Iwaoka Laboratory | Department of Chemistry, School of Science, Tokai University

Organic chemistry approaches to biological phenomena
－ for elucidation of biological functions of selenium and the mechanism of protein folding

Activities

Ikuma　Aruga,　a　second-year　master's　student,　received　the　Young　Investigator　Flash　Talk　Award　at　the　8th　Japan　Selenium　Research　Society　and　the　13th　International　Symposium　on　Selenium　in　Biology　and　Medicine　Post-Conference　(Se2025)　(November　2,　2025).2025年11月24日
At the international conference “Se2025” held in Sendai, Ikuma Aruga gave a poster and oral presentation in English on the synthesis of peptides modeling the active center of thioredoxin reductase, a representative selenium enzyme, and its enzymatic activity. The clarity of his presentation and the impact of his research results were highly praised, leading to this award. Aruga expressed his determination to continue working hard at his research.
A farewell party was held for doctoral student Veronica Ceccucci from University of Perugia and a welcome party for postdoctoral researcher Neha Jain from India (July 21, 2025).2025年11月24日
Veronica Ceccucci spent six months in our laboratory researching the antioxidant properties of selenium compounds and returned to Italy on July 29th. In Italy, Veronica will pursue her doctoral degree. We look forward to her continued success. Additionally, Dr. Neha Jain joined our lab as a postdoctoral researcher in July. Neha will be working on the creation of new selenium compounds for biological applications.
Institute for Advanced Biosciences held an "International Mini-Symposium" featuring researchers from University of Perugia (June 3, 2025).2025年11月24日
On June 3, Institute for Advanced Biosciences held an international mini-symposium "Frontiers of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Research" at Shonan Campus, which was co-hosted by Graduate School of Science and Technology and supported by Micro-Nano Research Center. The symposium featured lectures and discussion on the cutting edge of chemical and pharmaceutical research, including Professor Claudio Santi and Associate Professor Luca Santineto from University of Perugia, who were visiting Tokai University under the Erasmus+ program, as well as Professor Kazuya Kabayama from Osaka University and Professor Masaichi Saito from Saitama University. From Tokai University, Associate Professor Kenta Arai of the Institute for… Read more: Institute for Advanced Biosciences held an "International Mini-Symposium" featuring researchers from University of Perugia (June 3, 2025).
We conducted joint research at a university in Brazil during summer vacation (29 September, 2023)2023年9月29日
Takehiko Ikeda, a master-course student of Graduate School of Science, visited Brazil at The Center of Chemical, Food, and Pharmaceutical Sciences, The Federal University of Pelotas during this summer vacation and worked in the research on the biological activity assessments of organoselenium compounds that he synthesized in Japan. (For details, see the news of Department of Chemistry, Tokai University.)
A graduate student from Mumbai University joined our group to promote research projects (28 September, 2023)2023年9月28日
Mr. Vishal, a graduate student of Mumbai University, came to our group from August 2023 to promote the international joint research project. He is now working on the synthesis of new-type nucleic acid derivatives having a 4-seleno-threose skeleton. “I am enjoying not only the research but also inter-personal interactions with the people in the laboratory”, he says.
Professor Michio Iwaoka selected as the World Ranking Top 2% Scientists (24 February, 2023)2023年2月24日
Professor Michio Iwaoka, a director of Institute of Advanced Biosciences, is a worldwide leading scientist in the fields of Organic Chemistry and Protein Science, especially in the study of organic reactions, enzyme mimetics, and drug development. Recently, he ranked in top 2% scientists announced by Stanford University. See https://elsevier.digitalcommonsdata.com/datasets/btchxktzyw/4.