Phil Baran was born in 1977 in Denville, New Jersey. He received his B.S. in chemistry from NYU in 1997, his Ph.D. The Scripps Research Institute in 2001, and from 2001-2003 he was an NIH-postdoctoral fellow at Harvard. His independent career began at Scripps in the summer of 2003. Phil has published over 250 scientific articles, several patents, and has been the recipient of several ACS awards such as the Corey (2015), Pure Chemistry (2010), Fresenius (2006), and Nobel Laureate Signature (2003), and several international distinctions such as the Hirata Gold Medal and Mukaiyama Prize (Japan), the RSC award in Synthesis (UK), the Sackler Prize (Israel), and the Janssen Prize (Belgium). In 2013 he was named a MacArthur Foundation Fellow, in 2015 he was elected to the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, in 2016 he was awarded the Blavatnik National Award, and in 2017, he was elected to the National Academy of Sciences, USA. He has delivered hundreds of lectures around the world and consults for numerous companies such as Bristol-Myers Squibb and Gilead. He currently serves as a scientific advisory board member for Eisai, Alkermes, Nutcracker, Quanta and AsymChem. From 2016-2020 he served as an Associate Editor for the Journal of the American Chemical Society. He co-founded Sirenas Marine Discovery (2012), Vividion Therapeutics (2016), Elsie Biotechnologies (2021), and Elima Therapeutics (2022).  In 2013 he co-authored The Portable Chemist’s Consultant, an interactive book published on the iBooks store along with his graduate class in Heterocyclic Chemistry (viewable on YouTube). The Baran laboratory is committed to identifying areas of chemical synthesis that can have a dramatic impact on the rate of drug discovery and development. This is achieved both through the development of practical total syntheses of complex natural products (such as terpenes, alkaloids, peptides, and oligonucleotides) and by inventing reactions which can dramatically simplify retrosynthesis.

C. Oliver Kappe received his diploma- (1989) and his doctoral (1992) degrees in organic chemistry from the University of Graz where he worked with Professor Gert Kollenz on cycloaddition and rearrangement reactions of acylketenes. After periods of postdoctoral research work on reactive intermediates and matrix isolation spectroscopy with Professor Curt Wentrup at the University of Queensland in Brisbane, Australia (1993- 1994) and on synthetic methodology/ alkaloid synthesis with Professor Albert Padwa at Emory University in Atlanta, USA (1994-1996), he moved back to the University of Graz in 1996 to start his independent academic career. He obtained his “Habilitation” in 1998 in organic chemistry and was appointed Associate Professor in 1999. Since 2011 he holds the position of Professor of “Technology of Organic Synthesis” (Organische Synthesetechnologie) at the University of Graz. He has spent time as visiting scientist/professor at e.g. the Scripps Research Institute (La Jolla, USA, Professor K. Barry Sharpless, 2003), the Toyko Institute of Technology (Toyko, Japan, Professor T. Takahashi, 2008), the University of Sassari (Sassari, Italy, 2008), the Sanford-Burnham Institute for Medical Research (Orlando, USA, 2010) and the Federal University of Rio de Janeiro (Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, 2013).  The co-author of more than 300 publications, his main research interests have in the past focused on multicomponent reactions, combinatorial chemistry and the synthesis of biologically active heterocycles. More recently his research group has focused on the use of enabling and process intensification technologies for synthetic chemistry, including microwave and continuous flow processing.  For his innovative work in microwave chemistry he received the 2004 Prous Science Award from the European Federation for Medicinal Chemistry and the 2010 Houska Prize (€ 100.000) in addition to a number of other awards.

Seb completed his Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry at the University of British Columbia under the guidance of Prof. Edward Piers as well as post-doctoral fellowship at the University of California, Irvine, in Larry Overman’s group.  In early 2005, Seb joined the process development group at Amgen, California, where he now holds the rank of Scientific Director.  His main responsibilities include the leadership of teams devising processes to manufacture drug substance in all phases of development, from pre-clinical to process validation.  His experience also includes drafting of the drug substance sections of regulatory filings to support investigational new drug as well as marketing applications.  In recent years, Seb has been responsible for developing strategies for the development and characterization of small molecules and siRNA manufacturing processes.  Seb has authored thirty-five refereed publications during his time at Amgen.

Charles Chase, PhD, currently holds the role as the Vice President of Technical Business Development at Asymchem. Before joining Asymchem, he served as Vice President of Pharmaceutical Development at Elicio Therapeutics and Senior Principal Scientist at Eisai Inc. With experience spanning over 20 years in Chemistry, Manufacturing, and Controls (CMC), he possesses a deep understanding of process research and development across various substances, including oligonucleotides, peptides, and complex small molecules like Halaven®. His expertise encompasses synthesis, route optimization, CMC/CDMO management, and navigating regulatory approval processes.

