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Professor David Gerrett is Professor of Pharmacy and Head of Pharmacy for Sheffield Hallam University in the UK. He graduated from Queensland University Australia in 1979, and spent nearly 3 years in community pharmacy before travelling extensively throughout Europe and America. In the 1980s he was a hospital resident pharmacist before specializing in hospital pharmacy in substance abuse and health education

Professor Gerrett moved into academia in the early 1990s, gaining his PhD in 1995 in the role of community pharmacists as providers of information on prescription medications. He also specialized in computing and was responsible for online learning and web development at the University of Derby, UK, gaining a postgraduate diploma in the process.

In 2000 Professor Gerrett returned to pharmacy as Professor of Pharmacy Practice, Head of the Pharmacy Academic Practice Unit, and lead in Professional Doctorates and Pharmacy Prescribing until 2007, when he moved into his present position at Sheffield Hallam University.

Throughout his career, Professor Gerrett has been integrally linked to hospital pharmacy practice; earlier as a practitioner, latterly leading clinical masters degrees, and finally in academic management. He is active within the accreditation division of the Royal Pharmaceutical Society of Great Britain, and has published 10 peer reviewed discussion papers. He has also published 19 key papers based on original research data in substance misuse, the role of pharmacists and pharmacy technicians in practice, provision of advice, medication error, visualization of labelling, and pharmacist prescribing and access to patient information. He has given six oral research presentations, presented at 20 conference workshops and seminars – including key note speeches – and authored many posters, articles, book chapters and letters.

Wim Jiskoot graduated as a pharmacist at Utrecht University (1987). In 1991 he obtained his PhD degree at Utrecht University with his thesis entitled 'Pharmaceutical Aspects of Monoclonal Antibodies'. As a postdoctoral fellow at the University of Utah, USA (1991–1993), he studied protein-ligand interactions using biophysical techniques. After his return to The Netherlands in 1994, he became head of the Department of Bacterial Vaccine Development at the Laboratory for Product and Process Development, National Institute of Public Health and the Environment (RIVM), Bilthoven, where he was in charge of the development of production processes for bacterial vaccines. In 1998 he became a staff member at the Department of Pharmaceutics.

In 2006, Wim became Full Professor at the Division of Drug Delivery Technology, Leiden/Amsterdam Center for Drug Research (LACDR), Leiden University. He heads the Biologics Group at the Center and is involved in research on vaccine delivery and unwanted immunogenicity of biopharmaceuticals. Professor Jiskoot has significant expertise in the field of formulation, delivery and biophysical characterization of therapeutic proteins and vaccines.

Daan Crommelin is presently scientific director of the Dutch Top Institute Pharma in Leiden, and is also Professor at the Department of Pharmaceutics at Utrecht University. He is Adjunct Professor at the Department of Pharmaceutics and Pharmaceutical Chemistry at the University of Utah. He is co-founder and Chair of the scientific advisory board of OctoPlus, a Leiden based company specialized in the development of pharmaceutical product formulations and advanced drug delivery systems. He publishes extensively and is on the editorial board of 10 peer-reviewed journals in the field of pharmaceutical sciences.

Professor Crommelin presently chairs the Board of Pharmaceutical Sciences of the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP) and was Chair of the organizing committee of the Pharmaceutical Sciences World Conference 2007 in Amsterdam, as well as being President Elect of the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Sciences (EUFEPS).

Harald Sitte is Associate Professor at the Center for Biomolecular Medicine and Pharmacology, Institute for Pharmacology, University of Vienna. He graduated as MD at the University of Vienna in 1995, and was involved in postgraduate research as Research Associate, then University Assistant, before becoming Associate Professor. During this time he also gained his post-doctoral lecture qualification ('habilitation') in pharmacology and toxicology, and was also guest scientist ('Lektor') for a year at the Laboratory of Neuropharmacology, Department of Pharmacology, The Panum Institute, University of Copenhagen, Denmark. Professor Sitte has authored and co-authored 26 original publications as well as many review articles and book chapters. He has been guest reviewer for a number of prestigious international publications including Biological Psychiatry, Biochimica et Biophysica Acta, Faseb Journal, The Journal of Biological Chemistry, Journal of Neurochemistry, Hypertension, Molecular Brain Research, and Molecular Pharmacology to name but a few, and is a regular invited speaker at international and national conferences and seminars.

