CordenPharma Peptides Summit 2026

Christina M. Woo is a Professor in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Harvard University, and an associate member of the Broad Institute. Research in the Woo lab aims to define and exploit the contribution from protein modifications in cells using the tools of chemical biology. Prior to Harvard, Christina obtained a BA from Wellesley College (2008), PhD with Professor Seth Herzon in Chemistry from Yale University (2013), and completed postdoctoral studies with Professor Carolyn Bertozzi at the University of California, Berkeley and Stanford University in Chemical Biology (2016). Her research program has been recognized by the Cope Scholar Award, David Gin Young Investigator Award, Camille-Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award, Sloan Research Foundation, NSF CAREER, Amgen Young Investigator Award, Bayer Early Excellence in Science Award, and the Ono Pharma Foundation Breakthrough Science Award.

Bradley L. Pentelute is a Professor of Chemistry at MIT. He is also an Associate Member, Broad Institute of Harvard and MIT, an Extramural Member of the MIT Koch Cancer Institute, and Member, Center for Environmental Health Sciences MIT. He received his undergraduate degree in Psychology and Chemistry from the University of Southern California, and his M.S and Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry from the University of Chicago with Prof. Steve Kent.  He was a postdoctoral fellow in the laboratory of Dr. R. John Collier at Harvard Medical School, Microbiology.

Joshua Kritzer is a Professor of Chemistry at Tufts University in Medford, MA, with appointments in the Molecular Microbiology Program and the Cell, Molecular and Developmental Biology Program at Tufts University’s School of Graduate Biomedical Sciences in Boston, MA.  The Kritzer lab combines approaches from chemistry, biology, and biotechnology to solve foundational problems in drug discovery. Current projects include discovering novel modulators of autophagy for cancer therapy and targeted protein degradation, measuring cytosolic penetration of peptide and oligonucleotide therapeutics, and evolving new protein biosensors. Prof. Kritzer has won numerous teaching and mentoring awards, and his academic awards include the Smith Family Award for Excellence in Biomedical Research, an NIH New Innovator Award, and a Sanofi iAward for projects involving cross-disciplinary solutions to pressing problems in chemical biology and drug development.

Ambika Bajpayee, Ph.D., is an Associate Professor in the Department of Bioengineering at Northeastern University, where she leads the Molecular Bioelectrostatics and Drug Delivery Laboratory. Her research focuses on the design of targeted therapeutics by integrating bioelectrostatics, molecular engineering, and biophysical transport principles to enable drug and gene delivery in dense, negatively charged tissues. Dr. Bajpayee earned her Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and has a multidisciplinary background spanning biomechanics, transport modeling, and biomaterials. Her lab develops next-generation peptide-based carriers and extracellular vesicle platforms for applications in cartilage repair, pain modulation, and gene delivery in osteoarthritis and related diseases. Prior to academia, she worked in the biotech industry on the development and FDA approval of orthopedic and dental implants. Her honors include the U.S. Presidential Early Career Award for Scientists and Engineers (PECASE), NSF CAREER Award, NIH Trailblazer Award, Department of Defense Discovery Award, Biomaterials Science Investigator Award, and the MIT Meredith Kamm Award. Her research is supported by the NIH, NSF, Department of Defense, and pharmaceutical industry partnerships, with a strong emphasis on translation from fundamental science to clinical application.

Dr. Samir Mitragotri is the Hiller Professor of Bioengineering and Wyss Professor of Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University. His research focuses on drug delivery and has led to the development of new technologies for delivering small molecules, proteins, nucleic acids, and cells. Over the years, he has introduced multiple technologies, including low-frequency ultrasound, liquid microjets, ionic liquids, cellular hitchhikers, and cellular backpacks, to enable drug delivery across multiple biological barriers and to diverse therapeutic targets.

Samir is an elected member of the U.S. National Academy of Engineering, the U.S. National Academy of Medicine, the National Academy of Inventors, the American Academy of Arts & Sciences, and the World Academy of Sciences. He is also an elected Fellow of American Association of Advancement of Science, Controlled Release Society, Biomedical Engineering Society, and American Association of Pharmaceutical Scientists. His work has led to the founding of over a dozen biotechnology companies that have advanced his technologies into the clinic. He received his B.S. in Chemical Engineering from the Institute of Chemical Technology, India, and his Ph.D. in Chemical Engineering from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

Krishna Kumar is the Robinson Professor of Chemistry and Professor of Biomedical Engineering at Tufts University. He served as Chair of the Department of Chemistry from 2006–2009 and again from 2012–2018. He is also a Member of the Cancer Center at Tufts Medical Center in Boston.

Kumar received his PhD in Chemistry from Brown University in 1996, followed by postdoctoral training at the Scripps Research Institute. He joined Tufts University in 1998, where he has since built a distin-guished career at the interface of chemistry, biology, and medicine.

His scientific contributions span peptide and protein design, medicinal chemistry, biophysics, cell and molecular biology, and fundamental questions on the origin of life. His more recent research has fo-cused on the development of multi-agonist therapeutics for metabolic syndrome that rival—or sur-pass—the efficacy of current blockbuster drugs.

