Dr Zoë Waller graduated with a MChem in Chemistry with Pharmaceutical and Forensic Science from the University of Bradford, UK, in 2005 and then completed a PhD in Chemical Biology from the University of Cambridge, UK, under the supervision of Sir Shankar Balasubramanian FMedSci, FRS. In 2008 Zoë was awarded the Corporate Associates Prize for Practical Class Demonstration in recognition of "outstanding qualities in the teaching of practical chemistry". After completing her PhD she gained further teaching experience within the secondary education sector before taking up a position as Senior Demonstrator in Medicinal Chemistry in the School of Pharmacy at UEA. After a brief period working in industry at HFL Sport Science Zoë returned to UEA in late 2010 as a Junior Lecturer in Chemical Biology. They were promoted to Lecturer in 2014 and Senior Lecturer in 2017. Zoë moved to UCL School of Pharmacy in July 2020 in the Department of Pharmaceutical and Biological Chemistry as an Associate Professor in Drug Discovery and she is currently Associate Director (Research) for the School. In 2022 Zoë was awarded UCL a Provost Teaching Award for “Innovation and Transformation, with a focus on building learning communities” and a Pearson Silver Award for “Most innovative approach to engaging students using education technology.” Zoë is currently the secretary of the Royal Society of Chemistry Nucleic Acids Interest Group, the Vice Chair of the Royal Society of Chemistry Degree Accreditation Panel and a STEM Ambassador. They are a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry (FRSC) and a Senior Fellow of the Higher Education Academy (SFHEA). Zoë’s research interests are centered around the structure and function of i-motif nucleic acids and her research is currently supported by the BBSRC and the Leverhulme Trust

Marta Artola received her Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry in 2014 from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid (UCM) in Spain with Cum Laude. After two research stays at Technische Universität München (TUM, Germany) and The Scripps Research Institute in San Diego, she moved to Leiden University (The Netherlands) as a postdoctoral researcher under the supervision of Prof. Herman Overkleeft. During her postdoc, she developed conformational inhibitors and activity-based probes for diverse glycosidases. In 2019, Marta was appointed as an assistant professor at the Medical Biochemistry Department at Leiden Institute of Chemistry where she runs her independent research group, combining organic chemistry, chemical biology, and biochemistry. Her aim is to develop inhibitor libraries, protein degraders and activity-based probes for carbohydrate processing enzymes to address unmet medical needs in terms of target validation, diagnostics, as well as drug discovery.

Her scientific career has been focused at the interface between
(bio)analytical chemistry, nanotechnology and material science, and biomedicine. She has
expertise in the design, synthesis, and characterization of functional hybrid nanomaterials for
(bio)applications. Since 2018 she focused her research on nanosized metal-organic frameworks
and NP/MOF-nanocomposites, to use them as a key tool in the development of innovative
MOF-based nanoplatforms for biological and biomedical applications; for example, light-
triggered intracellular release of bioactive compounds, bioorthogonal catalysis for reactions
inside living cells, design of MOF-modified kidney scaffolds for the future development of
artificial organs, and Glyco-MOF nanoplatforms for antioxidant and anti-inflammatory
therapies. In parallel, she has expanded her research into the field of MOF-based catalysts for
biomass valorisation, MOFs for sensing, and MOF-based nanocontainers for adsorption and
energy-related applications.