Dr. Joerg Gries did his studies in chemistry at the RWTH Aachen in Germany and the University of York in the UK. He received his Ph.D. in 2005 under the supervision of Prof. Dieter Enders on the topics of asymmetric synthesis and organocatalysis. Later in 2005 he joined the Chemical Development Department of former Schering AG in Berlin, working on automated reaction and process screening, high throughput experimentation and salt screening. After the merger of Schering and Bayer, he consolidated the process R&D reaction screening activities of both companies at the Bayer site in Wuppertal in 2008.

Since 2009 he has been a lead chemist for multiple development projects (small molecule and antibody-drug conjugate) and gathered experience from early route scouting to industrialization for market launch at Bayer and with partners around the globe.

Currently he is working as a Scientific Lead for process chemistry with a strong interest in shaping Bayer’s sustainability strategy for chemical and pharmaceutical development. He is located at the Bayer site in Wuppertal/Germany.

Adam Johns earned his Ph.D. in 2006 with John Hartwig at Yale and joined Materia in 2012 after stints at Dow Chemical, Halcyon Molecular, and a visiting professor appointment at Claremont McKenna College

Dr. Yi-Yin Ku is a Senior Research Fellow at AbbVie currently with 35 years of dedicated service at Abbott/AbbVie. She has led multidisciplinary teams in discovering and developing cost-effective API manufacture processes for drug candidates on over 30 programs across diverse therapeutic areas and developmental stages. Driven by a commitment to scientific innovation, she has consistently played a pivotal role in achieving program objectives.

Yi-Yin’s scientific impact extends beyond drug development to encompass significant contributions to drug discovery. Notably, her crucial role in the discovery of a new series of novel HCV protease inhibitors resulted in the identification of AbbVie’s first-generation HCV protease inhibitor, Paritaprevir (ABT-450), which was named after the Process Chemistry department R-450.

Yi-Yin was responsible for the design of the commercial synthesis for Venetoclax (ABT-199), Navitoclax (ABT-263) and Navocaftor (ABBV-3067). She has successfully led the cross-functional teams to develop the new commercial processes under accelerated development, which resulted in substantial improvements in process efficiency and cost. For Venetoclax, resulted in an estimated ~20-million-dollar yearly cost saving for commercial manufacture. Navitoclax, achieved a several-fold yield improvement with enhanced process robustness compared to the established commercial process IV. Notably, it introduced AbbVie’s first commercial PhotoFlow process. Lastly, Navocaftor realized a tenfold cost reduction, incorporating AbbVie’s first commercial C-H functionalization process.

Yi-Yin’s outstanding achievements across numerous programs at various developmental stages have earned her numerous awards, including eight President’s Awards, the Donalee Tabern Outstanding Research Team award, the first Abbott Women in Science Innovation Award, and the prestigious Chairman’s Award—the highest honor within the company. She was a key team member honored with the 2021 Heroes of Chemistry Award from the American Chemical Society for the groundbreaking discovery and development of Venetoclax.

Maintaining a prolific scientific presence, Yi-Yin has authored 45 publications and book chapters, delivered 54 conference presentations (38 as invited plenary lectures), and held 35 granted and pending US patents. She earned her doctorate in organic chemistry from the University of Illinois at Chicago.

Yiyang Liu obtained his Ph.D. degree in Chemistry at Caltech under the supervision of Prof. Brian Stoltz.  After postdoctoral studies with Prof. Adam Matzger at the University of Michigan, he joined Pfizer in 2017 as a Senior Scientist in Process Chemistry, where he was promoted to Principal Scientist in 2020.  His work is focused on enabling robust synthetic processes to deliver API at kilogram scale for early clinical studies and commercial route development for late-stage programs.

Dr. Scott Novick was born and raised in St. Paul, MN. He received a Bachelor of Chemical Engineering degree from the University of Minnesota and a Ph.D. in Chemical and Biochemical Engineering from The University of Iowa. For his graduate work, Dr. Novick conducted research under Prof. Jonathan S. Dordick in the areas of applied enzymology, enzyme immobilization and non-aqueous enzymology.

After receiving his Ph.D., Dr. Novick moved to Southern California and accepted a Staff Scientist position at BioCatalytics. While there, Dr. Novick developed a number of commercial enzyme platforms, was PI on several SBIR grants, and led a group responsible for enzyme screening and enzyme evolution. After the merger between BioCatalytics and Codexis, Dr. Novick relocated to the San Francisco Bay Area and is currently a Principal Scientist at Codexis where he serves as technical lead on various enzyme engineering and screening projects for the pharmaceutical and fine chemical industries.

