Dr. Maria DUCA is a CNRS Research Director and the head of Targeting of Nucleic Acids team at the Institute of Chemistry of Nice (Université Côte d’Azur - CNRS). After undergraduate studies in Pharmacy and Medicinal Chemistry (Faculty of Pharmacy, University of Bologna, Italy), she obtained her PhD in Molecular Biochemistry under the supervision of Dr. Paola B. Arimondo (National Natural History Museum, Paris, France) working on topoisomerase II inhibitors. A 2-year post-doctoral training in Sydney Hecht’s lab (Department of Chemistry, University of Virginia, USA) allowed her to pursue the study of nucleic acids working on targeted protein mutagenesis. After CNRS recruitment as a Research Scientist in 2008 and promotion to Director of Research in 2022, her research activities focus on the targeting of non-coding RNAs using synthetic small molecules toward innovative therapeutic approaches for anticancer, antiviral and antimicrobial applications. She has been awarded the Michel Delalande award from the Académie de Pharmacie as well as national and international grants including H2020 grants. She is Associate Editor for RSC Medicinal Chemistry journal, chair of the Chemical Biology Initiative of EFMC as well as vice-president of the French medicinal chemistry society (Société de Chimie Thérapeutique).