Alumna Dr. Melissa Ramirez named a C&EN Trailblazer in chemistry with Latin American roots

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Dr. Melissa Ramirez (Ph.D. ’21 organic chemistry, Garg and Houk groups) has been named a Chemical & Engineering News (C&EN) Trailblazer in chemistry with Latin American roots.

Ramirez is currently a postdoctoral scholar at the California Institute of Technology (Caltech) and will join the Department of Chemistry at the University of Minnesota, Twin Cities, as an assistant professor in January 2025.

Read more here.

About Dr. Melissa Ramirez

Dr. Melissa Ramirez earned her B.A. in chemistry in 2016 from the University of Pennsylvania, where she was a Gates Millennium Scholar and conducted undergraduate research with Professor Gary Molander.

At UCLA, she joined the laboratories of Professor Ken Houk and Professor Neil Garg at UCLA, training as both a computational and synthetic organic chemist. Ramirez earned a number of accolades during her graduate studies, including the NIH F31 Ruth L. Kirschstein Fellowship and the Eugene V. Cota-Robles Fellowship. While at UCLA, she led and contributed to a variety of research projects. In particular, her synthetic and computational studies culminated in a deeper understanding of pericyclic reactions of strained intermediates, which continue to be an active area of research at UCLA.

After earning her Ph.D. in organic chemistry in 2021, Ramirez began her postdoctoral studies at Caltech under the mentorship of Professor Brian Stoltz. Her postdoctoral achievements have been recognized through the NSF MPS-Ascend Fellowship and the Caltech Presidential Postdoctoral Fellowship, among others. In the Stoltz lab, Ramirez conducts experimental and computational studies of catalytic enantioselective quaternary center formation.

Ramirez’s passions extend beyond chemical research; her commitment to science outreach and fostering diversity in STEM have spanned her entire academic career. At UCLA and Caltech, Ramirez has served as a board member for organizations that promote diversity, working to create inclusive spaces in STEM and support scientists from underrepresented minorities. In addition, she has served as a mentor in several capacities, such as guiding undergraduate students as they conduct research.

Ramirez was named a 2023 CAS Future Leader and was also awarded an NIH K99/R00 MOSAIC award.