People

Jay T. Goodwin, PhD

Jay received his PhD in Bioorganic Chemistry with Dave Lynn at the University of Chicago, focusing on some of the earliest research examples of dynamic chemical networks, and following an NIH postdoctoral fellowship with Gary Glick at the University of Michigan worked in drug discovery and development at both large pharma and as an entrepreneur.  Recognizing the challenges of addressing complexity of dynamic biological and biochemical systems including their interactions with surrounding environments, both physical and biological, he has directed his current research focus to complex interacting and integrative systems in self-organizing and evolving chemical networks.  Contemporaneously, Jay is also focused on innovative STEM and STEAM (STEM + Arts) formal and informal educational approaches to broaden participation, and in science policy decision-making that shapes and supports innovations in science research and education.  He is currently a 2013-15 AAAS Science & Technology Policy Fellow at the National Science Foundation and a Senior Research Fellow in Chemistry at Emory.

David G. Lynn, PhD

Dave’s research attempts to understand the structures and forces that enable supramolecular self-assembly, how chemical information can be stored and translated into new molecular entities, and how the forces of evolution can be harnessed in new structures with new function. Such knowledge offers tremendous promise for discoveries in fields as diverse as drug design and genome engineering, pathogenesis and genome evolution, functional nanoscale materials and the origins of evolving chemical systems.  Some of his current research interests include the origins of prokaryotic and eukaryotic pathogenesis, template directed polymerization and dynamic combinatorial systems chemistry, amyloid diseases and protein self-assembly, and intelligent materials. He currently serves the Asa Griggs Candler Professor of Chemistry and Biology at Emory University, Chair of the Department of Chemistry, and as a HHMI Professor.

Sarah Imari Walker, PhD

Sara Imari Walker is an Assistant Professor in the Beyond Center for Fundamental Concepts and the School of Earth Exploration at Arizona State University. She is also on the Board of Directors of the non-profit Blue Marble Space, through which she co-directs SAGANet.org – a social website aimed at engaging the public in the exciting science of astrobiology. Previously, she has held appointments as a NASA Astrobiology Institute Postdoctoral Fellow and as a Postdoctoral Fellow in the Center for Chemical Evolution at Georgia Institute of Technology. She earned her Ph.D. in Physics and Astronomy at Dartmouth College.  She lives in Tempe, AZ with her husband Carl and son Corwin.