Chemistry Welcomes New Faculty

M.S./Ph.D. Purdue University (Physics, Pushkar Group)
B.S. University of Louisville, Kentucky (Physics, Math)

Katherine M. "Kate" Davis joined the Emory faculty in January 2020, but this fall marks her first full academic year on campus. In the six months since she joined Emory, Kate has built a thriving research group, despite the unusual challenge of pivoting to virtual learning and low density research in response to COVID-19. This is in part due to the interdisciplinary nature of work in the Davis Lab and Kate's welcoming message to graduate students who are willing to dive in and learn: "You could come from any sort of experience or background and have something to contribute."

Graduate scholar Kendra Ireland describes the impact of this approach: "Kate gives us the freedom to conduct our own research how we see fit while also providing us with support—we know she’s there to help if we need her."

Kate joined Emory following postdoctoral training experiences at both Princeton and Penn State. She initially joined the group of Prof. Nozomi Ando (Princeton) for an introduction to structural enzymology, before transferring to work jointly in the labs of Prof. John T. Groves (Princeton) and Prof. Amie Boal (Penn State). Kate’s work in the Groves lab combined her spectroscopic and crystallographic experience to characterize heme enzymes and their synthetic analogs. In the Boal lab, she endeavored to elucidate the structural basis for the diverse functionality inherent to Fe/2OG-dependent enzymes.

Kate’s current research interests lie in developing and improving physical methods for decoding biomacromolecular structure and function, particularly as they apply to solving problems relevant for human health and medicine. "My research creates a new way to watch biological systems react and that could impact all sorts of fields—medicine, energy, anything that has proteins and the chemical aspects of seeing what’s happening while you’re watching."

Ph.D. Purdue University (Inorganic Chemistry, Rothwell Group)
B.S. Grove City College (Chemistry)

Richard Himes joins Emory from the College of Charleston where he was an instructor of chemistry and biochemistry. In addition to teaching in Charleston, Richard was involved with a biotech startup and mentored undergraduate students in research as part of the company. He looks forward to engaging Emory students in science entrepreneurship.

In the classroom, students will benefit from Richard's diverse perspective. "I bounced around a lot growing up and during school: Philadelphia, Virginia Beach, southern California, Indiana, Baltimore, South Carolina, and even Spain. I’ve done the same thing with my chem career. I’ve studied and/or taught general chem, inorganic chem, organic, bioinorganic, organometallics, medicinal chemistry. If it’s interesting, I’ll do it." Encouraging students in turn to follow their interests and foster an enthusiasm for learning is key to Richard's approach and dovetails well with the goals of Emory's Chemistry Unbound curriculum.

In building a classroom environment, Richard aims to keep students relaxed, engaged, and enjoying their learning experience. "Work hard, not stressed," is his motto. "But I know that’s easy for me to say, hard for them to do, so I’ll do what I can to help!" This semester, students will have the opportunity to experience Richard's teaching style in CHEM 150: Structure and Properties.

In addition to starting a new teaching position at Emory, Richard has embarked on a new personal adventure. "My wife and I have two new cats, Higgins and Sullivan. The three of us get into capers together."

Ph.D. University of California, Irvine (Nowick Group)
M.S. University of Leeds (Wilson Group)
B.S. University of California, Berkeley

Katherine McKnelly joins Emory directly from the University of California, Irvine, where she received her PhD over the summer. Several members of the Emory community were able to attend her virtual defense alongside the UIUC community—a silver lining of the necessity of moving the defense online!

At Emory, Katherine is excited to be part of a community focused on student success. Her goal is to engage students and inspire them to keep learning and growing beyond a single classroom experience. "My hope is for all students to keep questioning and pushing the limits of human knowledge. I like to incorporate and pose many questions in my classroom. I enjoy having students think about and answer questions." This approach is informed by her own experiences as an undergraduate at the University of California, Berkeley. "I had a couple professors who were phenomenal teachers. I wanted to become one of those good teachers who could help students learn the beauty of chemistry and how it helps us understand our physical world."

This semester, Katherine will teach CHEM 150: Structure and Properties. More than ever, she hopes that students will be open minded as they encounter new ways of learning via the Chemistry Unbound approach." She is excited to work with Emory students who come into the classroom ready to explore and advocate for themselves as learners. "I will give you the tools to learn the knowledge, be your advocate as you digest content, information, and ideas, and support your development as you form new connections and makes new discoveries."

PhD Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur (Organic Chemistry, Singh Group)

Monika Raj comes to Emory from Auburn University. And she's not alone—six graduate scholars and one postdoctoral scholar made the move to Emory with her, quickly establishing a vibrant laboratory presence in Atwood Hall. Research in the Raj Group takes place at the interface between the fields of organic synthesis, bioorganic chemistry, and catalysis. They are interested in utilizing organic chemistry tools to solve problems in the field of biology. A major focus for the group is the development of new chemical reactions, catalysis, and ligation methodologies for the synthesis of biological molecules.

In the Raj Group, graduate students are involved in every aspect of scientific discovery. "We interact with each other—not only professionally but personally, help each other out in solving the problems." With a focus on interdisciplinary work, group members rely on each other's expertise to drive projects forward. "Some people are trained in one division, like organic or biological," says Monika, "and then they work together on the same project interacting with each other and learning from each other."

Monika is particularly excited about the potential applications of research in the Raj Group to diagnostic tools for the early detection of cancer. Additionally, she is happy to be at a place in her career where she can focus on developing people as well as science, using her own experiences as a platform for supporting scholars underrepresented in STEM fields. "I am really proud of this and being in a place where I can make some changes, not only at the graduate level, but also participating in high school level events and encouraging them to take science courses. And also, when they move to undergrad, I always try to tell them that even if they are struggling, we want to retain them in science."

Part of that process of making people feel welcome in science is sharing her own love for the possibilities inherent in chemical research. "Everything we do in our daily life and everything around us involves chemistry," says Monika. "Simple movement of hands, blinking of eyes, breathing, and all the basic functions of life involves chemical molecules and reactions. When we say 'enzymes', they are doing chemistry inside of our body, if you talk about, for example, if I can see you, that’s chemistry, because we have a particular small molecule in our eye that when light falls on it, there is a change in the structure of the molecule that makes me see you. When I move my hand, when I talk - everything involves some kind of chemistry. All problems have some kind of chemical reaction going on. If you talk about polymer chains. Everything has some kind of chemical reaction going on. You can solve bigger problems if you have an understanding of chemistry."