Biocatalysis Network

Lou received her B.S. from Haverford College and Ph.D. in inorganic chemistry at Duke University under the mentorship of Professor Kathy Franz. As a postdoctoral scholar in Professor Chaitan Khosla’s Lab at Stanford University, she studied natural product biosynthesis. Lou returned to Haverford College in 2013 at a member of the faculty and was promoted to Professor of Chemistry in 2023. Lou spends her time in lab collaborating with undergraduate students to understand how bacteria biosynthesize structurally complex and medicinally relevant molecules such as polyketides. Lou is also passionate about integrating original research opportunities for undergraduates into the classroom, exploring how interpersonal factors can be leveraged to build more accessible STEM courses and training opportunities, and developing symbiotic community engagement activities. She is the recipient of an NSF CAREER Award, Cottrell Scholars Award, Henry Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award, the Council for Undergraduate Research Innovative Mentor Award, and ACS Rising Star Award, amongst others. 

Lesley-Ann Giddings is a soon to be Associate Professor of Chemistry at Smith College, a private liberal arts women’s college. She received her Ph.D. in Biological Chemistry from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in 2011 and completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the National Cancer Institute. At Smith College, Giddings bioprospects extreme environments, such as acid rock drainage and Antarctic deserts, for microbial secondary metabolites and characterizes the enzymes involved in their biosynthesis.

David J. Gorin received his A.B. cum laude in chemistry from Harvard College and his Ph.D. from UC Berkeley under the guidance of F. Dean Toste. He was an American Cancer Society-Canary Foundation postdoctoral fellow with David R. Liu at Harvard University prior to his 2011 appointment at Smith College, where he is now Professor of Chemistry and Chair of the Biochemistry Program . His research interests include the development of oxidative alkylation reactions for small molecule synthesis and the use of DNA-based reagents to selectively transform one target compound in a complex mixture. His teaching and service interests include AEMES (a cohort program to support success of diverse STEM students), strategies for capstone assessment, and incorporating the primary literature into introductory organic chemistry courses. While at Smith, Dave’s work has been recognized with the college-wide Sherrerd Award for Teaching excellence, an NSF CAREER grant, and the Cottrell Scholar award. 

Meagan Hinze is an Assistant Professor in the Chemistry Department at Sam Houston State University in Huntsville, Texas. She grew up in the Midwest and studied both chemistry and German at Butler University. Meagan obtained her Ph.D. at Cornell University under the mentorship of Chad Lewis while pursuing complex molecule synthesis. She then moved to the University of Michigan as a postdoctoral scholar with Alison Narayan. While at UM, Meagan made contributions to projects exploring the biosynthetic pathway of saxitoxin and expanding biocatalytic capabilities for small molecule synthesis. 

Meagan started her independent career in 2019 and has mentored a total of 14 undergraduates and 3 MS students. Combining her training in synthesis and biocatalysis, current projects in the lab focus on leveraging Baeyer-Villiger monooxygenases to generate diverse chiral synthons. The lab’s research interests have been previously supported by an Organic Syntheses PUI grant and are currently supported through funding from the Welch Foundation, ACS Petroleum Research Fund, and a National Science Foundation CAREER Award.

Hanna grew up near Milwaukee, Wisconsin, and went to undergrad at Grinnell College, where she studied chemistry, biology, and science education. As a graduate student with John Hartwig, she studied the preparation and catalytic activity of Rh and Ir-substituted carbonic anhydrases and heme enzymes. As a post-doc with Scott Miller, she studied Rh-catalyzed hydrogenation and conjugate addition for late-stage functionalization of the antibiotic thiostrepton. In 2019, she started as an assistant professor at Davidson College in North Carolina, where she teaches organic and biochemistry courses as well as an advanced seminar on enzyme and pathway engineering. The main thrust of her research at Davidson has investigated the intersection of mutagenesis and kinetic and thermodynamic control to alter the selectivity and scope of transaminase enzymes. Since starting, her research group has included 43 undergraduate students. Recent graduates are/will be continuing to study chemistry at Georgia Tech, Michigan, Rutgers, and UC Berkeley. 

I received my BS from University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire and did my PhD in Inorganic Chemistry with Joe Hupp at Northwestern, focusing on photophysical characterization of porphyrin systems. I did postdocs with George McClendon at Duke University and Karin Musier-Forsyth at Minnesota before starting at Macalester in 2007. My research interests are in bioinorganic chemistry, with one area focusing on the impact of copper on zinc binding sites and a newer area on developing artificial metalloenzymes. 

Kari Stone is an associate professor of chemistry at Lewis University where she teaches biochemistry courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels. She received her Ph.D. from Pennsylvania State University in 2008 under the direction of Michael Green in the field of bioinorganic chemistry. After receiving her Ph.D., she transitioned into synthetic inorganic chemistry at the University of California-Irvine as a postdoctoral associate with Andy Borovik. Kari has been teaching in higher education since 2009 maintaining an active research program with undergraduate and graduate students. Her research interests involve greener alternatives to synthetic processes making her projects highly collaborative focusing on biocatalysis, drug discovery, and environmental sustainability. You can find more information on her research interests here: www.stonelaboratory.com. She is a member of the leadership council of IONiC VIPEr, a 1500-member community of practice, aimed at providing resources and community to faculty that teach inorganic and associated fields. In addition, she serves as a chemistry division representative of the Council on Undergraduate Research.

Leah Witus is an Associate Professor of chemistry at Macalester College in Saint Paul MN. She grew up in Ann Arbor, Michigan and attended Rice University, majoring in chemistry. As an undergraduate she did research with Professor Jeffrey Hartgerink. She obtained her PhD in chemistry at the University of California Berkeley as part of the Chemical Biology Graduate Program, where she worked with Professor Matthew Francis on protein bioconjugation reactions. She then did research on synthetic molecular machines as a National Institutes of Health Postdoctoral Fellow with Sir Fraser Stoddart at Northwestern University.

As a Macalester Professor since 2015, Leah’s teaching centers on biochemistry and general chemistry. In addition to courses, Leah views the research laboratory as a rich teaching environment. She has mentored over 22 Macalester students in research, and together they have sought to understand and develop peptide and protein catalysts. Current projects in the lab include studying the role of secondary structure on the activity of peptide catalysts, and comparing the effect of directly conjugated shielding polymers on enzyme activity. This work has resulted in publications with Macalester student co-authors and has been awarded funding from the National Institutes of Health and the Cottrell Scholar Award from the Research Corporation for Science Advancement. Leah is also interested in science communication with the general public and has made animated explainer videos, collaborated with a sociology colleague to study science communication, and developed an elective course for Macalester students.