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CAS Future Leaders Program 2025

On March 20, 2025, CAS, a division of the American Chemical Society (ACS), unveiled the selected participants for its esteemed CAS Future Leaders program for 2025. This initiative is designed to empower early-career scientists through leadership training and networking opportunities.

This year, an impressive cohort of 35 scientists from 12 different countries will participate in the program. The fields of research represented include cutting-edge areas such as nanotechnology, computational chemistry, materials science, and green chemistry, showcasing the diversity and innovation present in the scientific community.

The in-person phase of the program is set to take place in August, featuring a series of workshops aimed at leadership development and professional growth. Participants will engage in sessions that cover mentorship from established leaders in the industry, partake in scientific presentations, and build valuable connections with fellow researchers.

Peter Carlton, the program director, expressed his pride in equipping emerging scientists with vital leadership and communication skills necessary to make significant impacts in their respective fields. He noted the record number of applications this year, reflecting the program's appeal and its mission to help scientists grow as influential leaders in the community.

The Exciting Participants of 2025 CAS Future Leaders

The following individuals have been selected:

• - Farbod Amirghasemi, University of Southern California
• - Carla Arnau del Valle, Universitat Politècnica de València
• - Ridwan T. Ayinla, Mississippi State University
• - Kazuho Ban, Osaka University
• - Shivali Banerjee, University of Illinois Urbana-Champaign
• - Alexandra Barth, North Carolina State University
• - Hudson de Aguiar Bicalho, Concordia University
• - Dorothea Böken, University of Cambridge
• - Karen de la Vega Hernández, Institute of Chemical Research of Catalonia (ICIQ)
• - Fábio Godoy Delolo, Universidade Federal de Minas Gerais
• - Jingshan S. Du, Pacific Northwest National Laboratory
• - Dmitry Eremin, California Institute of Technology
• - Alexis Gabbey, University of Toronto
• - Wenhao Gao, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
• - Reginaldo J. Gomes, University of Chicago
• - Jesse Gordon, Harvard University
• - Sophie Gutenthaler-Tietze, Heinrich Heine University
• - Nia Harmon, Yale University
• - Sejun Kim, Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology
• - Tamra (Blue) Mbeuh Lahom Lot, Pennsylvania State University
• - Yuanwei Li, Stanford University
• - Zhi Lin, University of California, San Francisco
• - Raul A. Marquez-Montes, University of Texas at Austin
• - Eva J. Meeus, ETH Zürich
• - Daniel Reddy, Queen's University at Kingston
• - Meg Shieh, Brown University
• - Great C. Umenweke, University of Kentucky
• - M. Iqbal Bakti Utama, Northwestern University
• - Vyshnavi Vennelakanti, Princeton University
• - M. Shaharyar Wani, Princeton University
• - Allison Wong, University of Minnesota
• - Zuping Xiong, Zhejiang University
• - Francisco Yarur Villanueva, Istituto Italiano di Tecnologia
• - Max Yavitt, University of Otago
• - Yan Zhang, California Institute of Technology.

Alexandra Barth from North Carolina State University shared her excitement about being selected, stating, “It’s an honor to be among such exceptional scientists in the 2025 CAS Future Leaders program. This experience will enhance my leadership skills for a future as an independent researcher, and I'm eager to learn how to communicate my passion for science more effectively.”

The two-week program will also offer participants a unique insight into CAS operations and demonstrate how the organization facilitates access and analysis of scientific information globally to prominent innovators. Moreover, participants will have the chance to present their research during the ACS Fall 2025 meeting in Washington, DC, along with a three-year membership to the ACS.

In addition to the in-person cohort, CAS is expanding its reach this year by providing virtual programming and professional support to another 65 outstanding candidates through the Top 100 CAS Future Leaders initiative.

For more details regarding the 2025 CAS Future Leaders program and this year's cohort, please visit www.cas.org/about/futureleaders.

About CAS:
CAS connects the global scientific community to accelerate advancements that improve lives. We enable innovators worldwide to navigate the intricate data landscape effectively, facilitating secure decision-making throughout the innovation process. As experts in scientific knowledge management, we create the largest authoritative collection of scientific data, providing essential information solutions, services, and insights. Scientists, patent professionals, and business leaders from various sectors rely on CAS to discover opportunities, mitigate risks, and unlock shared knowledge, thereby expediting the transition from inspiration to innovation. CAS operates under the umbrella of the American Chemical Society.