Steering Committee & Participants
Steering Committee & Participants
Enhance the efficiency and sustainability of oligonucleotide manufacturing
28–29 April, 2026
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Steering Committee
Meet our Nucleic Acid Insights SIG Steering Committee Members advising on the topics for discussion.
Claire MacLeod
Chief Technologist & Grand Challenge Lead
Medicines Manufacturing Innovations Centre, CPI
Claire graduated with an MEng in Chemical Engineering and went on to complete a PhD on the topic of heterogeneous catalysis for Biodiesel production. She then spent 13 years working in various process development roles at AstraZeneca including specialisations in filtration and continuous processing. From there, Claire moved to CPI's Medicines Manufacturing Innovation Centre where she is now the Chief Technologist for Oligonucleotides, managing a portfolio of projects including Grand Challenge 3 – Sustainable and Scalable Oligonucleotide Manufacturing.
Sritama Bose
Associate Director of Chemistry
Orfonyx Bio
Sritama is the Associate Director of Chemistry at Orfonyx Bio, where she leads multiple projects on nucleic acid therapeutic development. Previously, she was Head of Chemistry Research & Innovation at the Medical Research Council's Nucleic Acid Therapy Accelerator. She holds a PhD in synthetic organic chemistry from Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science, with international postdoctoral experiences including a specialization in nucleic acid chemistry at Durham University. With a strong drive for translational research, Sritama transitioned to Sygnature Discovery, a leading drug discovery CRO. As a Senior Scientist, she applied her organic synthesis expertise to drug development, gaining valuable medicinal chemistry insights that she now brings to her leadership role at Orfonyx Bio.
Kathleen Campau
Senior Director, Operations & Site Lead
Axolabs
Kathleen leads strategic operations and ensures excellence in oligonucleotide development and GMP manufacturing at Axolabs, an LGC company. She brings 20 years of experience in biotechnology and oligonucleotide chemistry. Before joining Axolabs, Kathleen held senior leadership roles at LGC Biosearch Technologies. She most recently served as Senior Director of Technology Development, driving innovation in nucleic acid chemistry and delivering custom oligonucleotide manufacturing workflows for applications in IVD, applied and therapeutics markets. Kathleen holds a Ph.D. from the University of Michigan and completed postdoctoral work at the Buck Institute, where her research focused on metabolic regulation and early drug discovery.
Jeske Smink
Senior Director CMC
AiCuris Anti-infective Cures AG
Jeske is a biologist with over 20 years' experience in the biotech industry and academic research. She has expertise in CMC aspects in different areas, including cell therapies, biologics and RNA therapies. After 7 years in academic research focussing on molecular mechanisms in bone development and diseases, she moved to co.don AG as Head of Scientific Affairs in 2012. Following, she joined ProBioGen as CMC project leader, overseeing customer projects, focusing on process and analytical development, scale-up and large scale GMP manufacturing of biologics for clinical phase 1 studies. In 2020, Jeske joined Silence Therapeutics as Senior Director, Head of Drug Substance. Subsequently, she joined AiCuris as Senior Director CMC, where she is currently leading the CMC development of different therapeutic modalities, including an antisense oligonucleotide.
Naim Nazef
Vice President of Oligonucleotide Tx & Chemistry
Denali Therapeutics
Naim Nazef brings over 20 years of experience in the biotech and pharmaceutical industries, including 14 years focused on oligonucleotide-based drug discovery and development. He now heads oligonucleotide therapeutics at Denali, where he leads the discovery and optimization of novel Oligonucleotide Transport Vehicle (OTV) therapeutics. Prior to joining Denali, Naim led oligonucleotide discovery research at Takeda as Head of Oligonucleotide Chemistry and Delivery Platforms. Before Takeda, he served as Director of Oligonucleotide Delivery Platform Development at Dicerna Pharmaceuticals. His contributions supported the NDA approval of Rivfloza® (nedosiran). Naim holds a Ph.D. from The University of Edinburgh, a MS from Northeastern University and a B.Sc. from The University of Manchester.
Confirmed Participants
Meet our Nucleic Acid Insights SIG confirmed participants.
