DeviceConnect: Novel Delivery Mechanisms for Modern Medicine

Saniya Ali is the chief technology officer and co-founder of Watershed Therapeutics, a pharmaceutical therapeutics company focused on solving large unmet clinical challenges in urology. Their current lead product shifts the paradigm in the treatment and prevention of recurrent urinary tract infections in women. Saniya leads and oversees operations and all aspects of research and product development. Prior to Watershed Therapeutics, she has worked as an innovator and scientist in the medical device and pharmaceutical industries with more than 10 years of experience in identifying unmet clinical needs and translating ideas into FDA-approved products that are used in clinics and surgery today. Saniya holds a Ph.D. in biomedical and biomaterials engineering from Duke and has completed post-doctoral training in medical innovation and biodesign at Stanford. 

Deborah Fuller, PhD, is a Professor in the Department of Microbiology at the University of Washington School of Medicine, and Associate Director of Research at the Washington National Primate Research Center. She also serves as the CTO of Orlance, a company working on a platform to deliver nucleic acid vaccines and related therapies. At UW, Dr. Fuller leads a team that is developing nucleic acid-based vaccines and antivirals including DNA and RNA vaccines for infectious diseases. She led the translation of two vaccines from bench to clinical trials including the first DNA vaccine to induce protective levels of immunity in humans, and in the past year, played a key role in advancing several vaccines and antivirals for the prevention and treatment of COVID-19 including a 2^nd generation RNA vaccine for COVID-19 that entered human clinical trials in Spring 2021. She has authored over 100 manuscripts and book chapters and is a co-inventor on over a dozen patents. Dr. Fuller has served as a member of several National Institutes of Health study sections for vaccines and HIV and is currently serving on the leadership team for NIH’s COVID-19 Vaccines and Therapeutics Evaluation Network (COVTEN). She is also the co-founder of Orlance, Inc, a biotechnology company that aims to develop a needle-free nucleic acid vaccine platform and since the start of the pandemic has played a key role in as an expert in vaccines to inform the community and public on the science behind the COVID19 vaccines. She has been featured on Bloomberg TV, CNN, NPR, and has contributed to numerous news articles, op-eds, podcasts, and instructional videos published by The Washington Post, The Associated Press, The Wall Street Journal, Huffpost, Vox, Conversation.com, and others. Her op-ed articles have been translated into multiple languages and read by millions of readers worldwide. Her most recent honors include the University of Washington Latinx Faculty Excellence in Research Awards in 2019 and 2020 and the Hope College Distinguished Alumni Award in 2021.

Dr. Lal has been working at PATH for the last 14 years with a focus on technologies for the development of thermostable formulations of vaccines (co-adjuvanted), proteins, and small molecule drugs for use in low and medium-income countries (LMICs). Specifically, Dr. Lal leads and oversees the work on novel technology evaluation, process optimization, qualification of sensitive analytical assays, suitable packaging presentations, product stability evaluation following ICH guidelines, and preclinical studies involving novel administration routes for stable vaccine or pharmaceutical drug products.

Scott Thielman is CTO and co-founder of Product Creation Studio. With expertise leading the development of consumer, medical and industrial products, Scott has participated in all aspects of development for clients including Philips, Johnson & Johnson, and Lilly. He holds a Ph.D. in mechanical engineering from the University of Washington and is a licensed professional engineer.