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AAPS NERDG
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NERDG 2026 Annual Meeting

March 30, 2026
Mystic Marriott, Groton, CT
​

Program schedule
Time
Program
Location
8:00 – 8:30 am
Registration, Breakfast, Vendor & Poster Setup  
Foyer ​
​ 8:30 – 8:45 am ​
Introduction
Salon E and F
8:45 – 9:30 am​
Keynote Presentation 1 
Drugs and their Delivery: Implications for Billions of Patients and Trillions of Dollars
Prof. Samir Mitragotri (Harvard University)

Salon E and F
9:30 - 9:45 am
Vendor Presentation 1
Speeding New Drug Products to Market
Patrick Kelleher, FreeThink Technologies
Salon E and F
9:45 – 10:00 am​
Break, Vendors, Posters
Foyer, Salon D
​​​10:00 am – 
12:00 pm

Academic Research Award (ARA) Presentations
Short Topic Presentations (STP)
Session 1: Model-Informed Drug Delivery
Session 2: Novel Oral Drug Delivery
Session 3: Drug Delivery - Other Routes of Administration

Conference Room 6

Salon A

Salon B
Salon C


12:00 – 12:45 pm ​​
Lunch
Salon E and F
12:45 pm -
1:30 pm
Keynote Presentation 2 
Enabling Oral Macromolecule Delivery by Controlling GI Exposure Using Formulation and Modified Softgels
Dr. Karanukar Sukuru (Global VP-Pharma, Catalent)
Salon E and F
​​
1:30 - 1:45 pm
Vendor Presentation 2
 Leveraging dissoLab and Microstructure Science to Strengthen Regulatory Filings
Shawn Zhang, DigiM Solution
​Salon E and F
1:45 – 3:15 pm
Round Table Presentations
Emerging Technologies - DS and DP
Predictive Platforms - DS and DP
New Therapeutic Modalities

Salon A
Salon B
Salon C
3:15 – 3:30 pm
Break, Vendors, Posters
Foyer and Salon D​
​3:30 – 4:30 pm
Poster Presentations
Salon D
4:30 - 4:45 pm
Awards & Closing Ceremony
Salon E and F
4:45 - 5:30 pm
Networking Reception
Foyer

​Event Photography 
Photographs will be taken throughout the day.  Please note that the photographs taken at this event may appear on materials such as our website and LinkedIn page.  If you would prefer not to be photographed, please let the photographer know. 
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Keynote presentation 1: Drugs and their delivery: implications for billions of patients and trillions of dollars
​Abstract:
The quest for new therapies to treat human disease almost always prompts academia and industry to search for new drug molecules. However, a drug molecule must be paired with an appropriate delivery strategy to transform a candidate drug molecule into a successful drug product. Drug delivery is limited by the body’s biological barriers, which manifest in multiple forms, including challenges associated with drug administration and achieving adequate drug concentrations at the target site. These constraints often limit drug efficacy and, ultimately, patient benefit. Our research focuses on understanding the body’s biological barriers and developing strategies to overcome them. I will describe the use of ionic liquids to address key biological barriers and enable the delivery of a broad range of therapeutics. Ionic liquids allow precise control over hydrophobic and ionic interactions within the body, providing a powerful means to modulate biological barriers. I will present the scientific foundation of ionic liquids for therapeutic applications, their ability to overcome multiple biological barriers in clinical outcome, and address unmet clinical needs, and the future opportunities they present.
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Prof. Samir Mitragotri, Harvard University
Samir Mitragotri is the Hiller Professor of Bioengineering and Wyss Professor of Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University. His research focuses on drug delivery and has led to the development of new technologies for delivering small molecules, proteins, nucleic acids, and cell therapies, including multiple technologies, including microneedles, ultrasound, lipid nanoparticles, and cellular backpacks, to enable drug delivery across multiple biological barriers and to enable transdermal targeting.
Samir is an elected member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering, the U.S. National Academy of Medicine, and the U.S. National Academy of Sciences, and the World Academy of Sciences. He is also an elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, Controlled Release Society, Biomedical Engineering Society, and American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists. His work has led to the founding of over a dozen biotechnology companies that have advanced technologies into the clinic. He received his B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the Indian Institute of Technology, Madras, and his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
Vendor Presentation 1: Speeding New Drug Products to Market
Patrick Kelleher, Associate Director of Physical Sciences
FreeThink Technologies
[email protected]

Abstract
Learn about scientifically driven accelerated stability modeling using ASAPprime® and how it can be applied, from pre-formulation through post-approval, to help speed new drug products to market.

