Dr. Emilio I. Alarcon is a Scientist in the Division of Cardiac Surgery at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute, where he directs the Bio-nanomaterials Chemistry and Engineering Laboratory (www.beatsresearch.com). He is also an Assistant Professor at the Department of Biochemistry, Microbiology and Immunology, Faculty of Medicine at University of Ottawa. His unique research program, directly engaging with medical specialists, works to redefine translational medicine, bridging fundamental and applied sciences such as chemistry, mathematics, and nanotechnology to the development of novel bionanomaterials for treating patients with failing organs and tissues. Dr. Alarcon has already published over 72 articles all in prestigious peer-reviewed journals and several book chapters. Dr. Alarcon’s distinctive discipline-bridging research has been funded by the largest Canadian agencies including the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), the New Frontiers in Research Fund (NFRF), the Ontario Institute for Regenerative Medicine (OIRM), and the Ministry of Economic Development, Job Creation and Trade of the Government of Ontario.
Manuel Ahumada, Ph.D. is Principal Investigator at the Center for Applied Nanotechnology (CNAP) and an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Sciences at the Universidad Mayor. In 2011, he received his B.Sc. in Chemistry at the Universidad de Santiago de Chile exploring the diffusion of solutes throughout the lipid bilayer. He obtained his Ph.D. in Chemistry in 2016 at the same institution, going more rooted in the study of phenomena’s that modify the diffusion throughout the bilayer. In the same year, he moved to Ottawa (ON, Canada) as a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Ottawa Heart Institute, designing and developing bionanomaterials. In 2018, he joined as a postdoctoral fellow at the Wellman Center for Photomedicine, Massachusetts General Hospital, Harvard Medical School (Boston, MA, United States) working on tissue bioengineering. Dr. Ahumada has published multiple peer-reviewed articles, book chapters, participated in international conferences and honored with several national and international prizes, scholarships, and research funding.