The American Peptide Society invites you to Boston, Massachusetts, for the 30th American Peptide Symposium, June 20–24, 2027. Under the theme Peptide Revolution: Connecting Chemistry, Biology, and Beyond, this milestone gathering will explore the transformative role peptides play across disciplines, from therapeutic innovation to materials science and beyond.
The historic city of Boston, a vibrant hub of academic excellence and biotechnology, provides an ideal setting for advancing our understanding of peptide chemistry and its far-reaching applications. Conference Co-Chairs Professor Krishna Kumar of Tufts University and Dr. Florence Brunel of Novo Nordisk are assembling a dynamic program that promises stimulating science, meaningful collaboration, and lasting connections.
We look forward to welcoming researchers, clinicians, and industry leaders from around the world. Mark your calendars, re-visit this site for updates, and join us for this landmark symposium!
Honorary Professor in Translational Medicine, Aarhus University
Lotte Bjerre Knudsen is Honorary Professor in Translational Medicine at Aarhus University, Denmark. She holds a biotechnology degree from the Technical University of Denmark and a Doctoral Degree in Scientific Medicine from the University of Copenhagen. From 1989 to 2026 she worked at Novo Nordisk, most recently as Chief Scientific Advisor for Research and Development. Her career has centered on GLP-1 based medicines, from leading the first long-acting GLP-1 program in the 1990s to mechanistic studies in diabetes, obesity, and cardiovascular, kidney, and liver disease. She has represented Novo Nordisk in five FDA Advisory Committees.
Recent honors include the 2023 Paul Langerhans Award from the German Diabetes Association, the 2024 Bhaumik Breakthrough of the Year Award with Richard DiMarchi, the 2024 Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award with Joel Habener and Svetlana Mojsov, and the 2025 Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences with Daniel Drucker, Joel Habener, Jens Juul Holst, and Svetlana Mojsov. She has also received Lifetime Achievement Awards from Novo Nordisk, the Danish Biotech Association, and Stanford University.
The Rockefeller University
Svetlana Mojsov is the Lulu Chow Wang and Robin Chemers Neustein Research Professor at The Rockefeller University in New York. She holds a degree in physical chemistry from the University of Belgrade and a doctorate in biochemistry from The Rockefeller University, where she trained in solid-phase peptide synthesis with Nobel laureate R. Bruce Merrifield. From 1983 she was at Massachusetts General Hospital and Harvard Medical School, founding and directing the Howard Hughes Medical Institute peptide synthesis facility, before returning to Rockefeller in 1990. A biochemist whose work has translated into widely used treatments for diabetes and weight loss, her long-standing interests are in understanding how peptides and small proteins regulate physiological processes in healthy and disease states. She applied her expertise in the chemical synthesis of peptides in numerous lines of research, including studies which led to her discovery of glucagon-like peptide 1, GLP-1, an incretin hormone produced by gut tissue that plays a key role in insulin secretion and glucose metabolism. Her current work extends to G-protein coupled receptors, including the first known vertebrate receptor with dual ligand specificity for GLP-1 and glucagon.
Recent honors include the 2024 Pearl Meister Greengard Prize; the 2024 BBVA Foundation Frontiers of Knowledge Award in Biology and Biomedicine with Daniel Drucker, Joel Habener, and Jens Juul Holst; the 2024 Tang Prize in Biopharmaceutical Science with Joel Habener and Jens Juul Holst; the 2024 Princess of Asturias Award for Technical and Scientific Research and the 2025 Breakthrough Prize in Life Sciences, both with Daniel Drucker, Joel Habener, Jens Juul Holst, and Lotte Bjerre Knudsen; and the 2024 Lasker-DeBakey Clinical Medical Research Award with Joel Habener and Lotte Bjerre Knudsen. She was elected to the National Academy of Sciences in 2025 and received the 2026 Kimberly Prize from Northwestern University. She is the winner of the 2026 King Faisal Prize.
Professor of Chemistry, University of Copenhagen
Morten Meldal is Professor of Chemistry and Head of the Center for Evolutionary Chemical Biology at the University of Copenhagen. He received the 2022 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, shared with Carolyn R. Bertozzi and K. Barry Sharpless, for the development of click chemistry and bioorthogonal chemistry. His discovery of the copper-catalyzed azide-alkyne cycloaddition, now one of the most widely used reactions in chemical biology and drug development, grew directly from his foundational work in peptide and combinatorial chemistry.
Meldal pioneered PEG-based solid supports for peptide synthesis, developed multiple-column synthesis instrumentation, and created fluorescence-based screening methods that transformed combinatorial library approaches. His contributions span more than 300 publications and 21 patents. He is the founder and president of the Society of Combinatorial Sciences and was honored with the Hans Christian Ørsted Award in 2025. His career-long commitment to advancing peptide science makes him a singular voice to close the 30th American Peptide Symposium.
Co-Chair, 30th American Peptide Symposium
Professor Krishna Kumar holds the Robinson Professorship in Chemistry at Tufts University, where he also serves as Adjunct Professor of Biomedical Engineering and is a member of the Cancer Center at Tufts Medical Center. He currently serves as Secretary of the American Peptide Society.
Dr. Kumar earned his PhD from Brown University in 1996 and conducted postdoctoral research at The Scripps Research Institute with M. Reza Ghadiri before joining Tufts in 1998. His research operates at the interface of chemistry, biology, and medicine, with current interests spanning therapeutic peptide design for diabetes, cancer, and neurodegenerative diseases, as well as novel approaches to combating antibiotic resistance.
His honors include the MIT Technology Review TR35 Award, the NSF CAREER Award, and the 2023 Rao Makineni Lectureship. He is a Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science and the Royal Society of Chemistry.
Co-Chair, 30th American Peptide Symposium
Florence Brunel is a Scientific Director in Chemical Biology at Novo Nordisk US R&D in Lexington, MA. Her research focuses on peptide therapeutics for metabolic diseases including diabetes and obesity and she has contributed to multiple preclinical programs. Her role has expanded into providing modality guidance for new projects, supporting governance processes, scouting for new technologies and collaborations. She earned her Ph.D. in 2003 from the University of Louisville under Arno F. Spatola and her MS from the École Nationale Supérieure de Chimie de Montpellier.
Prior to Novo Nordisk, Dr. Brunel held positions at Vertex Pharmaceuticals, Pfizer, Amylin Pharmaceuticals, and The Scripps Research Institute. Her contributions to the field have been recognized with honors including the Pfizer Individual Performance Award and fellowships from AmFAR and the California HIV/AIDS Research Program.
A long-standing member of the American Peptide Society, she has served as Councilor, Nominating Committee Chair, and on the Organizing Committee for the 26th American Peptide Symposium in Monterey.
The 30th American Peptide Symposium convenes at the Sheraton Boston Hotel, a newly renovated Back Bay landmark connected to the Prudential Center and Hynes Convention Center — moments from Newbury Street, the Charles River, and Fenway Park.
Explore the Venue
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