Bio
Patrick Kelleher received his B.S. (Stonehill College) and Ph.D. (Yale University) in physical chemistry before completing post-doctoral studies at the University of Virginia. His graduate and post-doctoral work focused on the development of spectroscopic and mass-spectrometric techniques for structural elucidation of small molecules. Patrick joined FreeThink in 2020 where he currently leads the physical sciences department in designing and executing rapid and material-sparing stability studies using FreeThink's ASAPprime? software.
Academic Research Awards (ARA) Presentations
Conference Room 6
ARA Abstracts
Time
Title
Presenter
Affiliation
10:00 - 10:20 am
Structural Basis of Drug Binding to Human Cytochrome P450 2C9: Insights into the Impact of Single Nucleotide Polymorphism
Richa Trivedi
Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences
10:25 - 10:45 am
Scalable Continuous Manufacturing of Multi-drug Liposomes: Tuning Size and PDI via Post-loading
Luke Burroughs
University of Connecticut
10:50 - 11:10 am
Angiopep anchored PROTAC Nanotherapy for Glioblastoma using Bioorthogonal Click Chemistry
Himaxi Patel
St. John's University
11:15 - 11:35 am
Nanovesicles in Broccoli Sprouts for Targeted and Enhanced Therapy of Inflammatory Bowel Disease
Mansi More
Western New England University
11:40 am - 12:00 pm
More Than Digestion: Alternative In Vitro Methods for Evaluating Lipid-Based Formulations
Sushil Joshi
University of Connecticut
Short Topic Presentations (STP) Session 1: Model-Informed Drug Delivery
Salon A
STP1 Abstracts
Time
Title
Presenting Author
Affiliation
10:00 - 10:30 am
Molecular Modeling-Based Prediction of the Stability of Biopharmaceutical API Under Different Buffer Condition
Gloria Agyapong
Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT
10:30 - 11:00 am
Investigating the Particle Drifting Effect in the Human Jejunum Using Computational Fluid Dynamics
M Rasheed Anjum
Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT
11:00 - 11:30 am
ZoomLab-Enabled Design & Development of Loratadine Tablets - Mechanistic Insights into Binder and Tooling Influence on Dissolution Behavior and IVIVC Outcomes
Sravani Reddy
College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, St. John’s University, Queens, NY
11:30 am - 12:00 pm
Computer Vision for API dissolution
James Min
Pfizer Inc., Groton, CT
Short Topic Presentations (STP) Session 2: Novel oral drug delivery
Salon B
STP2 Abstracts
Time
Title
Presenting Author
Affiliation
10:00 - 10:30 am
Formulation development of extemporaneously prepared mucoadhesive in situ forming oral gels for phase 1 clinical studies
Radha Kulkarni
School of Pharmacy, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT
10:30 - 11:00 am
Nanoliposomal Formulation of lipophilic Gemcitabine derivative for the Treatment of naïve and drug resistance brain cancer
Bhoomi Dholariya
College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, St. John’s University, Queens, NY 
11:00 - 11:30 am
A Novel Oral Excipient for Solid Dosage Forms – Formulation Development, Characterization, and IVIVC Prediction
Zia Uddin Masum
College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, St. John’s University, Queens, NY
11:30 am - 12:00 pm
Data-Driven Formulation of Solid Oral Dosage Forms: Integrating Computational Modeling with Experimental Validation Using ZoomLab
Suman Choudhary
College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences St. John’s University, Queens, NY 
Short Topic Presentations (STP) Session 3: Drug delivery - Other Routes of Administration
Salon C
STP3 Abstracts
Time
Title
Presenting Author
Affiliation
10:00 - 10:30 am
Evaluating In Vitro Release Strategies for Oily Depot Solutions
Saurabh Badole
University of Connecticut, School of Pharmacy, Storrs, CT 
10:30 - 11:00 am
Kidney-Targeted siRNA Delivery Using Mesoscale Lipid Nanoparticles
Anastasiia Vasylaki
Department of Biomedical Engineering, City College of New York, New York, NY
11:00 - 11:30 am
Novel phosphoantigen prodrug platform with integrated HILIC–MS/MS bioanalysis for γδ T-cell based cancer immunotherapy
Girija Pawge
Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, University of Connecticut, Storrs, CT
11:30 am - 12:00 pm
Pulmonary Delivery of Spray-Dried Antimalarial Drug: A novel Inhaled Formulation for Non-Small Cell Ling Cancer Treatment
Meghana Mokashi
College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences, St. John’s University, Queens, NY
Keynote presentation 2: Enabling oral macromolecule delivery by controlling GI Exposure using formulation and modified softgels
​Abstract:
Oral delivery of macromolecules is limited by gastric acidity, enzymatic degradation, and low intestinal permeability. Under these constraints, formulation-controlled gastrointestinal exposure often determines whether absorption is possible in vivo. Advances in delayed-release softgel technologies, combined with lipid-based formulations, enable protection from gastric processing and targeted intestinal release. When aligned with permeability enhancement, these systems better support absorption. This presentation examines how controlling release location can improve the likelihood of oral absorption for proteins and peptides. Key biopharmaceutical barriers and dissolution-relevant learnings from modified softgel platforms and biorelevant testing approaches will be discussed using recent internal case examples.
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Karunakar Sukuru, R.Ph., Ph.D., Global Vice President, Catalent
​Karunakar Sukuru is a distinguished leader in the pharmaceutical industry, with over three decades of expertise in Drug Product and Technology Development. At Catalent, he oversees the development of small molecule Rx products, guiding a team of over 800 scientists across 14 sites on four continents. His role involves managing a robust pipeline of several new molecules, utilizing diverse drug delivery technologies to support successful product launches.
With over three decades of experience, Karunakar has a proven track record in product development and technical oversight of numerous Contract Development and Manufacturing Organizations (CDMOs) globally. He is renowned for pioneering innovative controlled-release platform technologies in softgel dosage forms. He holds several granted patents and has over 20 pending patent applications, particularly in modified shell, fill technologies and lyophilization techniques for biologic products.
Before joining Catalent in 2016, Karunakar held key positions at Endo Pharmaceuticals, Banner Pharmacaps (in India and USA), and Natco Pharma in India, demonstrating his extensive leadership in the field.
He is actively involved (invited speaker) in professional organizations, including the American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists (AAPS), Controlled Release Society (CRS), Society for Pharmaceutical Dissolution Science (SPDS), and served as an expert committee member at the United States Pharmacopeia (USP), for 10 years, where he contributed to setting pharmaceutical standards.
VENDOR PRESENTATION 2: Leveraging dissoLab and microstructure science to strengthen regulatory filings
Shawn Zhang, Founder, CEO
digiM Solution
[email protected]

