Industry Day 2016 Conference.
October 1, 2016
Yuri Lvov, PhD
Professor of Chemistry
T. Pipes Eminent Endowed Chair on Micro and Nanosystems
Louisiana Tech University
Dr. Lvov is a pioneer of two methods of drug micro/nano encapsulation: First, the polyelectrolyte layer-by-layer (LbL) assembly, - a nanotechnology method which, after his first papers in 1993, followed by many thousands publications. Second, he introduced for controlled drug release natural biocompatible clay nanotubes. Lvov’s citation index is 15,300 with an h-index of 68. He has 13 US patents on bio microencapsulation. Dr. Lvov was awarded the prestigious international A. von Humboldt Prize for lifetime achievements in nanochemistry. He has been invited to present talks at more than 150 national and international conferences. Dr. Lvov is elected a member of US National Academy of Inventors and an honorable professor of Beijing University of Chemical Technology, China and Kazan Federal University, Russia.
KEYNOTE SPEAKERS.
Oswald R. Crasta, PhD
Genomic Breeding Lead and R&D Fellow
Dow AgroSciences, Indianapolis, IN
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Dr. Oswald Crasta is a R&D Fellow at Dow AgroSciences (DAS) and leads the Genomic Breeding Program in DAS Crops. Dr. Crasta is a molecular geneticist with a Ph.D. degree from Cornell University and post-graduate work at Texas Tech and Purdue Universities. Dr. Crasta has over 29 years of research experience in both industry and academia in the areas of plant biotechnology, genomics, bioinformatics pharmaceutics and agronomy. He previously worked as Associate Director of Trait Discovery at Chromatin Inc., Principal Scientist and Project Director at Virginia Bioinformatics Institute; and Project Leader at CuraGen Corporation with research focused on developing and applying genomic technologies and cyberinfrastructure capabilities to crop improvement, bioenergy-feedstocks, and human health in collaboration with big pharma. He is an inventor on 15 issued patents and co-author of over 50 scientific publications. Dr. Crasta has served as Principal Investigator on several extramurally funded grants from NIH, NSF, and other sources. His career goal is to use an integrated and transdisciplinary research approach for the discovery and validation of targets for biotechnological applications.
Oswald R. Crasta, PhD
Genomic Breeding Lead and R&D Fellow
Dow AgroSciences, Indianapolis, IN
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Dr. Oswald Crasta is a R&D Fellow at Dow AgroSciences (DAS) and leads the Genomic Breeding Program in DAS Crops. Dr. Crasta is a molecular geneticist with a Ph.D. degree from Cornell University and post-graduate work at Texas Tech and Purdue Universities. Dr. Crasta has over 29 years of research experience in both industry and academia in the areas of plant biotechnology, genomics, bioinformatics pharmaceutics and agronomy. He previously worked as Associate Director of Trait Discovery at Chromatin Inc., Principal Scientist and Project Director at Virginia Bioinformatics Institute; and Project Leader at CuraGen Corporation with research focused on developing and applying genomic technologies and cyberinfrastructure capabilities to crop improvement, bioenergy-feedstocks, and human health in collaboration with big pharma. He is an inventor on 15 issued patents and co-author of over 50 scientific publications. Dr. Crasta has served as Principal Investigator on several extramurally funded grants from NIH, NSF, and other sources. His career goal is to use an integrated and transdisciplinary research approach for the discovery and validation of targets for biotechnological applications.
Rona Scott, PhD
Associate Professor of Microbiology and Immunology
Department of Microbiology and Immunology
Feist Weiller Cancer Center
LSU Health Sciences Center
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I received my Ph.D. from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill. I trained as a post-doctoral fellow in two distinct areas. I was involved in the discovery that the receptor tyrosine kinase Mer was required for the phagocytosis and clearance of apoptotic cells. I moved to LSUHSC-S to continue my post-doctoral training and began studies on the role of Epstein-Barr virus (EBV) in tumor progression. I joined the LSUHSC-S faculty in 2003 where I began studying EBV-mediated epigenetic alterations to the host and viral genome and the functional outcomes of these epigenetic alterations. Recent studies have also uncovered synergistic interactions between EBV and a separate tumor virus, human papillomavirus, as contributing factors in the development of tonsillar and base of tongue squamous cell carcinomas. I am currently a principle investigator on a NIH COBRE subproject grant and a NIH RO1 from the National Institute for Dental and Craniofacial Research. I am also the Director of the Center for Molecular and Tumor Virology Genomics Core facility.
Mehdi Keddache, PhD
Sequencing Specialist
Illumina, Inc
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Dr. Keddache started his career as a technician in a genetics research lab in New York City. He then moved to Ohio to lead the DNA Sequencing and Genotyping facility at Cincinnati Children’s Hospital. After implementing Next Generation Sequencing in a clinical setting he joined Illumina’s specialists team with a focus on DNA Sequencers. Dr. Keddache has a Masters in Genetics from Columbia and a PhD in Bioinformatics from the University of Cincinnati.
