Date & Time: Thursday, May 21, 2026, 16:20–18:00
Speaker: Professor Mingji Dai
Affiliation: Emory University
Venue: Komatsu Hall, Building 121
Title: Chemistry Innovation and Biological Discovery through Natural Product Total Synthesis
Professor Mingji Dai is currently the Asa Griggs Candler Professor of Chemistry at Emory University. After receiving his B.S. degree from Peking University in 2002 and working as a research assistant in the same institution, he moved to the United States in 2004 to pursue his doctoral studies at Columbia University, where he earned his Ph.D. under the mentorship of Professor Samuel J. Danishefsky in 2009. From 2009 to 2012, he conducted postdoctoral research in the laboratory of Professor Stuart L. Schreiber at Harvard University and the Broad Institute. In August 2012, he launched his independent career as an assistant professor in the Chemistry Department and Center for Cancer Research at Purdue University, where he was promoted to associate professor with tenure in 2018 and full professor in 2020. In August 2022, he was recruited to Emory University, where he continues to this day. Professor Dai is widely recognized for his pioneering work in developing novel strategies and methodologies for the synthesis of complex natural products and other medicinally important molecules, and we would be truly honored to have him join us for this lecture.