Emmanuel O. Akala, R.Ph., Ph.D. is a distinguished Professor of Pharmaceutics at Howard University, where he also serves as Chair of the Institutional Animal Care and Use Committee (IACUC) and Director of the Laboratory for Nanomedicine, Drug Delivery, and Pharmaceutical & Biopharmaceutical Drug Products Design. Professor Akala's obtained his Bachelor and Master of Science in Pharmaceutical Sciences from University of Ife, Nigeria and his Ph.D. in the same major from the University of Manchester, England. He also holds fellowships in Germany and the U.S. His innovative research focuses on developing nanotechnology-based drug delivery systems for challenging diseases like cancer (especially breast cancer) and HIV/AIDS, emphasizing quality by design and statistical methods. Along with holding multiple patents and obtaining over $11 million in research grants, he has received numerous awards for his contributions to pharmaceutical sciences and as a top journal reviewer, such as the 2016 Washington DC Pharmacy Association NASPA Excellence in Innovation Award and the 2014 AACR Minority-Serving Institution Faculty Scholar in Cancer Research Award.