Charles L. Cooney received his BS in chemical engineering from the University of Pennsylvania in 1966, and his SM (1967) and PhD (1970) in biochemical engineering from MIT. After a short postdoc stint at the Squibb Institute for Medical Research, he joined the MIT faculty as an assistant professor in 1970, becoming full professor in 1982.

Cooney’s honors include the 1989 Gold Medal of the Institute of Biotechnological Studies (London); the Food, Pharmaceutical and Bioengineering Award from the American Institute of Chemical Engineers; the James Van Lanen Distinguished Service Award from the American Chemical Society’s Division of Microbial and Biochemical Technology; and election to the American Institute of Medical and Biochemical Engineers and the Fellows of the American Chemical Society.

A consultant to multiple biotech and pharmaceutical companies, Cooney sits on the boards of Genzyme, Polypore International and Biocon Ltd. (India). His research and teaching span many aspects of biochemical engineering and pharmaceutical manufacturing. He holds more than 30 patents, has published 250-plus research papers, and has co-authored or edited five books, including Development of Sustainable Bioprocesses: Modeling and Assessment (Wiley Press, 2006).

Alexander Klibanov received his MS in chemistry in 1971 and PhD in chemical enzymology in 1974 from Moscow University in Russia. Following his emigration to the United States in 1977, he spent two years as a postdoctoral associate at the chemistry department of the University of California, San Diego. In 1979, Klibanov joined the faculty at MIT, where he is a Novartis Endowed Chair Professor of Chemistry and Bioengineering.

His current research interests include medicinal chemistry, enzymes biotechnology; drug delivery, stabilization, and formulations; new antiviral preparations; and new microbicidal materials. Klibanov has authored more than 270 scientific papers and 16 issued U.S. patents, has given 360-plus presentations, including many named lectures all over the world, and is a member of eight journal editorial boards. He has received numerous prestigious professional awards, including the Leo Friend Award, the Ipatieff Prize, the Marvin J. Johnson Award, and the Arthur C. Cope Scholar Award, all from the American Chemical Society, as well as the International Enzyme Engineering Prize. He was elected to the National Academy of Sciences and to the National Academy of Engineering of the United States.

In addition, Klibanov has started five biotechnology companies and has been a scientific advisor/consultant for numerous biotechnology, pharmaceutical and chemical companies, as well as for law firms in various intellectual property litigations.

Bernhardt Trout’s research focuses on molecular engineering, specifically, the development and application of both computational and experimental molecular based methods to engineering chemical products and processes with unprecedented specificity.

Since 2000, he has focused on molecular engineering for crystallization, formulation and the development of pharmaceutical separation processes. In 2007, together with several colleagues from MIT, he set up the Novartis-MIT Center for Continuous Manufacturing, a partnership with the objective of transforming pharmaceutical manufacturing. In addition to Novartis, he has worked with many other pharmaceutical companies in research or consulting. He has published more than 80 papers and currently has four patent applications submitted.