Universidad de La Rioja
Email: francisco.corzana@unirioja.es
Biosketch:
Dr Corzana is Full Professor of Chemistry at the University of La Rioja, where he heads the Chemical Biology research group on the synthesis and structure of glycopeptides for biomedical applications. He obtained his PhD from the same university in 2001 with a thesis on the preparation of enantiomers of quaternary amino acids. He then took up two postdoctoral positions: one at the University of Copenhagen with Prof. Engelsen (2001-2003), where he studied the conformational behavior of starch-derived carbohydrates using molecular dynamics simulations, and another at the Instituto de Química Orgánica General (CSIC) in Madrid with Prof. Jiménez Barbero and Dr. Asensio (2003-2005), where he synthesized modified aminoglycoside antibiotics and studied their conformational behavior in water using NMR and molecular dynamics simulations.
In 2005, he returned to the University of La Rioja as a “Ramon y Cajal” researcher and was appointed Associate Professor in 2008. His current research focuses on the design and synthesis of glycopeptides that trigger immune responses against cancer cells and can serve as biomarkers for early detection. He is the principal investigator of the European ITN DIRNANO project to develop cancer vaccines using new nanomaterials. He is also the principal investigator of two national projects, one of which is a proof-of-concept project, and the recipient of an INNOVA 2023 project from the AECC. The main objective of the latter two projects is to develop prototypes for the early detection of pancreatic and prostate cancer using glycopeptides as probes.
Dr. Corzana has a multidisciplinary background and has collaborated with several renowned universities and research groups. He completed three short stays at the College of Oxford with Prof. Davis and at the College of Cambridge with Dr. Bernardes, where he worked on the synthesis of antifreeze-like glycopeptides and on the selective chemical modification of proteins, respectively. He has published more than 160 articles in high impact journals and has given more than 30 invited talks at national and international conferences.

Maria Garcia-Parajo is an ICREA Research Professor at ICFO-Institute of Photonic Sciences, leading the Single Molecule Biophotonics group. Her research focuses on the development of advanced optical techniques to the study of biological processes at the single molecular level on living cells. She obtained her PhD in Physical Electronics in 1993 at Imperial Colleague, UK. Previous experience includes research at L2M- CNRS Paris (FR) and University of Twente (NL). To date she has published more than 200 publications and delivered more than 250 talks at international conferences and workshops upon invitation. She coordinates several international research projects, and is member of various international scientific advisory, executive and editorial boards. She has received several prestigious awards, including National Prize in Biophysics (2017), Advanced ERC grant (2017) and Emmy Noether Laurate from the European Physical Society (2020). She is co-coordinator of the Winter School in Advanced Microscopy Techniques for the Master in Interdisciplinary Sciences at BIST and is actively involved in (inter)national actions to promote gender equity in Science.

Concepción González-Bello is Professor of Organic Chemistry in the University of Santiago de Compostela (USC, Spain) and one of the principal investigators at CIQUS, Spain. She obtained her PhD in Chemistry from the USC in 1994. She carried out pre-doctoral stays in the University of Ghent (Belgium) with Prof. M. Vandewalle and in the Scripps Research Institute (La Jolla, USA) with Prof. K. C. Nicolaou and post-doctoral studies in the University of Cambridge (UK) with Prof. Chris Abell. In late 1996 she joined USC as an Assistant Professor, was promoted to Associate Professor in 2003 and to full Professor in 2022. She is author of about 100 scientific articles in peer-reviewed journals, 14 chapters in books and three European patents (ORCID). She is an academic editor of the international journal “PLOS ONE” (2015-) and Associate Editor of the journal "Frontiers in Pharmacology" (2021-) and member of the International Advisory Board of “Advanced Therapeutics” (2018-), “ACS Omega” (2021-) and “Frontiers in Microbiology” (2022-). She is the treasurer of the Spanish Royal Society of Chemistry (RSEQ) and one of the managers of the Spanish State Research Agency (AEI), in the subarea "Chemical Sciences and Technologies (CTQ). In 2021 she was awarded with the “Ignacio Ribas medal” from the Organic Chemistry Group of the RSEQ. Her main research interest is to develop updated therapies targeting infectious diseases, particularly drugs with new mechanisms of action. She has a wide experience in the structure-based design of compounds, in protein crystallography and in computational studies to explore enzyme dynamics and ligand binding.

Since 2009, I have been a permanent Aragon I+D Research Investigator and the Head of the Biophysics Area at the University of Zaragoza (BIFI). In 2019, I was promoted to the R4 level, equivalent to a full Professor. I also serve as a visiting investigator at the Copenhagen Center for Glycomics (University of Copenhagen) since 2018, expanding collaborations in functional and structural biology of carbohydrate active enzymes. My research focuses on molecular and catalytic mechanisms of glycosyltransferases, transglycosidases, glycosidases, and mucinases. I have also contributed to understanding protein glycosylation initiation and the involvement of the above enzymes in different diseases.