Kumar’s achievements have been widely recognized. He was named a DuPont Young Professor, select-ed by MIT Technology Review as one of the world’s Top 35 Innovators under 35 (TR35), and received the Global Indus Technovator Award from MIT-IBC. He is also a recipient of the NSF CAREER Award, the Massachusetts Technology Transfer Center’s Technology Award, and the Excellence in Chemical Sci-ences Award from the Indian Society for Chemistry and Biology.

He has been elected Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS), Fel-low of the Royal Society of Chemistry, and Senior Member of the National Academy of Inventors. Most recently, he received the Rao Makineni Award Lectureship from the American Peptide Society.

Phil Brandish joined AI Proteins in February 2025 and serves as Chief Scientific Officer. Phil is responsible for strategy and execution of AIP’s therapeutic pipeline, including operational oversight. He was instrumental in the successful $40M+ financing round completed in November, 2025. He brings 25 years of drug discovery, research and development experience from large pharma and biotech.

Dr. Killian O”Brien is a molecular biologist who joined Lytica in November 2022. Prior to joining Lytica, he focused on engineering extracellular vesicles for the delivery of large therapeutic payloads. At Lytica, his work centers on combining antibody and SIP technologies to enable the targeted delivery of large payloads and expand the therapeutic potential of biologics.

Punit is VP of Preclinical Development at a NewCo focused on oncology. Previously, he served as a Project Leader at Mariana Oncology, focusing on the development of targeted radiopharmaceuticals. Prior to that, he contributed to the discovery and early development of macrocyclic peptide therapeutics at Bicycle Therapeutics and Ra Pharmaceuticals. His work spans peptide therapeutics, radiopharmaceuticals and other peptide conjugates.

Dr. Mimoun Ayoub is a recognized leader in the peptide industry, dedicated to advancing peptide and oligonucleotide therapeutics. As the Senior VP Global Commercial Head of the Peptides Business unit, he has held various positions at CordenPharma including Head of Global Sales and the Peptide and Oligonucleotide Platforms, driving innovation in synthesis and manufacturing.

With a Ph.D. from Pierre and Marie Curie University, Dr. Ayoub has been a key advisor at TIDES for over 15 years, shaping industry advancements and fostering collaboration. His leadership at CordenPharma has strengthened its position as a global leader in peptide and oligonucleotide development. Through his expertise and strategic vision, Dr. Ayoub continues to drive innovation, enhancing drug development and manufacturing worldwide.

Dr. Niels Svenstrup has over 25 years of experience in the pharma and biotech industry across a variety of leadership roles in Chemistry and Manufacturing.  In 2025 he founded Creative Molecular Consulting where he advises early- to mid-stage companies on CMC strategy, quality and regulatory compliance.

Niels has a Master in Cell Biology and Chemistry, a Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry, and did his postdoctoral training at The Scripps Research Institute in La Jolla, CA.  He joined the pharmaceutical industry as a laboratory leader in medicinal chemistry at Bayer Pharma in Germany in 2000.  He later went on to become Head of Department, Medicinal Chemistry at H. Lundbeck’s Neuroscience Drug Discovery Center in Copenhagen, Denmark, before joining Ascendis Pharma as Director of CMC and leader of the teams that invented and developed YorviPath and Yuviwel, now both approved drugs. Niels moved to the U.S. in 2017 to take on the role as SVP Development at Cydan, a rare disease accelerator located in Cambridge, MA. Most recently, Niels was SVP of Chemistry and Manufacturing at PepGen Inc, from 2021 to 2025.

Mark Lewis is an injectables subject matter expert and sales leader supporting CordenPharma’s Drug Product business unit in the US and North America. He has 30 years of pharma industry experience, with a diverse background including QA/QC, Manufacturing, Customer Service, and Business Development. Mr. Lewis has focused on sterile injectable operations in the CDMO space for the past 20 years. In his current role, Mark pairs customers’ clinical and commercial requirements with CordenPharma’s flexible, scalable injectable services.

Dr. Robert P. Hammer received his academic training from the University of Illinois-Urbana (B.S. in Chemistry) and the University of Minnesota (Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry).  His doctoral work was under the direction of Professor George Barany working on peptide synthesis methodology.  Dr. Hammer continued his training with Professor Albert Eschenmoser at the Swiss Federal Institute of Technology (ETH) in Zürich, Switzerland on the synthesis and characterization of hexose-based nucleic acids.  He joined the faculty of the Department of Chemistry at Louisiana State University where he held the title of William A. Pryor Professor of Chemistry and led a bioorganic chemistry research group that centered on peptides, nucleic acids, and bioconjugates.  Dr. Hammer transitioned to the biotech/pharma industry where he has contributed to the discovery and development of peptide-based therapeutics including at Ra Pharma/UCB where he co-invented and developed the peptide complement C5 inhibitor zilucoplan.  He is currently at Abbvie working on late-stage development and manufacturing of peptide-based therapies.