TOXICOLOGYMEET2024

Professor Dr. Dr. (h.c.) Marilyn A. Huestis retired as a tenured senior investigator and Chief, Chemistry and Drug Metabolism Section, IRP, National Institute on Drug Abuse, National Institutes of Health in 2016 after 23 years of conducting controlled drug administration studies. She was an Adjunct Professor, University of Maryland School of Medicine, Baltimore, MD from 1999-2017. Currently, she is a Senior Science and Policy Advisor for PinneyAssociates,Professor at the Institute on Emerging Health Professions, Thomas Jefferson University, Philadelphia, PA, Adjunct Professor, University of New Mexico, College of Pharmacy, Honorary Professor, Barts & London School of Medicine & Dentistry, Queen Mary University of London, England on the Smart Approaches to Marijuana (SAM) Science Advisory Board, and President of Huestis & Smith Toxicology, LLC. Her research program focuses on the neurobiology and pharmacokinetics of cannabinoid agonists, kratom/mitragynine, psilocybin, effects of in utero drug exposure, oral fluid drug testing, driving under the influence of drugs, and identification and quantification of drugs by mass spectrometry. She published 568 peer-reviewed manuscripts and book chapters and hundreds of invited lectures and abstracts were presented at national and international meetings. Professor Huestis received a bachelor's degree in biochemistry from Mount Holyoke College, a master's degree in clinical chemistry from the University of New Mexico, and a doctoral degree in toxicology from the University of Maryland. Professor Huestis received a Doctor Honoris Causa from the Faculty of Medicine, University of Helsinki in Finland. Other important awards include the 2023 CMCR Pioneer in Medicinal Cannabis Research Award, 2023 Mechoulam Award from the International Cannabinoid Research Society, 2021 American Association for Clinical Chemistry (AACC) Outstanding Lifetime Achievement Award, 2021 National Safety Council Distinguished Service to Safety Award, 2021 American Academy of Forensic Sciences (AAFS) Alexander O. Gettler Award, 2018 National Safety Council’s Borkenstein Award, 2017 Sir Kenneth Standard Distinguished Lecturer for the University of the West Indies, 2016 Victorian Institute of Forensic Medicine Orator, Melbourne, Australia, 2016 Marian W. Fischman Lectureship Award from the College on Problems of Drug Dependence, 2016 Saferstein Memorial Distinguished Lecturer at Northeastern University, 2015 Norman P. Kubasik AACC Lectureship Award, 2015 Distinguished Fellow from AAFS, 2010 The International Association of Forensic Toxicologists (TIAFT) Alan Curry Award, 2008 AACC Outstanding Contributions in a Selected Area of Research Award, 2007 International Association of Therapeutic Drug Monitoring and Clinical Toxicology (IATDMCT) Irving Sunshine Award, 2005 AAFS Rolla N. Harger Award, and 1992 Irving Sunshine Award for Outstanding Research in Forensic Toxicology. The journal Clinical Chemistry featured her as an “Inspiring Mind”. She currently serves on the World Anti-doping Agency’s Prohibited List Committee, and the National Safety Council’s Alcohol, Drugs and Impairment Division Executive Board. Professor Huestis served on the National Commission on Forensic Sciences. She is past president of the Society of Forensic Toxicologists, past Chair of the Toxicology Section of the American Academy of Forensic Sciences, and past president of The International Association of Forensic Toxicologists.

Nira Ben-Jonathan is Emeritus Professor of Cancer Biology at the University of Cincinnati, Ohio, USA. She has published 175 manuscripts, wrote a book on dopamine, and contributed 12 chapters to textbooks and encyclopedias. She mentored 65 students, fellows and research scientists. She was awarded the NIH Research Career Development Award, was elected Fellow of the AAAS, elected Chairman of the Gordon Research Conference on Prolactin and elected member of the Royal Society of Medicine, UK. She received the Rieveschl Award for Outstanding Scientific Research, and the Edward Merker Lectureship in Translational Endocrinology. Over the years, she served as a member on numerous study sections of the NIH, DOD, and the Komen foundation, and as chairman on five NIH study sections.