I obtained a Degree in Chemistry (Univ. Ramon Llull, 1994) and Chemical Engineering (IQS, 1995). After obtaining a Ph D in Organic Chemistry (University of Barcelona, 1999) I joined the group of Lewis Kay in Toronto for a post-doctoral stay (University of Toronto, 2000-2004). I was then recipient of a Ramon y Cajal reincorporation contract at the Parc Científic de Barcelona (2004-2006) and I currently am a group leader at the Structural Biology Unit of the CIC bioGUNE. My research line focuses on the use of nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) to the study of biologically relevant proteins and enzymes, paying special attention to the delicate balance existing between protein stability and dynamics. Such knowledge is applied for the development of new compounds with therapeutic activity in the field of rare diseases, and it has developed into the creation of a spin-off company, ATLAS Molecular Pharma. I have found a new pharmacological chaperone for the treatment of congenital erythropoietic porphyria, which is a repurposed drug and it has obtained the Orphan Drug Designation status. Additionally, I am also interested in the NMR-based metabolomics of biofluids for the diagnose of rare and prevalent diseases. I have published more than 120 papers with a total number of citations (1998-2023) of 4500 and an h-index of 30. I am the Spanish delegate for the trans domain of the COST program. I have been awarded the prize of the Real Sociedad Española de Química (2004), the Spanish NMR group prize (2005), the Elhuyar-Goldshmidt Prize (2022) and nominated Academic of the Academy of Medical Sciences of the Basque Country (2016). I am currently the president of the Spanish Chemical Biology group.

Miguel Mompeán holds two BSc degrees (Chemistry, 2010, and Biochemistry, 2015), and a European MSc in Theoretical Chemistry and Computational Modelling, an initiative from > 30 participating institutions from different countries (2013). In 2011, Miguel joined the Blas Cabrera Institute of Physical Chemistry IQF-CSIC, obtaining his PhD in Biophysics in 2015. During this period, he was trained in protein NMR and biophysical techniques, and merged this expertise with his interests in computational approaches to tackle the complex biological question of protein aggregation in health and disease. After four years trained as a postdoc in advanced NMR and computational methods, including theoretical aspects and hardware implementation, solid-state NMR and hyperpolarization techniques, Mompeán obtained a Junior Leader fellowship from la Caixa Foundation, and re-joined the IQF-CSIC as a Junior Principal Investigator. This grant allowed initiating a new research line to study homo- and heteromeric protein assembly, using a powerful combination of NMR techniques in solution and in the solid-state, combined with hyperpolarization strategies and a myriad of computational approaches that range from quantum mechanical calculations to molecular or spin dynamics simulations to match theory and experiment. During this period, Mompeán obtained a Juan de la Cierva - Incorporación and then a Ramón y Cajal contract, and in 2022 he was recipient of a ERC Starting Grant. Since 2023, he leads the NMR of Biosolids Group, making joint use of solution and solid-state NMR to study supramolecular assemblies and other challenging systems such biomolecular condensates or functional amyloids in distinct environments like membrane mimetics. In 2023, Mompeán was awarded the "Enrique Pérez-Payá" Prize of the Spanish Biophysical Society and the "Margarita Salas" National Research Award for young researchers.

Javier Montenegro received his master degree (2003) and PhD (2009) from the University of Santiago de Compostela, under the direction of Prof. Susana López, working in the field of synthetic retinoids and their evaluation as artificial pigments in bacteriorhodopsins. In 2005 he was a visiting scientist in the group of Prof. Steven Ley at Cambridge University (Total Synthesis). In 2007 he was a visiting scientist at the Scripps Research Institute (La Jolla) working with Prof. Reza M. Ghadiri in prebiotic chemistry and supramolecular dynamic polymers. In 2009 he moved to the University of Geneva for postdoctoral studies with Prof. Stefan Matile in biosensing, synthetic transport systems and controlled delivery. In 2012 he returned to Spain with Juan de la Cierva and a Ramon y Cajal at Organic Chemistry Department and then promoted to Profesor Titular and Oportunius Researcher (2020) as PI in the CIQUS at the University of Santiago de Compostela. He has received different prestigious awards including: a Starting Grant from the ERC (2015), a Young Investigator Grant of the Human Frontier Science Program (2017), JSP Fellow 52th Bürgenstock Conference (2017), the Prize of Young Investigators of the Spanish Royal Society of Chemistry (2018) and the Prize of Young Research Group Leaders in Chemical Biology of the RSEQ (2019).

