Droplet Digital PCR World 2024

Dr. Xu Chao Zhang, Director of the Central Laboratory at Guangdong Provincial People's Hospital, is a distinguished researcher in the field of molecular oncology. His research focuses on the discovery and application of tumor molecular markers, with a particular emphasis on the heterogeneity of tumors, the tumor immune microenvironment, and mechanisms of cancer metastasis. Dr. Zhang's scholarly achievements include over 40 peer-reviewed SCI articles, significant national awards, and multiple patents. His contributions have been pivotal in advancing cancer diagnostics and treatment strategies, and he plays an integral role in the formulation of clinical guidelines, enhancing the precision of oncological care.

Professor Allen Chan has more than 20‑year experience on developing new applications of circulating nucleic acids. With Professor Dennis Lo and Rossa Chiu, he developed the noninvasive prenatal tests for detecting fetal Down syndrome and other chromosomal aneuploidies. The test has become a standard in prenatal testing and over ten million tests are performed each year across the world.

Professor Chan pioneered the use of circulating DNA analysis for cancer detection, an approach usually known as "liquid biopsy". In 2009, he demonstrated that digital PCR could enhance the sensitivity and specificity for detecting EGFR mutations in the plasma of lung cancer patients.

Professor Chan is a co‑inventor of over 150 patent families and was named one of the "Top 20 Translational Researchers of 2020" by the renowned scientific journal, Nature Biotechnology. He is a co‑founder of five biotechnology companies. One of his companies, Cirina, had a merger with Grail in 2017.

Dr. Isaac Garcia-Murillas is a Staff Scientist at the Breast Cancer Now Research Centre at The Institute of Cancer Research in London where he leads and develops the use of Next Generation Sequencing (NGS) and digital PCR (dPCR) technologies to study circulating tumour DNA (ctDNA) from liquid biopsies. His research interests converge in the clinical utility of ctDNA as a potential biomarker to detect Minimal Residual Disease, monitor response to treatment, stratify patients to targeted therapies and identify the emergence of drug resistance.

Tyler Lindgren, part of BridgeBio Gene Therapy's Analytical Method Development group in Raleigh, North Carolina, specializes in molecular assays for characterizing rAAV products and process‑related impurities. He also supports method qualification, technology transfer, and analytical testing for pre‑clinical and clinical programs. Previously, Tyler interned at Novartis Gene Therapies (formerly AveXis), focusing on automating nucleotide isolation and purification for residual host cell DNA quantification. He holds an undergraduate degree in Biotechnology from Penn State University, with an emphasis on microbiology and upstream bacterial fermentation, and a Master of Science in Applied Biotechnology from the University of Wisconsin‑Madison.

Professor Jiangwei Yan, a distinguished Professor and Doctoral Supervisor at Shanxi Medical University's Forensic Medical College, excels in the research domains of Forensic Genetics and Forensic Genomics. His scholarly contributions have been recognized through key leadership roles such as Deputy Director of the Forensic Genetics Committee of the Chinese Society of Genetics and involvement in national standardization committees. With an extensive publication record in prestigious journals like "International Journal of Legal Medicine," Professor Yan's work has propelled advancements in forensic science, enhancing legal practices and justice.

A seasoned biotech leader, Dr. Pestano heads up Development and Operations at Biodesix. His experience in laboratory and assay development for high complexity molecular diagnostics for oncology includes molecular and proteomic testing. Prior to joining Biodesix in 2012, Dr. Pestano led multidisciplinary teams in the development of tissue diagnostic tests, cancer vaccines and scientific software. He held senior positions in PharmaServices, R&D and Project Leadership at Ventana, a member of the Roche Group. Dr. Pestano is the co-inventor on multiple national and international patents for diagnostic tests. He has also fostered many collaborations in academia and industry as a part of new product development. Dr. Pestano received his Ph.D. training in Cell and Molecular Biology at The Graduate Center, City University of New York and conducted his post-doctoral training in cancer immunology at the Dana Farber Cancer Institute, Harvard Medical School.

Dr. Lu obtained his Bachelor of Science degree in Biological Sciences from Wuhan University (PR China) in 2001 and his Ph.D. from the National University of Singapore in 2008. He then served as a research scientist in the Department of Paediatrics for over 13 years until 2021, after which he transitioned to the biotech industry, focusing on research and development of in vitro diagnostic products. In 2023, Dr. Lu returned to NUS to resume his academic research career in translational medicine.

Dr. Lu's research interests are centred on translational research in paediatric acute leukaemia. His expertise specifically includes the development, optimization, and validation of molecular assays utilizing advanced technologies such as digital PCR and NGS. These assays are employed to detect and quantify various biomarkers associated with disease burden, as well as to monitor cell expansion and persistence in patients undergoing CAR-T immunotherapy.

