Dr. Kateri Ahrendt joined the Regis Chemistry Department faculty in 2009. She completed her Ph.D. in organic chemistry at the University of California Berkeley in 2003, where she developed a highly enantioselective organocatalytic Diels-Alder reaction, leading to her advisor, Dr. MacMillan, receiving the 2021 Nobel Prize in Chemistry. Her other doctoral research projects included the synthesis of vancomycin analogs active against resistant bacteria, and imine-directed C-H activation applied towards an expedient synthesis of a tricyclic mescaline analog. Dr. Ahrendt’s National Institutes of Health post-doctoral fellowship entailed a concise synthesis of the ADE fragment of the marine natural product nakadomarin A. Before joining Regis, Dr. Ahrendt was a medicinal chemist at Array BioPharma (now Pfizer), targeting small molecule inhibitors of kinesin and B-Raf kinase. She continues to consult within the pharmaceutical industry – during her first sabbatical, she worked with CordenPharma on the development of a generic equivalent of glatiramer acetate (Copaxone®) for multiple sclerosis.
Dr. Ahrendt teaches courses for both science majors and non-science majors, including Organic Chemistry, Advanced Organic Chemistry, Synthesis and Characterization Lab, General Chemistry, Chemistry for the Health-Related Sciences, and Drugs of Use and Abuse. Her current research is focused on efficient and cost-effective undergraduate syntheses of egregiously overpriced drugs. In addition to providing individual research mentoring to students, she incorporates research-based learning into the Synthesis and Characterization advanced lab course.
