Susan S. Golden received a B.A. (1978) in Biology from Mississippi University for Women and a Ph.D. (1983) in Genetics from the University of Missouri-Columbia. She conducted postdoctoral research at The University of Chicago and joined the Department of Biology at Texas A&M University in 1986. In 2008 she moved to the University of California at San Diego, where she is a Distinguished Professor of Molecular Biology and Director of the Center for Circadian Biology. Golden was among the first to develop genetic tools for cyanobacteria, which she initially applied to understanding the regulation of photosynthesis in Synechococcus elongatus. This foundation enabled the identification in the early 1990s, in collaboration with T. Kondo, M. Ishiura, and C.H. Johnson, of components of the circadian clock mechanism in cyanobacteria. Over the ensuing decades she has contributed key findings that have elucidated structure and function, mechanisms of environmental sensing and signal transduction, and physiological consequences of the clock. The Golden laboratory also conducts research to develop cyanobacteria as biotechnological platforms. She holds the Chancellor’s Associates Chair in Molecular Biology, and is a Fellow of the American Academy of Microbiology, an HHMI Professor, and a Member of the National Academy of Sciences. 

Prof. Jian-Ren Shen completed his undergraduate studies at Zhejiang Agriculture University, China, where he earned a degree in Environmental Science in 1982. He then pursued graduate studies at The University of Tokyo, Japan, in 1990, where he specialized in molecular and physical chemistry. He is a distinguished scientist and academic known for his pioneering work in the fields of biochemistry, plant physiology, and photosynthesis. Prof. Shen has held several prestigious positions throughout his career. He served as a professor at Okayama University, where he made significant contributions to the understanding of photosynthesis, particularly the mechanisms of water-splitting and light-energy utilization. He also directed the university’s Center for Photosynthesis Research from 2013 to 2016. In addition to his academic roles, Prof. Shen has been an advisor for Japan’s PRESTO program and a visiting researcher at RIKEN, Japan’s leading scientific research institute. His work has earned him numerous honors, including the Toray Science and Technology Prize (2024), the Gregori Aminoff Prize (2020), and the prestigious紫綬褒章 (2020) for his achievements in biochemistry and plant science.