3^rd International Conference on Lipid Science & Technology December 11-12, 2017 Rome, Italy

Chryssostomos Chatgilialoglu is a Research Director at the Italian National Research Council (CNR) in Bologna, Italy. He is also co-founder and President of the spin-off company Lipinutragen. In 1983, he joined the Consiglio Nazionale delle Ricerche in Bologna (Italy) where he has been Research Director since 1991. In March 2014 he was appointed as the Director of the Institute of Nanoscience and Nanotechnology at the NCSR “Demokritos” in Athens (Greece) and from May 2015 he served as the vice-President of the NCSR “Demokritos”. He is the author or co-author of more than 250 publications in peer-reviewed journals, 34 book chapters, 6 patents, and 7 books, Author of the monograph Organosilanes in Radical Chemistry, Co-editor of the Encyclopedia of Radicals in Chemistry, Biology and Materials, Co-author of the Membrane Lipidomics for Personalized Health. The Chatgilialoglu’s research group is active in the field of free radical chemistry addressed to applications in life sciences. In the recent years, he developed biomimetic chemistry of radical stress and related biomarkers. The discovery of endogenous formation of trans-lipids attracted worldwide attention. He is responsible for introducing tris (trimethylsilyl) silane (TTMSS) as radical-based reducing agent and for this he was the winner of the Fluka Prize “Reagent of the Year 1990”. He had responsible functions within international projects, including Director of two NATO Advanced Study Institute on Sulfur-Centered Reactive Intermediates in Chemistry and Biology and on Chemical Synthesis: Gnosis to Prognosis; Chairman of the COST Action CM0603 on Free Radicals in Chemical Biology (2007–2011) and of the COST Action CM1201 on Biomimetic Radical Chemistry (2013–2016); Principal Investigator in various Framework Programs of the European Commission, comprising Horizon 2020; Supervisor of more than 15 PhD students and more than 30 Postdoctoral fellows.

Free radical reactivity applied to biosciences and biomarker discovery

M Raj Lakshman is currently the Director of Research Laboratories and the Chief of Lipid Research at the VA Medical Center, Washington, D.C. He also has joint appointments as a Professor in the Departments of Biochemistry & Molecular Medicine as well as in the Department of Medicine at the George Washington University, Washington, D.C. He directs studies in the areas of Alcoholism, Alcoholic Liver Disease, Oxidative Stress, Coronary Artery Disease, Lipids & Lipoproteins, Metabolic & Genetic Obesity, Hepatotoxins and Gene Regulation & Expression. He joined the National Institute of Health, to work on Alcoholic Hyperlipidemia under the able guidance of Professors Richard Veech and Nobel Laureate, Hans Krebs. In 1979, he received the prestigious VA Research Career Scientist Award working in the field of Alcohol and Alcoholism at the VA Medical Center, Washington, D.C. He was honored the “Washington Heart Ball” Research Award in 1990 in the field of Hyperlipidemia.

Oxidative Stress, Coronary Artery Disease, Lipids & Lipoproteins, Metabolic & Genetic Obesity

Irina Pikuleva studies cholesterol metabolism and cytochrome P450 enzymes whose role is to generate more polar forms of cholesterol for cellular elimination or regulation. Her laboratory focuses on: 1) the role of cholesterol-related proteins in retinal structure and function; and 2) potential of CYP46A1 as a pharmacologic target for Alzheimer's disease. The ultimate goal of these studies is to identify new startegies for treatment of diseases of the eye (age-related macular degeneration and diabetic retinopathy) and the brain (Alzheimer’s disease). In search for these new strategies, the Pikuleva laboratory evaluates existing medications with a goal of drug re-purposing.

Cholesterol and age-related macular degeneration