Dr. Oaikhena Zekeri Esezobor was born in Ihievbe, a village in Edo State, Nigeria. He had his undergraduate studies at the Ambrose Alli University in Ekpoma, Nigeria and graduated in 2012. In 2015, he moved to the University of Agriculture in Makurdi, Nigeria for MSc studies, where he worked with Prof. J.O. Igoli.  In 2017, he moved to the University of Regensburg, Germany for a second MSc degree in Synthesis and Catalysis. During this time, he visited the Institute of Chemical Research of Catalonia in Tarragona, Spain, for a short research stay in the group of Prof. Kilian Muniz. On his return to Regensburg, Germany, he joined the group of Burkhard König where he worked on copper and photoredox catalyzed decarboxylative reactions. In 2019, Oaikhena moved to the Technical University of Munich, Germany and joined the group of Prof. Corinna Hess for his PhD studies. During his time in Munich, he developed photoinduced and cobalt catalyzed C-C and C-N coupling reactions in which the cobalt catalysts play the role of the photocatalyst and metal center for catalysis. He further developed photoredox catalyzed reactions with nickel and zinc complexes of the macrocyclic biquinazoline ligand. After his PhD studies in Munich, Oaikhena moved to the Ohio State University in Columbus, USA, for a one-year Postdoctoral fellowship in the group of Shiyu Zhang where he contributed to the development of copper and iron catalyzed reactions. For leisure, he likes to travel, watch and play soccer, and table tennis. He watches MMA and boxing, and enjoys playing soccer on Playstation and listening to music.

Justin is a Master’s student in Pharmacology at the Zheng Lab, holding an Honours B.Sc in Pharmacology from the University of Toronto, where he graduated with high distinction. He has gained extensive and diverse research experience in both industrial and academic settings, working on induced pluripotent stem cell applications at Hong Kong Science Park and investigating the role of interferon-gamma in cardiac inflammatory diseases under the supervision of Dr. Warren Lee at St. Michael’s Hospital as a research student. During his final year in undergrad, Justin completed two independent thesis/research projects: one under the supervision of Dr. Basil Hubbard, focusing on enhancing mRNA therapeutics, and another student-led project, where he served as the research team leader, focused on modulating the placental barrier. Justin is eager to leverage this diverse research background to contribute to his current work on developing novel radiotracers for early diagnosis and monitoring of neurological diseases, with a particular focus on Multiple Sclerosis.

Hannah joined the Zheng Lab as a Masters student in Pharmacology. Prior to joining the University of Toronto, she earned her B.Sc in Biochemistry at York University. There, she worked with Dr. Arturo Orellana on reaction modification/optimization pertaining to pyridine functionalization before joining Dr. Thomas Baumgartner as an Earle Nestmann Undergraduate Research Awardee, where she worked on the synthesis of novel NIR/FR-emissive probes for in-vitro studies. She continued her work as a thesis project and has presented her research at the York Undergraduate Conference and the Southern Ontario Undergraduate Chemistry Conference, both of which she won first and second place respectively for her oral presentation. At the Zheng lab, Hannah's projects vary from synthesis of novel radioligands and developing new radiofluorination methodology to investigating biomarkers of interest in Alzheimer's Disease and Related Dementias.

Dr. Mark R. Bortolus obtained his Honors B.Sc. and Ph.D. in Chemistry at McMaster University under the supervision of Professor Gary J. Schrobilgen in the fields of synthetic inorganic fluorine chemistry and noble-gas chemistry. A prominent theme of Mark’s Ph.D. Thesis research was the application of noble-gas (krypton and xenon) compounds to the syntheses of novel fluoro- and oxyfluoro-derivatives of main-group and transition-metal elements in their highest oxidation states. During his graduate work, Mark received several graduate awards: the Chemistry Graduate Research Colloquium Presentation 1st Place Award; McMaster Health and Safety Award of Excellence (awarded for the first time to a graduate student); Prof. Ronald J. Gillespie Prize in Inorganic Chemistry; Queen Elizabeth II Graduate Scholarship in Science & Technology; Ontario Graduate Scholarship in Science & Technology; Alexander Graham Bell Doctoral NSERCC (National Science & Engineering Research Council of Canada) Scholarship; two Chemistry Graduate High-Impact Publication Awards; and a Chemistry Graduate Leadership Award. Thus far, Dr. Bortolus has published 11 peer-reviewed journal articles (six first author), one book chapter, and two patents. The publications that resulted from Mark’s Dissertation are published in high-impact journals and are internationally recognized as significant contributions to the fields of inorganic fluorine chemistry, high-oxidation state transition-metal chemistry, and noble-gas chemistry. Dr. Bortolus is currently an NSERCC Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the University of Toronto where he works with Prof. Neil Vasdev, Director and Chief Radiochemist, and Dr. Chao Zheng. In this capacity, Mark is applying his expertise in synthetic inorganic fluorine chemistry to the development of new 18F radiofluorination methodologies for the syntheses of radiotracers that are useful for in vivo imaging of the human brain by means of Positron Emission Tomography.

Dr. Omozojie Paul Aigbogun is a CIHR and Koerner Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Brain Health Imaging Centre (BHIC) at the Centre for Addiction and Mental Health (CAMH) under the supervision of Dr. Neil Vasdev; Director and Chief Radiochemist, BHIC; Director, Azrieli Centre for Neuro-Radiochemistry, CAMH and Dr. Chao Zheng. Dr. Aigbogun completed his PhD in organic chemistry, medicinal chemistry, and radiochemistry at the University of Saskatchewan under the supervision of Dr. Ed S. Krol; Professor, College of Pharmacy & Nutrition, University of Saskatchewan, and Dr. Chris P. Phenix; Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry, University of Saskatchewan. At the University of Saskatchewan, Dr. Aigbogun worked on the design, synthesis, and preclinical evaluation of potential Positron Emission Tomography (PET) novel compounds targeting alpha-synuclein in Parkinson’s Disease. Dr. Aigbogun also completed a Bachelor of Science degree in Chemistry from Ambrose Alli University and has earned a Graduate Teaching Preparation Certificate from the Gwenna Moss Centre for Teaching and Learning at the University of Saskatchewan. Over the course of his academic career, Dr. Aigbogun has been the recipient of multiple prestigious academic and research awards, and he has contributed to several research articles, reviews, and national and international conference publications. Dr. Aigbogun’s research focuses on the development of PET imaging probes for brain imaging, alongside exploration of new radiofluorination and radiocarbonylation methods to enhance access to novel radiotracers. As a Postdoctoral Fellow, Dr. Aigbogun has worked on the development of new radiotracers for ionotropic and metabotropic glutamate receptors.