Welcome Address

On behalf of the Australian Chapter of the Controlled Release Society (AusCRS), we welcome you to the 2023 Drug Delivery Australia Annual Conference, hosted by AusCRS and Monash University, on Thursday 30th Nov – Friday 1st Dec 2023. DDA 2023 is being held in Melbourne at the Monash Faculty of Pharmacy and Pharmaceutical Sciences (MIPS), one of the world’s leading pharmacy schools, set in Melbourne’s Biomedical Precinct in Parkville.

After the long Covid years, which limited in-person interactions (particularly in Melbourne) we are very much looking forward to getting together in person again. Join us with old and new friends in a relaxed atmosphere, to share our latest results and discuss exciting developments in the drug delivery field.

Conference highlights include plenary talks from Prof Kristy Ainslie (Fred Eshelman Distinguished Professor, The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill), and Prof Kristofer Thurecht (Centre for Advanced Imaging (CAI) and Australian Institute for Bioengineering and Nanotechnology, The University of Queensland), along with many invited and contributed speakers and posters. We also have a Rapid-Fire Presentation session, which will showcase the excellent work of some of our students.

These events do not occur without the support of the local community and volunteers, but also our sponsors. We thank Monash Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences and the Drug Delivery, Disposition and Dynamics (D4) Theme for their platinum sponsorship and for facilitating hosting of this year’s event. In addition, we acknowledge the continued support of ATA Scientific and welcome MedChemExpress as our gold sponsors. We also welcome back the Medicines Manufacturing Innovation Centre (MMIC) as sponsors of the conference dinner. Awards this year will be generously sponsored by the CRS and the Melbourne Centre for Nanofabrication (MCN). We would like to take this opportunity to thank them all for supporting DDA2023!

We are excited to be holding the conference dinner (including a Plenary Talk) at the Victorian State Library on the evening of the 30th Nov. This will be a wonderful opportunity for conference delegates to network in a relaxed atmosphere before we dive into a day full of exciting oral and poster presentations on the 1st Dec at MIPS.

The venue, MIPS, is conveniently located between the Melbourne CBD and Brunswick and Carlton, which all offer numerous accommodation options, and some of Melbourne’s renowned cafés and restaurants.

We are looking forward to welcoming you at DDA 2023 in Melbourne.

Kristian Kempe, Conference chair

Orlagh Feeney, Conference co-chair

Khay Fong, Conference co-chair

Plenary Speakers

Prof Kristy Ainslie

Prof Kristofer Thurecht

Invited Speakers

Prof Clive Prestidge

AProf Juliana Hamzah

Dr Jiali Zhai

Dr Felicity Han

Dr Roey Elnathan

AProf Natalie Trevaskis

AProf Zi (Sophia) Gu

Dr Jie Tang

Dr Lifeng Kang

Dr Lilith Caballero Aguilar

Sponsors