Speakers

This year, JMJC is delighted to welcome 4 renowned speakers.

Chemistry of Materials: Dr. Jean-François Lutz

Bioorganic Chemistry: Dr. Laura Iannazzo

Organic Chemistry: Prof. Jieping Zhu

Coordination Chemistry Dr. Jalila Simaan

Dr. Jean-François Lutz

Dr Jean-François Lutz is a CNRS Research Director at the Institute of Supramolecular Science and Engineering (ISIS) at the University of Strasbourg.

He defended his PhD in 2000 at the University of Montpellier 2 under the supervision of Professor Bernard Boutevin. His research focused on controlled radical polymerization in the presence of nitroxide radicals. From 2001 to 2003, he worked as a postdoctoral fellow in the United States in the team of Professor Krzysztof Matyjaszewski at Carnegie Mellon University in Pittsburgh. Then, he continued as head of the Nanotechnology for Life Sciences research group at the Fraunhofer Institute for Applied Polymer Research in Postdam, Germany, until 2010. After that, he was recruited as a research director at the CNRS in 2010, leading the Precision Macromolecular Chemistry team at the Charles Sadron Institute in Strasbourg until 2022. Jean-François Lutz then joined the Institute of Supramolecular Science and Engineering (ISIS) to lead the Chemistry of Informational Macromolecules team. Since January 2024, he is also the director of the institute.

His research focuses mainly on the synthesis of sequence-controlled polymers. In particular, he is working on the development of synthetic polymers to store digital information.

Dr. Laura Iannazzo

Dr Laura Iannazzo is a CNRS research fellow at the Laboratoire de Chimie et Biochimie Pharmacologiques et Toxicologiques.

She obtained her PhD in 2010 under the supervision of Prof. Corinne Aubert and Prof. Max Malacria at the Université Pierre Marie Curie. Her thesis focused on the reactivity of novel unsaturated partners in [2+2+2] cycloaddition reactions catalyzed by cobalt complexes. After a one-year postdoctoral experience in the team of Pr Gary A. Molander (UPenn, USA), she completed two ATERs and a one-year postdoctoral stay at Université Paris Descartes in the teams of Pr Mélanie Ethève Quelquejeu and then Dr Laurent Micouin. In 2016, she obtained a position as CNRS research fellow, and obtained her habilitation to direct research in 2021.

Her main research interests lie at the interface between chemistry and biology, and focus on the synthesis and modification of nucleosides, nucleotides and RNA, as well as the synthesis of carbapenems for anti-bacterial applications. 

Prof. Jieping Zhu

Professor Jieping Zhu has been Professor of Chemistry at EPFL (École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne) since 2010, where he is also head of the Synthesis and Natural Products Laboratory.

He defended his Ph.D. in 1991 at the University of Paris XI under the supervision of Professors H.-P. Husson and J.-C. Quirion. His research focused on the asymmetric synthesis of histrionicotoxin derivatives and related spiropiperidines. He then continued his career with a one-year postdoctoral fellowship in the group of Prof. Sir D. H. R. Barton at Texas A&M University. In 1992, he joined the CNRS Institut de Chimie des Substances Naturelles (ICSN) as a research fellow, and was promoted to Research Director in 2000.

His research focuses on the development of new synthetic methods, with particular emphasis on multicomponent reactions, enantioselective catalytic transformations, and domino reactions catalyzed by transition metals. The total synthesis of natural products and bioactive molecules is also one of his main research interests.

Dr. Jalila SIMAAN

Ariane Jalila Simaan is a CNRS research director in Aix-Marseille University at the Institut des Sciences Moleculaires de Marseille (iSm2) in Aix-Marseille Université.

She developed her thesis in bioinorganic chemistry at the ICMMO in the Université Paris-Sud (Orsay) with Prof. Jean Jacques GIRERD and Prof. Frédéric BANSE. She then joined the group of Prof. Peter Hildebrandt at the Max-Planck Institute in Mülheim-Ruhr, Gemany and also at ITQB institute in Lisbon, Portugal as postdoctoral fellow. Her research career then took her back to France, to work in CNRS (iSm2) at Aix-Marseille University carrying on her own research as ‘Chargée de Recherches’ (2002), later obtaining her HDR title (2009) and finally becoming ‘Directrice de Recherches’ (2016), her current position.

Her research is centered on metal ions in biology with different approaches such as bioinspired catalysis, enzymatic studies, hybrid catalysts and spectroscopic studies.