Jack W. Szostak, Ph.D.
Professor of Chemistry, University of Chicago
Replication of the primordial genetic material
Dr. Szostak received his B.Sc. from McGill University in Montreal in 1972, and his Ph.D. from Cornell University, Ithaca, NY, in 1977. Dr. Szostak is a University Professor and Professor of Chemistry at the University of Chicago, and an Investigator of the Howard Hughes Medical Institute. Dr. Szostak is a member of the National Academy of Sciences and the American Philosophical Society, and a Fellow of the Royal Society, the American Academy of Arts and Sciences, and the American Association for the Advancement of Science. During the 1980s Dr. Szostak carried out research on the genetics and biochemistry of DNA recombination, which led to the double-strand-break repair model for meiotic recombination. At the same time Dr. Szostak made fundamental contributions to our understanding of telomere structure and function, and the role of telomere maintenance in preventing cellular senescence. For this work Dr. Szostak shared, with Drs. Elizabeth Blackburn and Carol Greider, the 2006 Albert Lasker Basic Medical Research Award and the 2009 Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine. In the 1990s Dr. Szostak developed in vitro selection as a tool for the isolation of functional RNA, DNA and protein molecules from large pools of random sequences. His laboratory used in vitro selection and directed evolution to isolate and characterize numerous nucleic acid sequences with specific ligand binding and catalytic properties. From 2000 until the present Dr. Szostak’s research interests have focused on the laboratory synthesis of self-replicating systems and the origin of life.

Wolfgang Busch, Ph.D.
Professor and director, Plant Molecular & Cellular Biology Laboratory, Salk Institute for Biological Studies
Deep Roots, Lasting Impact: Leveraging Plant Biology for Climate Solutions
Busch is Professor and Director of the Plant Molecular and Cellular Biology
Laboratory at the Salk Institute for Biological Studies in La Jolla, California, where he also holds the Hess Chair in Plant Science. He also serves as an Adjunct Professor at the University of California, San Diego. Dr. Busch’s research focuses on the genetic, molecular, and developmental mechanisms that shape root system architecture and its adaptation to
environmental conditions. His discoveries of key genes, natural variants, and regulatory networks have significantly advanced our understanding of root growth, environmental responsiveness, and plant resilience.
Dr. Busch is the Executive Director and co-founder of the Salk Harnessing Plants Initiative (HPI), which aims to develop crop varieties with enhanced carbon sequestration capabilities to address climate change. Under his leadership, HPI has translated fundamental research into prototype
“Salk Ideal Plants” with deeper, more resilient roots that transfer more carbon into the soil for longer-term storage. These are currently undergoing field trials. He also co-founded the AgriTech company Cquesta to accelerate the deployment of root-based carbon traits and promote climate-beneficial agriculture.

After earning his Ph.D. at the Max Planck Institute for Developmental Biology, Dr. Busch conducted postdoctoral research at Duke University and later led a research group at the Gregor Mendel Institute in Vienna. He joined the Salk Institute in 2017. Dr. Busch has authored over 100 scientific publications and received numerous honors, including the GenomeWeb Young Investigator Award, the SEB President’s Medal, and the NOMIS Distinguished Scientist Award.

Yamuna Krishnan, Ph.D.
Louis Block Professor, Department of Chemistry, University of Chicago
Intracellular Electrophysiology
Yamuna Krishnan is a professor at the Department of Chemistry, University of Chicago since August 2014. Her research lies at the interface of nucleic acid nanotechnology, and organelle biology. Her lab tries to understand the functions from DNA beyond that of its traditional role as the genetic material. They develop versatile, chemical imaging technologies using self-assembled DNA nanostructures to quantitatively image second messengers in real time, in living cells and genetic model organisms. Among her accolades are the Bhatnagar Prize for the Chemical Sciences, the Infosys Prize for Physical Sciences, the Sun Pharma Foundation Award for Basic Medical Research, the Ono Pharma foundation Breakthrough Science Award and most recently, the NIH Director’s Pioneer Award.

Peter Friedl, M.D., Ph.D.
Chair, Microscopical Imaging of the Cell, Radboud University Medical Centre
Exploiting mechanical and chemical cell stress during cancer metastasis
Friedl is directing the Microscopical Imaging Centre of the Radboud University Nijmegen Medical Centre, Nijmegen, Netherlands and, from 2011 to 2023, held a joint-faculty position at the University of Texas MD Anderson Cancer Center. He received his M.D. degree from the University of Bochum and the Ph.D. degree from the McGill University. In 2002, he was board-certified as clinical dermatologist and 2003 as allergologist. He applies advanced microscopy and molecular intervention in 3D culture and preclinical tumor models to identify their response to molecular targeted and immunotherapy.

His research interest is in applying innovative 3D models and engineered
matrices to uncover the mechanisms and plasticity of cell migration in immune regulation and cancer metastasis, with emphasis on cell-matrix adhesion, pericellular proteolysis and cell-cell communication during migration. His laboratory identified pathways determining diversity and plasticity of cell migration, collective cancer cell invasion, and the contribution of migration pathways to immune defense and cancer resistance. His discoveries have provided a nomenclature for the different types of cell migration and their roles in building and (re)shaping tissue, with emphasis on inflammation, regeneration and cancer. His therapeutic preclinical studies focus on the intravital visualization of niches and mechanisms and strategies to overcome therapy resistance.

Erin Goley, Ph.D.
Professor of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Johns Hopkins University
Bacterial cell biology in diverse growth environments
Erin Goley is a Professor of Molecular Biology and Genetics at Johns Hopkins. She received her PhD in Molecular and Cell Biology at UC-Berkeley and began research in bacterial cell biology during her postdoc at Stanford University. She joined the Hopkins faculty in 2011. Goley’s lab aims to discover how bacteria organize themselves in space, interact with their environment, and replicate efficiently, with a goal of informing new ways to control bacterial infectious disease. Erin was elected a Fellow of the American Society for Cell Biology in 2023 and a Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology in 2025.

Mariana Federica Wolfner, Ph.D.
Distinguished Professor of Molecular Biology and Genetics, Stephen H. Weiss Presidential Fellow, Cornell University
Changed for good: molecular modifications of eggs, sperm, and females that enable fertility
Mariana Federica Wolfner is the Distinguished Professor of Molecular Biology and Genetics, and a Stephen H. Weiss Presidential Fellow. Her research focuses on understanding, at the molecular/gene level, the important reproductive processes that occur around the time when a sperm fertilizes an egg. Using the Drosophila model, the Wolfner laboratory studies the molecular signals that “activate” an oocyte to begin embryo development and also studies how seminal proteins modulate the reproductive physiology and behavior of female insects. Mariana’s primary teaching areas are in Development & Evolution, and in Advanced Genetics. Mariana has a B.A. in Biology and Chemistry from Cornell, a Ph.D. in Biochemistry from Stanford, and she did postdoctoral work at UC San Diego. Mariana has been honored to receive awards and recognition for her research from the Genetics Society of America, the Entomological Society of America, the International Congress of Entomology Council, and awards from Cornell for her teaching and advising. Mariana is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science, and a member of the National Academy of Sciences and of the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. She serves on several Editorial and Biology-organizations’ Boards, and on various grants panels.