• LAJOS P. BALOGH
Lajos Balogh received his PhD in Chemical Technology in 1983 from the Kossuth L. University of Sciences and Arts, Debrecen, Hungary. He was Director of Nanotechnology Research at the Department of Radiation Medicine, Roswell Park Cancer Institute and Professor of Biomedical Nanotechnology at the Department of Radiation Medicine, SUNY-Buffalo, USA. Currently, he is Principal and CEO at AA Nanotech Consulting, New York, USA. His work is focused on the research and development in nanomedicine, nanobiotechnology, dendrimer/polymer chemistry, with a special emphasis on design, synthesis, and characterization of novel active nanomaterials and nanodevices with engineered properties for uncovering biologic mechanisms basic, applied and translational research, and for the prevention, diagnosis, and therapy of diseases.

• RICARDO FRANCOS
Ricardo Franco received his PhD in Bioinorganic Chemistry in 1995 from the FCT/UNL, New University of Lisbon, Portugal. Currently, he is Assistant Professor at Chemistry Department and Leader of the BioNanoTech research Group, REQUIMTE, FCT/UNL, Caparica, Portugal. His research is focused on nanobiotechnology, protein chemistry and biochemistry, development of nanostructures and nanostructured materials functionalized with DNA and proteins for application in nano-biodiagnostics, namely, screening of genetic diseases and structural studies of proteins adsorbed in Self-Assembled Monolayers of biooriented ligands (glicosylated, His-tag affinity, etc.) at metal surfaces for biosensor development.

• BARBARA KLAJNERT
She studied environmental engineering in the Technical University of Lodz (M.Sc. thesis awarded) and obtained her PhD in biophysics at the same University. She has been working as post-doctoral fellow at the Department of Biochemistry, McMaster University, Hamilton in Ontario (Canada), and as adjunct at the Department of General Biophysics in the University of Lodz. Since May 2009 she works as an associate professor at the same department. Her major researcher's interests are the dendrimers interactions with biological systems (proteins, lipids, cells), the dendrimers as carrier molecules for drugs, fluorescence spectroscopy, DSC, ITC, CD, FTIR, proteins structure and functions and alzheimer's and prion diseases. She is author of 1 book and 3 chapters in books, 36 papers in refereed journals, and 65 communications to scientific meetings.

• LAURA M. LECHUGA
Prof. Laura M. Lechuga is Full Professor of the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC). Head of the Nanobiosensors and Bioanalytical applications Group in the Centre for Nanoscience and Nanotechnology (CIN2, CSIC). The principal focus of her research programme is the technological development of biosensors based on (nano)plasmonics, magnetoplasmonics, integrated photonics and nanomechanics principles, surface biofunctionalization and lab-on-a-chip integration. The work is characterized by not only being highly multidisciplinary (physics, biochemistry, microelectronics, nanotechnology…) but also covering the entire range from pure science to strategic applied science, some of which has significant commercial applications. She has over 120 articles and book chapters, 11 patents and patents applications and has presented over 150 research papers at international conferences. She has been the driving force for the establishment of one spin-off company (SENSIA, S.L.) integrated in the holding GENETRIX and in MONDRAGON Corporation.

• ARBEN MERKOCI
Arben Merkoçi is ICREA Research Professor and head of the Nanobioelectronics & Biosensors Group at Catalan Institute of Nanotechnology, CIN2 (ICN-CSIC) in Bellaterra (Barcelona), Spain. He studied industrial chemistry at University of Tirana (Albania) and obtained the PhD at the same university working on the field of ion selective electrodes. Afterwards he has been working as postdoctoral fellow and research professor at Polytechnic University of Budapest (Hungary), University of Ioanina (Greece), Università degli Studi di Padua (Italy), Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (Spain), Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (Spain) and New Mexico State University (USA). His research is focused on the integration of biological molecules (DNA, antibodies, cells and enzymes) and other species with micro- and nanostructures with interest for the design of novel sensors and biosensors. He is author of more than 300 refereed papers and international presentations including editor of books and special journals issues dedicated to the field of nanomaterials applications in biosensors.

