Yugandhar Kothapalli earned his Ph.D. in organic chemistry from Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University (JNTU) in 2018. Following this, he pursued postdoctoral research at the Huntsman Cancer Institute (HCI) at the University of Utah, USA, from 2020 to 2021. His research focused on synthesizing biologically active novel heterocyclic NCEs and PROTACs for various cancer diseases. Currently, Dr. Kothapalli is affiliated with the University of Georgia, Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Sciences department in the USA, where he is dedicated to antiviral drug discovery and development. His current research involves synthesizing modified nucleosides/nucleotides against various emerging DNA/RNA viruses. Before relocating to the USA, he worked at one of India's premier contract research organizations (CRO), where he collaborated closely with many pharmaceutical and small biotech firms. His extensive expertise and diverse background in designing, synthesizing, and optimizing SAR for advanced compounds highlight his exceptional capabilities in the academic and pharmaceutical fields.

Ransom A. Jones graduated valedictorian with both a BS in Pharmaceutical Sciences and an MS in Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Sciences from the University of Georgia. He joined Prof. Chu/Dr. Singh's lab in 2021, where his graduate training specialized in the design and synthesis of carbocyclic nucleoside analogs. His skills include organic synthesis, HPLC method development, validations/verifications, and analytical method development. Currently, he is working as an analytical scientist in a pharmaceutical company.

Prof. David Chu is a Distinguished Research Professor, Emeritus in the Department of Pharmaceutical and Biomedical Sciences at The University of Georgia. He established an internationally known academic drug discovery program for antiviral research. He has been serving as Director of Drug Discovery Group at UGA since 1989. He discovered more than 7 clinical candidates for HIV, cancer & HBV; his anti-hepatitis B virus (HBV) agent, clevudine, marketed under the trade name Levovir, is being used for the treatment of chronic hepatitis B (CHB) infections in several Asian countries. Most recently, his research group has discovered FMCA for drug-resistant HBV, as well as L-BHDU for the treatment of shingles. Currently, his research group focuses on the drug discovery project for SARS-COV-2, VZV, and HSA 1& 2 infections. He is the recipient of prestigious international awards in antiviral drug discovery fields; John A. Montgomery Award (The International RoundTable Society), Antonin Holy Award (Society of International Antiviral Research). He is an elected Fellow of the National Academy of Inventors & American Association of Advancement of Science. He is a recipient of the NIH Merit Award and Inventor of the Year Award of UGA. He has published over 300 peer-reviewed research papers and received 60 US patents. Whenever viruses threatened human health, his group has been at the forefront of the discovery of antiviral agents.

Dr. Singh is an organic medicinal chemist with drug discovery and development expertise. Currently, he is working as a lecturer in the College of Pharmacy at the University of Georgia. Dr. Singh has also served as a senior scientist in various pharmaceutical companies, and his research goal is to develop new antiviral and anticancer agents as pre-clinical and clinical drug candidates. He is a leading scientist in the design and synthesis of altered nucleoside and nucleotide analogs, which specifically target DNA/RNA polymerase of viruses without causing toxicity to the host. In this effort, his laboratory developed FMCAP (2′-Fluoro-6′-methylenecarbocyclic Adenosine Phosphoramidate) as a pre-clinical candidate for the treatment of drug-resistant hepatitis B virus (HBV) and POM-L-BHDU-MP for the treatment of shingles and HSV-1 infections. The outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome caused by SARS-CoV-2, known as COVID-19 infection, fueled his research to develop a potential drug candidate against emerging RNA/DNA viruses and to find new drug-like molecules against the Nipah, SARS-CoV-2, Ebola, RSV, HBV, VZV, EBV, dengue, and influenza viruses.