JIA TONY Z

• Blue Marble Space Institute of Science  Researcher

• 2023 - 2025 Construction of a membrane-bound protocell using polyester droplets as templates
• 2023 - 2025 Creation of a membraneless protocell with Earth-abudant transition-metal catalysts
• 2023 - 2024 Digital Holographic Microscopy to Observe Polyester Protocell Motion
• 2023 - 2024 Tokyo Tech Work-Life Balance Support Unit, Diversity Promotion Office, Assist. Staff. Prog
• 2023 - 2024 Naito Foundation Invitational Fellowship for Prof. Seung Soo Oh
2023 - Earth-Life Science Institute Seed Fund
2022 - 2023 A-PI Start-up Fund
2022 - 2023 WPI Academy Fund
2021 - 2023 Biomolecule compartmentalization by phase separated protocells
2019 - 2022 Composition of “Extraterrestrial” Polyester Gel Microdroplets
2018 - 2022 Verification of the functional role of coacervate droplets in in vitro RNA evolution
2021 - 2022 Origin of Enzymes: Study of Hyperbranched Polymer Scaffolded Nanoparticles
2021 - 2022 Gender Equality Section, Diversity Promotion Office, Assistant Staffing Program
2021 - 2022 Origin of Primitive Membraneless Cells through Polyester Microdroplet Protocells
2020 - 2022 Geoelectrochemical Drivers of Deep Sea Biochemical Processes
2020 - 2021 Structure and Function of Extraterrestrial Polyester Protocells
2019 - 2020 Structure and Function of Extraterrestrial and Exoplanetary Protocells
2018 - 2020 Development of LC/MS-Based Direct RNA Sequencing with Concomitant Basecalling and Modification Analysis Capability
2019 - 2019 Programme Exploration France 2019
2017 - 2018 A Combinatorial Chemistry Approach to Discover the First Self-Assembling Polyester Gel Material

• Kuhan Chandru, Christian Potiszil, Tony Z. Jia. Alternative Pathways in Astrobiology: Reviewing and Synthesizing Contingency and Non-Biomolecular Origins of Terrestrial and Extraterrestrial Life. Life. 2024. 14. 9. 1069-1069
• M.J. Styczinski, D.M. Glaser, M. Hooks, T.Z. Jia, K. Johnson-Finn, G.A. Schaible, M.J. Schaible. Chapter 11: Astrobiology Education, Engagement, and Resources. Astrobiology. 2024. 24. S1. S-216
• Micah J. Schaible, Nadia Szeinbaum, G. Ozan Bozdag, Luoth Chou, Natalie Grefenstette, Stephanie Colón-Santos, Laura E. Rodriguez, M.J. Styczinski, Jennifer L. Thweatt, Zoe R. Todd, et al. Chapter 1: The Astrobiology Primer 3.0. Astrobiology. 2024. 24. S1. S-4
• Laura E. Rodriguez, Thiago Altair, Ninos Y. Hermis, Tony Z. Jia, Tyler P. Roche, Luke H. Steller, Jessica M. Weber. Chapter 4: A Geological and Chemical Context for the Origins of Life on Early Earth. Astrobiology. 2024. 24. S1. S-76
• Yi-Jung Sung, Takumi Takahashi, Yi-Hsuan Lin, Tony Z. Jia, Yin-Ru Chiang, Po-Hsiang Wang. Microalgal Polyphosphate Drives One-Pot Complete Enzymatic Generation of Flavin Adenine Dinucleotide from Adenosine and Riboflavin. ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering. 2023. 12. 2. 680-686

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• Single Cell Nucleic Acid Detection and Analysis
• Single Cell Nucleic Acid Detection and Analysis
• Single Cell Nucleic Acid Detection and Analysis
• Method and system for use in direct sequencing of RNA
• Single Cell Nucleic Acid Detection and Analysis

