Associate ProfessorCKazuki FUKUSHIMA, Ph.D.

Research Field: Polymer Synthesis, Functional Polymers, Biodegradable Polymers, Self-Assembly

Professional Experience

2006. 1-5

Visiting Scholar, Department of Chemistry, Boise State University (ID, USA)

2006-2008

JSPS Fellow (DC2/PD)

2007-2008

Visiting Scholar, Department of Chemistry, Stanford University

2008-2009

Postdoctoral Researcher, Department of Chemistry, Stanford University

2009-2011

Postdoctoral Researcher, IBM Almaden Research Center (San Jose, CA)

2011-2016

Assistant Professor, Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Yamagata University

2016-2018

Assistant Professor, Graduate School of Organic Materials Science, Yamagata University

2018-present

Associate Professor, Department of Chemistry and Biotechnology, School of Engineering, The University of Tokyo

2021-present

PRESTO Researcher (Research Area: Sustainable Materials), Japan Science and Technology Agency

Education

B.S., Kyoto Institute of Technology, 2002
M.S., Kyoto Institute of Technology, 2004
Ph.D., Kyoto Institute of Technology, 2007

Memberships of Academic Societies

The Chemical Society of Japan, The Society of Polymer Science of Japan, Japanese Society for Biomaterials, American Chemical Society, The Japanese Liquid Crystal Society, The Materials Research Society of Japan

Honors and Awards

Biomaterials Science 10th Anniversary: Top papers from Asia-Pacific, Royal Society of Chemistry, November 2022
The Award for Young Investigator of Japanese Society for Biomaterials (2019), Japanese Society for Biomaterials, November 2019
Biomaterials Science Emerging Investigators 2019, Royal Society of Chemistry, April 2019
The Young Scientistsf Prize, The Commendation for Science and Technology by the Minister of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), April 2018
Excellent Presentation Award (Industrial) in the 96th CSJ Annual Meeting, The Chemical Society of Japan, April 2016
Award for Encouragement of Research in Polymer Science, The Society of Polymer Science, Japan, May 2015. 12nd Intelligent-Cosmos Research Incentive Award, Intelligent-Cosmos Foundation, May 2013
The 1st GSC Student Travel Grant Award, Green Sustainable Chemistry Network, Japan, March 2005

