Ben Zhong Tang, The Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen, China 

Prof. Tang received BS and PhD degrees from South China University of Technology and Kyoto University in 1982 and 1988, respectively. He conducted postdoctoral research at University of Toronto in 1989–1994. He joined the Hong Kong University of Science & Technology in 1994 and was promoted to Chair Professor in 2008. He was elected to Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2009, Asia Pacific Academy of Materials in 2017 and World Academy of Sciences for the Advancement of Science in Developing Countries in 2020. In 2021, he joined the Chinese University of Hong Kong, Shenzhen as Dean of School of Science and Engineering, with concurrent appointment of X.Q. Deng Presidential Chair Professor.

Prof. Tang has published >1,900 scientific papers, which have been cited by peers >145,000 times. His h-index is 170. He has delivered >500 invited talks at international conferences and has been issued >100 patents. He is currently serving as Editor-in-Chief of Aggregate published by Wiley and is sitting in the editorial boards of >20 international scientific journals.

Mainly engaged in materials science, macromolecular chemistry and biomedical theranostics. He coined the scientific concept of aggregation-induced emission (AIE) and his laboratories are spearheading the AIE research in the world.

He received a series of awards, scholarships and honors, e.g., Croucher Senior Research Fellowship Award (2007), National Natural Science Award (2007, 2nd Class), MACRO2012 Lecture Award (American Chemical Society), Khwarizmi International Award (2014, Iranian Research Organization for Science and Technology) and Honorary Citizen of Guangzhou City (2015). He has been listed as “Highly Cited Researcher” since 2014 in the fields of Chemistry and Materials Science. In 2017, he was awarded National Natural Science Award (1st Class) and Scientific and Technological Progress Award (Ho Leung Ho Lee Foundation). 

Qian Wang, Zhujiang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China

Qian Wang is a professor at Southern Medical University (SMU), the Secretary of the Party Committee of Zhujiang Hospital. He is the Expert enjoying special government allowances from the State Council, Famous teacher of the National Ten Thousand People Program, Leading Medical Talents in Guangdong Province, Outstanding Educators in Guangdong Province and the Outstanding Leader of Chinese Hospital and National Excellent Dean. He has received the first prize of Guangdong Education and Teaching Achievement Award and the first prize of Guangdong Science and Technology Progress Award. He was elected to the Director of the Extracellular Vesicles Professional Committee of Chinese Research Hospital Association, Vice president of Chinese Research Hospital Association, the Director of Laboratory Medicine Branch, Guangdong Medical Association, etc. His research interests include the precise diagnosis of cardiovascular diseases, the basic and applied research of extracellular vesicles, the research of high-quality development management of hospitals, etc. He has trained more than 120 graduate students, published nearly 200 papers and edited 8 monographs.

Lei Zheng, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University, Guangzhou, China

Lei Zheng is a professor at Southern Medical University (SMU). He is serving as Dean of the Department of Laboratory Medicine, Nanfang Hospital, Southern Medical University. He received Bachelor’s and Master’s degrees from the First Military Medical University in 1997 and 2000, and PhD degree from Southern Medical University in 2006. His scientific interests focus on interdisciplinary research for disease diagnosis. He has published over 250 papers which have been cited for over 9,000 times, with an h-index of 47. He served as the Executive Chair of the International Society for Extracellular Vesicles (ISEV) Education Committee and the Vice President of the Chinese Society for Extracellular Vesicles (CSEV). He received the National Science Fund for Distinguished Young Scholars in 2020, the Chinese Experimental Medicine Outstanding Youth Award in 2020.

