Monday, May 31, 1200-1300h EDT
Monday, May 31, 1800-1900h CEST
Tuesday, June 1, 0100-0200h JST
Invited presenters from funding organizations and government agencies provide their perspectives on current programs and strategies for securing funding and sustaining research activities at universities and other institutions on chemical and biosensors.
Robert Déziel
Deputy Director, Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada
Dr. Robert Déziel has served as Deputy Director for the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC) since June 2012. Prior to joining NSERC, he worked for several multinational pharmaceutical and biotechnology companies in executive positions. Déziel has also consulted for various biotechnology clients and developed a number of business plans and strategies for financing, licensing, and marketing of therapeutic products. He is the author and co-author of over 50 research papers and inventor and co-inventor of over 40 patents. Déziel holds a PhD in organic chemistry from Université de Montréal and MA in business management and administration from HEC Montréal. He has served on NSERC’s Discovery Grant Selection Committee and been involved in a number of academic-industry collaborations.
Christopher M. Hartshorn
Program Director, National Cancer Institute
Dr. Christopher M. Hartshorn serves as a Program Director at the National Cancer Institute (NCI) of the National Institutes of Health (NIH). In this role, he manages nanotechnology-based and academic-industrial partnership projects, evaluates the programs’ effectiveness, and maintains proper stewardship over federally funded research. Hartshorn currently has program roles on the NIH Rapid Acceleration of Diagnostics (RADx) program for COVID-19 testing scale-up and for the NIH Common Fund’s Bridge2AI and Nutrition for Precision Health initiatives. He co-leads the NCI / FDA / HRSA / CMS Taskforce dedicated to cancer diagnostics for near-patient use. Furthermore, Hartshorn serves as a technical expert to extramural programs, other federal agency R&D, and participates in development and direction of new research initiatives within the NCI Division of Cancer Treatment and Diagnosis. Prior to the NCI, Hartshorn worked for the National Institute of Standards and Technology (NIST).
Shekhar Bhansali
Division Director, ECCS, National Science Foundation
Dr. Shekhar Bhansali is the Division Director of the U.S. National Science Foundation (NSF) Division of Electrical, Communications, and Cyber Systems. He is also a distinguished university professor and Lucent CALA technologies distinguished professor at Florida International University (FIU). Dr. Shekhar Bhansali’s expertise is in the field of biosensors, microfluidics, nanostructured catalysts, and microsystems. He has a background in developing microfluidic tools for DNA damage detection, 3D multicellular spheroid monitoring, real-time biomarker monitoring, automated cell health monitoring, cardiovascular diagnostic sensors, and many other diagnostic devices.
