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The Analytical Scientist / Power List / 2026

The Power List 2026

The Top 40 Under 40

The Top 40 Under 40 Power List celebrates analytical science’s rising stars – showcasing the personalities, passions, and pastimes of the individuals set to define the future of the field. This year’s honorees reflect on what drives their research interests, the decisions and opportunities that have shaped their careers, and the trends and challenges facing analytical science – not least the growing influence of AI.

Featuring many new faces alongside returning honorees, this talented group of scientists – triathletes, international target shooters, knitters, cooks, retro gamers and more – offers inspiration aplenty a significant source of optimism.

The Top 40 Under 40

Zoë Ayres

Head of Laboratory Facilities, The Open University, UK

Aleksandra Binek

Lead Scientist Mass Spectrometry Imaging and Single Cell Proteomics, Project Scientist, Cedars-Sinai Proteomics and Metabolomics Core, Cedars-Sinai Medical Center, USA

Caitlin Cain

Assistant Professor, Department of Chemistry, University of Virginia, USA

Laura Carbonell-Rozas

R&D and Innovation Manager, Tentamus Iberia, Tentamus Group, Spain

Enrique Javier Carrasco Correa

Associate Professor, University of Valencia, Spain

Martina Catani

Associate Professor, Department of Chemical, Pharmaceutical and Agricultural Sciences, University of Ferrara, Italy

Tao Chen

Director, Analytical Development, Structure Therapeutics

David Clases

University Professor, University of Graz, Austria

Henry Day

Senior Staff Scientist, Illumina, Cambridge, UK

Adrián de la Fuente Ballesteros

Postdoctoral Researcher in Analytical Chemistry, TESEA Research Group, University of Valladolid, Spain

Josias de Oliveira Merib

Associate Professor, Federal University of Health Sciences of Porto Alegre, Brazil

Jelle De Vos

Senior Scientist, RIC Group, Belgium

Jeffrey E. Dick

Richard B. Wetherill Professor of Chemistry, Department of Chemistry, Purdue University, USA

Flavio Antonio Franchina

Associate Professor, University of Ferrara, Italy

Meriem Gaida

Product Safety Science Manager, Luzi AG, Dietlikon, Switzerland

Emanuela Gionfriddo

Associate Professor of Chemistry, University at Buffalo, The State University of New York, USA

Alexandre Goyon

Senior Principal Scientist, Genentech, USA

James Grinias

Professor, Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Rowan University, USA

Frederik André Hansen

Postdoctoral Fellow (Tenure Track), Department of Pharmacy, University of Oslo, Norway

Ansgar Korf

CEO and Co-Founder, mzio GmbH, Germany

Guinevere Lageveen-Kammeijer

Assistant Professor, Analytical Biochemistry, University of Groningen, the Netherlands

Natalia Manousi

Postdoctoral Researcher, Institute of Chemical Technologies and Analytics, TU Wien, Austria

Michael Marty

Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry, The University of Texas at Austin, USA

Jonathan Maurer

Postdoctoral Researcher, Institute of Pharmaceutical Sciences of Western Switzerland, University of Geneva, Switzerland

Mélanie Mignot-Viel

Associate Professor, INSA Rouen Normandie, CARMeN Institute, France

Lidia Montero

Tenured Scientist, Foodomics Laboratory, Institute of Food Science Research, Spanish National Research Council (CIAL-CSIC), Spain

Katelynn Perrault Uptmor

Associate Professor of Chemistry, Nontargeted Separations Laboratory, Department of Chemistry, William & Mary, USA

Daniel Petras

Assistant Professor, University of California, Riverside, USA

Bob Pirok

Associate Professor, University of Amsterdam, the Netherlands

Gerrit Renner

Research Group Leader, Analytical Data Science, Instrumental Analytical Chemistry, Faculty of Chemistry, University of Duisburg-Essen, Germany

Francesca Rigano

Assistant Professor, Messina Institute of Technology, Department of Chemical, Biological, Pharmaceutical and Environmental Sciences, University of Messina, Italy

Nicholas M. Riley

Assistant Professor, University of Washington, USA

Christopher Rüger

Research Group Leader, High-Resolution Mass Spectrometry, University of Rostock, Germany

Gert IJsbrand Salentijn

Associate Professor of Analytical Chemistry, Wageningen University & Research, the Netherlands

Edward Sisco

Research Chemist, U.S. National Institute of Standards and Technology, USA

Karl W. Smith

Junior Group Leader, Leibniz Institute for Analytical Sciences (ISAS), Germany

Pierre-Hugues Stefanuto

Lead Scientist and Lecturer, University of Liège, Belgium

Nicole Strittmatter

Professor of Analytical Chemistry, Department of Biosciences, TUM School of Natural Sciences, Technical University of Munich, Germany

Petr Vozka

Associate Professor, California State University, Los Angeles, USA

Mingxun Wang

Assistant Professor, Department of Computer Science and Engineering, University of California, Riverside, USA