Sai Kiang Lim, Institute for Molecular and Cell Biology, A*STAR, Singapore, Singapore

Sai Kiang Lim is a research director at the Institute for Molecular and Cell Biology, A*STAR. Her formal education includes a B.Sc (Hons in Biochemistry), National University of Singapore, 1985 and a PhD (Molecular Biology), SUNY at Buffalo, 1992. Her postdoctoral training was at Columbia University as a Cooley’s Anemia Foundation Research Fellow (1992-1994) and then as a Leukemia Society of America Special Fellow (1994-1996). From 1996, she led independent research groups at NUMI, NUS (1996-2001), Genome Institute of Singapore (2002-2007), Institute of Medical Biology (2007-2020) and Institute of Cell and Molecular Biology (2020-present). Her research focus has always been on the elucidation of the underlying molecular and cellular mechanisms in diseases and development of therapies. Presently, her major research interests are in natural and synthetic nano-lipid vesicles especially their synthesis and purification, biochemical and biophysical characterization, and diagnostic and therapeutic applications. Her two most notable scientific achievements are the discovery of stable eukaryotic mRNA decay intermediates in mammalian cells and the discovery of therapeutic MSC exosomes. She is also actively involved in an international effort comprising of academic societies and leading experts to develop pathways to regulatory compliance for MSC exosomes as therapeutics.

Jiashu Sun, National Center for Nanoscience and Technology, Beijing, China

Dr Jiashu Sun is the Professor at National Center for Nanoscience and Technology (NCNST) and University of Chinese Academy of Sciences. Her main specialty is developing innovative micro- and nanotechnologies for liquid biopsy. She is also Director of Beijing Engineering Research Center for BioNanotechnology. She has been awarded the Distinguished Young Scholars (2020) and Excellent Young Scholars (2016) by NSFC. 

Wen Wang, Queen Mary University of London, London, UK

Professor Wen Wang obtained his PhD in Bioengineering at Imperial College London. Following his postdoctoral research at University of Manchester and his Wellcome Trust Fellowship in the Medical School of Imperial College London, he joined Queen Mary University of London as one of the founding members of the Queen Mary Biomedical Engineering programme and subsequently had his Professorship in Biomedical Engineering. His work on vascular bioengineering and biomaterials is supported by the Wellcome Trust, the British Heart Foundation, EPSRC and industry. He has more than 120 publications in leading scientific journals, including PNAS, Nature, JFM and Circulation. He is a Fellow of the Royal Academy of Engineering and a Fellow of the Institute of Mechanical Engineers.

Kenneth W. Witwer, John Hopkins University, Baltimore, USA

Dr. Kenneth W. Witwer is an associate professor of molecular and comparative pathobiology and neurology at the Johns Hopkins University, School of Medicine. His research focuses on extracellular vesicles, RNA-mediated regulation, biomarker discovery, and therapeutic modulation of innate and intrinsic defenses. His group is particularly interested in neurodegenerative diseases including the HIV-associated neurocognitive disorders, Alzheimer's, and Parkinson's. Witwer has served as President-Elect of the International Society for Extracellular Vesicles (ISEV), the leading scientific organization in his field. He has been a scientific advisor to the US National Institutes of Health (Extracellular RNA Communication Consortium, Stage 1) and the US Environmental Protection Agency (FIFRA SAP). He is an associate editor of the Journal of Extracellular Vesicles.

Zhen Zhao, Weill Cornell Medicine, New York, USA

Zhen Zhao is an Associate Professor of Clinical Pathology and Laboratory Medicine at Weill Cornell Medicine. She is the Director of Central Laboratory and Clinical Chemistry Service at the NewYork-Presbyterian Weill Cornell Medical Center which offers nearly 20 million clinical test volume per year. She received her BS in biology from Xiamen University and PhD from Northwestern University. She fulfilled clinical chemistry postdoctoral fellowship training at Washington University in St. Louis. She is board certified by the American Board of Clinical Chemistry. Prior to joining the faculty at Weill Cornell, she served as the Director of General Chemistry and Immunoassay and the Associated Director of the clinical chemistry fellowship postdoctoral training program in the Department of Laboratory Medicine of the National Institutes of Health. Her expertise and research interests are in the areas of biomarker discovery, new method development and validation, POCT, and clinical applications of biosensors and mass spectrometry. She is a reviewer and editor for major scientific and medical journals. Dr. Zhao has established funded research program and has published over 70 peer reviewed papers in high-quality scientific and clinical journals such as Nature, Nature BME, Clin Chem, JCI, Blood, Biosensors and Bioelectronics, Leukemia, PNAS, JBC, Angewandte Chemie and JAMA Network Open.