In July, the Radcliffe Institute for Advanced Study at Harvard University selected David W. Christianson as the Elizabeth S. and Richard M. Cashin Fellow for the 2015-2016 academic year. Dr. Christianson, the Roy and Diana Vagelos Professor of Chemistry and Chemical Biology in Penn Arts and Sciences, is among only three percent of applicants accepted to the program.

At the Radcliffe Institute, Dr. Christianson will work to develop “blueprints” to understand and guide the protein engineering of terpenoid cyclases. As a visiting professor of chemistry and chemical biology at Harvard in the spring semester, he will also develop and teach a course on organic chemistry of life processes, which he will bring to Penn when he returns.