Dr. Winter is Clinical Associate Professor of Medicine in the Division of Gastroenterology and Hepatology, at Stanford School of Medicine, Stanford, California, USA. He is Board Certified in Internal Medicine and Gastroenterology, and has specific interest in the management and treatment of intestinal failure, nutrition rehabilitation and inflammatory bowel disease. He completed fellowship training at Groote Schuur Hospital in Cape Town, South Africa, and at the John Radcliff Hospital OX, UK. He accomplished his PhD (Medicine) at the University of Cape Town. He is the author of 62 papers, editorials, letters and reviews, 9 chapters, and 84 abstracts.

Prof. Chris Constantinou has a formal education in biomedical engineering at Stanford University, USA and was fortunate to be appointed to the clinical Department of Urology, Stanford Medical School for all of his professional life. Prof. Constantinou looks forward to developing links with groups interested in imaging technology particularly using ultrasound to address basic and clinical problems quantitatively.

1. Pharmacologic methods in identifying alpha adrenergic receptors in the obstructed urinary tract. 2. Fluid mechanics and physiological mechanisms of contractility in the urinary tract. 3. Biomedical Engineering approaches in the characterization of static and dynamic properties of soft tissues 4. Image processing and 3D reconstruction of magnetic resonance 5. Computer models and vector analysis of pelvic floor musculature 6. Software for interactive teaching

Min Li got his Ph.D. from Emory University at Atlanta, Georgia in 2002, under the supervision of Dr. Richard W. Compans, a world renowned virologist and immunologist. Li studied the regulation of a retrovirus envelope protein induced membrane fusion and the association with lipid rafts. He then moved on to Baylor College of Medicine at Houston, Texas, USA and started his career in cancer research as an Assistant Professor in 2004. Li joined the University of Texas Health Science Center at Houston, Medical School in 2010 as the Director of Cancer Research Program. His research interests include pancreatic cancer and brain tumor pathogenesis, translational research, new therapies and tumor vaccine development. Li′s group is the first one to identify a zinc transporter (ZIP4) as a new molecular target in pancreatic cancer, and has developed a novel therapy to treat this malignancy.

Pancreatic cancer and brain tumor pathogenesis. Translational research, new therapies (shRNA therapy, small molecule therapy, and nutrition/diet therapy), and tumor vaccine development.

Maxwell M Chait completed his MD degree at the age of 25 from the University of California School of Medicine at San Francisco. He is a Fellow of several prestigious organizations, including the American College of Physicians, American College of Gastroenterology, American Gastroenterological Association and the American Society for Gastrointestinal Endoscopy. He is a practicing gastroenterologist on the faculty of the Columbia University College of Physicians and Surgeons. He has authored more than 40 publications in reputed journals. He is the editor-in-chief of the Journal of Liver Disease and Transplantation and serves on the editorial board of the World Journal of Gastrointestinal Endoscopy.

Amr Amin is a Professor of Cell & Molecular Biology and a graduate faculty at UAE University. He earned his PhD in Cell & Developmental Biology from University of Illinois at Chicago and received a postdoctoral training in Molecular Genetics at University of Pennsylvania School of Medicine. After joining UAEU, Dr. Amin’s focus was redirected to the field of preventive medicine. His lab is interested in natural product-based protection against cancer. Most recently, his lab has been employing non-invasive approaches and nanoparticles to learn more about the molecular aspects of chemoprevention particularly against liver cancer. He published many research articles, reviews and book chapters in reputable journals. He also serves on the editorial boards and as a reviewer of many international journals. Dr. Amin is also the recipient of many national and international awards.

Amr Amin research interests focus biology and chemoprevention of cancer, preclinical studies, and novel plant-based anticancer drugs.

Pankaj Kumar Singh completed his Ph.D at the age of 26 years. He completed his postdoctoral studies from Salk Institute for Biological Studies, San Diego, California. He is currently an associate professor at Eppley Institute For Cancer Research, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Omaha, Nebraska. He has published several articles in reputed journals, including PNAS and Nature, and has obtained several national awards.

