Vladimir Muzykantov, M.D., Ph.D., is a Founders Professor of Nanoparticle Research at the University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia (UPENN), Professor and Vice-Chair of the Department of Systems Pharmacology and Translational Therapeutics at the Perelman School of Medicine, UPENN, and Founding Director of the Center for Translational Targeted Therapeutics and Nanomedicine, UPENN. Dr. Muzykantov conducts research in drug/gene targeting in the vascular system, including devising drug delivery systems for precise molecular interventions in the lungs, heart, brain, spleen, and other organs and blood components, including host defense agents. Since the early 1980s, he has explored red blood cells as natural carriers for prolonged circulation and site-specific delivery of drugs aimed at regulation of bleeding, clotting, thrombolysis, inflammation, and complement. He also investigates the mechanisms controlling drug delivery at the level of whole organism to nanoscale regulation of intracellular targeting/trafficking of drugs. He holds a portfolio of intellectual property, including about 40 patents and disclosures, and has authored more than 280 publications. Dr. Muzykantov was elected as a co-Chair of the Gordon Research Conference on Drug Carriers and was a recipient of the Established Investigator Award and Bugher Stroke Award from the American Heart Association. He received a M.D. in Internal Medicine from the First Moscow Medical School and a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from the Russian National Cardiology Research Center in Moscow.