• JESÚS DE LA FUENTE
ARAID Senior Researcher and Director of the Group of Biofunctionalization of Nanoparticles and Surfaces, Institute of Nanoscience of Aragon (INA-University of Saragossa). Research interests: vectorization of nanoparticles with relevant biomolecules (carbohydrates, proteins, peptides, DNA, RNA), novel therapies against cancer, biosensors based on nanoparticles, cell adhesion, mimicking cell membranes. He has recently awarded with a Starting Grant funded by the European Research Council (ERC).

• JOHANNES BRETTSCHNEIDER
Dr. Brettschneider completed his medical studies at the University of Tübingen, Germany in 2001. From 2002-2009 he was working in the Department of Neurology, University of Ulm with a focus on CSF biomarker research and blood-CSF barrier function in the Neurochemical-Neuroimmunological Laboratory of the University of Ulm. In 2008 he did his Habilitation on "CSF markers in neurodegenerative diseases of the central nervous system" and is since then working as a senior physician in the Department of Neurology, University of Ulm. Currently, his focus of research is on the development of new techniques to improve proteome analysis of CSF aiming to identify disease-associated biomarkers in neurodegenerative diseases.

• JOSEP B. CLADERA
Josep Cladera, PhD in Biophysics by the Universitat Autònoma of Barcelona with a thesis on the structure of bacteriorhodopsin, a membrane photoreceptor, was after that a postdoctoral researcher at the Universities of Essex, Cardiff and Nottingham in the UK. There he worked on the structural characterization of the interaction of fusion peptides form the HIV with biological membranes. Nowadays he is a senior lecturer in Biophysics at the Biophysics Unit and the Center of Studies in Biophysics, at the Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona. His main research subject is the molecular characterization of the formation of amyloids related to neurodegenerative disease. In particular, the interaction of amyloid with biological membranes, glucosaminoglycans and dendrimers, these nanoparticles able to modulate amyloid formation and with a potential therapeutical interest.

• BENOIT NEMERY
Ben Nemery is holder of degrees in medicine (Leuven, 1977), occupational medicine (Louvain, 1980) and toxicology (MSc, University of Surrey, 1982; and PhD, Council for National Academic Awards, UK, 1986). He has been affiliated with the Medical Faculty of the K.U.Leuven since 1987, heading the research unit of Lung Toxicology, which is a joint venture between the departments of Pneumology and of Occupational, Environmental and Insurance Medicine. He was promoted to full professor in 1998. He is chair of the Department of Public Health.His research involves experimental as well as clinical-epidemiological studies in the mechanisms of lung disease caused by occupational and environmental agents. He holds a weekly outpatient clinic for occupational pulmonary disorders. He teaches toxicology and occupational medicine, mainly at postgraduate level. He is a member of various national and international scientific bodies, including the Royal Academy of Medicine of Belgium (since 2007) and the European Respiratory Society (head of "Occupation and Epidemiology" assembly, 2002-2005; chair of the Scientific Committee, 2006-2009). He has held positions in editorial boards of various journals, including the American Journal of Respiratory and Critical Care Medicine (associate editor, 2004-2009).

• AUGUSTO SILVA
Augusto Silva was graduated in Biology at the Complutense University of Madrid. He received his PhD in Immunology in 1981. He was Vicedirector of the Centro de Investigaciones Biológicas (CSIC) and General Subdirector of Health Department at the Instituto de Salud Carlos III, Madrid, Spain. In addition, he spent sabbatical/research year at the Chester Beatty Laboratories (ICR) in London and at the Ninewells Hospital in Scotland. Currently, he is General Director of Advanced Therapies and Transplantation at the Ministry of Health and Social Policies. Since 2008, he is Member of CSIC Rector Council and CSIC Ethic Committee. He is also member of the Spanish Society of Immunology. His research is focused on cancer genetics and in the study of mechanisms regulating proliferation and differentiation of cells.

