Keynote Talk Title: "Silicon Motifs as Bioisosteres: Expanding the Molecular Design Toolbox for Pharma and Agro"

Peter Maienfisch is the founder and owner of CreInSol MCB, a company formed in April 2020. Previously he was Research Portfolio Manager Insect Control & Seedcare at Syngenta Crop Protection AG in Switzerland (until April 2020). In this role he was responsible for defining the research strategies and to govern all insecticide, nematicide and seedcare research projects across technologies from their initiation to the delivery to development.

Furthermore, he works as Honorary Professor at the East China University of Science and Technology (ECUST), Shanghai, China, as Part-time Professor at Central China Normal University (CCNU), Wuhan, China and as lecturer at the University of Basel, Switzerland.

Peter Maienfisch studied chemistry at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zürich, Switzerland, where he received his PhD in 1983. Afterwards he spent 2 years at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech; Pasadena, CA, USA) to perform post-doctoral research in the group of Prof. Robert E. Ireland.

During his career he held several different leadership positions in Crop Protection R&D including Group Leader Insecticide Chemistry, Analytics & Automation at Syngenta, Head of Chemistry in Crop Protection Research at Novartis and Group Leader in Insecticide Research at Ciba.

His track record of innovation and successful introduction of new technologies includes authorship of more than 250 scientific papers and patents. He is the inventor of thiamethoxam (Actara®, Cruiser®, one of the leading insecticides world-wide with annual sales of more than 1 billion $) and championed the development of this innovative insecticide. Furthermore, he initiated research on many new chemical classes at Syngenta and made essential contributions to the discovery and optimization of several new active ingredients, such as Spiropidion, Isocycloseram, Cyclobutrifluram and a malaria vector control compound, which are expected to reach the market in the next couple of years. His scientific contributions also led to many invitations as a speaker and co-organizer of many international congresses, including IUPAC Crop Protection congresses. Furthermore, he is Editor of two books on the “Discovery and optimization of modern Crop Protection Products”

Talk Title: "Unlocking the Future: Harnessing GPCRs for Revolutionary Pesticide Innovations"

Dr. Necla Birgül-Iyison completed her B.Sc. in Biology at the University of Trakya. She earned her M.Sc. in Molecular Biology from the University of Hamburg and successfully defended her Ph.D. at the University of Hamburg's Institut für Zellbiochemie und klinische Neurobiologie. Dr. Necla Birgül-Iyison holds an Associated Professor position at Boğaziçi University's Dept. of Molecular Biology and Genetics, starting in 2024. Previously, she served as an Assistant Professor in the same department. From 2001 to 2004, she worked as an Instructor at Boğaziçi University's Dept. of Molecular Biology and Genetics. In 2001, she was a Postdoctoral Fellow at the University of Cape Town's Dept. of Genetics in South Africa.

Dr. Necla Birgül-Iyison was awarded an EMBO Short-Term Fellowship in 2003.

She received a Scholarship from the National Research Foundation in Cape Town (NRF) in 2001. She held a Ph.D. Fellowship from the European Union from 2000 to 2001.

From 1997 to 2000, she was a recipient of a Ph.D. Fellowship from the German Research Foundation in Hamburg. Additionally, she received an M.Sc. Scholarship from the University of Hamburg (Auslands-Stipendium) from 1995 to 1996.

Dissertations:

Her Ph.D. dissertation title is "Identifizierung und Charakterisierung des Allatostatin Rezeptors aus Drosophila melanogaster, Periplaneta americana und Carausius morosus."

Her MSc. dissertation is titled "Untersuchungen transienter Transformanten von Physcomitrella patens (Hedw.) B.S.G.".

Keynote Talk Title: "Bugs, plants and peptides: Unleashing the power of chemical ecology for sustainable crop protection"

Dr Aurélien Bigot (pronounce BIGO) graduated in chemistry in Strasbourg before moving to Germany in Freiburg to complete his PhD in 2008 with Prof. Breit in the fields of organic synthesis and asymmetric catalysis. Then he joined Syngenta as a postdoctoral fellow followed by a second postdoc with Prof Gaunt in Cambridge before returning to Syngenta in Switzerland as a lab head in 2011. Aurélien has contributed to a number of small molecule projects, most recently as Head of Lead Generation fungicide before transitioning to Biologicals research in 2021, concomitantly to his nomination as a Science and Technology Fellow. He is currently dedicated to biomolecules as potential biocontrol or biostimulant solutions, with a particular focus on peptides and proteins.

Talk title: "Aib-containing peptides as plant protection products"

Marta is an associate professor in Organic Chemistry at the Department of Chemistry of the University of Padova (Italy). She coauthored more than 100 publications in peer-review journals, and four EU patents on biorationally-designed peptides as ecofriendly plant-protection products, a technology that won the first prize at the Intellectual Property Award 2021 - Agrotech sector (Expo2021 Dubai).

