Dr. Marc A. Ilies received his PhD in 2001, with Professor Alexandru T. Balaban, on a thesis focused on the biological applications of pyridinium salts as enzyme inhibitors and gene transfer agents. He continued this research during post-doctoral studies at Texas A&M University/UTMB Galveston, TX, aimed to develop new pyridinium amphiphiles for gene delivery, in close collaboration with the groups of Drs. E. Brad Thompson and Robert Garfield. In 2004 Dr. Ilies relocated to University of Pennsylvania for postdoctoral studies towards self-assembling amphiphilic dendrons (with Dr. Virgil Percec, Department of Chemistry), amphiphilic polymers and their supra-molecular assemblies as drug delivery systems in cancer pharmacology (with Drs. Vladimir Muzykantov and Ian Blair, Department of Pharmacology). In 2007 he joined the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences, School of Pharmacy, Temple University as Assistant Professor and was promoted to Associate Professor in 2014. Dr. Ilies published over 55 peer-reviewed scientific papers, reviews, and book chapters, and has co-authored one US patent. His publications were cited over 1500 times, with an H-index of 21 (2014). He also serves in the editorial boards of three scientific journals.

Bio-organic & medicinal chemistry/chemical biology at membrane interfaces: - heterocyclic chemistry and drug design: selective carbonic anhydrase inhibitors and activators, molecular markers for hypoxia and/or cancer, development of theranostic agents for combined therapy and diagnostic purposes. Our goal is to understand and exploit the role of carbonic anhydrase isozymes in the hypoxic tumor microenvironment and in the brain for development of anticancer and nootropic agents; - pyridinium derivatives: synthesis, physicochemical and biological properties, with a focus on their use in drug and gene delivery systems and towards the generation of novel biomarkers and theranostic systems; - supra-molecular chemistry and materials sciences, nanotechnology: synthesis, selfassembling, physicochemical and biological properties of assemblies of amphiphilic molecules of different molecular weights and packing parameters: surfactants, gemini surfactants, lipophilic oligomeric surfactants, lipids, dendrons, polymers; interfacial engineering for controlling the above-mentioned properties, drug and gene loading and delivery, enzymatic degradation, toxicity and loading of metallic nanoparticles (composite systems) for improved tracking/imaging capabilities, synergetic delivery and stabilization; - basic tissue engineering: spheroid cultures, understanding the tumor microenvironment in relation with oxygen/hypoxia and the role of carbonic anhydrases in tumor metabolism and development, establishment of 2D/3D correlations for streamlining in vitro/in vivo translation of drug and gene delivery systems.