Valentin Zaharia is a Professor and Head of the Organic Chemistry Department, Faculty of Pharmacy, “Iuliu Haţieganu” University of Medicine and Pharmacy, Cluj-Napoca, Romania. He obtained a bachelor's diploma in pharmacy, in 1982 (Institute of Medicine and Pharmacy Cluj-Napoca, Romania). In 1991, he obtained a PhD diploma in pharmacy. His research areas include the following: (1) The synthesis, structural analysis, and evaluation of the biological potential (anti-inflammatory, antimicrobial, antitumor action) of some classes of heterocyclic and polyheterocyclic compounds with isolated and condensed rings: thiazoles, selenazoles, pyrazoles, oxazoles, thiadiazoles, thiazolo-triazoles, triazolo-thiadiazoles, triazolo-thiazolo-pyridazines, chalcones, flavones, flavanones, aurones; (2) The stereoselective and non-stereoselective enzymatic syntheses of thiazole compounds with biological potential. He is member of the following scientific organizations: Society of Pharmaceutical Sciences in Romania (since 1982), Romanian Chemical Society (since 2004), International Society of Heterocyclic Chemistry (since 1994). He is member of the scientific committee of the Farmacia Journal. He has won the "Teodor Goina" Award of the Faculty of Pharmacy (2003, 2022) and the "Nicolae Simionescu" Award of the Romanian Academy (2021).