Press releases

The unique program provides early-career scientists with leadership training and connections to peers from around the world

Columbus, Ohio, March 25, 2024: CAS, a division of the American Chemical Society specializing in scientific knowledge management, is proud to announce the 2024 CAS Future Leaders. These exceptional early-career scientists were selected from a large pool of global candidates who applied for a spot in the program known as one of the best leadership learning experiences in the world of science.

The 2024 selectees are a diverse group, hailing from 13 countries, working at 33 graduate or post-doctoral programs, and specializing in scientific disciplines that span computer-aided drug design, atmospheric/environmental chemistry, sustainable polymers, and cancer diagnostics.

“CAS Future Leaders offers early-career scientists the opportunity to participate in leadership and storytelling seminars, learn from industry thought leaders how to present their ideas in an impactful manner, engage in scientific discourse, and develop connections with peer scientists from around the world,” said Peter Carlton, CAS Future Leaders program director.

Participants in the program, which will take place in August, will also get a behind-the-scenes look into how CAS connects the world’s science. They will present their research at ACS Fall 2024 in Denver, Colorado, and receive a three-year ACS membership as well.

The 2024 CAS Future Leaders:

• Aziz Abu-Saleh, University of Windsor, Canada
• Noah Bartfield, Yale University, United States
• Michelle Brann, Harvard & Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics, United States
• Rosemary L. Calabro, U.S. Army DEVCOM Armaments Center and United States Military Academy, United States
• Xiangkun (Elvis) Cao, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, United States
• Áine Coogan, Trinity College Dublin, Ireland
• Chiara Deriu, Politecnico di Torino, Italy
• Madison Elaine Edwards, Texas A&M University, United States
• Olga Eremina, University of Southern California, United States
• Inès Forrest, Scripps Research Institute, United States
• Patrick W. Fritz, University of Fribourg, Switzerland
• Nabojit Kar, Indiana University Bloomington, United States
• Stavros Kariofillis, Columbia University, United States
• Joshua Kofsky, Queen's University, Canada
• Eric Kohn, University of Wisconsin-Madison, United States
• Danielle Maxwell, University of Michigan, United States
• Keita Mori, Tokyo University of Agriculture and Technology, Japan
• Aditya Nandy, University of Chicago, United States
• Akachukwu Obi, Massachusetts Institute of Technology, United States
• Ernest Opoku, Auburn University, United States
• Daisy Pooler, KTH Royal Institute of Technology, Sweden
• Pragti, Indian Institute of Technology Indore, India
• Stephanie Schneider, McMaster University, Canada
• Ekaterina Selivanovitch, Cornell University, United States
• Hanchen Shen, Hong Kong University of Science and Technology, China
• Lilian Sophie Szych, Freie Universität Berlin, Germany
• Alexander Umanzor, University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, United States
• Ken Aldren Usman, Institute for Frontier Materials, Deakin University - Waurn Ponds, Australia
• Sara T. R. Velasquez, University of Twente, Netherlands
• Gayatri Viswanathan, Iowa State University, United States
• Kunyu Wang, University of Pennsylvania, United States
• Athi Welsh, University of Cape Town, South Africa
• Kyra Yap, Stanford University, United States
• Yirui Zhang, Stanford University, United States
• Junyi Zhao, Washington University in St. Louis, United States

In addition to the 35 in-person participants, CAS provides virtual programming and other career benefits to 65 additional outstanding selectees through the CAS Future Leaders Top 100 program.

“I am thrilled to be selected for the 2024 CAS Future Leaders program alongside such an esteemed group of interdisciplinary scientists. I look forward to gaining new leadership skills and building lasting connections with peers who are as passionate as I am about science and leadership," said Michelle Brann from the Harvard & Smithsonian Center for Astrophysics.

Learn more about the 2024 CAS Future Leaders program at www.cas.org/about/futureleaders.

About CAS

CAS connects the world's scientific knowledge to accelerate breakthroughs that improve lives. We empower global innovators to efficiently navigate today’s complex data landscape and make confident decisions in each phase of the innovation journey. As a specialist in scientific knowledge management, our team builds the largest authoritative collection of human-curated scientific data in the world and provides essential information solutions, services, and expertise. Scientists, patent professionals, and business leaders across industries rely on CAS to help them uncover opportunities, mitigate risks, and unlock shared knowledge so they can get from inspiration to innovation faster. CAS is a division of the American Chemical Society. Connect with us at cas.org.

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