Justin Hanes (Johns Hopkins University, US)
Dr. Hanes the Lewis J. Ort Professor and founding Director of the Center for Nanomedicine at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine, where he holds faculty appointments in the departments of Ophthalmology (primary), Biomedical Engineering, Chemical & Biomolecular Engineering, Neurosurgery, Oncology, and Physiology, Pharmacology & Therapeutics. A member of the National Academy of Engineering, National Academy of Medicine and National Academy of Inventors of the US, and inductee into the EU Academy of Sciences, he is an expert in the areas of advanced drug and gene delivery systems and pharmaceutical formulation, polymer and lipid nanoparticles, nanoparticle-tissue interactions, nanoparticle and drug transport in biological fluids and tissues, and drug delivery for a wide array of diseases affecting nearly all parts of the body. He is the most recent recipient of the Thomas T. Mercer Joint Prize in pharmaceutical aerosols and inhalable materials from AAAR and ISAM. He is an inventor on more than 180 US patents and patent applications focused in the area of advanced delivery systems that make drugs and gene therapies safer and more effective. Technologies he developed with co-inventors have served as the basis for the launch of several companies, including Advanced Inhalation Research (acquired by Alkermes), Civitas Therapeutics (acquired by Acorda Therapeutics), Kala Pharmaceuticals (Nasdaq: KALA), GrayBug Vision (Nasdaq: GRAY; acquired by CalciMedica), NovusBio (private) and Novus Vision (private). He is also a founder of Theraly Pharmaceuticals (acquired by D&D Pharmatech), Theraly Fibrosis (acquired by D&D Pharmatech), Neuraly (acquired by D&D Pharmatech), Spiral Therapeutics (private), Ashvattha Therapeutics (private), and Orpheris (acquired by Ashvattha Therapeutics). Dr. Hanes has helped these companies raise more than $1 billion USD and to create multiple FDA-approved drugs and more than two dozen products that have been tested, or are currently being tested, in human clinical trials. Dr. Hanes is a Venture Partner at Catalio Capital Management, where he has served as an advisor since the genesis of the company, including as Chief Scientist of the Nexus II fund. He has served on the scientific advisory boards for pharmaceutical companies, including Genentech in the Drug Delivery Division and ReCode Therapeutics, and he is a past chair of the Gene and Drug Delivery Study Section of the National Institutes of Health. He has served as the President of the Controlled Release Society and he is a fellow of several scientific societies. Dr. Hanes has received multiple school-wide teaching awards at the Johns Hopkins University.
