Midori earned her Ph.D. at the University of Tokyo, where she studied centrosome remodeling during sexual reproduction in yeast. She then conducted postdoctoral research on centriole duplication at the National Institute of Genetics in Japan and later at the University of California, San Diego, focusing on centrosome activation crucial for cell division. Centrioles, the core structure of centrosomes, are ancient cell organelles essential for chromosome segregation during cell division and for cilia and flagella formation in differentiated cells. As a Buribushi fellow, she aims to understand how centrioles have evolved to control such divergent functions and how they are inherited during sexual reproduction. 
 

   Born in Tokyo, Satoshi was trained as an organic chemist at Waseda University, T. Shibata lab, during his B.Sc. He then moved to Canada and earned his Ph.D. at the University of Alberta, where he met organometallic chemistry (the study of molecules consisting of metals and organic parts) and studied the hydrogenation of carbonyl compounds at S. H. Bergens lab. After one year of teaching experience at Waseda University, he moved to Israel for his postdoctoral research. At the Weizmann Institute of Science, D. Milstein lab, he discovered the iron-catalyzed olefin metathesis reaction, a long-sought-after catalytic reaction. At OIST, he studies the fundamentals and applications of organometallic chemistry. His most recent discovery is a 21-electron cobaltocene complex.

Saacnicteh is a structural biochemist specialized in protein evolution and macromolecule design. She leads the Molecular Bioengineering Group at OIST as a Buribushi Fellow, focusing on the design of protein systems with electron transfer capabilities using computational and molecular biology. She earned her Ph.D. in protein engineering at the Max Planck Institute for Biology, studying how insertions and deletions (InDels) reshape protein structure and function. During her postdoctoral work at OIST, Saacnicteh studied how Nature recycles protein templates by exchanging catalytic molecules to adapt chemical processes. Her current research addresses challenges in sustainable energy, including solar energy harvesting and biofuel production.