Suresh Kumar Kailasa, FRSC is a Professor in the Department of Chemistry at Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute of Technology (SVNIT), Surat, Gujarat, India. He obtained his M.Sc. in Chemistry (Natural Products) from Sri Krishnadevaraya University and a Ph.D. in Chemistry from Sri Venkateswara University, Tirupati, India. He completed postdoctoral research at Chonbuk National University, South Korea, and National Sun Yat-Sen University, Taiwan, and joined SVNIT in 2009. He received the Young Scientist Award from the Taiwan Mass Spectrometry Society in 2013 and served as a Brain Pool Scientist at Chung-Ang University, South Korea, in 2017 and 2023. He has published over 230 peer-reviewed articles and holds a Taiwan patent. His research interests include analytical chemistry, mass spectrometry, nanosensors, and functional nanomaterials. Prof. Higuchi is a distinguished Professor in National Central University, a guest researcher in RIKEN (Japan) and National Research Center for Child Health and Development (Tokyo), and a visiting professor in King Saud University (Saudi Arabia) and Wenzhou Medical University (China). He received his Ph.D. in Tokyo Institute of Technology in 1985. He was a Professor in Seikei University (Tokyo) from 1993 to 2007. He received Sofue Memorial Award from Society of Fiber Science, Japan in 1994, Seikei Academic Award from Seikei Alumni Association in 2003, and Nanotechnology Outstanding Contribution Award, National Science Council, Taiwan in 2013, Future Tech Breakthrough Award in 2019, Ministry of Science and Technology, Taiwan. He also received Outstanding Scientific Award, Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine International Society, Asia Pacific region (TERMIS-AP) in 2021. He is a fellow of Royal Society of Chemistry (RSC, England), a fellow of Taiwan Chemical Engineering Society, and a fellow of American Institute for Medical & Biological Engineering (AIMBE, USA). He is interested in the development of materials for stem cell culture and differentiation. He established purification method of hematopoietic stem cells and mesenchymal stem cells from umbilical cord blood and adipose tissue, respectively by filtration method through polymeric porous membranes. He is also developing biomaterials for stem cell culture and differentiation. He emphasized the important function of cell culture biomaterials, which guide differentiation fate of human pluripotent stem cells and mesenchymal stem cells into specific lineage of the cells. He developed ECM-derived peptide-immobilized hydrogels having adjustable elasticity for culture and differentiation of human pluripotent stem cells. He is now developing universal (hypoimmunogenic) human pluripotent stem cells on specific ECM-coated surface. He is an advisory board of Journal of Materials Chemistry B (RSC), an Editor of Open Physics, Editorial Board of Laboratory Investigation, Editorial Board of Tissue Engineering and Regenerative Medicine, and Associate Editor of IET Nanobiotechnology. Dr. Mok received her PhD award from National University of Malaysia, Malaysia in 2012. She joined the Faculty of Medicine and Health Sciences, Universiti Putra Malaysia, Malaysia in 2013 and is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Biomedical Science. She also has previously served as an Assistant Professor in Jouf University, Saudi Arabia from 2017 to 2021. She is also the founding Vice President of Malaysian Stem Cell for Research and Therapy (MSCRT) association. Dr. Mok has passion for researches involving stem cell engineering at the genetic, cell and tissue level involving human samples with aim to improve the quality of life in the patients. Most of her research works integrated many methods that include genetic modifications, use of biomaterials and tissue engineering for optimal result outcomes. Her current research focus is to find alternative treatment for visual impairment using stem cells. Other than that, she is also conducting research on cancer targeting by using CRISPR-Cas technology and introduction of chimeric antigen receptor into immune effector cells.
