Sergei M. Gryaznov, Ph.D., Chief Scientific officer of MAIA Biotechnology, Inc., is an internationally recognized scientist in the areas of modern drug discovery and development, oncology, telomerase, immune-regulatory molecules, nucleosides, nucleotides, DNA & RNA analogues and nucleic acid based therapeutic agents. Prior to his position with MAIA Biotechnology, Dr. Gryaznov served as a Sr. Director and then a Head of Nucleic Acid Center of Excellence, Janssen Pharma, part of Johnson and Johnson family of companies, and before that as a Chief Technology Officer at AuraSense Therapeutics (now Exicure Inc.). Dr. Gryaznov also worked as a Director of Chemistry and Sr. Research Fellow with Geron Corporation, where he created a new broad-spectrum N3'-P5'-phosphoramidate focused nucleic acid therapeutic and research platform. One of the main results of his activity at Geron is discovery and development of first-in-class, first-in-clinic telomerase inhibitor Rytelo TM (Imetelstat Sodium; GRN163L), which is currently approved in the US and EU for treatment of hematological cancers. Dr. Gryaznov co-authored more than 120 peer-reviewed scientific publications, and he is the co-inventor of more than 60 issued and pending US and international patents. He successfully collaborated on numerous projects with various academic laboratories and institutions world-wide. Dr. Gryaznov received his MS and Ph.D. degrees from Department of Chemistry, M.V. Lomonosov Moscow State University (lab of Prof. Zoe Shabarova) and then continued his post-doctoral training with Prof. Robert Letsinger, at Northwestern University.

Prof. Zoё Waller CChem FRSC graduated with an MChem in Chemistry with Pharmaceutical and Forensic Science from the University of Bradford in 2005, and then completed a PhD in Chemical Biology from the University of Cambridge, UK, under the supervision of Professor Sir Shankar Balasubramanian. After completing her PhD, she taught in the secondary and higher education sectors and also worked in industry. Zoё started her first academic position in late 2010 as a Junior Lecturer in Chemical Biology at the UEA School of Pharmacy. She was promoted to Lecturer in 2014 and Senior Lecturer in 2017. Zoё moved to UCL School of Pharmacy in July 2020 as an Associate Professor in drug discovery. She was promoted to Professor in 2024 and is currently Head of the Research Department of Pharmaceutical and Biological Chemistry. Zoё’s individual and team work has been recognised throughout her career, including a Royal Society of Chemistry Horizon Education Prize (2024), the Chemical Biology and Bioorganic Group Lectureship (2024) and the Jeremy Knowles Award (2025). Zoё is a Fellow of the RSC, the chair of the Royal Society of Chemistry Degree Accreditation Committee and a STEM ambassador. Zoё’s research interests are centred around the structure and function of i-motif nucleic acids, and their research is currently supported by the BBSRC and the Leverhulme Trust. Outside of work, Zoё enjoys baking, crochet and running around after her three children.

Ronald Micura studied Chemistry at the Johannes Kepler University in Linz, Austria. He received his PhD working in the field of phycobilin pigments under the supervision of Karl Grubmayr in 1995. Thereafter he joined the laboratory of Albert Eschenmoser at ETH Zurich (1996-1997), and later, at The Scripps Research Institute (1998), to perform postdoctoral research on alternative nucleic acids. Following his time in California, he started independent research funded by an APART-fellowship from the Austrian Academy of Science at the University of Linz. In 2004, he became Professor for Organic Chemistry at the University of Innsbruck, Austria. His research focuses on the chemistry, chemical biology, and biophysics of RNA.

Michael Smietana is full Professor at the University of Montpellier since 2012. Educated at the Ecole Normale Supérieure in Paris, he received his PhD in 2001 from the University of Strasbourg. He then joined Stanford University as a Postdoctoral Fellow for two years. In 2004, he moved to the University of Montpellier as an Assistant Professor, working in the Nucleic Acids Department of the Institute of Biomolecules Max Mousseron (IBMM). Since 2020 he leads the ChemBioNAC team IBMM. His current research focuses on modified oligonucleotides and biohybrid catalysis.

Clemens Richert studied Chemistry at the Universities of Münster (pre-diploma, 1987) and Cologne (diploma, 1990). For his diploma thesis (with E. Vogel), he synthesized functionalized porphycenes that were later developed into photosensitizers for photodynamic therapy of tumors. He obtained Ph.D.s in Human Biology from the Ludwigs-Maximilians University of Munich (with K. Messmer, Institute for Surgical Research), working on tumor-selective photosensitizers, and in Chemistry from the ETH Zurich, working on non-ionic RNA analogs (with S.A. Benner, Laboratory for Organic Chemistry). In 1995, he moved to Tufts University, where he held Assistant Professorships in Chemistry (1995-2000) and Pharmacology (1997-2010). In 1999 he was recommended for early tenure at Tufts, but accepted an associate professor position at the University of Konstanz instead. In 2002, he became professor at the University of Karlsruhe (TH), now KIT, before moving to his current position at the University of Stuttgart in 2008. He holds a chair in Biological Chemistry at the Institute of Organic Chemistry. His research focuses on the organic, bioorganic, and medicinal chemistry of nucleic acids, including synthesis, molecular recognition, chemical replication, structure elucidation, and systems chemistry.