Professor Abigail Doyle, the Saul Winstein Chair in Organic Chemistry, has been named to the Cell Press 50 Scientists that Inspire list for her contributions in organic chemistry and computational chemistry.
From Cell Press (by Cell Press communications team):
50 Scientists that Inspire
Spotlighting researchers who drive innovation
As part of the celebrations for our 50th anniversary, Cell Press is honored to spotlight 50 notable scientists who inspire us. Editors at each of our journals across the sciences have nominated scientists whose research and careers drive innovation, cross boundaries, and inspire the leaders of the future. We hope you enjoy this collection of profiles that offer a window into the lives and labs of these exciting scientists—and their hopes for the future of science.
Abigail G. Doyle, PhD, the Saul Winstein chair in organic chemistry at the University of California, Los Angeles, was selected as one of the Cell Press 50 Scientists that Inspire for her contributions in organic chemistry and computational chemistry.
At UCLA, Dr. Doyle’s research group works to address unsolved problems in organic synthesis through the development of catalysts, catalytic reactions, and synthetic methods. She believes that embracing diverse skills and perspectives leads to new scientific approaches and fosters a research culture in her lab where everyone can reach their full potential as scientists and as people.
Dr. Doyle received her AB and AM summa cum laude in chemistry and chemical biology from Harvard University. She began her graduate studies at Stanford University working with Professor Justin Du Bois before transferring to Harvard University, where she received her PhD in 2008 under the supervision of Professor Eric Jacobsen. Her independent career began at Princeton University, where she was promoted to associate professor and the A. Barton Hepburn professor of chemistry, before moving her research group in 2021 to UCLA. She has recently been recognized with the OMCOS award (2023), the EJ Corey Award for Outstanding Original Contribution in Organic Synthesis by a Young Investigator (2022), the Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation Machine Learning in the Chemical Sciences and Engineering Award (2021), and the RSC Fluorine Award (2019).
In this Q&A, she shares how her work with her colleagues and trainees inspires and grounds her, addresses her experiences with imposter syndrome, and calls on chemistry as a field central to the sciences to bring communities together in pursuit of a more cross-collaborative future.
What does innovation in science look like to you?
The innovations that get me most excited are ones that find connections that were previously unknown between two seemingly disparate ideas, topics, tools, techniques, or applications. Once discovered, these connections can seem so straightforward and simple, yet often the simplest discoveries end up being the most impactful.
Tell us about a moment of discovery that has been a highlight of your career.
By far the biggest highlights of my career are not the conventional moments of discovering something myself but, rather, seeing each of my coworkers grow into their roles as independent scientists.
Nothing I have done on my own beats the thrill of the many times when a student in my lab comes to me after having independently conceived of an idea, tested it in the lab, and obtained a lead result that demonstrates its validity. Or when a coworker interprets their results in a different manner than I had been considering and their vision inspires new lines of thinking for all of us. Or when a student who might not be the natural communicator receives their dream job or postdoctoral offer after having worked arduously to hone and refine a talk with the group and me over multiple iterations.
I love my career in large part because of these frequently recurring “moments.”
What inspired you to become a scientist?
My parents used a periodic table of the elements placemat for my meals when I was a toddler, so perhaps I was foreordained to become a chemist. But in my first year of college, I explored as many of my interests as possible. I took philosophy and economics courses alongside the prerequisite courses for most science majors, just in case. But after completing a full year of organic chemistry classes, I decisively declared chemistry as my major. Why? These classes were taught by incredibly talented professors who helped me realize that the field encompassed everything I was looking for not only in a career but also in a hobby.
Organic chemistry has core principles of structure and reactivity that satisfy my mathematical mind. But its unpredictability requires experimentation, which appeals to my love of exploration. My lab team and I have enormous space to be creative, and we also have the opportunity to make an impact. We experience, for example, the thrill of designing and synthesizing a molecule for the first time that could have an important function as a medicine or catalyst.
Do you have words of wisdom for students thinking about science—or advice you would give to your younger self?
Funnily enough, my group has a tradition that each trainee shares three “words of wisdom” when we gather to celebrate their completion of the PhD requirements. So, I have collected 10 years of wisdom from my group, and I am certainly wiser for it.
I have so many “words of wisdom” I love to share with students when they are starting. Take risks. Never fear being wrong or asking for help. Science is an iterative process of observing, forming a hypothesis, and testing it to arrive at the next observation.
When students are starting out, I find that they can be reticent to say, “I think what is happening is X because of Y.” Chemistry is complicated, and they are understandably unsure. So, I tell them: “Be bold enough to state a hypothesis.” That enables us to design an experiment to test it. Even if the experiment proves our hypothesis wrong, we’ve learned something to inform what we do next. Taking the risk of stating and testing hypotheses is infinitely more important than how correct or incorrect the hypotheses were.
Are there barriers or hurdles you have faced in your career? How do you navigate these?
Imposter syndrome is certainly something that I still struggle with, which can make it difficult for me to flourish in large professional settings, like at a big conference. It sometimes deters me from asking for help from colleagues, mentors, or sponsors.
I realize this may sound surprising, given that I’m writing this answer in response to being selected to represent Cell Press’s 50 Scientists that Inspire. I find that the more outward-facing successes I receive, the more I question whether I have really earned these accolades. And more importantly, I’ve felt so privileged and oftentimes also undeserving of the incredible coworkers who have chosen to work with me throughout my career and contributed so much to my success.
I don’t have a solution to avoid this hurdle, but I do find that if I return to the scientific problems, ideas, and people, I’m able to re-center. I find that interacting with my trainees is the best antidote: their enthusiasm, creativity, and dedication are inspiring.
What do the next 50 years look like for your field or for science more broadly? What changes would you like to see?
Chemistry is known as the central science. It touches medicine, technology, climate science, and energy. As such, it should be the field that embraces diverse ideas and perspectives and fosters interdisciplinary collaboration and openness. And it does to an extent, but I’m confident that we can do much better than we have to date.
Fostering open, cross-field collaboration is one change that I’d like to see over the next 50 years—actually over 5 or 10 years, please! The field also needs to become more accessible, open, and inclusive to enable chemistry to remain at the forefront of addressing many of the world’s greatest challenges.
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As part of the celebrations for our 50th anniversary, Cell Press is honored to feature 50 notable scientists who inspire us. Editors at each of our journals across the sciences have nominated scientists whose research and careers drive innovation, cross boundaries, and inspire the leaders of the future. Visit the collection of profiles for a window into the lives and labs of these exciting scientists—and their hopes for the future of science.