List of Selected Publications

1. Organocatalytic Depolymerization of Poly(trimethylene carbonate)
   *Kazuki Fukushima, Yuya Watanabe, Tetsuya Ueda, So Nakai, and Takashi Kato
   J. Polym. Sci., 60, 3489-3500 (2022).
2. Degradable and Nanosegregated Elastomers with Multiblock Sequences of Biobased Aromatic Mesogens and Biofunctional Aliphatic Oligocarbonates
   Yuya Watanabe, Riki Kato, *Kazuki Fukushima, and *Takashi Kato
   Macromolecules, 55, 10285-10293 (2022).
3. Polydioxanone Derivative Bearing Methoxy Groups toward Bio-Functional Degradable Polymers Exhibiting Hydration-Driven Biocompatibility
   *Kazuki Fukushima, Yuki Ota, and *Takashi Kato
   Macromol. Chem. Phys., 223, 2200192 (2022).
4. Organic Carboxylate Salt-Enabled Alternative Synthetic Routes for Bio-Functional Cyclic Carbonates and Aliphatic Polycarbonates
   Yuya Watanabe, Shunya Takaoka, Yuta Haga, Kohei Kishi, Shunta Hakozaki, Atsushi Narumi, Takashi Kato, Masaru Tanaka, and *Kazuki Fukushima
   Polym. Chem., 13, 5193-5199 (2022).
5. Anisotropic, Degradable Polymer Assemblies Driven by a Rigid Hydrogen-Bonding Motif That Induce Shape-Specific Cell Responses
   *Kazuki Fukushima, Kodai Matsuzaki, Masashi Oji, Yuji Higuchi, Go Watanabe, Yuki Suzuki, Moriya Kikuchi, Nozomi Fujimura, Naofumi Shimokawa, Hiroaki Ito, Takashi Kato, *Seigou Kawaguchi, and *Masaru Tanaka
   Macromolecules, 55, 15-25 (2022).
6. Methoxy-Functionalized Glycerol-Based Aliphatic Polycarbonate: Organocatalytic Synthesis, Blood Compatibility, and Hydrolytic Property
   Valentina Montagna, Junko Takahashi, Meng-Yu Tsai, Takayuki Ota, Nicolas Zivic, Seigou Kawaguchi, Takashi Kato, Masaru Tanaka, Haritz Sardon, and *Kazuki Fukushima
   ACS Biomater. Sci. Eng., 7, 472-481 (2021).
7. From Plastic Waste to Polymer Electrolytes for Batteries through Chemical Upcycling of Polycarbonate
   Keita Saito, Coralie Jehanno, Leire Meabe, Jorge Olmedo, David Mecerreyes, Kazuki Fukushima, and *Haritz Sardon
   J. Mater. Chem. A, 8, 13921-13926 (2020).
8. Formation of Bis-benzoxazole and Bis-benzimidazole through Organocatalytic Depolymerization of Poly(ethylene terephthalate) and Its Mechanism
   *Kazuki Fukushima, *Gavin O. Jones, Hans W. Horn, Julia E. Rice, Takashi Kato, and *James L. Hedrick
   Polym. Chem., 11, 4904-4913 (2020).
9. Modulating Bioactivities of Primary Ammonium-tagged Antimicrobial Aliphatic Polycarbonates by Varying Length, Sequence and Hydrophobic Side Chain Structure
   *Kazuki Fukushima, Kohei Kishi, Keita Saito, Kazuki Takakuwa, Shunta Hakozaki, and Shigekazu Yano
   Biomater. Sci., 7, 2288-2296 (2019)
10. Supramolecular Nanofibers Self-assembled from Cationic Small Molecules Derived from Repurposed Poly(ethylene teraphthalate) for Antibiotic Delivery
    Shaoqiong Liu, Kazuki Fukushima, Shrinivas Venkataraman, *James L. Hedrick, and *Yi Yan Yang
    Nanomedicine, 14, 165-172 (2018).
11. Monoether-Tagged Biodegradable Polycarbonate Preventing Platelet Adhesion and Demonstrating Vascular Cell Adhesion: A Promising Material for Resorbable Vascular Grafts and Stents