Abstract
As FDA increasingly incorporates microstructure-based characterization into its regulatory expectations — most recently exemplified in the 2025 revised Product-Specific Guidance (PSG) for Minocycline Hydrochloride Dental Extended Release Microspheres (PSG_050781), which mandates characterization of microsphere porosity, drug particle size, and spatial drug distribution using at least two orthogonal methods — pharmaceutical developers need scalable tools to NDA, ANDA, and post-approval change submissions.
This presentation introduces dissoLab, a software platform that integrates image-based microstructure analysis with physics-based dissolution simulation to bridge the gap between microstructure characterization and release performance prediction in vitro and in vivo. By digitizing internal drug product microstructures through modalities such as micro-CT and FIB-SEM and simulating dissolution profiles through these digital twins, dissoLab enables sponsors to build mechanistic, audit-ready evidence linking formulations and manufacturing process variables to critical quality attributes (CQAs). This microstructure-to-performance approach supports comparability arguments across manufacturing scales, sites, and process changes — directly addressing SUPAC, ANDA comparability, and complex product bioequivalence requirements.
Case studies across amorphous solid dispersions and long acting injectables will demonstrate how microstructure-informed dissoLab predictions reduces reliance on purely empirical dissolution testing, strengthens CMC narratives, and facilitates more efficient regulatory review.

References
● FDA Draft Guidance, Minocycline Hydrochloride, Powder, Extended Release, Dental, EQ 1 mg Base — PSG_050781 (Recommended Mar 2015; Revised Nov 2025). Available at: https://www.accessdata.fda.gov/drugsatfda_docs/psg/PSG_050781.pdf
● Dissolution prediction from images: method and validation of dissoLab platform. AAPS Open 11:19 (2025), Available at: https://link.springer.com/article/10.1186/s41120-025-00122-6

Bio
Shawn is founder and CEO of digiM based in Boston. Shawn and his digiM team are passionate about the combined power of experimental measurements and computational physics simulations (thus I2S – digiM’s flagship image to simulation software platform). With over hundreds of publications, patents, and software products, Shawn leads digiM to becoming a trusted partner in the characterization, institutionalization, and democratization of microstructure science across multiple industries. Shawn graduated from Rutgers University with a Ph.D. in Computational Physics and a minor in Computer Engineering. Before starting digiM, Shawn held senior positions at leading CAE software company Fluent (now Ansys) and leading electron microscopy company FEI (now ThermoFisher). Learn more about Shawn’s work in Google Scholar or LinkedIn.


