Prof. Vladimir Gevorgyan
University of Texas at Dallas, USA

Vladimir Gevorgyan received his PhD from the Latvian Institute of Organic Synthesis in 1984. After two years of Postdoctoral research (1992-1994, JSPS- and Ciba-Geigy International Postdoctoral Fellowships) at Tohoku University, Japan, and a visiting professorship (1995) at CNR, Bologna, Italy, he joined faculty at Tohoku University (Assistant Professor, 1996; Associate Professor, 1997-1999). Vladimir Gevorgyan joined UIC as an Associate Professor in 1999. He was promoted to the rank of Full Professor in 2003, and a Distinguished Professor of Liberal Arts and Sciences in 2012. In 2019, Vladimir Gevorgyan moved to Texas to become a Robert A. Welch Distinguished Chair in Chemistry at the University of Texas at Dallas. He also holds a Professor position at the University of Texas Southwestern Medical Center.
Gevorgyan group focuses on development of novel synthetic methodologies. The emphasis is placed on conceptual novelty and potential application of the newly developed methods in synthetic and medicinal chemistry and materials.

Prof. Hiroyuki Nakamura
Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan

Hiroyuki Nakamura was received his PhD from Tohoku University under the supervision of Professor Yoshinori Yamamoto in 1996. He became an assistant professor at Kyushu University (1995-1997) and at Tohoku University (1997-2002). He worked as a visiting assistant professor at University of Pittsburgh with Professor D. Curran (2000-2001). In 2002, he was appointed as an associate professor at Gakushuin University and promoted as a professor in 2006. In 2013, he was appointed as a professor at Tokyo Institute of Technology. He received the Chemical Society of Japan Award for Young Chemists in 1999 and the Incentive Award of the Japanese Society for Molecular Target Therapy of Cancer in 2007. He became president of the Japanese Society of Neutron Capture Therapy in 2015. His research interests include synthetic methodology, medicinal chemistry, chemical biology, photodynamic therapy, and neutron capture therapy.

Prof. Kazuo Umemura
Tokyo University of Science, Japan

Dr. Kazuo Umemura is a full professor of Tokyo University of Science. His specialty is biophysics, especially, nanobioscience and nanobiotechnology. One of his recent interests is nanoscopic research of hybrids of biomolecules and carbon nanotubes (CNTs). Unique structures and physical/chemical properties of the hybrids are promising in biological applications such as nanobiosensors and drug delivery.
Dr. Umemura received his B.S. degree in Physics from Nagoya University. His M.S. and Ph.D. degrees were given from Tokyo Institute of Technology. After working at several institutes/universities as a researcher in Japan and in China, he became a professor of Tokyo University of Science. Kagurazaka campus of Tokyo University of Science is located at the center of Tokyo, so five subway/railway lines reach in front of the campus.

Prof. Yasuhiro Morisaki
Kwansei Gakuin University, Japan

Yasuhiro Morisaki is Professor at Kwansei Gakuin University. He graduated from Kyoto University in 1995, and then, he received Ph.D. from Kyoto University in 2000. After a six-month postdoctoral stay at Osaka National Research Institute, he joined the group of Professor Yoshiki Chujo as Assistant Professor at Kyoto University in 2000. From 2004 to 2005, he carried out postdoctoral work at the University of Alberta. He became lecturer at Kyoto University in 2008 and full Professor at Kwansei Gakuin University in 2015. His research interests focus on polymer and organic synthesis, in particular, cyclophane chemistry.