Keynotes & Panels

Keynotes

Muyinatu Bell

Johns Hopkins University

Listening to the Sound of Light to Guide Surgeries

Dr. Muyinatu Bell is an Assistant Professor of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Biomedical Engineering, and Computer Science at Johns Hopkins University, where she founded and directs the Photoacoustic and Ultrasonic Systems Engineering (PULSE) Lab. Dr. Bell earned a BS. degree in Mechanical Engineering (biomedical engineering minor) from Massachusetts Institute of Technology (2006), received a PhD degree in Biomedical Engineering from Duke University (2012), conducted research abroad as a Whitaker International Fellow at the Institute of Cancer Research and Royal Marsden Hospital in the United Kingdom (2009-2010), and completed a postdoctoral fellowship with the Engineering Research Center for Computer-Integrated Surgical Systems and Technology at Johns Hopkins University (2016). She is Associate Editor-in-Chief of IEEE Transactions on Ultrasonics, Ferroelectrics, and Frequency Control (T-UFFC), Associate Editor of IEEE Transactions on Medical Imaging, and holds patents for short-lag spatial coherence beamforming and photoacoustic-guided surgery. Dr. Bell is a recipient of multiple awards and honors, including MIT Technology Review’s Innovator Under 35 Award (2016), the NSF CAREER Award (2018), the NIH Trailblazer Award (2018), the Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship (2019), the ORAU Ralph E. Powe Jr. Faculty Enhancement Award (2019), and Maryland’s Outstanding Young Engineer Award (2019). She most recently received the inaugural IEEE UFFC Star mbassador Lectureship Award (2020) from her IEEE society and the SPIE Early Career Achievement Award (2021).

Charu Chandrasekera

Canadian Centre for Alternatives to Animal Methods, University of Windsor

Beyond Animal Testing: New Frontiers in Human-Centred Science

Dr. Charu Chandrasekera is the Founder and Executive Director of the Canadian Centre for Alternatives to Animal Methods (CCAAM) and its subsidiary, the Canadian Centre for the Validation of Alternative Methods (CaCVAM) – the internationally recognized Canadian counterpart to the global network of centers for alternative methods. She obtained her PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology from the Faculty of Medicine, University of Calgary and has over two decades of experience in cardiovascular and diabetes research. In the CCAAM/CaCVAM research laboratory located at the University of Windsor, Dr. Chandrasekera uses a wide range of technologies, including 3D-bioprinting, organ-on-chip, and in silico modelling to create Disease-in-a-Dish and Toxicity-on-a-Chip – to reduce and replace animals in disease modelling and drug/chemical safety testing. Dr. Chandrasekera is an internationally recognized scientist – well versed in national and international regulatory testing frameworks, science policy, and bioethics – with an expansive network of national and international academic, industry, government, and non-profit stakeholders. She represents Canada, alongside Health Canada, on the International Cooperation on Alternatives Test Methods (ICATM consortium of global Centers for the Validation of Alternative Methods) and sits on US and EU government advisory committees on alternative test methods. The overarching vision of her Centres is to promote the replacement of animals in Canadian biomedical research, education, and regulatory testing through 21st century science, innovation, and ethics.