Talk Title: "Enhancing Bacterial Lectin Affinity with Reversible Covalent Ligands"

Sarah Mazzotta received her Master’s degree from the University of Calabria in 2016 and she obtained her PhD at University of Seville (2020). Her PhD research activity was focused on the design and synthesis of novel antimicrobial small molecules, especially against adenovirus infections. She was also involved in the preparation of new bioactive compounds from natural sources. In 2020, she started her postdoctoral fellowship at the University of Milan working on the generation of novel glycomimetics as bacterial lectin ligands useful in antimicrobial anti-adhesion therapy. Since 2023 she is an organic chemistry researcher at the same university.

Talk Title: "RNAi vs. crop protection chaos: the molecular twist to address sticky cases"

She holds a degree in Agricultural Sciences from the University of Bologna and a PhD in Molecular Biology from EMBL in Heidelberg, Germany. She is currently an Associate Professor in the Department of Agricultural and Food Sciences (DISTAL) at the University of Bologna, specializing in Plant Pathology. She teaches several courses in both undergraduate and graduate programs and is responsible for the Biotechnology and Plant Pathology Laboratory.

Her research focuses on the discovery of new molecules and the development of innovative strategies for plant disease control. One of the main goals of her laboratory is the development of RNAi-based strategies, including the design, production, and testing of double-stranded RNA (dsRNA) for controlling major plant pathogens. The mechanism of action and effectiveness of these molecules are also studied using molecular and cellular biology techniques.

The laboratory is also involved in developing endogenous RNAi strategies, aiming to create plants capable of producing dsRNA against fungal pathogens and insect vectors of phytoplasmas. She is the author of 85 indexed publications and has an H-index of 26.

Talk title: "Peptides as a credible alternative for crop protection?"

Jean-Philippe Combier is a molecular biologist specialist of microRNAs and peptides. He has identified different classes of new peptides, including miPEPs: they are peptides encoded by primary transcirpts of microRNAs and they regulate their expression. This led to the creation of the company Micropep Technologies, which has raised around 60M€ and which aims to identify peptides for agronomy.

Keynote Talk Title: "Deuterium in Drug Design: Why Crop Science Should Take Note"

Tracey Pirali is a full professor of Medicinal Chemistry at the University of Piemonte Orientale. She earned her degree in Pharmacy in 2004 and completed her PhD in the laboratory of Prof. Tron in 2008. As a visiting scientist, she worked with Prof. Zhu (Paris, CNRS) and Prof. Greaney (Edinburgh, School of Chemistry).

In 2013, she established her own research group in Novara, Italy at the University of Piemonte Orientale. Prof. Pirali's work focuses on innovative strategies in drug discovery and development to create therapeutic solutions for complex diseases. Her research includes exploring the soft drug concept in topical delivery, utilizing deuterium to enhance the pharmacokinetic profiles of bioactive molecules, employing PROTAC technology for protein degradation modulation, and advancing multicomponent reactions to accelerate synthesis. These approaches target various therapeutic areas, notably cancer immunotherapy via IDO1 enzyme inhibitors and neuropathic pain through voltage-gated sodium channel blockers. These projects have been supported by the European Union, Italian Government, AIRC Foundation, and other sources. 

In 2012, Prof. Pirali was awarded the prestigious Farmindustria Prize by the Italian Chemical Society. In 2019 she co-founded ChemICare, a spin-off company dedicated to developing calcium channel modulators for treating Duchenne muscular dystrophy. The company's lead candidate has received orphan drug designations from both the EMA and FDA. Since 2019, she has served as the Director of the Erasmus Mundus Joint Master EMOTION funded by the European Union. 

Talk Title: "Plant molecular bioprotection"

Francesco Pennacchio is Professor of Entomology at the University of Napoli Federico II (Italy) and Visiting Professor at Newcastle University (UK). In 1989 he received a PhD in Entomology at the University of Napoli Federico II, and, from 1989 to 1991, he was research associate at the Department of Entomology, Texas A&M University, College Station, TX, USA. The study of the molecular physiology of insect multitrophic interactions is at the core of his research interests, along with biotechnologies for insect control that can be developed based on this knowledge. His work particularly focuses on insect immunity and immunosuppression strategies by parasites and pathogens, and on how environmental stress can alter insect immunocompetence. In 2014 he was awarded the Cozzarelli Prize, by the National Academy of Sciences of USA. He currently serves as President of the Italian National Academy of Entomology, from 2012 to 2021 was President of the Italian Entomological Society, in 2024 was nominated member of the Accademia dei Georgofili. He is member of the Council for International Congresses of Entomology and of the Praesidium of the European Congresses of Entomology. In 2022, he was elected EMBO member in recognition of outstanding contributions to life science research. He currently serves as scientific coordinator of Spoke 2 (Reduction of Pesticide Use in Agriculture), AGRITECH - National Center for Technology in Agriculture.

