Richard Heller is Professor of Medical Engineering at the University of South Florida. He received his B.S. degree in Microbiology from Oregon State University, and a Ph.D. in Medical Sciences from the University of South Florida, College of Medicine. He is recognized as a pioneer in developing efficient delivery systems for nucleic acids and chemotherapeutics, and the leading expert in gene electrotransfer (GET). He demonstrated that plasmid DNA can be delivered efficiently both in vitro and in vivo using pulsed electric fields and since then demonstrated effective delivery to a variety of tissue targets including tumors (melanoma, hepatocellular carcinoma, pancreatic, etc), skin, muscle, liver and heart. He has worked on translating the approach to both human and veterinary clinical trials. This included the first human clinical trials for drug delivery using electroporation in the U.S. and the first human clinical trial in the world using GET. He is a Fellow of the following organizations: National Academy of Inventors, Association for the Advancement of Science, American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineers, Society for In Vitro Biology and Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers. He is the recipient of the Society for In Vitro Biology Distinguished Service Award, Frank Reidy Award for Outstanding Contribution to the Field of Bioelectrics and Eminent Scholar designation from Old Dominion University, among many other awards. He has served as Treasurer of the Society for In Vitro Biology, Chair of Non-Viral Scientific Committee for American Society for Cell and Gene Therapy and President of ISEBTT. He has 69 issued patents (41 U.S. patents). His research has focused on evaluating the use of pulse electric fields to manipulate biological cells and tissues, in particular, developing delivery procedures for non-viral gene transfer.