This summer, we welcome our newest Teacher-Scholars, Dr. Lindsey Anderson, Dr. Maya Pathuri, and Dr. Kay Xia. Our Teacher-Scholar program allows postdoctoral scholars to experience research and teaching at the same time as a way to prepare them for future faculty or research positions.
Dr. Lindsey Anderson (2026-27 Willard F. Libby Teacher-Scholar, Barber group) joined the Teacher-Scholar instructional faculty in July 2026. This fall, she will be teaching general chemistry lecture and lab classes.
As part of her new position, Anderson conducts research about the downwind air quality impacts of fires at the wildland urban interface in Professor Victoria Barber’s lab.
Anderson received her B.S. in chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley, in 2021, where she conducted atmospheric chemistry research under the guidance of Professors Ronald Cohen and Hannah Kenagy. She received her Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Colorado, Boulder, in 2026, under the guidance of Professor Joost de Gouw and was supported by the NSF Graduate Research Fellowship Program (GRFP). Anderson’s graduate research focused on investigating air pollutant formation from wildfire and urban emissions using satellite data, forecast models, and ground-based measurements. Throughout her Ph.D., Anderson also created a chemistry curriculum for the middle school branch of the Partnerships for Informal Science Education in the Community (PISEC) program.
In the classroom and in the lab, Lindsey is passionate about science identity development. As a Teacher-Scholar, she is excited to combine her passions in atmospheric chemistry research and teaching.
Dr. Maya Pathuri ‘19 (2026-27 Willard F. Libby Teacher-Scholar, Caram group) joined the Teacher-Scholar instructional faculty in July 2026. This fall, she will be teaching general chemistry laboratory and organic chemistry lecture classes.
As part of her new position, Pathuri conducts research in Professor Justin Caram’s group, where she investigates the synthesis, spectroscopy, and electronic structure of molecular lanthanide qubits and HgTe quantum dots.
Pathuri received her B.S. degree in chemistry from UCLA in 2019. As an undergraduate, she conducted research in Professor Alexander Spokoyny’s laboratory on carborane-based RAFT initiators and room-temperature ionic liquids. She received her Ph.D. in chemistry from Northwestern University in 2026 under the mentorship of Professors Bryan Hunter and Emily Weiss. Her doctoral research encompassed semiconductor quantum dot photocatalysis, the electronic structure of main-group coordination complexes, and laser-based synthesis of transition metal nitride nanomaterials.
Alongside her research in chemistry, Pathuri’s scholarly interests include chemistry education and the science of teaching and learning. Her education scholarship focuses on developing and evaluating interactive instructional resources and investigating how evidence-based instructional design can improve students’ conceptual understanding of challenging chemical concepts, particularly in inorganic chemistry. As a Teacher-Scholar, she looks forward to combining her interests in chemistry, education, and instructional design to improve undergraduate chemistry education.
Dr. Kay Xia (2026-27 Donald J. Cram Teacher-Scholar, Houk group) joined the Teacher-Scholar instructional faculty in July 2026. This winter and spring, she will be teaching organic chemistry lab and general chemistry classes.
As part of her new position, Xia conducts research with Professor Ken Houk, working on computational modeling of aqueous reactions in which water acts as both solvent and reactant. She is also investigating the impact of vibrational modes on the rate of intersystem crossing in organic biradical systems with Professor Miguel García-Garibay.
Xia received her A.B. in Chemistry and Visual Arts from Harvard College in 2019. She received her Ph.D. in Chemistry from UC Berkeley in 2023, jointly advised by Professors Dean Toste, Ken Raymond, and Bob Bergman, studying supramolecular host-guest chemistry. During her doctoral studies, she also conducted chemical education research with Professor Anne Baranger on equity and inclusion in graduate chemistry education. From 2024-2025, she was a postdoctoral researcher with Professor Ryan Hadt at Caltech, studying molecular quantum bits and their mechanisms of electron spin decoherence. She joined the Houk group in January 2026 as a postdoctoral scholar.
As a Teacher-Scholar, Xia is committed to improving inclusion and accessibility in undergraduate education. She seeks to connect chemistry concepts to real-world impacts and aims to foster students’ science identity and sense of value alignment.
