula Hammond’s lab at SMART.