Pete is a Scientific Fellow in the Process Chemistry Group at Vertex Pharmaceuticals. Born and raised in Dighton, MA, Pete received his B.A. from Brandeis University where he worked toward an asymmetric Baylis-Hillman Reaction using chiral tertiary amine catalysts in the lab of Professor Li Deng. In 2000, he accepted a position in the newly established Process Optimization Group at Eisai Research Institute where he made extensive use of Design of Experiments and parallel synthesis strategies for reaction development. From there, Pete moved to MIT as a Presidential Fellow in the lab of Professor Mohammad Movassaghi where he investigated a biomimetic synthesis of the Agelastatin alkaloids and achieved the synthesis of an advanced precursor to the natural products. In 2007, Pete joined the Chemical Development Group (now Process Chemistry) at Vertex Pharmaceuticals where he has developed a multitude of chemical processes and identified novel strategies to address significant process challenges. For the last six years, Pete has served as the Process Chemistry lead for various projects and oversees related development and production activities.

Dr. Kyle Rugg is a Principal Scientist in Process Research at Boehringer Ingelheim Pharmaceuticals, Inc. in the Chemical Development Department.  Raised in Vermont, Kyle received his B.S. and M.S. degrees in Chemistry from RIT in 2011 and 2013 respectively, where he performed research toward the total synthesis of eletefine under the direction of Prof. Jeremy Cody.  Kyle then earned his Ph.D. in Chemistry from the University of Rochester in 2018 under the direction of Prof. Robert K. Boeckman, Jr., where he developed a second-generation total synthesis of (-)-nakadomarin A and synthetic methodologies toward (-)-apoptolidin A.

Kyle began his industry career as a Senior Scientist in Process Research at Boehringer Ingelheim in Ridgefield, CT in 2018, where he has since led teams on developing the safe, economic, and scalable production of anticancer active pharmaceutical ingredients.  Kyle earned the Boehringer Ingelheim President’s Award with his team in 2020 for providing accelerated drug substance supply.  He has also been active in strategic outsourcing and CMO management, as well as various global strategic initiatives related to acceleration of development timelines.  He was promoted to Principal Scientist in 2022.

Dr. Rutherford earned her PhD in physical organic chemistry with Prof David Collum at Cornell University.    and was an NIH postdoctoral fellow with Prof Stephen Buchwald at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.      She joined Pfizer in the Chemical Technologies group in Process R&D in Groton, CT, where her work focused on catalysis, automation, flow technologies, and developing and implementing new technologies for the process chemistry environment.      She moved on to a tenure-track position teaching organic chemistry at Lafayette College in Easton, PA, and then to a role as a Product Development Chemist at Restek, a chromatography consumables manufacturer in Bellefonte, PA.   In April 2023, she is joined Takasago International Corporation as a Technical Marketing Chemist.

Dr. Bo Shen is a distinguished process chemist with a career spanning more than a decade. Born in Nanjing, China, he pursued his passion for chemistry at an early age, earning his bachelor’s degree from University of Science and Technology of China (USTC). Bo continued his academic journey, obtaining his PhD in chemistry from Vanderbilt University with Prof. Jeffrey Johnston, followed by postdoctoral training at MIT with Prof. Timothy Jamison.

With a passion for applying his expertise in chemistry to the pharmaceutical realm, Bo embarked on his career at Incyte Corporation. Over the span of 8 years, he contributed significantly to the discovery and development of cutting-edge drug candidates.

In 2020, Bo transitioned to Prelude Therapeutics, a clinical-stage oncology company developing innovative drug candidates targeting critical cancer cell pathways. He spent the next 3 years driving research initiatives and contributing to the company’s early success.

Bo’s work has been published in reputable scientific journals including Nature. His commitment to advancing drug discovery and development is reflected in many patents granted for his innovative contributions to the field.

Michael Tracey grew up in Minnesota and received his BS in chemistry from Denison University (Ohio). He returned to Minnesota to attend the University of Minnesota and under the direction of Professor Richard Hsung where he investigated the synthesis and reactivity of allenamides and ynamides. Michael then moved on to a post-doctoral position at Stanford University with Professor Barry Trost. Staying in California, Michael joined the Process Research and Development group at Theravance in South San Francisco. In 2008, he moved to the Chemical Development group at Cambrex Charles City (Iowa) where he is a Research Fellow who has worked on 30+ projects that were transferred to production scale ranging from 0.5 kg to 900 kg.

Qiang Yang is a Senior Director, Chemistry at Eli Lilly supporting Lilly’s pipeline projects. He earned his Ph.D. in organic chemistry in 2002 under the direction of Prof. David C. Baker at University of Tennessee, Knoxville, focusing on total synthesis of hyaluronic acid mimetics. He started his industrial career at AMRI (now Curia) leading route design, process development, and scale-up of APIs. Dr. Yang relocated to Indianapolis in 2012, joining Dow AgroSciences (now Corteva Agriscience), where he led process chemistry efforts to support Corteva’s crop protection pipeline projects. Dr. Yang is an inventor for 54 US patents and author for 35 peer-reviewed publications. He has been a member of Org. Process Res. Dev. Editorial Advisory Board since 2018.