Professor Research Interests

Research projects within my group will use the tools of synthetic chemistry, molecular biology, and X-ray crystallography to answer important scientific questions.

A universal molecular scaffold. The development of a universal molecular scaffold that would allow the systematic design, construction, and investigation of macromolecules that display chemical functionality in three-dimensional space is a primary goal of my group. A scaffold like this will allow the design and synthesis of new catalysts, molecular sensors, and ultimately molecular machines. My group use synthetic chemistry to synthesize molecular building blocks that we will couple to each other through pairs of bonds to construct rigid macromolecules with diverse and programmable shapes. We have developed computer software that allows the computer aided design of these molecules to carry out specific functions.

For more details and images see our reseach page.

Awards

Cottrell Scholar Award, 2004; NSF CAREER Award, 2004-2009; Camille and Henry Dreyfus New Faculty Award, 2000-2005; Research Corporation, Research Innovation Award, 2000-2002; Jane Coffin Childs post-doctoral fellow, 1998-2000; Howard Hughes Medical Foundation pre-doctoral fellow, 1993-1998