Melissa Lambeth Kemp received her B.S. in Nuclear Engineering from MIT and her Ph.D. in Bioengineering from University of Washington. Dr. Kemp joined the faculty at Georgia Tech in 2006 after completing postdoctoral training at MIT. Her expertise is in computational modeling of metabolism and signal transduction, as well as developing statistical modeling tools to examine network relationships in high-dimension datasets. One major aspect of her research program linking ROS – the byproducts of aerobic metabolism – to the fundamental way that cells interpret instructions from their environment, their neighbors, and their own genetic blueprint. Specific applications of her diverse work include systems modeling of transient phosphatase oxidation of kinase cascades, patient-specific differences in cytotoxicity to redox-cycled chemotherapeutics and radiation, and the coordination of oxidative metabolism with epithelial-to-mesenchymal transition. Her research program also includes a component of developing high-throughput screening methods for assaying cue-signal-response relationships in cells and analytical tools for single cell gene expression. 

Dr. Kemp currently serves as the Research Director of the multi-site NSF Engineering Research Center “Cell Manufacturing Technologies”. In her former role as Associate Director of the NSF Science and Technology Center “Emergent Behavior of Integrated Cellular Systems”, she spearheaded the multi-site center’s computational activities by developing agent-based models of context-dependent cellular decisions to generate new hypotheses of intercellular communication in pluripotent stem cell differentiation and emergent patterning; this work continues currently in quantifying organizational principles and spatial relationships in iPSC-derived tissues from multi-omics data. Dr. Kemp’s career honors include a Whitaker Graduate Fellowship, Merck/CSBi postdoctoral fellowship, Georgia Cancer Coalition Distinguished Scholar, NIH New Innovator Award, and the CSB2 Prize for Innovative Measurement Methods from the Council for Systems Biology in Boston.

Yonggang Ke's research is highly interdisciplinary combining chemistry, biology, physics, material science, and engineering. The overall mission of his research is to use interdisciplinary research tools to program nucleic-acid-based "beautiful structures and smart devices" at nanoscale, and use them for scientific exploration and technological applications. Specifically, his team focuses on (1) developing new DNA self-assembly paradigms for constructing DNA nanostructures with greater structural complexity, and with controllable sizes and shapes; (2) developing new imaging or drug delivery systems based on DNA nanostructuresl; (3) exploring design of novel DNA-based nanodevices for understanding basic biological questions at molecular level; (4) developing DNA-templated protein devices for constructing artificial bio-reactors.

For cancer-related research/application, Ke will focus on using DNA/RNA nanostructures as drug delivery vehicles. He is also interested in using DNA/RNA nanostructures to study cancer cell biology at molecular level.

Greg Gibson is Professor of Biology and Director of the Center for Integrative Genomics at Georgia Tech. He received his BSc majoring in Genetics from the University of Sydney (Australia) and PhD in Developmental Genetics from the University of Basel. After transitioning to quantitative genetic research as a Helen Hay Whitney post-doctoral fellow at Stanford University, he initiated a program of genomic research as a David and Lucille Packard Foundation Fellow at the University of Michigan. He joined the faculty at Georgia Tech in Fall of 2009, after ten years at North Carolina State University where he developed tools for quantitative gene expression profiling and genetic dissection of development in the fruitfly Drosophila. He is now collaborating with the Center for Health Discovery and Well Being on integrative genomic analyses of the cohort. Dr Gibson is an elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and serves as Section Editor for Natural Variation for PLoS Genetics. He has authored a prominent text-book, a "Primer of Genome Science" as well as a popular book about genetics and human health, "It Takes a Genome".

Stefan France is an Associate Professor in the School of Chemistry and Biochemistry. Professor France earned his B.S. in Chemistry (2000) from Duke University and a M.A. (2003) and Ph.D. (2005) in Organic Chemistry from Johns Hopkins University. His research group focuses on experimental methodology development, natural product synthesis, and medicinal chemistry. Owing to Prof. France's avid interest in undergraduate research, his research group has mentored and trained more than 60 undergraduates (both Georgia Tech and non-Georgia Tech students). Professor France has been the recipient of several awards for his research, mentorship, and teaching including: the 2018 Georgia Tech-Georgia Power Professor of Excellence; the 2015 Georgia Tech Senior Faculty Outstanding Undergraduate Mentor Award; the 2014 Georgia Tech Faculty Award for Academic Outreach; the 2014 Georgia Tech Hesberg Teaching Award; the 2013 Georgia Tech Sigma Xi Young Faculty Award; the 2012 National Organization for the Professional Advancement for Black Chemists and Chemical Engineers (NOBCChE) Lloyd N. Ferguson Young Scientist Award; and the 2011 National Science Foundation (NSF) CAREER Award. He heads the Chemistry FAST Program, a NSF Research Experiences for Undergraduates (REU) Site, and also serves as Chair of the NSF Chemistry REU Leadership Group.