Ruth received her PhD in chemistry from the Autonoma University of Madrid in 2005, and then she did a postdoctoral stay with Prof. Sanders at the University of Cambridge. She joined the Spanish National Research Council (CSIC) in 2009 as a tenured scientist at the Medicinal Chemistry Institute. Since 2015, she has been working at Margarita Salas Biological Research Center (CIB-CSIC), where she has established the Biological Systems Chemistry group. Her research explores dynamic chemical processes in biological environments to modulate proteins and mimic functions encountered in Nature. In 2023, she received the V National Award for Young Leaders of Research Groups, from the Chemical Biology division of the RSEQ, and a Fulbright-CSIC scholarship. She has recently received an ERC Consolidator grant for her project Chem2Sense to develop an innovative synergic application of hybrid and modular nucleic acid aptamers and a direct method for their selection and identification.

Niels Reichardt, research group leader at CIC biomaGUNE, is a chemist by training with 22 years of experience in carbohydrate chemistry both in industrial and academic research, and over 17 years developing glycan and lectin array technology. He received his PhD from Konstanz University, Germany under the supervision of Profs. Manuel Martin-Lomas and Richard Schmidt. His postgraduate studies on projects in synthetic carbohydrate chemistry were carried out at the Institute for Chemical Research, CSIC in Seville. He completed his training in organic synthesis at the Institute for Macromolecular Science and Engineering of the University Louis Pasteur, Strasbourg developing synthetic macrolide libraries as potential protein kinase inhibitors. From 2004 to 2006, he worked as a Research Scientist at Glycoform Ltd, an Oxford University spin-off from the labs of Ben Davis and Anthony Fairbanks developing semi-synthetic therapeutic glycoproteins. In 2006 he was appointed as a group leader at CIC biomaGUNE in San Sebastian. At CIC biomaGUNE his group has been developing solid and solution phase chemoenzymatic routes for the synthesis of complex oligosaccharides and glycomimetics, innovative microarray technology with multiple readout formats and analytical tools for the quantitative analysis of glycans by mass spectrometry. More recently research interests have shifted towards developing advanced therapies based on the role of glycans in health and disease. We are working on glycoengineering methodology of exosomes, viral vectors for gene therapy, glycomimetics that target immune lectins, and the development of anti-carbohydrate antibodies for cancer treatment. In 2008, he founded MDRenal, S.L., a biotechnology company developing tools for mass spectrometry-based metabolomics, where he led the company development as part-time Scientific Director until 2010. In 2016 he founded Asparia Glycomics S.L. to commercialize technology for glycan quantification developed in his laboratory. His current research interests are focused on the chemo-enzymatic synthesis of oligosaccharides of biological interest, advanced therapies based in glycobiology, and the development of quantitative glycan profiling methods for biotechnology and diagnostics. Over the years, he has supervised 15 PhD students (10 completed) and 21 postdoctoral researchers and 11 technicians. Since 2018 and together with Jesus Jimenz Barbero, CICbioGUNE, he has been organizing Glycobasque, a high-profile Glycoscience conference with large international participation celebrated yearly in San Sebastian or Bilbao. Next to the Glycobasque conference series he has been involved in the organization and celebration of various other glycoscience conferences and symposia, for which he has been awarded Embatxadore (ambassador) of the city of San Sebastian. Since 2018 he has been part of the steering group of the carbohydrate group of the Royal Spanish Chemical Society and has been a member of the scientific and organization committee of numerous national conferences and training events. From 2014-2018 he coordinated the European Training Network Immunoshape, a 3.8 Mio € project aimed at developing multivalent carbohydrate-based immunomodulators for the treatment of allergies and autoimmune diseases. Since February 2020 he has been part-time CEO of Asparia Glycomics and has led its transformation into a leading Spanish glycoscience CRO and service provider for glycan analysis and the custom synthesis of carbohydrates.

