Makeda Tekle-Smith

Makeda graduated from Pomona College with a bachelor’s degree in chemistry in 2014. While at Pomona, she worked in the lab of Professor Cynthia Selassie investigating new antimalarial therapeutics. She then went on to pursue her doctorate at Columbia University under the supervision of Professor James Leighton. Her Ph.D. focused on the total synthesis of non-aromatic polyketides and their development as novel antibody-drug conjugate warheads. Makeda is carrying out her postdoctoral work with Abigail Doyle in the Princeton University Department of Chemistry. Her work in the Doyle lab encompasses developing new synthetic methods utilizing photoredox catalysis to generate highly reactive radicals under mild conditions.