    *Kazuki Fukushima, Yuto Inoue, Yuta Haga, Takayuki Ota, Kota Honda, Chikako Sato, and *Masaru Tanaka
    Biomacromolecules, 18, 3834-3843 (2017).
12. Synthesis of Antithrombotic Poly(carbonate-urethane)s through a Sequential Process of Ring-Opening Polymerization and Polyaddition Facilitated by Organocatalysts
    *Kazuki Fukushima, Kota Honda, Yuto Inoue, and Masaru Tanaka
    Eur. Polym. J., 95, 728-736 (2017).
13. Biocompatibility and Hemocompatibility Evaluation of Polyether Urethanes Synthesized Using DBU Organocatalyst
    Andere Basterretxea, Yuta Haga, Ana Sanchez-Sanchez, Mehmet Isik, Lourdes Irusta, Masaru Tanaka, *Kazuki Fukushima, and *Haritz Sardon
    Eur. Polym. J., 84, 750-758 (2016).
14. Evaluation of the Hemocompatibility of Hydrated Biodegradable Aliphatic Carbonyl Polymers with a Subtle Difference in the Backbone Structure Based on the Intermediate Water Concept and Surface hydration
    *Kazuki Fukushima, Meng-Yu Tsai, Takayuki Ota, Yuta Haga, Kodai Matsuzaki, Yuto Inoue, and *Masaru Tanaka
    Polym. J., 47, 469-473 (2015).
15. Supramolecular High Aspect Ratio Assemblies with Strong Antifungal Activity Kazuki Fukushima, Shaoqiong Liu, Hong Wu, Amanda C. Engler, Daniel J. Coady, Hareem Maune, Jed Pitera, Alshakim Nelson, Nikken Wiradharma, Shrinivas Venkataraman, Yuan Huang, Weimin Fan, Jackie Y. Ying, *Yi Yan Yang, and *James L. Hedrick
    Nat. Commun., 4, 2861 (2013).
16. Polycarbonate-Based Brush Polymers with Detachable Disulfide-Linked Side Chains
    *Amanda C. Engler, Julian M. W. Chan, Kazuki Fukushima, Daniel J. Coady, Yi Yan Yang, and *James L. Hedrick
    ACS Macro Lett., 2, 332-336 (2013).
17. Unexpected Efficiency of Cyclic Amidine Catalysts in Depolymerizing Poly(ethylene terephthalate) under Specific Conditions
    Kazuki Fukushima, Daniel J. Coady, Gavin O. Jones, Hamid A. Almegren, Abdullah M. Alabdulrahman, Fares D. Alsewailem, Hans W. Horn, Julia E. Rice, and *James L. Hedrick
    J. Polym. Sci. Part A: Polym. Chem., 51, 1606-1611 (2013).
18. Advanced Chemical Recycling of Poly(ethylene terephthalate) through Organocatalytic Aminolysis
    *Kazuki Fukushima, Julien M. Lecuyer, DiDi S. Wei, Hans W. Horn, Gavin O. Jones, Hamid A. Al-Megren, Abdullah M. Alabdulrahman, Fares D. Alsewailem, Melanie A. McNeil, Julia E. Rice, and *James L. Hedrick
    Polym. Chem., 4, 1610-1616 (2013).
19. Broad-Spectrum Antimicrobial and Biofilm Disrupting Hydrogels: Stereocomplex-Driven Supramolecular Assemblies
    Yan Li, Kazuki Fukushima, Daniel J. Coady, Amanda C. Engler, Shaoqiong Liu, Yuan Huang, John S. Cho, Yi Guo, Lloyd S. Miller, Jeremy P. K. Tan, Pui Lai Rachel Ee, Weimin Fan, *Yi Yan Yang, and *James L. Hedrick
    Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 52, 674-678 (2013).
20. Computational Studies on Mechanisms for the Organocatalytic Depolymerization of Poly(ethylene) Terephthalate
    *Gavin O. Jones, Hans W. Horn, DiDi S. Wei, Kazuki Fukushima, Julien M. Lecuyer, Daniel J. Coady, James L. Hedrick, and Julia E. Rice
    TechConnect Briefs, 3, 736-739 (2012).