Prof. María Sánchez-Martín is Full Professor in Pharmaceutical and Organic Chemistry at the University of Granada, Spain. With a career that spans over two decades across the UK and Spain, her research expertise lies in the development of innovative therapies and diagnostic tools using the potential of nanotechnology. After obtaining her PhD in Pharmacy from the University of Granada in 2002, Prof. Sánchez-Martín embarked on a postdoctoral journey at the University of Southampton (2002-2005) and furthered her research at the University of Edinburgh, where she was supported by the prestigious Royal Society Dorothy Hodgkin Fellowship (2006-2010). In 2011, Prof. Sánchez-Martín was awarded the Marie Curie CIG Reintegration Grant, facilitating her return to the University of Granada. Her leadership at the NANOCHEMBIO research group has been marked by significant achievements in the area of Nanomedicine. She has received over €1.5 million of research funding over the past five years from various institutions, including European H2020, national MICINN, and ISCIII, alongside regional funding initiatives. Her dedication to the field extends beyond academia; she co-founded the biotechnology company Nanogetic S.L. and has been instrumental in patenting six innovations that bridge nanotechnology and healthcare. As a testament to her leadership and collaborative spirit, Prof. Sánchez-Martín is deeply involved in several key networks and projects, such as the European Technological Platform of Nanomedicine, COST ACTIONS (Nano2Clinic, DARTER and GenEHumdi), and the H2020 diagRNAnosis project. She currently coordinates the national network NANOCARE 2.0, focusing on translating nanotechnology research into practical healthcare solutions. Prof. Sánchez-Martín's career is characterized by her commitment to developing new therapeutic and diagnostic tools through nanotechnology, significantly impacting both innovative research and practical healthcare applications.

Luca was trained as a chemist in Napoli (IT) and got his PhD in Pharmacy as part of the international project EU ITN Marie Curie (DYNANO), with Jesús Jiménez-Barbero at the CIB Margarita Salas-CSIC in Madrid (ES). The PhD studies were focused in exploring molecular recognition events of glycans by protein receptors in solution, using a combined approach of NMR and molecular modelling.
In his 1st postdoc Luca was awarded with the competitive (national-wide) Torres Quevedo contract for pursuing oriented scientific research in the pharmaceutical company Atlas Molecular Pharma, spin-off of the CIC bioGUNE in Derio (ES), where I contributed to the identification of therapeutics in rare diseases. Coming back to fundamental research, but always looking to highly competitive projects with possibilities of translation, for his 2 nd postdoc Luca was awarded with the highly competitive International Human Frontier Science Fellowship (HFSP) to move to Utrecht Univ (NL), in the lab of Geert- Jan Boons, where he developed chemo- enzymatic tools to synthesize human derived complex glycans and investigate their impact on viral infections. After 2 years at Utrecht, he was back to Spain as Juan dela Cierva and Ikerbasque Research fellow. In 2023 He received an “ERC” starting grant and the “Proyectos de generación de conocimiento” grant to decipher the role of glycans in infectious diseases at atomic resolution and to the design and synthesis of broad inhibitors of the human inflenza A virus, respectively. Since 2024, Luca is Associate Principal Investigator in the Chemical Glycobiology lab, leading the research area of glycans in infectious diseases and its applications in bioGUNE.