Pankaj Kumar Singh research is focused on metabolic alterations in tumors and he is utilizing metabolomic tools to investigate the mechanisms of chemoresistance in pancreatic cancer.

Mark Feitelson received his Ph.D. in Microbiology and Immunology from the UCLA School of Medicine in 1979. He was then an American Cancer Society Postdoctoral Scholar at Stanford University (1980-82), and was the recruited to the Fox Chase Cancer Center by Baruch S. Blumberg (Nobel Laureate 1976) to work on the molecular pathogenesis of chronic hepatitis B. In 1991, Dr. Feitelson moved to Thomas Jefferson University, and in 2007, he became Professor of Biology at Temple University. He has over 120 publications, has been funded by NIH for more than 30 years, and has developed cell based and animal models capable of evaluating both the basic biology of HBV, its relationship to liver cancer, and evaluating new treatment approaches. He holds visiting professorships at several universities in China and lectures widely to students and scientists worldwide.

Molecular/cellular mechanisms of hepatitis viruses on liver cancer development

Dr. Theresa C. Hemsworth-Peterson. Currently a Full Professor of Medicine and a Biomedical Research Scientist at the QEII Health Sciences Centre in Halifax. Dr. Hemsworth-Peterson received her doctoral degree at Dalhousie University followed by a Postdoctoral fellowship at the National Institutes of Health in Bethesda Maryland in the National Institutes of Child Health and Human Development in Developmental Pharmacology. Dr. Hemsworth-Peterson returned to Dalhousie as the first Research Scholar of the Dalhousie Medical Research Foundation and has been a Full Professor of Medicine since 1999. She served as the Chair of the Dalhousie Medical Research Foundation and ex officio on the Board for several years. Her research focusses on liver and G.I. disease and drug development and she holds several US patents. She has over 100 publications in top journals including Hepatology, Molecular Pharmacology and European Journal of Pharmacology.

Molecular biology of gene regulation, signal transduction, tumor biology, gene therapy, HCV Mediated Pathogenesis

Our laboratory is interested in the regulation of tight junction barrier function and the signaling pathway(s) involved in tight junction assembly and disassembly. Tight junctions serve as a permeability barrier in epithelial and endothelial cells regulating the passage of ions and small molecules through the paracellular pathway. Tight junction plays a crucial role in maintaining tissue homeostasis by keeping the extracellular fluid within the physiological range. Recent studies indicate that disruption of tight junction function leads to a number of human diseases such as autosomal recessive deafness and renal magnesium wasting resulting in nephrocalcinosis.

Dr. Carol Ann Podlasek has received her Ph.D. in Biochemistry in University of Notre Dame during the period of 1987-1994. Currently, she is working as Assistant Professor in Northwestern University. She is serving as an editorial member of several reputed journals like Asian Journal of Andrology, ISRN Urology. She has authored 24 research articles/books. She is a member of American Urological Association.

Erectile dysfunction (ED) is a significant medical condition and current treatment options are ineffective in diabetic patients and in prostate cancer patients treated by prostatectomy. Sonic hedgehog (SHH) is an essential regulator of penile smooth muscle, cavernous nerve (CN) integrity and CN regeneration that has significant potential to be developed as a treatment to prevent ED by regenerating the CN and by suppressing penile apoptosis. In our laboratory we examine fundamental mechanisms that underlie cavernous nerve regulation of penile morphology during development, how these mechanisms become altered with peripheral neuropathy of the cavernous nerve in diabetic rats and how manipulation of SHH signaling can be used to speed cavernous nerve repair in CN injury models.

Jennifer Davagian-Ensign is the Founder and CEO of Christcot Medical Company. As a Crohn’s patient she knows the daily struggles of IBD patients and compliance decisions affecting healthcare outcomes. Ms Davagian-Ensign has given several talks including patient responsibility in compliance and the importance of new medical device technologies that motivate behavioral changes on the part of the patient. As a thought leader in the area of rectal medication treatment for gastrointestinal disease, Ms. Davagian-Ensign led the initiative to have Ulcerative Proctitis categorized as a Rare Genetic Orphan Disease by the NIH and wrote the abstract included in the NIH database.