21. Mechanisms of Organocatalytic Amidation and Trans-Esterification of Aromatic Esters as a Model for the Depolymerization of Poly(ethylene) Terephthalate
    *Hans W. Horn, Gavin O. Jones, DiDi S. Wei, Kazuki Fukushima, Julien M. Lecuyer, Daniel J. Coady, James L. Hedrick, and J. E. Rice
    J. Phys. Chem. A, 116, 12389-12398 (2012).
22. Broad Spectrum Antimicrobial Supramolecular Assemblies with Distinctive Size and Shape
    Kazuki Fukushima, Jeremy P. K. Tan, Peter A. Korevaar, *Yi Yan Yang, *Jed Pitera, Alshakim Nelson, Hareem Maune, Daniel J. Coady, Jane E. Frommer, Amanda C. Engler, Yuan Huang, Kaijin Xu, Zhongkang Ji, Yuan Qiao, Weimin Fan, Lanjuan Li, Nikken Wiradharma, E. W. Meijer, and *James L. Hedrick
    ACS Nano, 6, 9191-9199 (2012).
23. Catalyst Chelation Effects in Organocatalyzed ROP of Lactide
    *Daniel J. Coady, Amanda C. Engler, Hans W. Horn, Krishna M. Bajjuri, Kazuki Fukushima, Gavin O. Jones, Alshakim Nelson, Julia E. Rice, and *James L. Hedrick
    ACS Macro Lett., 1, 19-22 (2012).
24. Thermoresponsive Nanostructured Polycarbonate Block Copolymers as Biodegradable Therapeutic Delivery Carriers
    Sung Ho Kim, Jeremy P. K. Tan, Kazuki Fukushima, Fredrik Nederberg, *Yi Yan Yang, Robert M. Waymouth, and *James L. Hedrick
    Biomaterials, 32, 5505-5514 (2011).
25. Biodegradable Nanostructures with Selective Lysis of Microbial Membranes
    Fredrik Nederberg, Ying Zhang, Jeremy P. K. Tan, Kaijin Xu, Huaying Wang, Chuan Yang, Shujun Gao, Xin Dong Guo, Kazuki Fukushima, Lanjuan Li, *James L. Hedrick, and *Yi-Yan Yang
    Nature Chem., 3, 409-414 (2011).
26. Rational Design of Biodegradable Cationic Polycarbonates for Gene Delivery
    Zhan Yuin Ong, Kazuki Fukushima, Daniel J. Coady, *Yi-Yan Yang, *Pui Lai Rachel Ee, and *James L. Hedrick
    J. Control Release, 152, 120-126 (2011).
27. New Catalytic Insights into Acid/Base Conjugates: Highly Selective Bifunctional Catalysts for Ring-Opening Polymerization
    Daniel J. Coady, Kazuki Fukushima, Hans W. Horn, Julia E. Rice, and *James L. Hedrick
    Chem. Commun., 47, 3105-3107 (2011).
28. Organocatalytic Depolymerization of Poly(ethylene terephthalate)
    *Kazuki Fukushima, Olivier Coulembier, Julien M. Lecuyer, Hamid A. Almegren, Abdullah M. Alabdulrahman, Fares D. Alsewailem, Melanie A. Mcneil, Philippe Dubois, Robert M. Waymouth, Hans W. Horn, *Julia E. Rice, and *James L. Hedrick
    J. Polym. Sci. Part A: Polymer Chem., 49, 1273-1281 (2011).
29. A Simple and Efficient Synthesis of Functionalized Cyclic Carbonate Monomers Using a Versatile Pentafluorophenyl Ester Intermediate
    *Daniel P. Sanders, Kazuki Fukushima, Daniel J. Coady, Alshakim Nelson, Masaki Fujiwara, Manabu Yasumoto, and *James L. Hedrick
    J. Am. Chem. Soc., 132, 14724-14726 (2010).
30. Hydrogen Bonding-Enhanced Micelle Assemblies for Drug Delivery
    Sung Ho Kim, Jeremy P. K. Tan, Fredrik Nederberg, Kazuki Fukushima, John Colson, Chuan Yang, *Alshakim Nelson, *Yi-Yan Yang, and *James L. Hedrick
    Biomaterials, 31, 8063-8071 (2010).
31. Delivery of Anticancer Drugs Using Polymeric Micelles Stabilized by Hydrogen-Bonding Urea Groups