Dr. Srikar Raman is having 15+ years of experience in nanomaterials, biomaterials, gene therapy, molecular diagnostics. Along with that, he has 20+ peer-reviewed publications and patents under his name. He has done his Postdoctoral fellowship from Dept. of Bioengineering and Radiology, University of Missouri Columbia, Missouri during 2012-15. Before that, he completed his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering with Specialization in Biomaterials and Drug delivery from University of Illinois, Chicago in May, 2010. In the recent past, his team has actively collaborated with leading clinicians in the field of hepatology for developing first of its kind methylation-based screening and detection solution for hepatocellular carcinoma liquid biopsy using ddPCR technology. 

Dr. Cheng He is the Vice President of Research and Development at MiRXES, a Singapore Biotech focusing on disease early detection. Dr. Cheng has over a decade of experience in diagnostics development and clinical studies; and he holds more than 10 granted patents, with publications focusing on miRNAs for cancer early detection. His diverse background spans engineering, biochemistry, and data science.

Dr. Omshree Shetty has over a decade of experience in Molecular Diagnostics and Translational Medicine. She has been working with a vision to provide Patient care by providing accurate, reliable diagnosis and to accentuate the performance of the laboratory towards achieving this goal on everyday basis. This includes developing new molecular assays which addresses the following D; biomarker for diagnosis, P: predictive value for prognosis, C: indicator for chemo sensitivity/ MDR, T: potential target for treatment. At one of the leading molecular diagnostic centers for solid tumors in the country, she has also initiated a quality assurance program for molecular Diagnostics Molecular Pathology Quality Assurance Program [MPQAP].

Dr Eloise Busby is a Senior Researcher at the National Measurement Laboratory (NML, the UK’s designated national measurement institute for chemical and bioanalytical measurement based at LGC). She completed her Ph.D. at University College London (UCL), where she studied the importance of metrology in molecular diagnosis of infection. Since joining the NML at LGC in 2012, she has worked on numerous projects focusing on high-accuracy, traceable measurement of nucleic acids. This has been within a range of subject areas including GMO detection in food and feed, infectious diseases and precision medicine/oncology.

Dr. Miyaoka is a Project Leader of Tokyo Metropolitan Institute of Medical Science. He is also an Affiliated Associate Professor of Graduate School of Medical and Dental Sciences, Tokyo Medical and Dental University, and Graduate School of Humanities and Sciences, Ochanomizu University, Japan. Yuichiro holds a Ph.D. from the University of Tokyo, Japan. He trained as a post‑doctoral fellow at Gladstone Institutes, USA. Dr. Miyaoka has made a particular contribution to development of a method to quantify genome editing outcomes in a sensitive and quantitative manner. He also combines the genome editing technology and the human induced pluripotent stem (iPS) cell technology to study and cure diseases.

Dr. Yong-Sam Kim received his doctorate from Seoul National University and was trained as a postdoc at the KRIBB. He served as the director of the Gene Editing Research Center at the at the same institution, and mentors students as a full-time faculty member at the United University of Science and Technology (UST). His main research field is gene-editing technology and the development of gene therapy using hypercompact CRISPR technology. He currently serves as CEO of GenKOre, a venture company dedicated to developing gene-editing therapy using the advanced CRISPR technology.

Zheng Jiaying achieved her PhD degree in Medical Sciences from the Chinese University of Hong Kong (CUHK). She specializes in microbiome analysis and the design of droplet digital PCR (ddPCR) assays. Her key research experience includes the development of fecal bacterial markers for non-invasive diagnosis of inflammatory bowel disease, 4-plex ddPCR assays for vaginal microbiome quantification and breast cancer subtype classification, as well as a high-throughput blood sample preparation method for single nucleotide polymorphism genotyping. Her research has been published in United European Gastroenterol Journal and Clinical Chemistry and presented at conferences including Digestive Disease Week and the International Human Microbiome Consortium.

Dr. Deepak Modi is a leading scientist at the ICMR-National Institute for Research in Reproductive Health and Heads the Molecular and Cellular Biology group. His areas of interest include understanding endometrial receptivity and endometrial disorders, genetics of sexual development, male infertility and COVID-19 and reproduction. He is widely recognized for his work and is a recipient of multiple awards such as INSA Young Scientist award, National academy of Sciences India (NASI) Young Scientist award, Innovative Young Biotechnologist Award 2007, ICMR Young scientist award, GP Talwar Young and Middle career scientist award by ISSRF in 2009 and 2017, PM Bhargava Oration award.

Dr Kwanrawee is a Senior Research Scientist at the Chulabhorn Research Institute in Thailand, with over 17 years of research experience since obtaining her PhD from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, USA. Her research interests include environmental microbiology, water pollution, water and health, microbial source tracking, fecal indicators, disinfection, quantitative microbial risk assessment, and antimicrobial resistance. She explores the use of digital PCR and qPCR for detecting pathogens and antibiotic resistance genes in wastewater, including early warning of COVID-19 waves, uncovering shared antibiotic resistance genes in tropical waters, and monitoring multidrug antibiotic resistance in hospital wastewater.