CSD Champions
Who and what are CSD Champions?
The CCDC is fortunate to have so many great champions across the world. We would like to recognise this group who have committed to provide us feedback and guidance to shape our E&O strategy as we grow.
The CSD Champions support the scientific community in different ways:
- Provide the CCDC with guidance and feedback on our training to guide our education and outreach strategy
- Keeping us updated on training opportunities and events in their region
- Provide the CCDC with guidance on how to disseminate information about CCDC training resources and events effectively in their region.
CSD Champions
If you want to contact your CSD Champion email us on and we will connect you.
Our CSD Champions help us to reach users in their region and support the scientific community with education and outreach activities. Let us or them know if you would like to discuss potential events in your region.
Our CSD Champions are volunteers that are passionate to help us advance science for the benefit of their community, they are not paid positions and their opinions are their own.
Albert Soran — Romania
Albert Soran is a Lecturer in the Department of Chemistry at Babeș-Bolyai University Cluj-Napoca, Romania.
Anton Meden — Slovenia, Croatia, North Macedonia, Serbia
Anton Meden is a Professor of Inorganic Chemistry at the Faculty of Chemistry and Chemical Technology, University of Ljubljana, Slovenia. By the end of 2021, Anton had authored or co-authored over 180 scientific papers, contributing masses of data to the community (~200 organic/coordination compounds to CSD, ~50 inorganic to ICSD, and ~15 mainly inorganic to PDF).
Genji Kurisu — Japan
Genji Kurisu became a Professor of Protein Crystallography at the Institute for Protein Research (IPR), Osaka University in 2009. In 2017, he began his second role as a head of Protein Data Bank Japan (PDBj) at IPR. Genji is also a CCDC National Affiliated Centre (NAC) contact for the CCDC and has worked with academics in Japan to help distribute licences to the CSD.
Graham Saunders — New Zealand
Graham Saunders is an inorganic chemist at the University of Waikato, with a particular interest in fluorinated molecules and their use as ligands in organometallic chemistry and as synthons in crystal engineering.
Helen Maynard-Casely - Australia
Helen Maynard-Casely is a Senior Instrument Scientist at the Australian Centre for Neutron Scattering, ANSTO, and her research interest centers about the structures of materials relevant to the dwarf planets of our solar system. Helen was the 2019 Australian Institute of Physics ‘Women in Physics’ Lecturer and published her first children’s book (“I heart Pluto”) in 2020.
Izabela Madura — Poland
Javier Ellena — Brazil
Javier Ellena is a member of the São Carlos Institute of Physics at the University of São Paulo. His main line of research involves the development, achievement and characterization of new solid multi-component forms of active pharmaceutical ingredients with improved pharmacokinetic and pharmaco-technical properties.
Lourdes Infantes — Spain
Lourdes Infantes is a scientist at The Spanish National Research Council (Consejo Superior de Investigaciones Científicas-CSIC).
Marielle Agbahoungbata — Benin
Marielle Agbahoungbata is the coordinator of the X-TechLab in Benin which aims to provide hands-on training in X-ray techniques in order to provide African scientists with the means to develop solutions for the sustainable development of the continent.
Nikoletta Báthori — South Africa
Nikoletta (Niki) B. Báthori is an Associate Professor at the Cape Peninsula University of Technology (Cape Town, South Africa).
Petra Bombicz — Hungary
Petra Bombicz has been the head of the Chemical Crystallography Research Laboratory of the Research Centre for Natural Sciences in Budapest since 2013. Petra is involved in the work of IUCr Commission on Structural Chemistry and has represented CCDC as our National Affiliated Centre (NAC) in Hungary since 2013.
René de Gelder — Netherlands
René de Gelder is an Assistant Professor in Chemical Crystallography at Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands. His current research activities are focused on X-ray diffraction, methods for solid-state structure analysis, multi-component crystals, and crystallographic database analysis.
Samuel Tetteh — Ghana
Samuel Tetteh is a Senior Lecturer in Physical and Inorganic Chemistry at the Department of Chemistry, University of Cape Coast, Ghana. He is part of a team of African scientists being trained by the Agence de Dévelopment de Sèmè City in collaboration with the International Union of Crystallography (IUCr) and the Lightsources for Africa, Americas, Asia and Middle East Project (LAAAMP) to advance crystallography and synchrotron research in Africa.
Alessia Bacchi — Italy
Alessia Bacchi is Professor of Chemistry at the University of Parma, and was President of the European Crystallographic Association from 2015-2018. Alessia is on the CCDC’s Board of Trustees. She has also authored a guest blog for the CSD Educators series.
Arie van der Lee — France
Arie van der Lee (CNRS, IEM, Montpellier, France) has more than 30 years of experience in X-ray powder and single-crystal diffraction and X-ray reflectometry for thin films. He is the vice-president of the European Crystallographic Association.
Graciela Diaz de Delgado — Venezuela
Graciela Diaz de Delgado is a Professor in the Chemistry Department at Universidad de Los Andes (ULA) in Mérida, Venezuela. During the 24th IUCr Congress and General Assembly she was elected to the Executive Committee for the period 2017-2023 and appointed as Chair of the Subcommittee on the Union Calendar of the IUCr.
Gregory Ferrence — USA
Gregory (Greg) Ferrence is Professor of Chemistry at Illinois State University in Normal, Illinois. He is a Fellow of both the RSC and ACS and has been involved in ACS governance. Greg has undertaken several sabbaticals with the CCDC and was instrumental in helping to develop the CSD Teaching Subset.
Heng-Chuan Kan — Taiwan
Katherine Marczenko — Canada
Katherine Marczenko is a Crystallographer and Course Instructor at the University of Guelph. She has built a strong reputation among both students and faculty as an effective and enthusiastic teacher who is dedicated to incorporating Chemical Crystallography into the undergraduate curriculum.
Judith Currano — USA
Luc Van Meervelt — Belgium
Luc Van Meervelt is a Professor of Chemistry at KU Leuven in Belgium. He was an Executive Committee member of the European Crystallographic Association in the period of 2006-2012 and in 2011 he was elected as General Secretary and Treasurer (GST) of the International Union of Crystallography (IUCr). Luc performed this task until 2021.
Manuel Fernandes — South Africa
Manuel Fernandes is a reader in crystallography at the University of the Witwatersrand. He has been the administrator for the CCDC National Affiliated Center (NAC) for South Africa from 2000-2017, and 2022-present.
Natalia Alvarez — Uruguay
Natalia Alvarez is an Inorganic Chemistry Prof. for the Universidad de la República in Uruguay. Here, she participates in teaching innovation projects and outreach initiatives, one of which is the coordination of the School of Chemistry activities within the deprived of liberty student community. Natalia is also on the exec committee of the Latin American Crystallographic Association (LACA) and the Gender Equity and Diversity Committee of the International Union of Crystallography (IUCr).
Patrice Kenfack Tsobnang — Cameroon
Patrice Kenfack Tsobnang is a Lecturer at the University of Dschang, Cameroon. His research interests are in Crystal Engineering, hydrogen bonding, crystal and co-crystal growth, polymorphism, structure-properties relationship of materials. Patrice is member of many associations and committees participating to the promotion and teaching activities of crystallography and structural chemistry in Africa.
Victor Odari — Kenya
Victor Odari is a Senior Lecturer in Materials Science at the Department of Physics of Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology, Kenya. He is a co-founder of the Materials Research Society of Kenya which promotes teaching activities in crystallography. He is also one of the 2023 X-TechLab Trainees in Crystallography and his research interest is on emerging photovoltaic materials.