• ROGÉRIO GASPAR
Rogério Gaspar, 48 years old, Portuguese citizen, obtained his PhD in Pharmaceutical Sciences from the Catholic University of Louvain (Belgium) in 1991, after a graduation as pharmacist from the University of Coimbra (Portugal) in 1985. During his PhD he developed nanoparticulate formulations of bioerodible polymers for experimental chemotherapy of Leishmaniasis. Currently (after leaving the University of Coimbra in 2006) he is a Full Professor at the Faculty of Pharmacy University of Lisbon (FFUL) where he is the coordinator for the Pharmaceutical Technology sector, and also the coordinator of the Nanomedicine & Drug Delivery Systems research group (Nano&DDS) within the Research Institute for Medicines and Pharmaceutical Sciences (iMed.UL) which he co-founded in 2007. At Faculty he was elected for the Scientific Council and to the Faculty Assembly governing bodies for the current 4 year terms (2009-2013). Current research interests of his group (~30 researchers) regards several research objectives including the development of new therapeutic strategies using liposomes, polymeric biodegradable nanoparticles, and polymer therapeutics. His main focus in research is currently oriented towards cytosolic delivery of nucleic acids and use of targeted delivery systems for combination therapy in cancer.

• VICTOR PUNTES
Victor Puntes studied chemical engineering at the European High Institut of Chemistry of Strasbourg (now IPCMS), France, in Materials Sciences. He obtained his phD at the Physics Department at the University of Barcelona, on Giant Magnetoresistance in granular alloys. He spent four years at Berkeley in a post doctoral position, first in the group of professor Krishnan Kannan (National Center for Electron Microscopy, Lawrence Berkeley Laboratory) and then in the group of professor Paul Alivisatos (College of Chemistry, UC Berkeley). After moving to the Physics department at the University of Barcelona with a Ramon y Cajal position he obtained an ICREA Professorship at the Institut Català de Nanotechnologia (ICN) in October 2005. Since then Dr. Puntes supervises a Group of 10 people (6 predocs y 4 postdoc and 4 visitors this last year), and provides a complete laboratory for the synthesis of inorganic nanoparticles (Au, Ag, Pt, Co, FeO, CeO, TiO among other), with control on composition, shape, size and surface state, as well as the experience for the ultra-characterization of such materials. The Group is funded by national projects of the Education and Science Department (National Plan, Strategic Actions -CONSOLIDER, EXPLORA), European projects (FP06, FP07), Industry Department projects (PETRI, PROFIT), and directly from companies (ENDOR NANOCTECH, NANONICA, LEITAT), among others. The Laboratory is currently investigating on nanoparticles synthesis and their biomedical applications, as the development of and integrated platform to evaluate the toxicity and ecotoxicity of nanoparticles6 (6FP STREP DIPNA NMP4-CT-2006-03213) or CONSOLIDER INGENIO 2010 (Spanish National Project) for the evaluation of nanoparticle toxicity for the use in medicine. Dr. Puntes also coordinates and teach the Nanoparticles Section of the Master in Nanotechnology in the University Autonoma de Barcelona related to inorganic engineered nanoparticles

• WOLFGANG PARAK
Diploma thesis at the Technische Universität München, Germany, at the Institute for Biophysics in the group of Prof. Dr. Hermann Gaub with the topic "set-up and characterisation of a LAPS-Sensor for non-invasive measurements of membrane potentials". Postdoc at the Department of Chemistry at the University of California at Berkeley, California, USA, in the group of Prof. Paul Alivisatos, whereby the first year was sponsored by a fellowship of the German Research Foundation (DFG) field of work: biological applications of colloidal nanoparticles. Leader of a Junior Research Group (Emmy-Noether fellowship of the German Research Foundation (DFG), equivalent to Assistant Professor), hosted at the Ludwig Maximilians Universität München, Germany, at the Institute for Applied Physics (chair: Prof. Dr. Hermann Gaub) and at the Center for Nanoscience. Since 2007 Full Professor at the Philipps Universität Marburg, Germany. "Nanoscience" award 2008 from the Association of Nanotechnology-Centres Germany (AGenNT).

