I grew up in Southern California about 10 miles from Disneyland. My family and I have lived in Franklin Park since 2010. I have degrees in Chemistry from the University of California, Irvine (BS), the University of Rochester (MS, PhD) and I was a post-graduate research fellow at Harvard University. I have been a full professor in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Pittsburgh since 2008. As a university professor, I manage a research group working in the area of organic chemistry (the chemical processes of carbon-containing molecules) and I teach classes to both undergraduate and graduate students to help them better understand the chemical sciences. My research focuses on inventing new molecular-level tools for creating organic substances with use as new drugs for a variety of human illnesses.