Our current Teacher-Scholars, Dr. Martin-Louis Riu (2024-2025 Donald J. Cram Teacher-Scholar, Nava group) and Dr. Eric Wu (2024-2025 Willard Libby Teacher-Scholar, Schwartz group), Dr. Anneka Miller Casas (2025-2026 Willard F. Libby Teacher-Scholar, Caram group), and Dr. Cindy Sining Wang (2025-2026 Paul D. Boyer Teacher-Scholar, Schmitt group), will continue to teach undergraduate chemistry and biochemistry courses and conduct research in the 2026-27 academic year.
About the Boyer/Cram/Libby Teacher-Scholar Program
The Teacher-Scholar positions honor UCLA Chemistry & Biochemistry Department Nobel Laureates Paul D. Boyer, Donald J. Cram, and Willard F. Libby, and recognize their many contributions to the advancement of chemistry and biochemistry. Boyer/Cram/Libby Teacher-Scholars are expected to serve for three years, with the initial appointment for one year, plus the possibility of renewal annually. They are expected to teach three to four undergraduate chemistry or biochemistry courses during a given academic year and conduct postdoctoral research with a sponsoring faculty member in the UCLA Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry.
About our Former Teacher-Scholars
Our Teacher-Scholars represent the finest educators and researchers in their respective fields. We are confident they will continue to make significant contributions to the world.
Dr. Mackenzie Anderson (2022-2025 Willard F. Libby Teacher-Scholar, Kaner group) is an Assistant Professor in the chemistry department at Sacramento State University.
Dr. Agape Awad (2018-2020 Paul D. Boyer Teacher-Scholar, C. Clarke group) is currently an Extended Studies Biochemistry Professor at the University of California, San Diego Extension.
Dr. Christian Beren (2018-2020 Willard F. Libby Teacher-Scholar, Gelbart/Knobler group) in August 2020, Beren started a position as an assistant teaching professor at the Colorado School of Mines in Chemistry. At Mines, Christian teaches a combination of general chemistry, physical chemistry and biochemistry/biophysics courses.
Dr. Marlius Castillo (2019-2021 Donald J. Cram Teacher-Scholar, García-Garibay group) is currently an Assistant Professor of Instruction in the Department of Chemistry and Physics at the University of South Florida Sarasota-Manatee.
Dr. Huiling Shao (2021-2022 Donald J. Cram Teacher-Scholar, Houk group), joined the Chemistry and Biochemistry Department at the California State University, Northridge (CSUN), for the Fall 2025 semester.
Dr. Shuming Chen (2016-2019 Donald J. Cram Teacher-Scholar, Houk group) July 2020, Chen accepted a position as Assistant Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry at Oberlin College in Ohio.
Dr. Zhao Li (our first 2016-2019 Willard F. Libby Teacher-Scholar, Lin group) is currently a Lead Data Scientist at dave.com.
Dr. Rajat Maji (2023-2024 Donald J. Cram Teacher-Scholar, Doyle group) is currently conducting research in Professor Abigail Doyle’s group as a NIH Pathway to independence award (K99/R00) postdoctoral fellow.
Dr. Anish Nag (2019-2021 Paul D. Boyer Teacher-Scholar, Gelbart group) started a new position as Process Development Scientist-Drug Product Technology at Amgen in Thousand Oaks in August 2021. His position is within the pre-pivotal stage manufacturing group and involves process optimization of drug candidates.
Dr. Sharon Neufeldt (our first 2013-2016 Donald J. Cram Postdoctoral Teacher-Scholar, Houk group) is currently an associate professor of chemistry at Montana State University.
Dr. Rachel Prado (2017-2019 Donald J. Cram Teacher-Scholar, Bouchard group) In 2019, Prado returned to her home state of Alabama to accept an organic chemistry and biochemistry lecturer position at Auburn University.
Dr. Roshini Ramachandran (2017-2019 Paul D. Boyer Teacher-Scholar, Spokoyny group) is currently an assistant professor in the biology & chemistry department at the California State University Monterey Bay. She continues to collaborate with UCLA faculty members. In 2025, Ramachandran and UCLA Professor Chong Liu were awarded a $137,000 grant through the AI Funding for Accelerated Study and Transformation (FAST) Challenge.
Dr. Jacquelin Kammeyer Woodford (our first 2016-2019 Paul D. Boyer Teacher-Scholar, Maynard group) is a Lecturer in Chemistry at Wellesley College.
Information above as of 07/6/26. Please send any updates to Penny Jennings, UCLA Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, penjen@g.ucla.edu.