Dr. Suresh C. Sikka is currently a Professor of Urology, the Director of Urology Research Laboratories, and the Director of Andrology Clinic and Research Laboratories at Tulane University School of Medicine, New Orleans, USA where he has worked for the past 35 years. He received his B.Sc. (Hons) and M.Sc. (Hons) in Biochemistry from the Panjab University and his Ph.D. in Pharmacology from the Postgraduate Institute of Medical Education and Research (PGIMER) both in Chandigarh, India. He then joined Reproductive Biology department at the All-India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) in New Delhi, India under a WHO male contraception research project. In 1979 he moved to USA as a post-doctoral fellow in Biochemistry department at the University of Southern California (USC) in Los Angeles, California, USA. In 1982 he joined Harbor-UCLA Medical Center campus of University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) as the Director of Urology/Andrology Research Lab. In December 1988, Dr. Sikka moved to Tulane University in New Orleans, USA as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Urology, where he was responsible for developing Andrology research program as well as CLIA-approved clinical Andrology lab. For this, he passed his Board Certifications as High-complexity Clinical Lab Director (HCLD) and Clinical Consultant (CC/ABB). In 1994, he was promoted to Associate Professor and then rose to the rank of full Professor of Urology at Tulane. In 1999, Dr. Sikka set up a unique state-of-the-art standardized semen analysis (SA) training program with quality control management and troubleshooting. He also developed a Central Reader facility for sperm morphology evaluation using strict & non-strict criteria. Over the years, this program has catered to the needs of many pharmaceutical companies for their multicenter male reproductive toxicity studies as per the FDA guidelines. Dr. Sikka has thus fartaught, trained and certified more than 1,100 technicians across the globe using these standardized SA techniques and managed their quality control throughout these reproductive toxicity studies. These standardized SA techniques are also used for diagnostic purposes and patient care at Tulane Medical Center’s CLIA certified Andrology Clinical laboratory. Dr. Sikka has also set up a standardized color Penile Duplex Doppler ultrasound (PDDU) technique for blood flow evaluation in erectile dysfunction (ED) and Peyronie’s disease (PD) patients at Tulane Medical Center’s Andrology Clinic. After many such evaluations (over 6,000) of this unique non-invasive clinical procedure, Dr. Sikka was invited to publish widely quoted standardized operating procedure (SOP) document for Journal of Sexual Medicine (JSM). Besides he has demonstrated & taught this ultrasound technique at many national and international sexual medicine and Andrology workshops. In addition, Dr. Sikka has successfully developed an Andrology research program focused in areas of male reproduction, ED and PD. His current research interests center around understanding the role of oxidative stress and genitourinary inflammation related to such male infertility and ED/PD disorders employing in-vitro, ex-vivo, exosome models and many technologically advanced cellular and molecular tools. His lab has trained many students & fellows and so far published more than 220 peer-reviewed articles, many book chapters, numerous abstracts. He also wrote a book entitled, “Bioenvironmental Issues Affecting Male Reproductive & Sexual Health”. He has served as a Study Section reviewer for the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) and other agencies in this area of male reproductive toxicology. His presentations delivered in these areas at many national and international meetings and invitations are well acknowledged.

Dr. Naranjan S. Dhalla is a distinguished professor at the University of Manitoba’s Max Rady College of Medicine, Department of Physiology and Pathophysiology. He is also the Director of Cardiovascular Developments at the St. Boniface Hospital Albrechtsen Research Centre in Winnipeg, Canada. Dr. Dhalla earned his M.S. degree from the University of Pennsylvania in 1963 and his Ph.D. from the University of Pittsburgh in 1965. He was honored with an M.D. (Hon) from Charles University, Prague in 1995 and received multiple D.Sc. (Hon) degrees from various prestigious institutions, including Slovak Academy of Sciences, Panjab University, and Guru Nanak Dev University. He also holds Professor Honoris Causa titles from Carol Davila University and the National Academy of Medical Sciences Bucharest. Professionally, Dr. Dhalla began his career as an Assistant Professor at St. Louis University before joining the University of Manitoba in 1968. Over his 54-year tenure, he served as Head and Director of the Institute of Cardiovascular Sciences for 19 years, specializing in the pathophysiology and pharmacotherapy of heart disease. His research contributions include 874 full-length papers and reviews, 646 abstracts, and 65 edited or authored books. His work has been cited over 34,019 times, with an h-index of 86. Dr. Dhalla has trained 166 fellows and students worldwide and has been a keynote speaker at 550 conferences and institutions. Dr. Dhalla has been instrumental in promoting cardiology, serving as Secretary General and President of the International Society for Heart Research and Executive Director of the International Academy of Cardiovascular Sciences. He has been recognized with 216 honors and awards, including the Order of Canada and the Medal of Honour of the Canadian Medical Association, and was inducted into the Canadian Medical Hall of Fame in 2019.

