Dr. Ashok Saluja obtained his doctoral degree in Biochemistry from Washington State University in 1980. After a post-doctoral stint at Cornell University, he joined Harvard Medical School where he rose to the rank of Associate Professor in Surgery In 2006, he joined the faculty of the Department of Surgery at the University of Minnesota Medical School as Professor and Vice Chair. He also held the Sit Family Chair in Pancreatic and GI cancer research and McKnight Presidential Endowed Chair. In 2016, Dr. Saluja relocated to the University of Miami Miller School of Medicine as Professor and Vice Chair of Research of Surgery, Senior Associate Dean for Research and Director of Sylvester Pancreatic Cancer Research Institute. Dr. Saluja’ s research  focuses on understanding the physiology of the pancreas and the pathophysiology of pancreatic diseases. He is internationally renowned for his work on the pathogenesis of pancreatitis. One of the major findings of his research group has been that pancreatic tumors overexpress Heat Shock Protein 70 and that its inhibition causes death of these cells not only in in vitro settings but also in mouse models of pancreatic cancer. His group  developed a novel drug, named Minnelide, which is a very effective therapy in pancreatic and several other cancers and is undergoing clinical trials at  several different institutions. Dr. Saluja has published more than 200  original research papers in peer-reviewed journals. He is currently Editor-in-Chief of the Pancreas journal and was the Associate Editor of  Gastroenterology. He is the past president of American Pancreatic Association and International Association of Pancreatology. At present, he is the Secretary-Treasurer of APA. He was awarded the prestigious George Palade award by IAP, the Lifetime achievement award by APA, National Medal from Australian Society of Medical Research, Ismar Boas Medal from the German Society for Gastroenterology and Outstanding Contributions Award from Chinese Association  of Pancreatology (CAP).