Fernando Albericio holds a Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Barcelona (1980). Following postdoctoral work (1981-1984) at Tufts University, the Université d’Aix-Marseille, and the University of Minnesota, he was appointed Associate Professor at the University of Barcelona. After a few years, he took up the position of Director of Peptide Research at Milligen-Biosearch, Boston, USA (1992-1994), and then re-joined the University of Barcelona in 1995, when he was promoted to Full Professor. He also served as Executive Director of the Barcelona Science Park (2005-2011).

His major research interests cover practically all aspects of peptide synthesis and combinatorial chemistry methodology, as well as the synthesis of peptides and small molecules with therapeutic activity. His group is also involved in the development of new strategies for drug delivery. He has published over 650 papers, several review articles, and 42 patents, and has co-authored three books. He is currently Editor of the International Journal of Peptide Research and Therapeutics and a Councillor of the American Peptide Society.

Recently, he has been honoured with a Doctorate Honoris Causa by the Universidad de Buenos Aires (Argentina) and the Vincent du Vigneaud award by the American Peptide Society. He is deeply involved in the development of the third mission of the university, namely the transferral of knowledge and technology to society. He has founded several biotech companies and he serves on the board of directors of various foundations and companies. Furthermore, he is a consultant for a number of companies operating in the chemical, pharmaceutical, and cosmetic sectors.

Hannah Bolt is a peptide and organic chemist leading discovery projects at AstraZeneca. She manages multi-disciplinary pre-clinical programs and is co-author of publications and patents. A Chartered Chemist (Royal Society of Chemistry) with project management expertise, she is currently pursuing a part-time MBA at Keele University Business School.

Sue Charlton is Head of Clinical Evaluation at the UK Health Security Agency. She leads research on vaccine immunogenicity, antibody responses, and clinical assay evaluation, with a focus on COVID-19 and emerging infectious diseases. A co-author on multiple peer-reviewed studies, she contributes to UKHSA’s countermeasures development and variant surveillance programmes, and has been active in collaborative efforts to advance vaccine science and public health preparedness.

Livija joined Prokarium in 2018 as the VP Immunology and Oncology. She is leading the strategic and operational development of Prokarium’s immuno-oncology portfolio. As an immunologist Livija specializes in mucosal and tumour immunology, immunological assay development and immuno-oncology.

Prior to joining Prokarium, Livija headed the lead selection and immuno-oncology R&D at Oxford BioTherapeutics where she focused on the target discovery and the development of immunomodulatory antibodies for cancer treatment. She has a MA in Medical Biotechnology and holds a PhD in Basic and Applied Immunology. Livija conducted her research at Cancer Research UK and King’s College London before joining the biotech industry.

Terri has over 25 years of expertise in life sciences research and development in both academic and industrial settings with an emphasis on the development and translation of cell- and gene-based therapeutics. She joined Rinri from the Cell and Gene Therapy Catapult where she worked on the translation of a broad range of candidate therapies, including stem cell-derived, in addition to supporting infrastructure and technologies.

Prior to this, Terri held senior roles in industry focussed on the development of processes for the expansion and differentiation of pluripotent stem cells for both therapeutic use and drug discovery.

Christian Graf is a Fellow in the Scientific Office of TRD Biologics & Cell and Gene Therapy at Novartis. He is an experienced analytical scientist with a strong background in protein chemistry, analytical biochemistry, and biotechnology. Over his career in the pharmaceutical industry, Christian has built deep expertise in protein characterisation, mass spectrometry, and GxP environments, supporting the development of innovative biologics and advanced therapies. He holds a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg and has a proven track record of contributing to complex research and development projects that bridge science and therapeutic application.

Steve received a PhD in Molecular Toxicology from the University of Surrey in 1993 and joined Glaxo Group Research as an Industrial Post doc in the Molecular Biology department in Greenford. Steve is Director of Oligo ADME Strategy in Pre-clinical Sciences at GSK Stevenage and has spent the last 15 years supporting projects ranging from inhaled SiRNAs, TLR antagonists, DMD exon skippers (Drisapersen) and ASOs for TTR (Innotersen) and HBV with Ionis (Bepirovirsen).

Erik holds a PhD in Molecular Biotechnology from The Royal Institute of Technology (KTH) in Stockholm, Sweden, focusing on intracellular applications of alternative scaffold proteins. After a postdoc at the Novo Nordisk Foundation Center for Protein Research (NNF CPR), Erik joined Novo Nordisk in 2011 as Scientist in Recombinant Protein Research.

Between 2015-2023, Erik held several positions as Manager or Director for Informatics / Protein Engineering / Discovery Biologics / Antibody Technology at Novo Nordisk in the US and in Denmark, working with cross-functional teams to advance early drug concepts towards clinical development. He has also been a program lead for major collaborations with tech companies, incl Microsoft.

He is currently the VP of Scientific Data Registration at Novo Nordisk, deeply engaged in how to leverage data for AI.

Dr Perdrix Rosell is the founder and co-CEO of Sixfold Bioscience and is passionate about bridging disciplines to drive positive impact. After graduating from King's College London with an MRes in Translational Cancer Medicine, she went on to complete a PhD in Cancer Research at the Francis Crick Institute, London. Her scientific contributions have been published in prestigious journals (e.g Current biology, Cell and Nature Medicine) and have led to multiple patent applications. With expertise leading multidisciplinary teams at the intersection of computation, chemistry and biology, she is the principal investigator in 15+ large international collaborative projects. Anna is an MBA holder and her entrepreneurial journey has been recognised by Forbes on the 30 under 30 Science and Healthcare list (2018), amongst others. She is a member of the UK’s bioindustry association Engineering Biology and Science and Innovation Advisory Committees.