Emerging Cancer Therapy: Microbial Approaches and Biotechnological Tools

ARSÉNIO FIALHO, PhD, is Associate Professor in the Department of Chemical and Biological Engineering and Principal Investigator for the Institute of Biotechnology and Bioengineering in the Instituto Superior Técnico at the Universidade Técnica de Lisboa, Portugal. His current scientific interests are focused on the study of bacterial proteins, such as azurin and Laz, as novel multi-targeted drug candidates with anticancer activities. He is the author or coauthor of more than fifty papers in peer-reviewed scientific journals and, during the last four years, became the holder of five U.S. patents. Dr. Fialho teaches courses in biochemistry, molecular biology, and bioinformatics.

ANANDA CHAKRABARTY, PhD, is Distinguished University Professor in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Illinois College of Medicine at Chicago. In addition to more than 250 research publications, he has secured nine U.S. patents during the last four years on azurin and Laz, two bacterial proteins with anticancer, anti-viral and anti-parasitic activities. He also is the recipient of a patent on the first life form, a genetically manipulated pseudomonad designed to degrade multiple hydrocarbons present in crude oil, as decided by the U.S. Supreme Court in 1980 in the celebrated court case Diamond v. Chakrabarty.