Innovative Applications of Polyacrylamide Glycan Conjugates: Advancing Glycobiology Research

Nicolai received his PhD in 1982 with his thesis entitled “Synthesis of blood group related oligosaccharides H, A, and Lea, and their immobilisation on polymeric matrix”. In 1993 he received a DSc with a thesis entitled “Neoglycoconjugates: synthesis and application for hemo- and oncodiagnostics”. Nicolai is very well published with ~500 per-reviewed journal articles, >15 000 citations and an h-index of 60. Since 2001 Nicolai has been Professor at the Institute of Bioorganic Chemistry and the CSO for Kode Biotech Ltd, and from 2016-2022 was a Professor at Auckland University of Technology. His current research interests focus on many aspects glycobiology, glycoimmunology and carbohydrate-protein interactions including synthesis of oligosaccharides and neoglycoconjugates, supramolecular chemistry, naturally occurring glycan antibodies, lectins, glycoarrays, dendritic cells, B1 lymphocytes, cell microvesicles and various therapeutics/diagnostics for influenza, transfusion, transplantation, infectious diseases and cancer.

Dr. Karnakar R Chitta is a global product manager at MilliporeSigma, the life-science business of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany. Karnakar graduated with a Ph.D from University of Cincinnati, OH and MBA from University of Missouri at St.Louis, MO. Within Merck he worked as senior scientist in R&D and QC for 7 years prior joining as product manager. He manages chemical products classes Inorganic salts, Inorganic buffers, Signaling and modulation, Glycobiology and Metabolite libraries. His interests are in providing innovative workflow solutions for the areas of Glycomics and Metabolomics.

Melissa Fields has over a decade of experience in Marketing and Product Management within the Biochemicals industry and has been with MilliporeSigma, the life-science business of Merck KGaA, Darmstadt, Germany, for over 17 years. Her strong scientific foundation includes a Masters degree in Exercise Physiology, focusing on cholesterol metabolism, and a Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry from the University of Missouri. As Product Segment Head at Merck, she effectively leads a team of Product Managers focused on biochemicals in innovated workflows such as Glycomics and Metabolomics.