Senior Researcher in Toxicology, In Vitro Toxicology, Nanotoxicology, Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, Food Toxicology, Biocompatibility of Medical Devices, Bioactivity and biosafety of novel drugs and vaccines. The Scientific & Technological Research Council of Turkey (TUBITAK), Marmara Research Centre (MRC), Life Sciences, Medical Biotechnology Unit, P.K. 21 41470 Gebze/KOCAELİ, TURKEY. Yuksel Cetin has been studying in vivo - in vitro toxicology of novel drugs, biomaterials, nanoparticules, and xenobiotics to evaluate the molecular mechanism and pathogenicity at cellular and organ level. Recently, she has been focused on preclinical studies of novel cancer drugs and the development of 3D in vitro model systems to evaluate the efficacy and safety of the drugs. Furthermore, her research group has know-how on biological evaluation of medical devices therefore, the group is well experienced on many standard toxicological assays such as acute, subacute, and choronic toxicity (systemic toxicity), cytotoxicity, irritation, sensitization, genotoxicity, etc., which have also been used for the preclinical studies.

Kenneth R. Pelletier, PhD, MD — is a Clinical Professor of Medicine, Department of Medicine; Department of Family and Community Medicine, and Department of Psychiatry at the University of California School of Medicine (UCSF) in San Francisco. At the University of California School of Medicine, he is Director of the Corporate Health Improvement Program (CHIP) which is a collaborative research program between CHIP and 15 of the Fortune 500 corporations including Ford, Oracle, Prudential, Apple, Dow, Lockheed Martin, NASA, Pepsico, IBM, American Airlines, and NASA. He also serves as Chairman of the American Health Association (AHA) and is a Vice President with American Specialty Health (ASH). Prior to these positions, from 2001 to 2016, Dr. Pelletier served as Clinical Professor of Medicine in the Department of Medicine, Department of Family and Community Medicine and Professor of Public Health, at the University of Arizona School of Medicine. From 1990 through 2001, Dr. Pelletier was a Clinical Professor of Medicine at the Stanford University School of Medicine; was Director of the Stanford Corporate Health Improvement Program (SCHIP); and, Director of the NIH funded Complementary and Alternative Medicine Program at Stanford (CAMPS). From 1974 until joining the Stanford University School of Medicine in 1990, Dr. Pelletier held a dual appointment as an Associate Clinical Professor in the Department of Medicine and in the Department of Psychiatry, at the University of California School of Medicine (UCSF) in San Francisco. In addition to his faculty positions, Dr. Pelletier has served as a member of the Board of Directors and Chairman of the California Wellness Foundation, Foundation Health Systems (FHS), Health Systems International (HSI), Health Net, and the Social Venture Network. He was a Woodrow Wilson Fellow, studied at the CG Jung Institute in Zurich, Switzerland and has published over 300 professional journal articles in behavioral medicine, disease management, worksite interventions, alternative/integrative medicine, and epigenetics. At the present time, Dr. Pelletier is a medical and business consultant to the US Department of Health and Human Services, the World Health Organization (WHO), the National Business Group on Health, the Federation of State Medical Boards, and major corporations including Cisco, IBM, American Airlines, Prudential, Dow, Disney, Ford, Mercer, Merck, Pepsico, Ford, Pfizer, Walgreens, NASA, Microsoft ENCARTA, Blue Cross/Blue Shield, United Healthcare, Health Net, the Pasteur Institute of Lille, France, the Alpha Group of Mexico, and the Singapore Ministry of Health. He also serves on the boards of the Rancho la Puerta (Mexico), Nova Institute, Fries Foundation, American Institute of Stress (AIS), American Journal of Health Promotion (AJHP), as a Founding Board Member of the American Board of Integrative Medicine (ABOIM), and as a peer reviewer for the Journal of the American Medical Association (JAMA), the Journal of Occupational and Environmental Medicine (JOEM), Annals of Internal Medicine, Health Affairs, and webMD. Dr. Pelletier is listed in Who’s Who in America and in Who’s Who in the World. His research, clinical practice, and publications have been the subject of numerous national television programs including several appearances on the ABC World News, the Today program, Good Morning America, Dr Oz, the CBS Evening News, 48 Hours, the McNeil-Lehrer Newshour, CNN, FOX News, CBS Sunday Morning, Hour Magazine, the Time/Life video series, the award winning BBC series The Long Search, and the five-part Blue Cross/Blue Shield sponsored PBS series Healthy People, Healthy Business. Dr. Pelletier is the author of fifteen (15) major books including the international bestseller Mind as Healer, Mind as Slayer (New York: Delacorte and Delta, 1977; Revised in 1992); Holistic Medicine: From Stress to Optimum Health (New York: Delacorte and Delta, 1981; Revised in 1991); Longevity: Fulfilling Our Biological Potential (New York: Delacorte and Delta, 1981); Healthy People in Unhealthy Places; Stress and Fitness at Work (New York: Delacorte, Delta, and Doubleday, 1984); Sound Mind – Sound Body: A New Model for Lifelong Health (New York: Simon & Schuster, 1995); The Best Alternative Medicine: What Works? What Does Not? (New York: Simon & Schuster, 2000); Stress Free for Good: Ten Scientifically Proven Life Skills for Health and Happiness (New York: Harper Collins, 2005); New Medicine: How to Integrate Conventional and Alternative Medicine for the Safest and Most Effective Treatment (London & New York: Penguin – Dorling Kindersley, 2007); and Change Your Genes – Change Your Life: Creating Optimal Health with the New Science of Epigenetics (New York: Origin Press, 2018; New and Updated Second Edition, San Francisco: Odyssey Press, 2023).

