Team

Cédric Cabral Alamada received his PhD in chemistry from the Université Claude Bernard Lyon 1. During his PhD thesis, he worked on the catalytic depolymerization of lignin in oxidizing media under the supervision of Dr. Laurent Djakovitch and Pr. Pascal Fongarland at the Institut de Recherche en Catalyse et Environnement de Lyon (IRCELYON). Then, he completed a post-doc fellowship at the Laboratoire de Chimie des Polymères Organiques (LCPO) under the direction of Pr. Stéphane Grelier where he studied the enhancement of wood durability against wood-decaying fungi with lignin adducts. Subsequently, he explored the valorization of lignin through photocatalysis at the Institut des Sciences Chimiques de Rennes (ISCR) and is continuing his work at Chimie ParisTech, PLS University under the supervision of Pr Jean-François Soulé.

Fangying Ling began her academic journey at Huzhou University (2016–2020), where she earned a Bachelor’s degree in Chemistry Education. She continued her studies at Hangzhou Normal University (2020–2023), obtaining a Master’s degree in Organic Chemistry under the supervision of Prof. Li-Wen Xu, with a focus on organosilicon chemistry and asymmetric catalysis. During this time, she also collaborated with Prof. Zhi-Yong Sun on enzyme catalysis. Currently, Fangying is pursuing doctoral research at the iCLeHS Institute of Chimie ParisTech, under the mentorship of Prof. Jean-François Soulé. Her work centers on developing cross-coupling reactions that leverage the synergy between photoredox catalysis and transition metal catalysis.

Tao MA (马涛) graduated from Nanjing Tech University, where he studied from 2016 to 2023. He obtained his Bachelor’s degree in Pharmaceutical Preparation in 2020 and his Master’s degree in Pharmaceutical Chemistry in 2023. During his Master’s studies, his research focused on photoredox catalysis, green chemistry, and microflow technology under the guidance of Prof. Chang-Sheng Wang and Prof. Zheng Fang. Since October 2023, he has been pursuing his Ph.D. studies under the supervision of Prof. Jean-François Soulé at ChimieParisTech PSL University. His research focuses on organometallic chemistry and C–H bond functionalizations, supported by the CSC fellowship. In his leisure time, Tao enjoys traveling to different cities.

Emmanuel Serrano Díez earned his PhD in 2025 from the University of Sevilla, under the supervision of Dr. Jesus Campos, where he focused on studying the design of Frustrated Lewis Pairs based on Iridium (I) for small molecule activation and catalysis. During that he joined the group of Dr. Rianne Lord at the University of East Anglia to study the biomedical application of the organometallic compounds. He then joined Prof. Jean-François Soulé’s group at Chimie ParisTech (ICLeHS, CSB2D) in 2025 to develop Ni-catalyzed cross-coupling methods for the synthesis of active pharmaceutical ingredients, in collaboration with EUROAPI, within the Important Projects of Common European Interest (IPCEI), Med4Cure framework supported by Bpifrance.

After joining the ENS Paris-Saclay (former ENS Cachan) in 2017, Adrien Smith completed his master’s degree at the Université Paris-Saclay (ENS Paris-Saclay / Ecole Polytechnique) in 2020 and obtained a double-degree from ESPCI Paris – PSL in 2021. He then joined the Inorganic Chemistry team at ICMMO (Université Paris-Saclay) as PhD student under the supervision of Prof. Ally Aukauloo and Dr. Zakaria Halime, where he studied the influence of second coordination sphere groups on the performances of new iron porphyrin catalysts for the electroreduction of CO2 to CO. He then joined Prof. Jean-François Soulé’s group at Chimie ParisTech (ICLeHS, CSB2D) in 2025 to work on the development of the new photocatalytic methods for the synthesis of active pharmaceutical ingredients, in collaboration with EUROAPI, within the Important Projects of Common European Interest (IPCEI), Med4Cure framework supported by Bpifrance

Laura Thirion graduated from Sorbonne Université after obtaining a BSc in Chemistry and another in Life Sciences in 2021, followed by a MSc in Molecular Chemistry in 2023. In 2022, Laura spent 5 months working on cascade reactions with isocyanide-containing small molecules in Prof. Eelco Ruijter’s team at the Vrije Universiteit of Amsterdam. In 2023, she spent 6 months at the Muséum d’Histoire Naturelle of Paris under the supervision of Yves Janin (DR CNRS), conducting research on the synthesis of new chemical entities with potential biological activity against SARS-CoV-2 main protease. Currently, Laura is pursuing her PhD at the iCLeHS institute of Chimie ParisTech, working on Rhodium-catalyzed C-H bond activation, under the direction of Professor Jean-François Soulé. In her free time, Laura enjoys singing, playing guitar and painting.