Bio
Vittoria Perrotti is an Associate Professor in Science of Health Professions and Applied Medical Technologies at University G. d’Annunzio of Chieti-Pescara, Chieti, Italy. Her scientific activity is focused on translational studies for the treatment of oral diseases with advanced technologies and biomaterials, and has led to about 200 research articles, 100 proceedings, and several presentations in national and international congresses. Her research has been featured from the beginning by a strongly interdisciplinary and curiosity-driven approach, which allowed her to carry out innovative research efforts at the interface between different disciplines, such as oral pathology, materials science, implantology, oral surgery, histology, cellular and molecular biology, micro/nanotechnologies, and plasma medicine. Recently, she has been supported by NextGenerationEU and PNRR under the program Boost for Interdisciplinarity, University of Chieti-Pescara, as PI for a project entiteld “Cold atmospheric plasma therapy to target head and neck tumours by a multimodal approach (COCKTAIL)”, by the European Union’s NextGenerationEU program through the Italian Ministry of University and Research under PRINPNRR 2022-P2022F4P8P “Bi-functioNal plasma-treated solutions as a new thErapeutiC Tool for cAnceR (NECTAR)” , and by NextGenerationEU through the Italian Ministry of University and Research under PNRR 2022 “Therapeutic effects of Cold atmospheric plasma in Head And Neck Cancer and oral hEalth preservation - C.H.A.N.C.E.”, cod: 2022ATYY5B.

Bio
Dr. Eloisa Sardella is a researcher at the National Research Council (CNR), Institute of Nanotechnology (CNR-NANOTEC) in Bari, Italy. With over 10 years of expertise in non-equilibrium plasma processing, Dr. Sardella focuses on the surface modification of materials using both low-pressure and atmospheric pressure plasmas. Her research spans a wide range of technological applications, particularly in the biomedical field, where she has developed plasma-assisted processes to modify planar and porous materials, as well as micro- and nanoparticles. Since 2009, she has shifted her research in plasma medicine, applying atmospheric plasma treatments to living cells and biological liquids or hydrogels. Her work investigates the complex interactions between reactive oxygen and nitrogen species and biomolecules, aiming to promote therapeutic cellular responses. Dr. Sardella has co-authored over 70 publications in peer-reviewed journals, with an H-index of 27 and more than 2,000 citations (Scopus). She has been an invited speaker at numerous international conferences and currently serves as a member of the management committee for the PlasTher COST Action CA20114, which focuses on the therapeutic applications of cold plasmas. Notably, Dr. Sardella has received funding from the European Union's NextGenerationEU initiative, under the Italian Ministry of University and Research. This includes her participation as a Principal Investigator (PI) in the PRIN 2022 project "PREcision-based medicine for Colorectal Cancer by Atmospheric Plasmas (PREmedCAP)," in addition to being Co-PI in the PRIN 2022 PNRR entitled “Bi-functioNal plasma-treated solutions as a new thErapeutiC Tool for cAnceR (NECTAR)”, which investigates novel plasma-treated solutions for cancer treatment

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Multi-modal Cold Atmospheric Plasma For Cancer Treatment

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Michael Keidar is A. James Clark Professor of Engineering at the George Washington University. His research concerns plasma physics and engineering with application in advanced spacecraft propulsion, plasma medicine, and plasma-based nanotechnology. He has authored over 340 journal articles and 330 conference papers, and he is the author of the textbook “Plasma Engineering” and the book “Plasma Cancer Therapy”. He received the 2017 Davidson award in plasma physics; in 2016, he received the AIAA Engineer of the Year award for his work on micropropulsion, resulting in the successful launch of a nanosatellite with thrusters developed by his laboratory; and he received the Plasma Medicine Award in 2021. Prof. Keidar serves as Editor-in-Chief of Journal of Electric Propulsion, AIP Advances academic editor, Associate Editor of IEEE Transactions in Radiation and Plasma Medical Sciences, and member of the Editorial Board of half-a-dozen journals. He is an elected Fellow of the National Academy of Investors, Fellow of the American Physical Society, and Fellow of the American Institute of Astronautics and Aeronautics. He is the elected President of the Electric Rocket Propulsion Society.