Talk Title: "Climate change impacts on crop pests and pathogens"

Dan Bebber obtained his PhD in Tropical Ecology at the University of Oxford, studying the effect of El Nino-related drought and insect herbivores on tree regeneration in Sabah, Malaysia. He then moved to the Faculty of Forestry, University of Toronto to take up a post-doctoral position in forest regeneration in Ontario, followed by a research into the role of fungi in forest nutrient dynamics at the Department of Plant Sciences, University of Oxford. In 2007 he joined the environmental NGO Earthwatch, based in Oxford, as Head of Climate Change Research, managing an international citizen science research programme into forest carbon dynamics. He joined Exeter in 2013, studying the global distributions of crop pests and pathogens and the impacts of climate change on crop production. He is particularly interested in abiotic and biotic threats to tropical crops like coffee and banana, and works closely with the organization CABI on pest and pathogen impacts. He was Chair of the British Mycological Society's Fungal Biology Research Committee, is co-Technical Director of CABI's Global Burden of Crop Loss initiative, and a member of the BBSRC Sustainable Agriculture and Food Panel.

Talk Title: "RGD and isoDGR integrin ligand-Drug Conjugates for tumor targeting"

Umberto Piarulli is Vice-Rector and Ordinary Professor of Organic Chemistry at the University of Insubria, where he has been a faculty member since 1996. He obtained his degree in Chemistry from the University of Milan and earned his PhD in Chemical Sciences from the University of Lausanne in 1996. He also carried out research as a Visiting Scientist at Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory (NY, USA).

His research has long centered on organic synthesis, asymmetric catalysis, and chiral ligand development. His current scientific activity is primarily focused on the development of drug conjugates for tumor therapy, aiming to advance targeted cancer treatments through innovative molecular strategies.

Prof. Piarulli has coordinated several international research projects, including a Marie Curie Early Stage Research Training program on foldamers. He is the co-author of over 100 publications in high-impact international journals.

 

Talk Title: "Targeting ferroptosis in Pyricularia oryzae by natural and nature-inspired siderophores"

Prof. Michail Christodoulou was from 2021 an Assistant Professor and from 2024 an Associate Professor of Organic Chemistry in the Department of Food, Environmental and Nutritional Sciences of the University of Milan working on the synthesis of natural and synthetic compounds with antitumor, antifungal or antibacterial activity and in the development of novel green and sustainable enzymatic reactions.

Dr. Christodoulou received his BSc and MS from the Chemistry Department of the University of Patras, Greece, followed by a PhD in Medicinal Chemistry from the General Department of the Agricultural University of Athens, Greece, in 2010 with a thesis on the synthesis of novel bioactive molecules and evaluation of their biological activity. From 2011 till 2015 he worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Milan, Italy, on the design and synthesis of natural and synthetic compounds focusing on different biological targets such as Cancer Stem Cells, the Glycocorticoid Receptor, Topoisomerase I and II, Sirtuins and Microtubules. From 2015 till 2017 he continued his research as a Post-Doctoral researcher at the University of Modena and Reggio Emilia, Italy, where he worked on the AIRC IG15993 project entitled: “Design and development of CDK2 and EGFR type III allosteric inhibitors as anticancer drugs”. From 2017 till 2020 he was an Assistant Professor at the Department of Pharmaceutical Sciences of the University of Milan working on the development of metal-catalysed and metal-free domino reactions and for the synthesis of novel compounds with anticancer activity.

Dr. Christodoulou is author of 75 publications on international peer-reviewed journals and has presented his work at various international conferences in the field of cancer research. He is an active participant in the COST Actions: CA21145 “European Network for diagnosis and treatment of antibiotic-resistant bacterial infections (EURESTOP)”, CA21130 “P2X receptors as a therapeutic opportunity (PRESTO)” and CA22103 “A COMPREHENSIVE NETWORK AGAINST BRAIN CANCER (Net4Brain)”.

Keynote Talk Title: "Designing Anticancer Drugs"

Andreas Blum is Director in Medicinal Chemistry at Merck KGaA in Damstadt (Germany). He graduated from the Philipps-University Marburg (Germany) and obtained his Ph.D. in Medicinal Chemistry in 2007 followed by a postdoc at the Imperial College in London with Prof. Barrett. In 2009, he joined Boehringer Ingelheim Pharma in Biberach (Germany) as lab leader in Medicinal Chemistry where he worked as team member and project leader for several research projects in the area of cardio-metabolics. End of 2016, he moved to Merck KGaA in Darmstadt (Germany) changing the focus of research to oncology and is currently focusing with his group on oncogene chemistry and automation.

Talk Title: "Design and development of Targeted Protein Degraders against epigenetic factors in Multiple Myeloma/Hematological"

Dr. Jokin Carrillo is Director of Drug Discovery and Medicinal Chemist at CIMA Universidad de Navarra, with a strong focus on translational drug discovery. His work spans neuroscience, immuno-oncology, and solid tumors, advancing both small molecules and biologics from early discovery to clinical stages. His scientific interests include small-molecule therapeutics, new discovery modalities such as PROTACs and molecular glues, as well as biologic approaches including ADCs.