PRINCIPAL INVESTIGATOR
Malkanthi Karunananda
Malkanthi Karunananda
EMPLOYMENT
Saint Louis University
Assistant Professor (2022 - present)
EDUCATION
The Scripps Research Institute, CA.
Postdoctoral Research Associate (2017 - 2022)
Advisor: Keary M. Engle
University of Illinois at Chicago, IL.
Ph.D. in Chemistry (2012 - 2017)
Advisor: Neal P. Mankad
University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka.
B.Sc. in Chemistry: First Class Honors (2006 - 2010)
ACADEMIC HONORS AND AWARDS
Cottrell Postdoctoral Fellowship (RCSA/NSF) - Co-mentored by Kendall N. Houk at UCLA (2021)
Benjamin B. Freud Graduate Research Fellowship (2016)
ACADEMIC PROFILES
Google Scholar
Academic Tree
ORCID
BIOSKETCH
EMPLOYMENT
Saint Louis University
Assistant Professor (2022 - present)
EDUCATION
The Scripps Research Institute, CA.
Postdoctoral Research Associate (2017 - 2022)
Advisor: Keary M. Engle
University of Illinois at Chicago, IL.
Ph.D. in Chemistry (2012 - 2017)
Advisor: Neal P. Mankad
University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka.
B.Sc. in Chemistry: First Class Honors (2006 - 2010)
ACADEMIC HONORS AND AWARDS
Cottrell Postdoctoral Fellowship (RCSA/NSF) - Co-mentored by Kendall N. Houk at UCLA (2021)
Benjamin B. Freud Graduate Research Fellowship (2016)
ACADEMIC PROFILES
Google Scholar
Academic Tree
ORCID
BIOSKETCH
Malkanthi completed her undergrad studies at University of Kelaniya, Sri Lanka majoring in chemistry and graduated with first class honors in 2010. She then joined the PhD program at University of Illinois, Chicago in 2012 and carried out research integrating both experimental and computational chemistry with Prof. Neal Mankad on the development of heterobimetallic catalysts for E-selective alkyne semihydrogenation reactions and was awarded the Benjamin B. Freud graduate research fellowship. Upon completion of her thesis work in 2017, she started her postdoctoral work at The Scripps Research Institute with Prof. Keary Engle. Her postdoctoral research was centered on building theoretical models to study mechanisms of regio- and stereoselective alkene functionalization reactions. During her final year, she was awarded the Cottrell Postdoctoral Fellowship and continued her computational work under the co-mentorship of Prof. Kendall Houk, UCLA. In fall 2022, she joined the department of chemistry at St. Louis University as an Assistant Professor in Chemistry.