Round table session 1: emerging technologies - DS and DP
Salon A
RT1 Abstracts
Presentation Title
Invited Presenter
Affiliation
Breaking the Barrier: Resolving CMC Challenges with DS–DP Co‑Processing
Dr. Bing-Shiou Yang
Boehringer Ingelheim
 Phase understanding to guide process control for patient centric microsphere formulations
Dr. Heather Frericks Schmidt
Pfizer Inc.
Liquid-Liquid Phase Separation in Formulation and Crystallization Development
Prof. Na Li
University of Connecticut
round table session 2: Predictive Platforms - DS and DP
salon b
RT2 Abstracts
Presentation Title
Invited Presenter
Affiliation
 Model-based predictive tools to assess critical quality attributes of drug products
Dr. Shubhajit Paul
 Boehringer Ingelheim
A Predictive Modeling Platform for Accelerating Drug Substance, Drug Product, Formulation Development and Delivery Timelines
Dr. Shiva Shekharan
Schrodinger
Mechanistically Informed Predictive Platforms for Modified-Release Tablet Products: Enabling Strength Scaling and Risk-Based Development
Prof. Jie Shen
Northeastern University
round table session 3: New Therapeutic Modalities
salon C
RT3 Abstracts
Presentation Title
Invited Presenter
Affiliation
TBD
Dr. Manjunatha Shivaraju
Boehringer Ingelheim
Beyond intrathecal: less-invasive oligonucleotide delivery across BBB
Prof. Anisha DSouza
Northeastern University
 Multilayer Nanoplatforms for Effective Therapeutic Delivery to the Lungs
Prof.  Vivek Gupta
St. John’s University
Poster Presentations
Salon D
Click on Poster # for Poster Abstract
Poster #
Presenter
TItle
Affiliation
1
Spencer Leonette
Developing and Integrating Pharmaceutical Analytical Techniques Lab Platforms for Preformulation, Bioassay and Pharmacokinetic Simulation
 Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Science
2
Hamayal Sharma
Programmable Antisense Nucleic Acid Mimics as Targeted Antibiotics
University of Connecticut
3
Saurabh Bhorkade
Impact of polymer residual content on properties and performance of risperidone microspheres
University of Connecticut
4
Purvi Neema
Data Curation for Physics-Informed Cardiotoxicity Prediction via Benchmarking of hERG Pose Generation Workflows
University of Connecticut
5
Christine Napiany
Mask and You Shall Receive: Novel Taste Masked Coating Strategies for Flexible Oral Solids
Pfizer
6
Kevin Ramirez Garcia
Potential of L-Canavanine for Cancer Therapy
University of Saint Joseph
7
Bhoomi Dholariya
Hydrophobic ion pairing facilitated self-Nanoemulsifying Drug Delivery System of Niclosamide for cancer treatment
St. John’s University
8
Saeed Najafian
Continuous Manufacturing of Biological Drug Products for Pulmonary Drug Delivery
University of Connecticut
9
Saeed Najafian
Understanding Particle Attrition for Reactive Systems and Crystallization with CFD-DEM Predictions
University of Connecticut, AbbVie
10
Phani Vatsavai
The Synergistic Inhibitory Effect of Targeting CCL5 and Endoglin in Endocrine-Resistant Mammary Tumors
 Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences
11
Umang Shah
Pembrolizumab as an Immune Checkpoint Blockade Therapy in Syngeneic Triple Negative Breast Cancer Models
 Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences
12
Roshni Chavan
Structural and Functional Basis of Drug Binding to Human Cytochrome P450 2C8
 Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences
13
Mural Quadros
Advancing Rare Cancer Therapeutics: Osimertinib-Loaded Inhaled PLGA Nanoparticles as a Novel Delivery System for Mesothelioma Treatment
St John’s University
14
Sanjana Durve
Development of Spray-Dried Solid Dispersions of Edaravone for Enhanced Oral Delivery
St John’s University
15
Reshma Sarkar
Vortioxetine-Loaded Liposomes: A Repurposed Approach for Glioblastoma therapies
St John’s University
16
Kranthi Gattu
Design of a Solid Supersaturated Self-Nanoemulsifying System: Role of Apinovex in Modulating Drug Precipitation
St John’s University
