Plenary Speakers

Dr. Robert Tycko – National Institute of Health

Dr. Robert Tycko is a Distinguished Investigator in the Laboratory of Chemical Physics, NIDDK, a biophysics/biophysical chemistry research department on the main NIH campus near Washington, DC. His lab has made numerous contributions to nuclear magnetic resonance (NMR) and its applications in physical and biological sciences. Structural studies of amyloid-b fibrils associated with Alzheimer’s disease, including fibrils derived from human brain tissue, have been a major effort for the past 25 years. Recent work focuses on “time-resolved solid state NMR” techniques for studying unidirectional processes such as protein folding, peptide/protein complex formation, and amyloid self-assembly. Tycko’s lab also explores the application of low-temperature dynamic nuclear polarization in magnetic resonance imaging (MRI), recently setting a new record for spatial resolution in inductively detected MRI (1.7 microns in three dimensions). Tycko is a member of the U.S. National Academy of Sciences and Past President of the International Society of Magnetic Resonance.

Dr. Juli Feigon – University of California

Invited Speakers

Dr. Sam Butcher – University of Wisconsin

Samuel E. Butcher is the Steenbock Professor of Biomolecular Structure at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, Department of Biochemistry.  He also co-directs the National Magnetic Resonance Facility at Madison.  His research focus is to understand how RNA-protein complexes regulate gene expression.

Dr. Francesca Marassi – Medical College of Wisconsin
Dr. Francesca Marassi received her BS and MSc degrees in chemistry and a PhD degree in physical chemistry from the University of Toronto, and did postdoctoral research  at the University of Pennsylvania as a fellow of both the Medical Research Council of Canada and the Natural Sciences and Engineering Research of Canada. In 1998, she joined the Wistar Institute and University of Pennsylvania as Assistant Professor, and in 2000, she moved to the Sanford Burnham Prebys Medical Discovery Institute, in La Jolla CA. In 2022, she joined the Medical College of Wisconsin as Professor and Chair of the Department of Biophysics.

Her lab is interested in understanding the molecular basis of disease. They focus on the structures and functions of protein-lipid assemblies relevant in host-pathogen interactions, degenerative diseases of aging, and cancer-related programmed cell death. They work with samples that are close representatives of the native environment to establish authentic structure-activity profiles that can advance therapy development.

Dr. Will Pomerantz – University of Minnesota
William C. K. Pomerantz joined the chemistry faculty at the University of Minnesota in 2012, was promoted to associate professor in 2018 and full professor in 2023. He is currently the Merck Professor of Chemistry. His research focuses on the development of chemical biology and medicinal chemistry approaches for modulating transcription factor function through disruption of protein-protein interactions. Several areas of innovation have included the application of protein-observed 19F NMR (PrOF NMR) for fragment-based drug discovery, development of new epigenetic inhibitors of BET and non-BET bromοdomains, the design of highly fluorinated molecules for 19F MRI, and sustainable organofluorine chemistry including PFAS detection. He is currently the co-director of the NIH T32 Chemistry Biology Interface Training Grant, and was a former WEC liaison for the department of chemistry. At UMN His research and educational accomplishments have been recognized at the college and university level, including a Land Grant McKnight award, a Borja Research Award, a McKnight Presidential fellowship, a Morse Alumni teaching award, and the George W. Taylor/CSE Alumni Society Award for Distinguished Teaching.

Dr. Courtney Reichhardt – Washington University

Courtney Reichhardt is an Assistant Professor of Chemistry at Washington University in St. Louis. Her research group is focused on determining the molecular biophysical principles of biofilm assembly, with a current emphasis on biofilms formed by Pseudomonas aeruginosa. The goal of her research is to gain a better understanding of biofilm assembly to ultimately improve the prevention and treatment of biofilm-involved infections. To do so, her research group is developing interdisciplinary approaches that include solid-state NMR and confocal laser scanning microscopy to overcome the challenges posed by the insolubility and non-crystallinity of biofilm matrices. This leverages her unique expertise gained through multidisciplinary training in biophysical chemistry (PhD with Lynette Cegelski at Stanford University) and molecular microbiology (postdoctoral training with Matthew Parsek at the University of Washington).

Dr. Tuo Wang – Michigan State University

Tuo Wang received his B.S. degree from Nankai University (Tianjin, China) and started his graduate research at Iowa State University in 2010. In 2014, he moved to MIT (with Prof. Mei Hong) and received his Ph.D. degree in January 2016 in the field of physical chemistry from MIT. He continued at MIT for his postdoctoral training. He joined the faculty at LSU as an assistant professor in July 2017 and becomes an Associate Professor in Aug 2021. In August 2022, he joined Michigan State University as the Carl Brubaker Associate Professor in Chemistry. On July 1, 2025, he is promoted to Carl Brubaker Professor. His research focuses on the application of solid-state NMR and DNP techniques to investigate the structural complexity and functional diversity of carbohydrate polymers in intact cellular samples, including pathogenic fungal species, plant biomass, and microalgae.  

Dr. Brent Znosko – St. Louis University

Brent M. Znosko, Ph.D., is a professor of chemistry and associate chair in the Department of Chemistry at Saint Louis University. He earned his B.S. in chemistry from Allegheny College and his M.S. and Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Rochester, where he studied the thermodynamic and structural properties of RNA molecules.  Znosko’s research focuses on the thermodynamics, structure, and computational prediction of RNA secondary and tertiary structures. His laboratory investigates how RNA motifs, such as hairpins, internal loops, and bulges, affect nucleic acid stability, using biochemical, spectroscopic, computational, and bioinformatic approaches.  Through this work, his group aims to improve the ability to predict RNA structure from sequence, helping scientists better understand RNA function and develop RNA-targeted therapeutics.