Dr. Rajendra Prasad, PhD is an Assistant Professor at the School of Biochemical Engineering, Indian Institute of Technology (BHU) Varanasi, India. Rajendra’s main focus is to diagnose cancer at early stage utilizing ultrabright nanoimaging agents. Majorly his lab has been working in the area of molecular imaging and theranostics. Biomimetic theranostics is a recent finding from his Bright NanoGhost group. Rajendra is more towards understanding the site-selective targeting of solid tumors with entry-exit mechanism of administrated nanosized medicines/or theranostics without affecting healthy tissues. Rajendra has gained postdoctoral trainings from Tufts University, Medford, Boston, MA, USA, NOVA Medical School, Faculdade de Ciências Médicas Campo Mártires da Pátria, Lisboa, Portugal and Technion-Israel Institute of Technology, Haifa, Israel and Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay, India in the area of Cancer NanoMedicine and targetable cancer theranostics. Rajendra has contributed for more than (a) 40 research articles published in top tier journals such as ACS Nano, Adv. Funct. Mater., Small, Nano Letters, Cell Reports Physical Science, Nanoscale, Bioconjugate Chemistry, Communications Biology, Journal of Controlled Release, etc., (b) 17 granted/or published patents nationally and internationally, (c) 7 trademarks and 8 journal cover art images, (d) 4 book chapters and 2 Edited Books. Currently, he is also a part of editorial board at Nano Letters, npj Imaging, Chemical & Biomedical Imaging, Nanotheranostics. Rajendra holds memberships for World Molecular Imaging Society and Royal Society of Chemistry.
Dr. Murali M. Yallapu, Ph.D., is a tenured Associate Professor in the Department of Immunology and Microbiology and Medical Oncology-ISU, and a core member of the South Texas Center of Excellence in Cancer Research (ST-CECR) at the School of Medicine, University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV), McAllen, Texas, USA. Dr. Yallapu is a Director of NIH funded U54-Research Core Capacity and Director of CPRIT funded Drug Delivery and Nanomedicine Core. Dr. Yallapu’s academic journey is distinguished by his receipt of the Prof. A. Kameswara Rao Gold Medal (1999), awarded for academic excellence. Dr. Yallapu has completed extensive postdoctoral training at internationally recognized research institutions, including the Cleveland Clinic, University of Nebraska Medical Center, Sanford Research, and the Gwangju
Institute of Science and Technology, focusing on materials science, drug delivery systems, nanomedicine, and cancer biology. Before his appointment at UTRGV, he served as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences at The University of Tennessee Health Science Center. A recognized authority in nanotechnology-driven therapeutics, Dr. Yallapu serves on the editorial boards of numerous high-impact journals in the fields of nanomedicine, drug delivery, and oncology. He also actively contributes to the scientific community as an ad hoc reviewer for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) and various international funding agencies. His scholarly contributions include over 205 peer-reviewed publications and book chapters, along with more than 165 abstracts presented at national and international scientific meetings. His work has garnered significant recognition, with over 18,536 citations, an H-index of 69, and an i10-index of 169. Dr. Yallapu’s current research is centered on the design and development of multifunctional nanomaterials to enhance the therapeutic index of clinical drugs, as well as on engineering novel nanoconstructs for diverse biomedical applications. In collaboration with the ST-CECR at UTRGV, his team is also advancing innovative nanoformulations tailored for cancer immunotherapy, with an emphasis on translational safety and efficacy.