Professor Bruno Gander is Senior Scientist at the Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences at Eidgenössische Technische Hochschule (ETH [Swiss Federal Institute of Technology]) Zürich (part of Galenical Pharmacy Group). He studied pharmacy at the ETH Zürich and after an industrial training placement in Galenical research and development at Novartis, he gained his PhD at the University of Geneva, Switzerland and the Purdue University, USA.

He worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the Department for Pure and Applied Chemistry at the University of Strathclyde, UK, before becoming a senior scientist in Galenical Pharmacy at the University of Geneva. He completed his habilitation in 1999 in pharmaceutical technology and dosage forms.

Professor Gander's research focuses on biodegradable delivery systems for drugs and antigens. His therapeutic areas of interest for these delivery systems encompass infections, cancer, bone fracture healing, peripheral nerve guidance and regeneration, and vaccination with established (tetanus, diphtheria, Hib) and newer (malaria) immunogens. He is a member of the editorial board of several scientific journals, and is also a member of the expert group of the Galenical Pharmacy of the Swiss Federal Pharmacopoeia Commission.

Roger Tredree is Visiting Professor at Kingston University in London, UK, and retired this year from the post of Chief Pharmacist at St George’s Hospital, London. He is a member of various national and international pharmacy groups, and is immediate Past President of the Hospital Section of the International Pharmaceutical Federation (FIP). He is Vice Chair of the Procurement and Distribution Interest Group of the Guild of Healthcare Pharmacists, and was a member of the UK National Pharmaceutical Supplies Group.

Roger Tredree has held a number of senior posts in the UK National Health Service and has also worked in retail pharmacy. He has broad experience of operational and commercial management, multidisciplinary team building, staff training and recruitment.

Friedrich Moell is Head of Hospital Pharmacy in Winterthur Hospital, Switzerland. He is responsible for the pharmacy service for a 500-bed county hospital with a large oncology service and several geriatric and psychiatric institutions.

Before he achieved his position in hospital pharmacy, he held different positions in the pharmaceutical industry and was Head of Production at Spirig AG, and Assistant Director for Physical Pharmacy & Material Science at Johnson & Johnson.

As a hospital pharmacist, he is involved with the daily problems of handling and dispensing pharmaceuticals. However, he is also involved in pharmacy education and for many years has lectured at the Eidenössische Technische Hochschule (ETH [Swiss Federal Institute of Technology]) in Zürich on the correct application of drugs and delivery systems – with particular reference to semi-solid systems and compounding. He is also involved in the general education of hospital pharmacists in Switzerland and, in this context, organizes the biotech-forum for Swiss pharmacists twice a year.

Professor Dr Huub Schellekens is Director of the Central Laboratory Animal Institute of the University of Utrecht, The Netherlands, and Professor of Medical Biotechnology in the Department of Innovation Studies and Pharmaceutical Sciences. Prior to his present position, he was Deputy Director of the Dutch Primate Center, Director of Medscand Ingeny and Medical Microbiologist at the Reinier de Graaf Hospital in Delft, The Netherlands.

Professor Schellekens' research interests include the preclinical development of biopharmaceutical agents and applications of genetic modification in medicine. He studied medicine at the Erasmus University in Rotterdam, The Netherlands (1967–1973), where he also received his training in Medical Microbiology (1973–1980), completing his PhD in 1980. Between 1992 and 1997, Professor Schellekens coordinated an EU concerted action on the antigenicity of r-DNA-derived pharmaceuticals. He was Chairman of The Netherlands Commission on Genetic Modification and is Deputy Chairman of the Commission on Biotechnology and Animals. Professor Schellekens is also a member of the Dutch Medical Evaluation Board and a National Expert for the European Medical Evaluation Agency. He has authored over 200 scientific publications, eight non-specialist books and numerous articles in the popular press. He also contributes regularly to radio and television broadcasts.