    Jeremy P. K. Tan, Sung Ho Kim, Fredrik Nederberg, Kazuki Fukushima, Daniel J. Coady, Alshakim Nelson, *Yi Yan Yang, *James L. Hedrick
    Macromol. Rapid Commun., 31, 1187-1192 (2010).
32. A Supramolecularly Assisted Transformation of Block Copolymer Micelles into Nanotubes
    Sung Ho Kim, Fredrik Nederberg, Robert Jakobs, Jeremy P. K. Tan, Kazuki Fukushima, Alshakim Nelson, E. W. Meijer, Yi Yan Yang, and *James L. Hedrick
    Angew. Chem. Int. Ed., 48, 4508-4512 (2009).
33. Simple Approach to Stabilized Micelles Employing Miktoarm Terpolymers and Stereocomplexes with Application in Paclitaxel Delivery
    Fredrik Nederberg, Eric Appel, Jeremy P. K. Tan, Sung Ho Kim, Kazuki Fukushima, Joseph Sly, Robert D. Miller, Robert M. Waymouth, *Yi Yan Yang, and *James L. Hedrick
    Biomacromolecules, 10, 1460-1468 (2009).
34. Mixed Micelle Formation through Stereocomplexation between Enantiomeric Poly(lactide) Block Copolymers
    Sung Ho Kim, Jeremy P. K. Tan, Fredrik Nederberg, Kazuki Fukushima, Yi Yan Yang, *Robert M. Waymouth, and *James L. Hedrick
    Macromolecules, 42, 25-29 (2009).
35. Organocatalytic Approach to Amphiphilic Comb-Block Copolymers Capable of Stereocomplexation and Self-Assembly
    Kazuki Fukushima, Russell C. Pratt, Fredrik Nederberg, Jeremy P. K. Tan, Yi Yan Yang, Robert M. Waymouth, and *James L. Hedrick
    Biomacromolecules, 9, 3051-3056 (2008).
36. An Efficient Solid-State Polycondensation Method for Synthesizing Stereocomplexed Poly(lactic acid)s with High Molecular Weight
    Kazuki Fukushima and *Yoshiahru Kimura
    J. Polym. Sci. Part A: Polym. Chem., 46, 3714-3722 (2008).
37. Enhanced Stereocomplex Formation of Poly(L-lactic acid) and Poly(D-lactic acid) in the Presence of Stereoblock Poly(lactic acid)
    Kazuki Fukushima, Yoon-Hee Chang, and *Yoshiharu Kimura
    Macromol. Biosci., 7, 829-835 (2007).
38. Synthesis and Characterization of Stereoblock Poly(lactic acid)s with Nonequivalent D/L Sequence Ratios
    Kazuki Fukushima, Masayuki Hirata, and *Yoshiharu Kimura
    Macromolecules, 40, 3049-3055 (2007).
39. Spiropyran Dimer Toward Photo-Switchable Molecular Machine
    Kazuki Fukushima, Aaron J. Vandenbos, and *Tomoko Fujiwara
    Chem. Mater., 19, 644-646 (2007).
40. A Novel Synthetic Approach to Stereo-Block Poly(lactic acid)
    Kazuki Fukushima and *Yoshiahru Kimura
    Macromol. Symp., 224, 133-143 (2005).
41. Stereoblock Poly(lactic acid): Synthesis via Solid-State Polycondensation of a Stereocomplexed Mixture of Poly(L-lactic acid) and Poly(D-lactic acid)
    Kazuki Fukushima, Yukiko Furuhashi, Kazuaki Sogo, Shigenobu Miura, and *Yoshiharu Kimura
    Macromol. Biosci., 5, 21-29 (2005).
42. Production of D-Lactic Acid by Bacterial Fermentation of Rice Starch
    Kazuki Fukushima, Kazuaki Sogo, Shigenobu Miura, and *Yoshiharu Kimura
    Macromol. Biosci., 4, 1021-1027 (2004).
43. Controlled Crystal Nucleation in the Melt-Crystallization of Poly(L-lactide) and Poly(L-lactide)/Poly(D-lactide) Stereocomplex
    *Hiroshi Urayama, Takeshi Kanamori, Kazuki Fukushima, and Yoshiharu Kimura
    Polymer, 44, 5635-5641 (2003).

