Jeric Flores (D1), Department of Advanced Disciplinary Studies, received 106th CSJ Student Presentation Awards

On 24th April 2026, Jeric Flores (D1), Department of Advanced Disciplinary Studies, received 106th CSJ Student Presentation Awards.

106th CSJ Student Presentation Awards
The award recognized young researchers who showed exceptional research quality and presentation skills in chemical sciences. The award was given by the CSJ Committee.

About awarded research
My research that received the award was titled, “Self-Assembled Optical Chemosensor Array for the Identification of Counterfeited Anti-Malarial Drugs.” This research aims to distinguish authentic antimalarial drugs from counterfeit ones by developing a chemosensor array based on cyclodextrin–dye assemblies. The system developed is designed to discriminate different antimalarials through optical fingerprinting, enabling their classification and quantification.

Your impression & future plan

I came from the Philippines; thus, my research interests are always directed towards helping my common Filipino fellow. As Philippines is a developing country, I plan to contribute to my community using the training and knowledges I acquired and will acquire here. Not only that, I want to establish a good relationship between my country and Japan through building good and beneficial science for all.

Our group is currently working on creative strategies for the simultaneous detection of compounds using self-assembled chemosensor arrays. In the work I presented, we harnessed the excellent host properties of cyclodextrins to accommodate various guests, enabling the detection of a wide range of compounds through tunable host–guest interactions. Specifically, we prepared self-assembled chemosensor complexes by combining cyclodextrins (dimethyl-β-cyclodextrin and γ-cyclodextrin) with fluorescent indicators (neutral red and 1-methoxypyrene), respectively, and applied these systems toward antimalarial drug authentication. The competitive interactions among the cyclodextrin, indicator, and antimalarial drugs generate a unique optical fingerprint for each drug. This allows us to discriminate between different drugs, quantify them, and ultimately assess falsified drugs versus legitimate ones.
At the concluded 106th CSJ Annual Meeting, we were fortunate to receive the CSJ Student Presentation Award for this work. This achievement was made possible by the supportive team at the Minami Laboratory. Huge thanks to Professor Tsuyoshi Minami and Dr. Yui Sasaki for their invaluable guidance, and to the entire lab for their constant encouragement.