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• Chemical evolution model in terrestrial environments) in the Japanese Encyclopedia of Origin of Life
  Asakura Publishing 2024
• Graphene was found in a meteorite!
  Sciworthy (https://sciworthy.com/graphene-was-found-in-a-meteorite/) 2021
• “A general LC-MS-based method for direct and de novo sequencing of RNA mixtures containing both canonical and modified nucleotides” in RNA Modifications.
  RNA Modifications, Methods in Molecular Biology, Springer. 2021
• Antibody testing for coronavirus: what does the science say?
  Sciworthy (https://www.sciworthy.com/antibody-testing-for-coronavirus-what-does-the-science-say/) 2020
• COVID-19: What it is, how it works, and what we can do to prevent its spread.
  Sciworthy (https://www.sciworthy.com/covid-19-what-it-is-how-it-works-and-what-we-can-do-to-prevent-its-spread/) 2020

• Environment-driven structural phase transitions of primitive LLPS protocells
  (61st Annual Meeting of the Biophysical Society of Japan 2023)
• Membraneless Polyester Microdroplets as a Window into the First (Proto)cells on Earth
  (Geochemical Society of Japan 2023)
• History of Polyester Protocells
  (ELSI-JAMSTEC-UNSW Human Frontiers Science Program Workshop 2023)
• Relevance of Membraneless Protocells at the Origins of Life
  (ELSI PI Day 2023)
• Membraneless Compartments as a Window into the Earliest Cells
  (Tokyo Institute of Technology and Tokyo Medical Dental University Matching Event. 2023)

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• 2010 - 2016 Harvard University Chemistry PhD
• 2010 - 2012 Harvard University Chemistry Master of Arts
• 2006 - 2010 California Institute of Technology Chemistry and Business, Economics, and Management Bachelor’s of Science

• PhD (Harvard University)
• AM (Harvard University)
• BS (California Institute of Technology)

• 2022/07 - 現在 Tokyo Institute of Technology Earth-Life Science Institute Specially-Appointed Associate Professor, Associate PI
• 2019/05 - 現在 Blue Marble Space Institute of Science Affiliated Researcher
• 2022/04 - 2022/06 Tokyo Institute of Technology Earth-Life Science Institute Specially-Appointed Assistant Professor, Associate PI
• 2019/06 - 2022/03 Tokyo Institute of Technology Earth-Life Science Institute Specially-Appointed Assistant Professor
• 2017/01 - 2019/05 Tokyo Institute of Technology Earth-Life Science Institute Research Scientist

• 2022 - 現在 NASA AbGradCon Advisory Committee
• 2021/01 - 現在 Biophysical Society of Japan Expert Committee Member of BSJ in the Field of “Origin of Life”
• 2024 - 2024 Biophysical Society of Japan Meeting 2024 (Jointly Held with IUPAB2024) Symposium Organizer (with Ryo Mizuuchi) - Origins of Life
• 2023 - 2023 Biophysical Society of Japan Meeting 2023 Symposium Organizer (with Yutetsu Kuruma) - From molecules to systems, and eventually to life: high resolution Origins of Life research
• 2022 - 2022 Biophysical Society of Japan 2022 BSJ Meeting Symposium Organizer "Frontiers of Protocell Research: Exploring the Origin of Life through a Constructivist Approach"
2020 - 2022 ELSI Public Relations Committee
2019 - 2022 ELSI Laboratory Management Committee
2021 - 2021 Biophysical Society of Japan 2021 BSJ Meeting Symposium Organizer "Recent Advances in Origins of Life and Protocell Research"
2020 - 2021 Earth-Life Science Institute ELSI Science Steering Committee
2019 - 2021 Pacifichem 2021 Session Organizer
2019 - 2021 JSPS-CAS Joint Bilateral Seminar Geoelectrochemical Drivers of Deep Sea Biochemical Processes Co-organizer
2018 - 2021 AbGradCon 2020/2021 Conference Chair
2019 - 2020 Earth-Life Science Institute 8th Symposium Organizing Committee and Session Chair
2019 - 2019 AbSciCon Session Convener and Session Chair
2019 - 2019 Tokyo Tech EPS School on Evolution of Earth and Life Organizing Committee
2018 - 2019 Tokyo Tech Earth-Life Science Institute Origins of Life Discussion Group Organizer
2018 - 2019 Tokyo Tech Earth-Life Science Institute Library Committee
2017 - 2018 Tokyo Tech Earth-Life Science Institute 2018 Winter School Organizing Committee
2017 - 2017 Tokyo Tech Earth-Life Science Institute EON Life Detection Technology: For Mars, Enceladus & Beyond Workshop Organizing Committee
2010 - 2011 Harvard Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology Graduate Student and Post-Doc Council
2008 - 2010 Caltech Academics and Research Committee Mentor
2007 - 2010 Caltech Chemistry Course Ombudsman
2008 - 2009 Caltech Student-Faculty Conference Social Science Committee Chair