Facundo was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina. He received his MSc in Chemistry from the College of Exact and Natural Sciences, Buenos Aires University in 1995 and his PhD in Analytical Chemistry from the same University, in 1999.  In August 2000, he joined the research group of Prof. Richard N. Zare in the Department of Chemistry at Stanford University.  His work focused on several aspects of Hadamard transform time-of-flight mass spectrometry with an emphasis on coupling this technique to capillary-format separation methods.  In 2002, he joined the group of Prof. Vicki Wysocki in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Arizona, to develop novel tandem mass spectrometers for gas-phase peptide ion studies. In 2004 he joined the School of Chemistry and Biochemistry at the Georgia Institute of Technology where he currently holds the position of Vasser-Woolley Endowed Professor in Bioanalytical Chemistry and Associate Chair for Research and Graduate Training. He is the author of over 185 peer-reviewed publications and numerous invited presentations at national and international conferences. He has received several awards, including the NSF CAREER award, the CETL/BP Teaching award, the Ron A. Hites best paper award from the American Society for Mass Spectrometry, and the Beynon award from Rapid Communications in Mass Spectrometry, among others. He serves on the editorial board of The Analyst and as an Associate editor for the Journal of the American Society for Mass Spectrometry. His current research interests include the field of metabolomics and the development of new ionization, imaging, machine learning and ion mobility spectrometry tools for probing composition and structure in complex molecular mixtures. In his (limited) free time, Facundo enjoys a number of activities that include camping with his family, rock climbing, paddling, archery, photography and ham radio. 

Fedorov's background is in thermal/fluid sciences, chemical reaction engineering as well as in applied mathematics. His laboratory works at the intersection between mechanical and chemical engineering and solid state physics and analytical chemistry with the focus on portable/ distributed power generation with synergetic CO₂ capture; thermal management of high power dissipation devices and electronics cooling; special surfaces and nanostructured interfaces for catalysis, heat and moisture management; and development of novel bioanalytical instrumentation and chemical sensors. Fedorov joined Georgia Tech in 2000 as an assistant professor after finishing his postdoctoral work at Purdue University.

Dr. Stanislav Emelianov is a Joseph M. Pettit Endowed Chair, Georgia Research Alliance Eminent Scholar, and Professor of Electrical & Computer Engineering and Biomedical Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology. He is also appointed at the Emory University School of Medicine, where he is affiliated with Winship Cancer Institute, Department of Radiology, and other clinical units. Furthermore, Dr. Emelianov is Director of the Ultrasound Imaging and Therapeutics Research Laboratory at the Georgia Institute of Technology focused on the translation of diagnostic imaging & therapeutic instrumentation, and nanobiotechnology for clinical applications. 

Throughout his career, Dr. Emelianov has been devoted to the development of advanced imaging methods capable of detecting and diagnosing cancer and other pathologies, assisting treatment planning, and enhancing image-guided therapy and monitoring of the treatment outcome. He is specifically interested in intelligent biomedical imaging and sensing ranging from molecular imaging to small animal imaging to clinical applications. Furthermore, Dr. Emelianov develops approaches for image-guided molecular therapy and therapeutic applications of ultrasound and electromagnetic energy. Finally, nanobiotechnology plays a critical role in his research. In the course of his work, Dr. Emelianov has pioneered several ultrasound-based imaging techniques, including shear wave elasticity imaging and molecular photoacoustic imaging. Overall, projects in Dr. Emelianov's laboratory, which focuses on cancer and other diseases, range from molecular imaging to functional imaging and tissue differentiation, from drug delivery and release to image-guided surgery and intervention.

Erik C. Dreaden joined the Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering at Georgia Institute of Technology and Emory University in 2017. Dr. Dreaden also holds a joint faculty appointment in the Department of Pediatrics at the Emory University School of Medicine where he collaborates with researchers at Children's Healthcare of Atlanta and the Aflac Center for Cancer and Blood Disorders. Dr. Dreaden's research seeks to apply principles of molecular and nanoscale engineering to improve the therapeutic potential of drug combinations, vaccines, and immunotherapies directed against pediatric and adult cancers. 

Prior to joining Emory and Georgia Tech, Dr. Dreaden was a postdoctoral fellow at the Koch Institute for Integrative Cancer Research at MIT, where his research focused on the development of polymer-based technologies for nucleic acid and rational combination cancer therapies. 

Dr. Dreaden is a member of the Cancer Immunology Research Program at the Winship Cancer Institute of Emory University. He also holds memberships in the Biomedical Engineering Society, American Institute of Chemical Engineers, American Association of Cancer Research, Materials Research Society, American Association for the Advancement of Science, and American Chemical Society.

Shaheen Azim Dewji, Ph.D., (she/her/hers) is an Assistant Professor in the Nuclear & Radiological Engineering and Medical Physics Programs at the Georgia Institute of Technology, where she leads the Radiological Engineering, Detection, and Dosimetry (RED²) research group. Dewji joined Georgia Tech following three years as faculty at Texas A&M University in the Department of Nuclear Engineering, and as a Faculty Fellow of the Center for Nuclear Security Science and Policy Initiatives (NSSPI). In her prior role at Oak Ridge National Laboratory, where she remained for almost 9 years, Dewji was Radiological Scientist in the Center for Radiation Protection Knowledge. Her research interests include development of dose coefficients, shielding design, and nuclear material detection assay using gamma-ray spectroscopy. Her recent work has focused on associated challenges in uncertainty quantification in dose estimation/reconstruction associated with the external exposure and internal uptake of radionuclides associated with applications of emergency response, defense, nuclear medicine, and occupational/public safety using Monte Carlo radiation transport codes and internal dose modeling. Dewji completed her Masters and Ph.D. degrees in Nuclear and Radiological Engineering at the Georgia Institute of Technology in Atlanta, GA and was a fellow of the Sam Nunn Security Program. She received her Bachelor of Science in Physics from the University of British Columbia. Dewji currently serves on the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine – Nuclear and Radiation Studies Board and is a member of the Board of Directors for both the American Nuclear Society and Health Physics Society.