• JOÃO F. MANO
João F. Mano received his PhD in Chemistry in 1996 from the Technical University of Lisbon. Currently is Assistant Professor at the Polymer Engineering Department, University of Minho, Portugal, and is one of the staff members in the 3B's research group, Biomaterials, Biodegradables and Biomimetics, which is a member of the Associate Laboratory IBB, Institute for Biotechnology and Bioengineering. He is the director of the Master course in Biomedical Engineering at the University of Minho. João F. Mano is also involved in the MIT-Portugal Program (Bio-engineering systems), including lecturing in the "Nanobiotechnology and Biomaterials" module. He was the responsible for the preparation of a new PhD program at the University of Minho on Tissue Engineering, Regenerative Medicine and Stem Cells. Research Interests: development of biomacromolecular-based and bio-inspired systems for biomedical applications, including tissue engineering scaffolding and drug delivery. Smart and bioactive materials. Nanoscience and nanotechnology applied to biomaterials and tissue engineering. Thermo-physical and mechanical properties of polymers and biomaterials. He is author of more than 270 works listed in the ISI - WebOfScience (more than 230 scientific papers).

• JAUME RAVENTÒS
Jaume Reventós was graduated in Medicine and Surgery on Clinical Analysis speciality. He received his PhD in Medicine and Surgery in 1984 from the National Institute of Health and Medical Research (INSERM). He was associated professor in the Mount Sinai School of Medicine of New York, USA. Currently, he is Head of the Biomedical Research Unit of Hospital Universitari Vall d'Hebrón, Barcelona, Spain. His research involves experimental as well as clinical studies on molecular and cellular oncology. He is reviewer of the Journals: Molecular Carcinogenesis, Endocrinology, Journal of Andrology, International Journal of Cancer, Cancer, Endocrinologia, European Journal of Endocrinology and Carcinogenesis.

• JAVIER TAMAYO
Dr. Javier Tamayo, IMM-CNM-CSIC. PhD in Physics by the University Complutense of Madrid in 1998. Postdoctoral Marie Curie fellow at the University of Bristol (UK), developing SPM techniques in Biology. Since 2001 he has been a Research Staff member at the IMM/CNM/CSIC. He has co-authored 60 research papers, 5 patents (4 licensed) and has worked in many national and international projects. His work has been broadly cited with more than 1500 citations. He is now the group leader of the Bionanomechanics Group established in 2005. The main topics of the group are the fabrication, characterization and study of micro- and nanomechanical structures for biological interrogation. The group has large expertise in nanofabrication, SPM techniques and in the development of advanced instrumentation - with several licensed patents in the subject. Main applications of the group developments are DNA nanochips for functional genomics, pathogen detection and molecular motors. During the last few years the group has participated/participates in several national and european projects. Javier Tamayo has been a scientific promoter and founder of the spin-off company Mecwins S.L. fully devoted to the development of nanomechanical sensors for genetic analysis applications.

• SIMÓ SCHWARTZ
Dr Schwartz obtained his Medical degree in 1991 at the Faculty of Medicine of the Autonomous University of Barcelona, where he also obtained his PhD degree in 1996, working on the oncogenic pathways of prostate cancer. Research fellow at the New York Univ. Medical Center in 1993, he worked on the oncogenic activation of Ras/Raf pathways in transgenic mice. In 1996 he went to California as a Postdoctoral research at The Burnham Institutefor Biomedical Research, where he worked on the molecular oncology of colorectal tumorigenesis. In 2000, he was appointed as Head of the Molecular Oncology and Aging Research of the Vall d'Hebron Biochemistry and Molecular Biology Research Center (CIBBIM) at the Vall d'Hebron University Hospital in Barcelona, where he leads a research team of scientists, technicians, surgeons and clinicians from the colorectal and liver Surgery units of the Vall d'Hebron General Hospital, centered mainly in the molecular basis of gastrointestinal cancers, diagnostics and treatment tumor responses. He authors papers in high impact journals and is a solicited reviewer. He leads several research projects and Spanish networks, some involving leading biotech companies. He is also a Member of the Scientific Advisory Board of a leading Spanish Biotech company with which he has recently licensed some proprietary technology on new cancer diagnostic and prognostic molecular tumor markers. He also leads a recently started Research Program on NanoMedicine within the CIBBIM at the Vall d'Hebron University Hospital centered on drug targeted delivery of solid tumors and new imaging tools based on nanotechnology approaches through their in vivo validation strategies in animal models.