Speaker Profile
Ph.D., MBA, Professor/CEO, OHSU/PDX Pharma
Biography
Dr. Wassana Yantasee received her PhD in Chemical Engineering and MBA from Oregon State University in 2001. She worked as a scientist at the Pacific Northwest National Laboratory (PNNL) from 2001 to 2009, after which she accepted a faculty position at OHSU as an Oregon Nanomedicine Signature Researcher. She has served as principal investigator on numerous NIH-SBIR projects focusing on nano-based combination therapy and immunotherapy.Dr. Yantasee has received multiple honors, including the Ronald L. Brodzinski Early Career Scientific Achievement Award from PNNL, the Council of Outstanding Early Career Engineer Award from OSU, and two corporate philanthropy awards. She was inducted into the National Academy of Inventors and is a Fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering. She has published more than 70 peer-reviewed papers, is an inventor on over 50 patent applications, and has served on more than 40 scientific review panels for federal grant programs.
Talk
Nano-delivery platform for rapid drug development
AI is transforming drug discovery by rapidly identifying promising targets. However, many targets are not druggable, and multiple pathways often need to be targeted simultaneously for a lasting response. The Pdx-NP platform is capable of delivering multiple types of drugs to both cancer cells and immune cells, helping to realize the promise of AI.
Emerging Therapeutics Showcase:
OHSU/PDX Pharmaceuticals
PDX Pharmaceuticals, in collaboration with Oregon Health & Science University (OHSU), has received multiple NCI awards and investments to advance five cancer drug candidates based on its Pdx-NP platform for delivering synergistic drug cargos. This work has led to numerous high-impact publications, more than 40 patent applications, and the training of many next-generation cancer researchers.
Session Abstract – PMWC 2026 Silicon Valley
The PMWC 2025 Emerging Therapeutics Showcase will provide a 15-30 minute time slot for selected companies and researchers in the CRISPR, Cell and Gene Therapy fields. Major advancements in safer cell- and gene-level editing technologies are bringing us closer toward cures for life-threatening disorders, from cancer to HIV to Huntington’s disease. Cell therapy, in which cellular material such as T cells capable of fighting cancer cells, is injected into a patient, has been demonstrated safe and effective. The popular new CRISPR tool that has been used to edit the genetic code of nearly any organism will have an enormous impact on human health. More than a dozen clinical trials employing CRISPR on human cells are already underway.
- Emerging Therapeutics/Cell Therapy
- Emerging Therapeutics/CVD
- Emerging Therapeutics/Gene Therapy
- Emerging Therapeutics/Immunotherapy
- Emerging Therapeutics/Radiation Therapy