Prof. Dr. Raafat Mandour is an esteemed Emeritus Consultant and Professor with a distinguished background in toxicology, forensic chemistry, water pollution, and medical analyses. Holding a PhD, MSc, and two postgraduate diplomas from Mansoura University's Science and Medicine colleges, he has made significant contributions to his field through 20 local and 11 international publications. His expertise is recognized globally, having spoken at 80 local and 20 international conferences and workshops. He is an active member of eight international scientific societies and has led 29 training courses. His extensive research and engagement reflect his dedication to advancing scientific knowledge and practice in his areas of specialization.

Dr. Mohammad Kamil, a distinguished academic and researcher, boasts an illustrious career spanning several decades and continents. His expertise ranges from pharmacognostic sciences to traditional and complementary medicine, with significant contributions to both academia and international healthcare initiatives. Throughout his career, Dr. Kamil has held esteemed positions such as Director General at Lotus Holistic Healthcare Institute in Abu Dhabi, UAE, and Head of the Scientific Committee for the Sheikh Zayed International TCAM Awards. His academic journey includes roles at prestigious institutions like Hamdard University in India and the Zayed Complex for Herbal Research & Traditional Medicine in the UAE. Dr. Kamil's scholarly pursuits are underscored by an impressive publication record, including over 700 research papers and numerous book chapters focusing on medicinal plants and herbal medicine. He has been instrumental in the standardization and evaluation of medicinal plants, contributing significantly to the field's advancement. Recognized globally for his expertise, Dr. Kamil has received numerous accolades, including the First Sheikh Zayed International TCAM Award in Herbal Research. His dedication to education is further exemplified by mentoring numerous doctoral and master's students. Dr. Kamil continues to influence the global discourse on traditional and complementary medicine through his extensive research, publications, and leadership roles, solidifying his reputation as a prominent figure in the field.