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Plasma Treated Liquids for Cancer Immunomodulations

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Nagendra Kaushik is a Professor at Kwangwoon University, where he has served for the last 14 years. He also holds an Honorary Professorship at MSB University (State University), India. He is one of the founding members of Plasma Bioscience Research Center and holds the Vice Director position. Renowned for his research in plasma bioscience, nanobiotechnology, and biomaterials, Prof. Kaushik has published over 250 papers and has applied for multiple patents. He is a Highly Cited Researcher of Kwangwoon University, placing him in the top 1% of researchers, and serves as an Editor for over 20 leading journals. Prof. Kaushik has been listed in the World's Top 2% Scientists by Stanford University and Elsevier for the last four consecutive years. He has also been honored with the Fellow of Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC) UK, Early Career Plasma Medicine Award from the International Society of Plasma Medicine, and recognized as the "Sunlight of Korea" by the BRIC organization, and many other awards for his high-impact academic and industrial research.

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Plasma-Treated Liquids to Target Cancer - 10 Years Experience Using the Kinpen Argon Plasma Jet

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Sander Bekeschus is a human biologist and trained immunologist who has been active since the very early days of plasma biomedical sciences in 2010. In 2016, he founded the PRE research group at ZIK plasmatis (INP, Greifswald, Germany), which has since published more than 100 articles, including many in high-impact journals, being among the most productive plasma medicine teams worldwide. Sander’s work has been key in linking plasma science with reactive species (redox) biology and medicine research, immunology, dermato-oncology, and plasma-treated liquids. He is the holder of the Plasma Medicine Society and Society for Free Radical Research Young Investigator Awards. Currently, he heads the Research Program PLASMA MEDICINE (INP) and is Professor for TRANSLATIONAL PLASMA RESEARCH at Rostock University Medical Center in Germany, besides being an Executive Board Member of the International Workshop on Plasma Cancer Treatment (IWPCT) and the International Society for Plasma Medicine (ISPM). Sander oversees a research team of more than 20 members in two locations and is the Initiator and Speaker of the First European Marie-Curie Doctoral Training School in Plasma Medical Science, plasmACT.

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Challenges To Tackle When Investigating The Combination Of Plasma And Immunotherapy: The UAntwerp Experience

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Evelien Smits is Full Professor at the University of Antwerp, head of the Center for Oncological Research (CORE), chair of the Department and co-founder of the recognized research excellence consortium with 9 promotors and more than 100 research members, the Integrated Personalized and Precision Oncology Network (IPPON;www.uantwerp.be/ippon). Her own research team on tumor immunology and cancer immunotherapy consists of 3 full-time postdocs, 14 PhD students and 4 lab technicians. The strategic mission of her research is to improve the quality-of-life and the lifespan of cancer patients by increasing the applicability of immunotherapy, both in terms of number of responsive cancer types and number of responsive patients. Therefore, Evelien Smits has got a passion for developing novel immunotherapeutic strategies to treat cancer by combining immune activation and tackling immunosuppression. Her three major research lines are on 1) plasma oncology; 2) immune checkpoints; and 3) natural killer cell therapy. In addition, she is co-principal investigator of 3 ongoing academic investigator-driven cell therapy studies at the Center for Cell Therapy and Regenerative Medicine at the Antwerp University Hospital. Her research comprises the full spectrum from basic research till clinical studies and she has proven to be able to bring new discoveries from the bench to the bedside. She has got 165 Web of Science-indexed articles (h-index 50; 9000 citations). Amongst other prizes, in 2017 Evelien Smits received theFWO/FNRS AstraZeneca Foundation Award for her research achievements in the domain of immunotherapy with regard to characterization of the tumor immune microenvironment and investigation of novel combination strategies in different cancers, both preclinically and clinically. Amongst others, she is involved in theHorizon Europe CANCERNA consortium project and the MSCA Doctoral Network PlasmACT and she is member of the EU COST PlasTHER and EU COST IMMUNO-model.