Karin Åkerfeldt

Biography

I was born in Stockholm, Sweden. My undergraduate studies in chemistry, at the University of Stockholm, had a profound influence on my later decision to pursue an academic career at an undergraduate institution. Particularly, my research experiences gained with Dr. Per Garegg (carbohydrate synthesis) and Dr. Bengt Mannervik (studies on the enzyme glutathion S-transferase) made it clear to me how important undergraduate research is in providing an exciting and fulfilling chemistry education. After I completed my B. Sc. degree, I went to the United State as a Fulbright Scholar to work on porphyrin synthesis with Dr. Kevin Smith at the University of California, Davis. I then returned to Stockholm to continue my studies, now on ribonucleotide chemistry with Dr. Per Garegg. A couple of years later I decided to go back to the US to pursue my Ph. D. degree. My interests in biochemistry and synthetic organic chemistry led me to work on a project in bioorganic chemistry in Dr. Paul Bartlett's group at the University of California, Berkeley. There I worked on the design and synthesis of multisubstrate and transition state analog inhibitors. After the completion of my Ph. D., I did postdoctoral work in the area of protein design (specifically, ion channels) in Dr. Bill DeGrado's lab at DuPont, Delaware. Since then, I worked as an Assistant Professor in Chemistry at Rutgers, the State University of New Jersey, Camden campus, for five years before I moved, in May of 1998, to the Chemistry Department at Haverford College, Pennsylvania.

Courses: Fall 2008, Haverford

Courses: Spring 2009, Haverford