17
Ajinkya Khedekar
Spray drying of poorly water-soluble drugs without any organic solvent using the acid-base supersolubilization (ABS) principle
St John’s University
18
Priyanka Panchal
Nano-Orlis Microneedle Delivery System for treatment of Acne Vulgaris
St. John’s University
19
Drishti Rathod
Combinatorial nanomedicine strategy to remodel tumor stroma and degrade BRD4 to treat pancreatic ductal adenocarcinoma
St. John’s University
20
Naveen Rajana
Novel Dual-Ligand-Conjugated Hybrid Nanoparticles for Targeted Delivery of Lorlatinib to Lung Cancer Cells
St. John’s University
21
Akanksha Ugale
A DoE Driven 3D-Printed T-Junction Microfluidic Platform for Fabrication of Targetable Liposomes in Anticancer Drug Delivery
St. John’s University
22
Shashank Reddy Pasika
Comparative Evaluation of Spray Drying And Freeze Drying Using Different Stabilizers For Solidification Of Nanosuspension
St. John’s University
23
Varsha Mundrathi
Inhalable Alectinib PLGA Microparticles for ALK-Positive Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Treatment
St. John’s University
24
Parasharamulu Kommarajula
Fabricating Inhalable PLGA Nanoparticles for Targeted Therapy in Non-small Cell Lung Cancer
St. John’s University
25
Leila Sharifi
Understanding the Role of Poloxamer 188 in inhibiting AAV8 Capsid Aggregation: A Coarse-Grained Molecular Dynamics Study
University of Connecticut
26
Leila Sharifi
Mechanistic Differences of NaCl vs. MgCl₂ in Preventing AAV8 Capsid Aggregation
University of Connecticut
27
Saurav Adhikari
Impact of impurity and API properties on oiling-out behavior
University of Connecticut
28
Pawan Kumar Pandey
Understanding the impact of porosity on in vitro performance of PLGA microspheres
University of Connecticut
29
Jobair Hossen
Impact of Freezing Parameters and Cryoformulation Design on Post-Thaw Viability of Jurkat Cells
University of Connecticut
30
Rutu Valapil
Impact of antioxidant addition on drug dissolution: Implications for NDSRI mitigation biowaivers
University of Maryland
31
Dylan Mattison
Analysis of Pembrolizumab in Biological Samples Using Sampling by ABS Plastic SPME and Quantitation by LC-MS/MS
 Albany College of Pharmacy and Health Sciences
32
Pratyusha Ghosh
Targeted Polymer Mesoscale Nanoparticle Therapies for Glomerular Disease
City College of New York, 
Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, University of Pennsylvania,Stony Brook University
33
Atara R. Israel
Detection of Anthracycline Accumulation Using Optical Spectral Fingerprinting
City College of New York, Georgia Institute of Technology, Hanyang University, Seoul, Stony Brook University
34
Shekh Md Newaj
A First-in-Class Perfluorocarbon-Loaded Solid Lipid Nanoparticles for Oxygen Delivery
Duquesne University
35
Smith Patel
Scalable Perfluorocarbon Nanoemulsions for Oxygen and Resveratrol Delivery to Prevent Ischemia-Reperfusion Injury During Organ Preservation
Duquesne University
36
Ruchi Thombre
Expanding the design space of swellable core technology (SCT) for delivery of higher doses and patient centric dosage form
Pfizer
37
Nidhi Gevariya
Biosurfactant Stabilized Oral Nanosuspension of Vortioxetine hydrobromide for Treatment of Glioblastoma
St. John’s University
38
Alice Han and Michael Tang
Impact of Cryoformulation Contact Time on Jurkat Cell Viability
University of Connecticut, Northern Valley Regional High School at Old Tappan
39
Efren Alvidrez
Making Disintegration Measurable: A Computer Vision-Enabled Disintegration Device for Mechanistic Insight 
Pfizer

​28th Annual AAPS-NERDG Conference Sponsors


Corporate Sponsors/Donors
Merck
​GSK
Pfizer
Amgen
Boehringer Ingelheim


Other Sponsors/Exhibitors
Free Think Technologies
DigiM Solution
​JRS Pharma
Distek Inc.
Sever Pharma Solutions
Schrödinger
Sotax 
Triclinic Labs
Asahi Kasei
Corealis Pharma

Barentz
​The Solubility Company
Persist AI






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