Dr. Begum earned her Ph.D. in Structural Organic Chemistry from Pakistan before pursuing further training in structural biology at the University of Hamburg, DESY, Germany. There, she focused on structure-based and fragment-based drug design utilizing X-ray crystallography techniques with synchrotron radiation. She has been recognized with prestigious fellowships, including the DAAD fellowship in Germany and the HEC Postdoctoral Fellowship in Pakistan. Currently, Dr. Afshan serves as a senior researcher at Uppsala University, Sweden, where she specializes in X-ray crystallography and cryo-EM. With 23 research publications to her credit, she has established herself as a leading authority in her field. Her primary research interests encompass the expression, purification, crystallization, and characterization of biologically active molecules, including proteins and enzymes of industrial and medicinal significance. Dr. Begum employs a variety of techniques such as UV/CD spectroscopy, dynamic light scattering (DLS), X-ray crystallography, and other in vitro biochemical and biophysical methods to advance her studies.

she is a Ph.D. from Nanjing University. She has undertaken short-term study visits at the United Nations Labor Organization and Nanyang Technological University, Singapore. Currently, she is engaged in research on water bodies such as the Yangtze River and Taihu Lake in China, with a solid foundation in both scientific research and environmental pollution control studies. She has previously participated in projects related to the control of persistent pollutants in key rivers of China and contributed to the drafting of the work plan for the special treatment of persistent pollutants in Jiangsu Province, China. These experiences make her an outstanding representative for the TOXICOLOGYMEET2024 conference.

Dr Alsmadi is the Vice Dean of the Nanotechnology Institute. Dr. Alsmadi is a joint professor at the pharmaceutical technology department (Pharmacy School) and the Nanotechnology Institute at Jordan University of Science & Technology (JUST). During this joint appointment, Dr. Alsmadi taught graduate-level courses and supervised master's students at the Nanotechnology Institute in projects related to targeted drug delivery to the brain, pancreas, and lungs using nano-drug delivery systems. This is in addition to Dr. Alsmadi's involvement in teaching undergraduate (B.Sc and Pharm D.) and graduate (MSc, and Ph.D.) courses and the supervision of master's students at Pharmacy School. Dr. Alsmadi has been involved in research related to the preparation and optimization of novel nano and micro drug delivery systems for pancreas, brain, and lung delivery to treat diseases like COVID-19, cancer, insomnia, diabetes, and hypercholesteremia. Also, Dr. Alsmadi pursued preclinical and clinical research using physiologically-based pharmacokinetic (PBPK) modeling on anticancer drugs in the presence of modified body physiology induced by cancer, renal impairment, IBS, IBD, and pregnancy. Also, therapeutic drug monitoring of drugs in saliva to optimize dosing regimens was among the research interests of Dr. Alsmadi. This is in addition to Dr. Alsmadi's involvement in the evaluation of newborn safety after intrauterine exposure to maternal opioids and antiepileptic drugs used during pregnancy. Overall, Dr. Alsmadi has expertise in in-vitro, in-vivo, and in-silico tools used for nano-drug delivery systems fabrication and characterization, biosafety, biopharmaceutics, toxicokinetics, and pharmacokinetics analysis.

Dr. David C. Obasi was born on May 10, 1985 in Abakaliki, Ebonyi State, Nigeria. He completed hisPh.D. in Medical Biochemistry at the age of 35at the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (2020). Dr. Obasi started his academic career as a Graduate Assistant in 2012 and rose to the rank of a Senior Lecturer in 2022. He has over 25 scholarly journal publications and served as a journal reviewer for Elsevier and the Nigerian Society of Biochemistry and Molecular Biology (NSBMB) journal. His research interest is in medical biochemistry/toxicology and molecular biology. Dr. Obasi is currently the Head of the Department of Medical Biochemistry at David Umahi Federal University of Health Sciences, Uburu, Ebonyi State, Nigeria.

