Members

Dr. Julia Khusnutdinova, Assistant Professor
Email: juliak at oist.jp

I joined OIST in May 2015 as an Assistant Professor leading Coordination Chemistry and Catalysis Unit. Before OIST, I was a Dean of Faculty postdoctoral fellow at the Weizmann Institute of Science in Israel in the group of David Milstein where I worked on catalysis by pincer Ru complexes and CO ₂ hydrogenation. I obtained a Ph.D. in organometallic chemistry from the University of Maryland in the U.S.A. studying aerobic functionalization of organoplatinum complexes. I also studied unusual organometallic Pd(III) complexes at Washington University in St. Louis.

I am leading the Coordination Chemistry and Catalysis Unit (CCCU) at OIST and my current research interests are in the design of new polymetallic transition metal complexes that can participate in multi-electron, multi-proton transfer reactions relevant to renewable energy production such as CO₂ reduction to liquid fuel, and in the design of stimuli-responsive polymers.
 

Dr. Ayumu Karimata, Postdoctoral Researcher

Ayumu Karimata (born in Okinawa, Japan) received B.Sc., M.Sc. and Ph.D degree in physical organic chemistry under supervision of Prof. Keiji Okada at Osaka City University. In 2015, he joined Molecular Engineering Institute, Kindai University, as a postdoctoral researcher and conducted research regarding polymer chemistry with Prof. Takeshi Endo. On March 2017, he started a new research in the Khusnutdinova unit. He likes to watch movies, read books and go hiking.

Dr. Dilip Kumar Pandey, Postdoctoral Scholar

Dilip Pandey (born in Varanasi, U.P. India) received B.Sc. and M.Sc. degree in chemistry from Banaras Hindu University. In July 2019, he completed his Ph.D. from CSIR-National chemical laboratory, Pune under the supervision of Dr. Benudhar Punji. During Ph.D. he has worked on the synthesis of metallacycle complexes and their application in C–H bond functionalization of heteroarenes. In Feb 2020, he started his journey as a postdoc in the Khusnutdinova unit, OIST. His current research area is small molecule activation using first row transition metal. He likes watching movies and playing games.

Dr. Aleksei Kantemirov, Postdoctoral Scholar

Aleksei Kantemirov (born in Nakhodka, Russia) finished his B.Sc., M.Sc. degrees at Far Eastern Federal University. He got his Ph.D degree in 2023. Under the supervision of Prof. Maksim Zhidkov he was working on the total synthesis of marine alkaloids and their derivatives from cheap and accessible starting materials such as indigo. In September of 2023 he joined Khusnutdinova unit as a postdoc. Hobbies are cooking, miniature painting and marine fishkeeping. .

Dr. Daniil Ilatovskii, Postdoctoral Scholar

Daniil Ilatovskii (born in Perm City, Russian Federation) received his BSc degree from D. Mendeleev University of Chemical Technology of Russia on the topic of Plastics Processing in 2016. In 2018, he completed his Master’s thesis at ITMO University with honors in the group of Prof. V.V. Vinogradov; the research was in the field of optically active sol-gel materials. In 2023, he received a Ph.D. degree in Materials Science at the Skolkovo Institute of Science and Technology. The work was dedicated to optoelectronic materials based on single-walled carbon nanotubes. In April 2024 he continued working on cross-field investigations of advanced materials applying chemical approaches by joining Prof. Khusnutdinova’s unit.

Dr. Praxedes Sanchez Mellado , Postdoctoral Scholar

Originally from one of the happiest places in the world: Sevilla (Spain). It was there that I earned my BSc, MSc and PhD degrees. My PhD research focused on to the synthesis of proton responsive transition metal complexes and their application in homogeneous catalysis. And I also received additional training at the University of Pisa and the Vienna University of Technology. As postdoctoral researcher, I have worked in the Prokopchuk group at Rutgers University-Newark (US, 2019-2021) developing novel electrochemical processes involving bio-inspired Earth-abundant complexes, and then I returned to my beloved city for three years, working first in a public-private partnership with a biotech developing new generation of vaccines, and later in the improvement of novel catalytic processes in the field of clean energy. In summer 2024, my scientific journey placed me in the Khusnutdinova group, where I am facing the synthesis of bimetallic complexes. Beyond Chemistry, I have passion for photography, exploring different cultures, watching films and reading.

Dr. Vardhanapu Pavan Kumar, Research Technician

Dr. Vardhanapu Pavan Kumar pursued his M.Sc from Osmania University (Hyderabad), India. In 2019, he acquired his Ph.D from Indian Institute of Science Education and Research-Kolkata, under the supervision of Prof. Swadhin K. Mandal. During his Ph.D, he has developed abnormal N-hetero cyclic carbene assisted Boron compounds for the fixation and activation of small molecules. He also developed phenalenyl based Aluminium complex and investigated its application towards catalytic C–H arylation of arene and heteroarenes. In December 2021, he joined as a research technician in the Khusnutdinova unit, OIST.

