Janez Plavec is the Head of the Slovenian NMR Centre at the National Institute of Chemistry and a Professor of Structural Biology at the University of Ljubljana. His research interests include the structure and dynamics of biomacromolecular systems studied by NMR spectroscopy, with an emphasis on DNA and RNA oligonucleotides and their interactions with small molecules and metal ions.

Miguel Garavís is a Ramón y Cajal Research Fellow at the Institute of Physical Chemistry "Blas Cabrera" (CSIC, Madrid, Spain). He previously held a Marie Skłodowska-Curie Fellowship between McGill University and the Institute of Physical Chemistry 'Blas Cabrera' (CSIC), working in the laboratories of Masad J. Damha and Carlos González. His research combines solution and solid-state NMR spectroscopy with complementary biophysical approaches to investigate the structure, dynamics, and molecular recognition of nucleic acids. His work focuses on non-canonical DNA and RNA structures and on the development of nucleic acid-targeting therapeutics, including antisense oligonucleotides for neurodegenerative diseases.

Justas Mikutavicius is a final-year PhD student in Nucleic Acid Chemistry at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU) in the Astakhova group. His research focuses on nucleoside modifications and chemically modified oligonucleotides, particularly guide RNA modifications for CRISPR–Cas9 genome editing. He combines solid-phase oligonucleotide synthesis, fluorescence-based assays, and in vitro CRISPR–Cas9 experiments to investigate how RNA modifications affect guide RNA–Cas9 interactions and off-target discrimination. He previously completed an MSci and BA in Natural Sciences at the University of Cambridge, with research training in organic synthesis.