Prof. Bergstrom is Walther Professor of Medicinal Chemistry in the Department of Medicinal Chemistry and Molecular Pharmacology at Purdue University. Dr. Bergstrom received his Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley in 1970. His thesis work with Professor Henry Rapoport focused on the total synthesis of the chlorobium chlorophylls. Following postdoctoral research with Nelson Leonard at the University of Illinois and with William Agosta at the Rockefeller University he held faculty appointments at the University of California, Davis and the University of North Dakota before joining the faculty at Purdue. Since the mid-1970s Professor Bergstrom’s research has been concentrated in the area of nucleic acid chemistry. His research has been supported by National Cancer Institute and the National Institute of General Medicine for research on cancer and from the National Institute of Allergy and Infectious Diseases for the study of new therapies for viral diseases. His research has also been funded by grants from the National Science Foundation, the Department of Energy, the Department of Defense, the American Chemical Society, and Research Corporation. His current research is focused on the development of modified nucleic acids for assembly of nanoscale diagnostic and therapeutic devices. He is the founding editor of Current Protocol Protocols in Nucleic Acid Chemistry.