Kenichiro Itami is a Japanese chemist. He is a professor at Nagoya University in the Department of Chemistry, Graduate School of Science, director of Institute of Transformative Bio-Molecules, Nagoya University and the Research Director of the Itami Molecular Nanocarbon Project. He received his Ph.D in Engineering from the Department of Synthetic Chemistry and Biological Chemistry in Kyoto University.
Biography
Ken’ichiro Itami was born in Pennsylvania, United States. After receiving his Ph.D under the supervision of Yoshihiki Ito, he was appointed as an assistant professor in Jun-ichi Yoshida’s lab in Kyoto University. Later in 2005, he was promoted to associate professor in Ryōji Noyori's laboratory in Nagoya University, where he later started his own laboratory in 2008. His research interests include the development of new strategies and methodologies in catalytic molecular synthesis through C–H transformation, rapid synthesis of new bioactive molecules, pharmaceutically relevant molecules and natural products, synthesis and properties of optoelectronic materials and controlled bottom-up synthesis of nanocarbons. In 2017 and 2018, he was selected as a Highly Cited Researcher by Clarivate Analytics. Academic career
1990-1994 B.S. in Chemistry, Department of Synthetic Chemistry, Kyoto University
1994-1998 Ph.D in Chemistry, Department of Synthetic Chemistry and Biological Chemistry, Kyoto University
1998-2005 Assistant Professor, Department of Synthetic Chemistry and Biological Chemistry, Kyoto University
2005-2008 Associate Professor, Research Center of Materials Science, Nagoya University
2008-present Professor, Department of Chemistry, Graduate School of Science, Nagoya University
2012-present Director, Institute of Transformative Bio-Molecules, Nagoya University
2013-present Research Director, JST, ERATO, Itami Molecular Nanocarbon Project
Research
Focusing on connecting molecules to create value, the Itami Group focuses on the development of new catalyst and new reactions for rapid syntheses of functional molecules including small molecules for plant biology and chronobiology, pharmaceuticals, p-conjugated organic materials, and molecular nanocarbons. In 2017, they succeeded in synthesizing the first ‘nanocarbon belt.’