Review

1. Organocatalysis: A Paradigm Shift in the Synthesis of Aliphatic Polyesters and Polycarbonates
   *Kazuki Fukushima and *Kyoko Nozaki
   Macromolecules, 53, 5018-5022 (2020).
2. Design of Polymeric Biomaterials: The gIntermediate Water Concepth
   *Masaru Tanaka, Shingo Kobayashi, Daisuke Murakami, Fumihiro Aratsu, Aki Kashiwazaki, Takashi Hoshiba, and Kazuki Fukushima
   Bull. Chem. Soc. Jpn., 92, 2043-2057 (2019).
3. Biodegradable Functional Biomaterials Exploiting Substituted Trimethylene Carbonates and Organocatalytic Transesterification
   *Kazuki Fukushima
   Polym. J., 48, 1103-1114 (2016).
4. Poly(trimethylene carbonate)-Based Polymers Engineered for Biodegradable Functional Biomaterials
   *Kazuki Fukushima
   Biomater. Sci., 4, 9-24 (2016).
5. Design of Biocompatible and Biodegradable Polymers Based on Intermediate Water Concept
   *Masaru Tanaka, Kazuhiro Sato, Erika Kitakami, Shingo Kobayashi, Takashi Hoshiba, and Kazuki Fukushima
   Polym. J., 47, 114-121 (2015).
6. Stereocomplexed Polylactides (Neo-PLA) as High-Performance Bio-Based Polymers: Their Formation, Properties, and Application
   Kazuki Fukushima and *Yoshiharu Kimura
   Polym. Int., 55, 626-642 (2006).

Conference Proceeding

1. Polycarbonate-Based Biodegradable Hydrogels for Biomedical Applications
   *Kazuki Fukushima
   ECS Meeting Abstracts, MA2018-03, 118 (2018).
2. Economical and Safer Approach to Biodegradable Biocompatible Hydrogel
   Leire Meabe, Junko Takahashi, Nicolas Zivic, Haritz Sardon, David Mecerreyes, and *Kazuki Fukushima
   ECS Meeting Abstracts, MA2018-03, 8, (2018).
3. Effect of Anisotropic Aggregates Comprising Pegylated Block Copolymers on Cell Growth and Aggregation
   Nozomi Fujimura, Masashi Oji, Kodai Matsuzaki, Haruka Tsuchiya, and *Kazuki Fukushima
   ECS Meeting Abstracts, MA2018-03, 37 (2018).
4. Study of Gelation for Biodegradable Polyelectrolytes by a Counter Ion Exchange Approach
   Keita Saito, Shigekazu Yano, and *Kazuki Fukushima
   ECS Meeting Abstracts, MA2018-03, 54 (2018).
5. Hemocompatible Poly(trimethylene carbonate) Derivatives for Potential Application to Biodegradable Artificial Blood Vessels
   *Kazuki Fukushima, Shunya Takaoka, Shunsuke Shishido, Yuto Inoue, Takayuki Ota, and Masaru Tanaka
   Front. Bioeng. Biotechnol. Conference Abstract: 10th World Biomaterials Congress, (2016). doi: 10.3389/conf.FBIOE.2016.01.01027.
6. Surface Modification of Polylactide by a Biodegradable Polycarbonate with Antithrombogenicity
   Yuta Haga, Yuto Inoue, Masaru Tanaka, and *K. Fukushima
   Front. Bioeng. Biotechnol. Conference Abstract: 10th World Biomaterials Congress, (2016). doi: 10.3389/conf.FBIOE.2016.01.01401.

Book Chapter

1. Chapter 9; Upcycling of Polyesters
   Ion Olazabal, Elena Gabirondo, Coralie Jehanno, Kazuki Fukushima, and *Haritz Sardon
   Polyester Films: Materials, Processes and Applications, Ed. by Jehuda Greener and Mukerrem Cakmak, John Wiley & Sons, Inc. in press.
2. Chapter 7; ROP of Cyclic Carbonates
   *Kazuki Fukushima
   Organic Catalysis for Polymerization, Ed. by A. Dove, H. Sardon, S. Naumann, Royal Society of Chemistry, pp. 274-327 (2019).
3. Chapter 6; New Routes to Tailor-Made Polyesters
   *Kazuki Fukushima and *Tomoko Fujiwara
   Polymers for Biomedicine: Synthesis, Characterization, and Applications, Ed. by Carmen Scholz, John Wiley & Sons, Inc., pp. 149-189 (2017).