Short Biography of John Brennan:

John Brennan obtained his PhD from the University of Toronto and is now a Full Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at McMaster University.  He is the Director of the Biointer faces Institute at McMaster University and the Director of the Fraunhofer Project Center for Biomedical Engineering and Advanced Manufacturing at McMaster. His research focuses on the development of biosensors and point-of-care diagnostics, with projects on bioactive paper, high-throughput development of printable biomaterials, and development of assays utilizing functional nucleic acids (aptamers and DNAzymes) for diagnostics. Dr. Brennan has supervised over 100 trainees during his career. He has published over 185 peer-reviewed papers, given over 120 invited and keynote presentations, and has many patents in the areas of sol-gel materials, protein immobilization, DNA based assays, high through put screening methods and bioactive paper. He has received many recognitions including a Canada Research Chair from the Government of Canada, a Premier Research Excellent Award from Ontario Government, a W. A. McBryde Medal from Canadian Society of Chemistry.

Short Biography of Yingfu Li:

Yingfu Li (李应福) obtained his PhD from Simon Fraser University and carried out his postdoctoral research at Yale University. He is now a Full Professor in the Department of Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences and the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at McMaster University. His group has been interested in performing test-tube evolution experiments to develop artificial DNA molecules that can be used to address fundamental biochemical and evolutionary questions or can be utilized for wide-ranging applications.  He has published more than 200 research papers, review articles, and book chapters. He has also co-edited a book and filed more than 20 patents. He has trained over 100 students and postdoctoral fellows during his career. Dr. Li also serves as an Associate Editor of Journal of Molecular Evolution and as a member of Editorial Board of Scientific Reports. He has received several recognitions, including a Governor General of Canada Academic Gold Medal, a Doctoral Prize from the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research Council of Canada (NSERC), a New Investigator Award from the Canadian Institute of Health Research (CIHR), a Canada Research Chair from the Government of Canada, a Premier Research Excellent Award from the Government of Ontario, a W. A. McBryde Medal from Canadian Society of Chemistry, and an Outstanding Young Scientist (海外杰青) from the National Science Foundation of China.