Integrating Engineering in Rapid, On-demand Production of Countermeasures Against Biological Threats

Dear Colleagues,

Naturally-occurring, accidental or deliberate biological threats are among the most serious perils the world is facing today. Despite the integration of engineering and life sciences in advancing the speed of detection, identification, and sequencing of toxins/infectious agents/pathogens over the past few decades, what is still lacking, as evidenced by recent viruses outbreaks of Ebola virus, pathogenic avian influenza, and the recent emergence of Zika and coronavirus, is our ability to rapidly respond with the needed countermeasures (therapeutics, vaccines, antimicrobials, and diagnostics). In this planned Special issue, the guest editors aim to call on state-of the-art research works on engineering recent innovations in production/automation countermeasures and scale-up. The aims of the collection are as follows: i) creating a new community with a focus on rapid production and automation of bio and pharma industry; ii) discussing novel engineering technologies in manufacturing units’ development and automation; and iii) highlighting cutting-edge research strategies in rapid development of therapeutic or prophylactic countermeasures. The editors anticipate to open up a new forum where scientists can convey their research through this Special Collection. Research works that cover utilization of techniques such as machine learning, artificial intelligence, sensor network and Internet of Things, which lay the groundwork for bio and pharma unit operation automation, would be of interest in this Special Issue. We anticipate that your excellent contributions will lead to an enhancement in the development stages of solid dosage formulation.

Prof. Dr. Sadegh Poozesh
Guest Editor

Manuscript Submission Information

Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health is an international peer-reviewed open access monthly journal published by MDPI.

Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2500 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.

• biomanufacturing
• automation
• rapid production
• quality by design
• biodefense