Cluster Preface: Biomimetic Synthesis

Jun Deng (left) received his B.Sc. from Lanzhou University and his Ph.D. from the Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences (2014) with Professor Ang Li. After a short period of postdoctoral research in the lab of Professor Andrew Myers at Harvard University (2014–2016), he was appointed a Pioneer ‘Hundred Talents Program’ Researcher at Kunming Institute of Botany, Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2017. In December 2020, he moved to Nankai University where he is a professor at the College of Chemistry. He received the Thieme Journals Award (2020). His research focuses on natural product total synthesis and medicinal chemistry. Yefeng Tang (right) earned his B.S. from Lanzhou University (1995–1999) and his M.S. from the Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Medical Science (1999–2002). From 2003 to 2006, he pursued his Ph.D. under the guidance of Professor Zhen Yang and Professor Jiahua Chen at Peking University. Subsequently, he conducted postdoctoral research with Prof. K. C. Nicolaou at The Scripps Research Institute between 2006 and 2009. In 2010, he commenced his independent career at the School of Pharmaceutical Sciences, Tsinghua University, where he is now a tenured professor. His primary research interests encompass the total synthesis of natural products, the development of synthetic methodologies, and the discovery of antiviral and anti-aging drugs.