Olalla graduated in Chemistry from the Universidade de Santiago de Compostela in 2004 (with honors).
In 2005 she received the FPU fellowship granted by the Spanish Ministry of Education and Science for PhD students. During her PhD, she worked on the design and synthesis of new specific binders and fluorescent probes for DNA recognition under the supervision of Prof. José Luis Mascareñas and Prof. Eugenio Vázquez.
In the course of her predoctoral studies, she made two stays as visiting PhD student: one at Harvard University, in the group of Prof. Gregory L. Verdine in 2006 and another at Humboldt Universität zu Berlin, in the group of Prof. Oliver Seitz in 2008.
In 2010 she defended her PhD dissertation, obtaining Summa cum laude and joined the group of Professor Oliver Seitz as postdoctoral researcher.
In 2011 she received the Marie Curie postdoctoral research fellowship for exploring the possibilities of using RNA template-directed reactions to synthesize cytotoxic peptides in the context of cancer therapy.
In summer 2014 she was appointed to a newly established tenure-track Assistant Professorship (W1) at Philipps-Universität Marburg, where she was entrusted with the mission of managing the new division of Chemical Biology together with Prof. Eric Meggers.
In April 2020 Olalla successfully passed her tenured evaluation, and consequently, she was promoted to Associate Professor of Chemical Biology (W2) in January 2021.
In 2022 Olalla was offered a Full Professorship for Organic Chemistry for Protein Research at Paris Lodron University Salzburg, which was declined for a Full Professorship at Philipps-Universität Marburg (Germany).
Since 2023 Olalla is officially Full Professor of Chemical Biology (W3).During her whole career path Olalla has published papers in high-impact journals as well as received national and international awards, including the VII Lilly Research Awards (2009), European Young Chemist Award (2012), Fulbright-Cottrell Award (2016), SPP1926 Young Research Award (2017), MarBiNa Research Award (2018), Best European Young Researcher in Chemical Biology (2020) Ars Lengindi Fakultätenpreis (2021) and EFMC Prize for a Young Chemical Biologist in Academia (2022)

Prof Vicent earned her Ph.D. in Chemistry in 2001 from the Univ. Jaume I in Spain. She conducted significant scientific work during multiple research visits to Prof. Fréchet's lab at the Univ. of California, Berkeley, USA.Transitioning into biomedically-oriented research, María initially collaborated with the Spanish company Instituto Biomar S.A. Following this, she pursued a Marie Curie Postdoctoral Fellowship in 2002 at the Centre for Polymer Therapeutics, Univ.Cardiff, UK, under the guidance of Prof. R. Duncan.In 2004, Dr. Vicent joined the Prince Felipe Research Center (CIPF) in Valencia, Spain, as a research associate through a Marie Curie Reintegration contract. She advanced to become the head of the Polymer Therapeutics Lab. at CIPF in 2006. Currently, María oversees the Screening Platform, a Specialist Site in the EU-OPENSCREEN European Research Infrastructure Consortium (ERIC). She serves as the Scientific Director and coordinates the Cancer Program at CIPF. Additionally, she contributes to the Strategic Committee of the Valencian Agency of Innovation (AVI), is a member of the excellence network CIBERONC, and holds the position of Director at Large for the Controlled Release Society (CRS) since 2021. María is also the Editor-in-Chief of Advanced Drug Delivery Reviews.
Dr. Vicent's research group (http://www.VicentResearchLab.com), specializes in developing novel nanopharmaceuticals for therapeutic and diagnostic applications, particularly in addressing unmet clinical needs through Polymer Therapeutics. Her work has been supported by national and European grants, including prestigious awards like the ERC Consolidator grant-MyNano, ERCPoC-POLYMMUNE, ERCPoC-Polybraint, and Fund Health La Caixa-NanoPanTher and NanoGBA, received from both academia and industry. María has been honored with several awards, including Idea and Women in Science recognition. Recognized for her contributions, Dr. Vicent is a member of the National Academy of Inventors (FNAI) and a fellow of the American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) College of Fellows since 2019. She was also inducted into the Controlled Release Society (CRS) College of Fellows in 2021. María has co-authored over 150 peer-reviewed papers and holds 15 patents. Six of these patents have been licensed to the pharmaceutical industry, with one contributing to the founding of the spin-off company 'Polypeptide Therapeutic Solutions S.L.' in Valencia, Spain, established in 2012 and rebranded as Curapath after its acquisition by Arcline in 2021.

Martina Delbianco studied chemistry at the University of Milan (Italy). She then moved to Durham University (UK) to pursuit a PhD under the supervision of Prof. David Parker. During her post doc, she explored the chemistry of carbohydrates and became familiar with automated synthesis in the group of Prof. Peter Seeberger at the Max Planck Institute for Colloids and Interfaces, MPIKG (Germany). Since 2018, Martina is the group leader of the Carbohydrate Materials at the MPIKG. Her group employs synthetic oligosaccharides as probes to study polysaccharides’ structure and their tendency to self-assemble into supramolecular materials.