Murray Barclay is a Clinical Pharmacologist and Gastroenterologist at Christchurch Hospital and Clinical Professor with the University of Otago. His research areas of interest include pharmacokinetics, therapeutic drug monitoring, pharmacogenetics, various aspects of inflammatory bowel disease, thiopurines, and biologic drugs.

Sandor Szabo, MD, PhD, MPH, DSc (h.c.) is the Founding Dean & Professor of Pathology, Pharmacology and Public Health at the School of Medicine, American University of Health Sciences. He is also a Fellow of the American Gastroenterological Association, and an External Member of the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. After medical school in Belgrade, Yugoslavia, he obtained PhD in the institute of Hans Selye (the ‘father of biologic stress’) at the University of Montreal & continued with pathology residency at Brigham & Women’s Hospital/ Harvard Med Sch, Boston, where he became assistant & associate professor. He obtained an MPH at Harvard School of Public Health, & after 20 years at Harvard, became a Professor of Pathology & Pharmacology at University of California, Irvine (UCI) School of Medicine. There & at the VA Medical Center in Long Beach, CA, which is the largest teaching affiliate of UCI, he continued his productive research in the molecular mechanisms of gastrointestinal (GI) ulceration & development of new gastroprotective & antiulcer drugs.

Dr. Zayachkivska earned her MD, PhD, and DSc degrees at Lviv National Medical University in Lviv, Ukraine, where she was involved in medical research, teaching, and administration for many years. As a professor and an international educator with over 25 years of experience at medical schools, she conducts basic and translational research. Her research interests include gastrointestinal (GI) physiology and pharmacology, metabolic physiology, drug development, mechanisms of cytoprotection, healing, and repair in animal models of GI diseases. She is currently a member of the IUPHAR-GI section International Committee, The Physiology Society (registered in the UK and EU), Federation of European Physiological Societies (FEPS), American Physiological Society, The Ukrainian Physiological Society, and The Shevchenko Scientific Society. She has published over 100 peer-reviewed scientific articles, review articles, and book chapters, and has delivered invited research talks worldwide, including in the USA, Europe, Japan, and the United Kingdom. Dr. Zayachkivska is a member of the editorial boards of the Journal of Clinical Gastroenterology (Wolters Kluwer Health, Lippincott), Frontier Pharmacology (Switzerland), and numerous other journals.

Dr. Kikuko Amagase is the associate dean and professor at the College of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Ritsumeikan University. She received a B.S., M.S., and PhD from Kyoto Pharmaceutical University. She served as an assistant professor and a lecturer at Kyoto Pharmaceutical University. In 2018, she joined the College of Pharmaceutical Sciences at Ritsumeikan University as an associate professor (PI) in the Laboratory of Pharmacology & Pharmacotherapeutics, and has been a full professor since 2023. She has conducted extensive research for many years under the mentorship of Prof. Susumu Okabe and Prof. Koji Takeuchi, focusing on the mechanisms of development and healing of gastrointestinal ulcers. Over the course of her career, she has published important papers in this field and contributed to advancing the understanding of gastrointestinal mucosal injury and protection. She is currently focusing on the pathopharmacology of gastrointestinal injuries caused by various clinically used medicines, aiming to develop safer, more effective pharmacotherapies that minimize gastrointestinal injury and other side effects. She successfully held the 13th International Symposium on Cell/Tissue Injury & Cytoprotection/Organoprotection, during which she was honored with the Ander Robert Award from the IUPHAR GI Section.

Mr. Yuuki Otsuka is a Ph.D. candidate at the Graduate School of Pharmacy, Ritsumeikan University. He graduated from the College of Pharmaceutical Sciences at Ritsumeikan University in 2023 and is a licensed pharmacist. Mr. Otsuka began his research in 2020 and is currently a Ritsumeikan Advanced Research Academy (RARA) Student Fellow (2023–present).

Prof. Chinenye Jane Ugwah-Oguejiofor is a Professor of Pharmacology and Toxicology at Usmanu Danfodiyo University, Sokoto (UDUS), Nigeria. She holds a B. Pharm and a PhD from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka (UNN), and an M.Sc. in Pharmacology from UDUS. Her research focuses on natural products for the prevention and management of diseases, particularly those affecting women. She also leads research groups exploring natural product-based interventions for Alzheimer’s disease and polycystic ovarian syndrome. Prof. Ugwah-Oguejiofor has supervised numerous M.Sc. and PhD students and has presented over fifty scientific papers at national and international meetings. She has published more than seventy peer-reviewed articles, secured multiple institutional and national research grants, and maintains active international collaborations, including with the Norxin Medical Research Cooperation Centre, China. She has also received several competitive travel grants. She serves as an Editor with BMC Complementary Medicine and Therapies and is a member of the UDUS Human and Animal Ethics Committee. She belongs to PSN, NISPET, ASPET, and WASP and is the Immediate Past Chairperson of the Association of Lady Pharmacists, Sokoto Chapter.