Tatiana Gridneva, PhD Student
Email:

Born in Göttingen in 1996, I joined OIST as a PhD student in September 2020, and came to CCCU as a rotation student in May 2021. I received my bachelor’s degree in Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology. Here I explored the synthesis of ruthenium carbide clusters as potential models of Nitrogenaze enzyme. Currently I am working on the project of development of metal complexes for mechanoresponsive polymer materials.

Aleksandr Sorvanov, PhD Student
Email: aleksandr-sorvanov1@oist.jp

Originally from Arkhangelsk, I have received my Bachelor and Master’s degrees in Chemistry from Tomsk State University, where I was working on glyoxal oxidation and novel glycoluril-based polymers. In 2020 I have joined CCCU as research intern to work on synthesis of manganese complexes for aromatic fluorination. In 2021 I have joined OIST and CCCU as a PhD student. Currently I am working with photoactive nickel complexes.

Daria Sherstiukova, PhD Student
Email:

Thomas Johannes Hasiweder, PhD Student
Email:

OThomas obtained his bachelor's degree from the University of Vienna, where his thesis concerned polymer imprinting. During that time, he had the chance to do an exchange at the University of Queensland. Afterwards, he chose KU Leuven for his master’s studies, where his research project dealt with the synthesis of novel double perovskites for x-ray detection. He also did several internships in various places, such as the Alfred Wegener Institute in Germany and imec in Belgium. At OIST, he explores the focal points of heterogeneous catalysis and mechanochemistry. Besides his PhD, he is the current Health and Safety Officer. In his leisure time, he joins long-distance running events and actively participates in the stock market.

Mitsuyuki Oshiro, PhD Student
Email:

Born in Okinawa, Japan, I received a Bachelor’s and Master’s degree in Chemistry from Okayama University of Science, where I worked on the development of a charge separation system using a zinc complex. After working in CCCU as an intern student, I joined OIST as a PhD student in May 2023. I am currently working on developing mechanoresponsive polymer materials using metal complexes.

Shrinwantu Pal, Visiting Researcher (remote)

I received my BSc Honours in Chemistry (University of Calcutta, India) and MS in Computational Materials Science (JNCASR, India) and moved in 2008 to the University of Maryland, USA for my PhD (2013) in organoplatinum chemistry. After two postdoctoral stints at the University of British Columbia (2014 – 2016, with Jennifer Love) and at the University of Tokyo (2016 – 2018, with Kyoko Nozaki), I served as a sessional Assistant Professor in the Nozaki lab at U-Tokyo (2019 – 2021). I have since relocated to Canada where I am working in industry, while remotely assisting the Khusnutdinova group (CCCU at OIST) in computational chemistry and investigating interesting organometallic mechanisms. I spend my weekends wandering around taking photos (some of which can be seen here: 500px.com/shrin12), cooking and playing badminton.

Ms. Kyoko Chinen, Research Unit Administrator

I was born in Okinawa, and has always been interested in language and culture. Now I am so excited working with people from such diverse backgrounds. I am currently obsessed with martial arts (Brazilian jiu-jitsu purple belt), yoga and growing herbs and vegetables in the balcony of my small apartment.

Dr. Eugene Khaskin, Science Technology Associate
Email: eugene.khaskin at oist.jp

Website: https://groups.oist.jp/stg/eugene-khaskin 

I joined OIST in May 2015 as a researcher in the Science and Technology group who will cooperate with the Coordination Chemistry and Catalysis Unit on some projects. Before OIST, I received my BSc from SFU in Canada in 2003. At this time, I also worked as a researcher for a business/academic venture based at SFU that focused on controlling pest insects by mating disruption methods, or the synthesis of a particular insect's sex pheromone blend and dispersal over the affected area. The work involved close cooperation with biologists and took place mostly during the summers and most of 2003. I joined the Vedernikov group at UMD in College Park (USA) and received my PhD in 2009 on CH activation and aerobic oxidation of Pt complexes. Later in 2009 I joined the Milstein group at the Weizmann institute (Israel) as a Marie Curie international fellow doing research on Ru and Co based complex reactivity and catalysis. After a stint at the Volcani Agricultural Institute (Israel) in the Poverenov group (synthesis of anti-bacterial surfaces vie electopolymerization/electodeposition methods on surfaces such as stainless steel) I returned to the Milstein group at the Weizmann in 2014 for one year.