Jianfeng Cai, Ph.D., is a Distinguished University Professor and a USF Preeminent Professor in the Department of Chemistry at the University of South Florida. He obtained his B.S. (1997) and M.S. (2000) at Nanjing University, and received a Ph.D. (2006) in Bioorganic Chemistry from Washington University in St. Louis, follow by postdoctoral training at Yale (2007-2009). The research in his laboratory is focused on the expansion of interdisciplinary research at the interface of chemistry and biology to discover novel peptidomimetics AApeptides that modulate protein-protein interactions involved in critical cellular processes. Understanding how these compounds interact with proteins will help to reveal mechanisms governing cell activities. He is particularly interested in developing compounds that lead to the design of novel therapeutics potentially targeting cancer, diabetes, infectious diseases, and Alzheimer's disease, etc. Dr. Cai has received a Ralph E. Powe Junior Faculty Award (2009), an NSF Career award (2014), a Biomatik Distinguished Junior Faculty Award (2015), an OKeanos-CAPA Senior Investigator Award (2024). He has also received Faculty Outstanding Research Achievement Award (2015, 2018, 2020, 2024), Outstanding Graduate Faculty Mentor Award (2020) and Outstanding Faculty Award (2021) from USF. He was named USF Preeminent Professor in 2020, and was elected as a Fellow of the Royal Society of Chemistry in 2020, a Fellow of American Institute for Medical and Biological Engineering (AIMBE) in 2023, a Distinguished University Professor in 2024, a Fellow of National Academy of Inventors (NAI) in 2024, and a Fellow of American Association for the Advancement of Science (AAAS) in 2024.