Invited Speakers

Enrico Mastrobattista

Head of the Pharmaceutics Division, Utrecht Institute for Pharmaceutical Sciences (UIPS), Faculty of Science, Utrecht University

The Netherlands

Group Website: https://www.uu.nl/staff/EMastrobattista

Enrico Mastrobattista obtained his Ph.D. in Advanced Drug Delivery from Utrecht University in 2001 and worked from 2001-2004 as a Marie Curie postdoctoral fellow at the MRC-Laboratory of Molecular Biology in Cambridge (UK). In 2004 he returned to Utrecht University to start his own research group on the development of biomimetic drug delivery systems for the targeted delivery of therapeutic proteins, peptides and nucleic acids. He was appointed to full professor in 2018 and became head of the Pharmaceutics division in 2020. His main areas of expertise are drug delivery, pharmaceutical biotechnology and nanobiotechnology with a focus on the intracellular delivery of nucleic acids, CRISPR-Cas gene editing components and genetic vaccines. He has published over 140 articles in scientific journals, contributed to several book chapters in pharmaceutical biotechnology and holds several patents to his name. A total of 16 PhD students obtained their doctorate under his direct supervision. In 2013 he was awarded the prestigious Galien research price, The Netherlands, for his research on drug delivery (www.galenusprijs.nl). In addition, he is a board member of the Netherlands Society of Gene & Cell Therapy (www.nvgct.nl).

Representative Publications

[1] Oude Blenke, E., Schiffelers, R. M. & Mastrobattista, E. Oligonucleotides and mRNA Therapeutics. in Pharmaceutical Biotechnology: Fundamentals and Applications (eds. Crommelin, D. J. A., Sindelar, R. D. & Meibohm, B.) 291–321 (Springer International Publishing, Cham, 2024).

[2] Douka, S. et al. Lipid nanoparticle-mediated messenger RNA delivery for ex vivo engineering of natural killer cells. J. Control. Release 361, 455–469 (2023)

[3] Bevers, S. et al. mRNA-LNP vaccines tuned for systemic immunization induce strong antitumor immunity by engaging splenic immune cells. Mol. Ther. 30, 3078–3094 (2022)

[4] Mastrobattista, E. Formulation and delivery solutions for the next generation biotherapeutics. J. Control. Release 336, 583–597 (2021)

[5] Lau, C. Y. J. et al. Control over the fibrillization yield by varying the oligomeric nucleation propensities of self-assembling peptides. Commun Chem 3, 164 (2020)

[6] Lou, B., De Koker, S., Lau, C. Y. J., Hennink, W. E. & Mastrobattista, E. mRNA Polyplexes with Post-Conjugated GALA Peptides Efficiently Target, Transfect, and Activate Antigen Presenting Cells. Bioconjug. Chem. 30, 461–475 (2019)