Meet our scholars

Building molecules is my passion. Through billions of years of evolution, Nature is capable of producing compounds with astonishingly diverse shapes, sizes and biological functions. My overarching ambition is to use “bio-inspired” synthetic chemistry to refine Nature’s templates as new treatments to tackle antibiotic resistance and human disease.   Born and raised in the US, I carried out my PhD at the University of Sydney, where I designed tools to build bioactive peptides and simultaneously fell in love with Australia. I then returned to the US to work with a world-renowned organic chemist at the Scripps Research Institute and with leading industry collaborators to develop new strategies to streamline the construction of therapeutic molecules.   Now at the ANU, I am an enthusiastic educator, STEM advocate and research leader working at the interface of chemistry and biology. My dedicated team of “molecule builders” seeks to harness Nature’s elegant designs as next-generation therapies.