• 2024 - Biopolymers Biopolymers Top Cited Article of 2022-2023 - Sithamparam, et al. A Material-based Panspermia Hypothesis: The Potential of Polymer Gels and Membraneless Droplets. Biopolymers, 113, e23486 (2022).
• 2024 - Macromolecular Chemistry and Physics Top Downloaded Article of 2022 - Afrin, et al. The Effects of Dehydration Temperature and Monomer Chirality on Primitive Polyester Synthesis and Microdroplet Assembly. Macromolecular Chemistry and Physics, 223(23), 2200235 (2022).
• 2024 - American Chemical Society 2024 Rising Star in Biological, Medicinal, and Pharmaceutical Chemistry
• 2023/10 - Biophysical Reviews 2024 Michèle Auger Award for Young Scientists’ Independent Research Nominee
• 2022/10 - Biophysical Reviews 2023 Michèle Auger Award for Young Scientists’ Independent Research Nominee
2022/09 - Japan Society for Biological Sciences in Space 36th Annual Meeting Best General Presentation Award Temperature and Chirality Effects on Primitive Polyester Protocell Synthesis and Assembly
2022/09 - Biophysical Society of Japan Early Career Presentation Award Cationic Polyester Microdroplets as RNA-containing Protocells
2022/07 - Biophysical Society of Japan Nominee for MEXT (Japan Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology) Young Scientists’ Award
2022/03 - ELSI ELSI 2021 Director's Achievement Award
2022/03 - Tokyo Institute of Technology Seiichi Tejima Fujino-Nakamura Young Researcher Award
2021/10 - The International Society for the Study of the Origin of Life Stanley L. Miller Early Career Award Nominee
2021/07 - Tokyo Institute of Technology Seiichi Tejima Paper Award Nominee Fraccia, Jia. Liquid Crystal Coacervates Composed of Short Double Stranded DNA and Cationic Peptides. ACS Nano, 14(11), 15071-15082 (2020).
2021/02 - ELSI ELSI 2020 Director's Achievement Award
2020/07 - Tokyo Institute of Technology Seiichi Tejima Paper Award Nominee Jia, Chandru, et al. Membraneless Polyester Microdroplets as Primordial Compartments at the Origins of Life. Proc. Natl. Acad. Sci. USA, 116(32), 15830-15835 (2019).
2020/02 - ELSI 2019 ELSI Director's Achievement Award
2019 - European Astrobiology Network Association Conference Travel Award - Orleans, France
2018 - Origin of Life Gordon Research Conference Travel Award
2018 - International Symposium for Materials Scientists III Best Oral Presentation Award Polyester Gel Microdroplets as Prebiotic Membrane-less Compartments for Primitive Protocellular Models.
2017 - Self-assembled Tripeptide Fibers as Prebiotic RNA Binders. Best Young Researcher Oral Presentation Annual Meeting on Biopolymers & Drug Delivery Systems
2010 - Harvard University Fieser Graduate Research Award
2009 - Caltech Amgen Scholar
2009 - Caltech Dr. Amasa Bishop Study Abroad Award - Okazaki, Japan
2009 - Caltech Doris S. Perpall Speaking Competition Semifinalist
2009 - American Chemical Society Undergraduate Award in Analytical Chemistry
2008 - Caltech Richter Scholar
2006 - City of Naperville Rotary Club Scholarship

Molecular Biology Society of Japan ,  Japanese Society for Biological Sciences in Space ,  BSJ Artificial Cell Models & Molecular Robotics Subgroup ,  Network of Researchers on the Chemical Evolution of Life (NoRCEL) ,  Origin of Life Early Career Network ,  Astrobiology Society of Asia-Pacific ,  Blue Marble Space Institute of Science ,  Japan Society for Cell Synthesis Research ,  THE BIOPHYSICAL SOCIETY OF JAPAN ,  The Japan Society for Analytical Chemistry ,  American Chemical Society ,  THE CHEMICAL SOCIETY OF JAPAN ,  International Society of Artificial Life ,  Japan Geophysical Union