Leor Weinberger, Ph.D., is a pioneering biomedical scientist and the Sylvester Professor and founding chair of the Department of Cell and Systems Biology at the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine. His research focuses on innovative approaches to infectious disease, particularly the development of therapeutic interfering particles (TIPs)—engineered antiviral therapies designed to combat viral infections and potentially overcome drug resistance.

Before joining Miami, Weinberger was a distinguished professor and research leader at UCSF and the Gladstone Institutes, where he built an internationally recognized program at the intersection of virology, systems biology, and therapeutic innovation. He has received multiple major NIH honors, and his work has been published in leading scientific journals. At Miami, he is helping build bridges between fundamental biology, biotechnology, and translational medicine in partnership with Sylvester Comprehensive Cancer Center.

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Jennifer Martin, Ph.D., is a Professor at the Florida International University Herbert Wertheim College of Medicine and the Leon Medical Centers Eminent Scholars Chair in Geriatrics. She directs FIU’s Benjamín León Jr. Family Center for Geriatric Research and Education and the Geriatric Research, Education and Clinical Center at the Miami VA. A licensed clinical psychologist and nationally recognized sleep researcher, her work focuses on insomnia, sleep disorders, healthy aging, women’s sleep health, and improving sleep care for older adults and veterans. Before joining FIU, she was a professor at UCLA and held research leadership roles within the VA Greater Los Angeles Healthcare System. She is also a past president of the American Academy of Sleep Medicine and has received multiple honors for her research and contributions to sleep medicine.

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Dr. Anil Menon is a NASA astronaut, emergency medicine physician, mechanical engineer, and U.S. Space Force colonel whose career has taken him from emergency rooms and military aviation to the International Space Station. A graduate of Harvard and Stanford, he earned degrees in neurobiology, mechanical engineering, and medicine, followed by training in emergency and aerospace medicine. Menon was NASA’s flight surgeon for multiple International Space Station missions and became SpaceX’s first flight surgeon, helping prepare the company’s first astronauts for human spaceflight and building its medical program. Selected as a NASA astronaut in 2021, he completed astronaut training in 2024 and launched aboard the Soyuz MS-29 in July 2026 for his first mission to the International Space Station, where he is conducting scientific research and technology demonstrations focused on the future of human space exploration.

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