Emily Balskus Coffee Hour - Cambridge, co-hosting with Women in Chemistry

Please join us for a Coffee Hour with Dr. Emily Balskus, Assistant Professor of Chemistry and Chemical Biology. Dr. Balskus is originally from Cincinnati, Ohio and became interested in chemistry as a high school student. She graduated from Williams College in 2002 with highest honors in chemistry. After spending a year at the University of Cambridge, she pursued graduate studies in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Harvard, receiving her PhD in 2008. Her graduate work with Prof. Eric Jacobsen focused on the development of asymmetric catalytic transformations and their application in the total synthesis of complex molecules. From 2008-2011 she was an NIH postdoctoral fellow at Harvard Medical School in the lab of Prof. Christopher T. Walsh. Her research in the Walsh lab involved elucidating and characterizing biosynthetic pathways for the production of small molecule sunscreens by photosynthetic bacteria. Dr. Balskus then joined the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology as an assistant professor last summer. At the Coffee Hour, Dr. Balskus will discuss the academic job search and what it’s like to start a new lab.Please RSVP to rbeinart@fas.harvard.eduCo-sponsored by Harvard Women in Chemistry (HWIC).