Research Interests

Our group applies mechanistic principles to develop new concepts in catalysis. Our goal is to advance new conceptual strategies for catalytic reactions to provide novel solutions to problems ranging from materials design, energy conversion, selective oxidation reactions, to drug delivery. Areas of focus include the development of organic or organometallic catalysts for the synthesis of macromolecules with novel chemical, physical or biological properties, selective catalytic (including electrocatalytic) redox reactions, and the application of new in-situ techniques for interrogating catalytic reactions.

2026
Top Row (L-R): Sam Ran Khasnavis, Jannik Barth, Braydin Clostio, David M Dumas, Yuan Jia
Bottom Row (L-R): Josh Lui, Robert (Bob) Waymouth, Rebecca Avrutin, Ben Chi, Julia Dressel

We are grateful for the generous support of several funding agencies:

The National Science Foundation under Grant Nos. CHE-2403822, CHE-2452574; the Department of Energy under Grant No. DOE SC0026550; the US Army Medical Research Acquisition Activity (USAMRAA) under Agreement No. HT9425261E148; the Gordon and Betty Moore Foundation under Grant No. 14234; the Stanford Doerr School of Sustainability under Grant No 347443 and the SPARK Translational Research Program in the Stanford University School of Medicine.

Any opinions, findings, conclusions, or recommendations expressed in this material are those of the author(s) and do not necessarily reflect the views of the National Science Foundation, the Department of Energy, the USAMRAA, the Moore Foundation or Stanford University.