Researcher & scientist in the Pharmaceutical Organic Chemistry and Medicinal Chemistry Departments (in the Faculty of Pharmacy, Mansoura University), my researches are focusing mainly on design, synthesis, discovery, invention, characterization, molecular modeling, biological screening & evaluation of new promising drugs, especially, for the challenging resistant diseases such as the neurodegenerative diseases & disorders (e.g., Alzheimer's disease, Parkinson's disease, and dementia), cancer & tumors (e.g., liver cirrhosis, brain tumor, and prostate cancer). Also, synthesis of drugs to resist aging & exhaustion like antioxidants, antiobesity & antiaging agents, drugs for psychogenic & organic sexual dysfunction in both sexes, drug formulas for premature ejaculation in males, drug formulas for increasing libido in both sexes, medicines & formulas for hair fall in both sexes, drugs formulas for increasing breasts & buttocks size in females and drugs for decreasing breasts (treatment of gynaecomastia in men) & buttocks size in males. In addition, I am acting on discovering new alternative advantageous beneficial methods, techniques, and pathways for the synthesis of medicines (either known or new ones) to minimize costs, time and unhealthy environmental dangers of the procedures of synthesis and also to increase the products yields, quality & purity using, for example, microwave-assisted synthesis, sonochemistry, photochemistry, I.R. waves-assisted synthesis, U.V. waves-assisted synthesis and many other techniques of green chemistry, and also stereoselective synthesis, combinatorial synthesis of drugs, computational chemistry. I discovered many new medicines and have many discoveries patents.

Xue Li works at the School of Public Health of Shanghai Jiao Tong University. Her main research areas include nutritional epidemiology, large-scale biomedical data analysis and artificial intelligence methods. Her studies specifically focus on delving into the intricate relationships between nutrition, metabolism, and diseases. She aims to unravel the underlying mechanisms using various techniques, including molecular simulation and machine learning, among others. Using advanced multi-omics techniques, she initiated multi-center cohort studies to explore the correlation between nutrition and glucose and lipid metabolism. Xue Li is the Founder of the Intelligent Interaction Nutrition and Health Research Center at Shanghai Jiao Tong University Student Innovation Center, and designed innovative dietary survey systems using Artificial intelligence methods. She has garnered the Outstanding Young Talent Program in Public Health established by the Shanghai Municipal Health Commission; the Young Investigator Award at World Sleep 2019, etc..  Academic Positions She serves as the deputy director of nutrition and food safety branch of Shanghai Preventive Medicine Association in China, Standing Member of nutrition and omics technology branch of Chinese Nutrition Society, Committee Member of basic nutrition branch of Chinese Nutrition Society, Review Committee Member of the National Public Health and Preventive Medicine Terminology, and the Chinese Environmental Mutagen Society's Committee Member for Exposure Omics and Exposure Science, ect..

Maria Dalamagka currently works at the Department of Anesthesia, General University Hospital of Larissa. Maria does research in acupuncture and Anaesthetics. She is PhD medicine , doctor of pain , MD. Editorial board member :Scifed Journal, Pain Medicine and Management, Enliven, Cient Periodique, Journal of Pain Management and Medicine _Longdom, Anesthesia &Pain Research _Scivision, GJNFS, Journal if Pain and Relief. Speaker and organizing committee to conferences as:Pain Research and Management Zurich 2018, 5th international conference Pain Research &Management London 2017, and Vancouver , Canada 2016, Word congress on Pain Medicine and Management Singapore 2019, International Conference on Alzheimers &Neurodegenerative disease Madrid , Spain 2018, scientific federation speaker.

Chikezie Kennedy Kalu’s field of research is Technology and Innovation Management. He is from Nigeria and has a B.Eng. in Electronics Engineering from The University of Nigeria Nsukka; Nigeria (UNN) and a Masters (with Distinction) in Communication Engineering from The University of Manchester, UK. Chikezie has also presented his research works at various international conferences; and continues to receive more invites to share his works at international conferences and global webinars. He was also awarded the International Best Researcher in Management Science and Engineering at the Asia Research Awards (International Congress for Research Excellence 2024) in India, in March 2024. Chikezie’s research works and interests include analysing, designing, improving, managing and optimizing diverse fields, which includes: Health, Food/Agriculture, Sciences, Technologies, Water, Energy, Environment, Management Science, Modern Wireless Communications Systems, Engineering, ICT, Construction, Projects, and various Social Ventures; for the good of humanity.