Pioneering Researcher

From 2000 to 2010, Michael O’Keefe was the world's third most cited chemist. With ASU colleagues he generated the first pictures of atomic orbitals and invented metal-organic framework structures (MOFs).

Structural Revolution

Petra Fromme's group was part of the team that generated the first crystal structure of a protein using femtosecond X-ray nanocrystallography, a tool that promises to revolutionize structural biology.

Access and Opportunity

The School of Molecular Sciences hosts the nation's only online chemistry and biochemistry degrees, with innovative hands-on lab courses that meet the needs of students otherwise excluded from a college education.

Extraterrestrial Amino Acids

Carleton Moore led ASU’s early studies of the Murchison meteorite that resulted in the first isolation of extraterrestrial amino acids, demonstrating the unambiguous presence of complex organic compounds outside of Earth.

Sunlight Makes ATP

Devens Gust, Tom Moore and Ana Moore developed the first biomimetic, light-powered artificial photosynthetic system capable of using light energy to synthesize ATP, the molecule that powers life.

Proteins Are Conductors

Stuart Lindsay made the first measurements that demonstrated conductivity in proteins, usually considered to be insulators, by optimizing the molecular structure of the electrical contacts.

• 6 NSF CAREER Awards
   
• 2 NIH New Innovator Awards
   
• Air Force Young Investigator Award
   
• Sloan Foundation Research Fellowship
   
• DARPA Young Faculty Award
   
• DOE Career Award

Laura Ackerman
Sustainable synthesis and catalysis 

Kyle Biegasiewicz
Organic synthesis and biocatalysis 

Christina Birkel
Non-conventional materials synthesis 

Audrone Lapinaite
Function-mechanism of modified RNA

Judith Klein-Seetharamane
Discovery for Personalized Diagnosis

Hongwu Xu
Materials

*compared to the on-ground population

• Low-cost Zika Virus Test
  Cell 2016,165 5, 1255-1266

• Cleaner Fuels from Photosynthesis
  Science 2017, 357, 6355, 1021-1025

• Cancer-fighting Nanorobots
  Nat. Biotechnol. 2018, 36, 258–264

• Wildfires and Climate Change
  PNAS 2019, 16 39, 19336-19341

• Routes to Non-Addictive Pain Therapies
  Nat. Commun.2020 11, 4169