I was born in Bellshill, Scotland, and discovered my love for chemistry as an undergraduate at the University of Glasgow. That passion carried me to California, where I completed PhD studies with Professor Larry Overman at UC Irvine, followed by a postdoctoral fellowship with Professor Dave Evans at Harvard. I began my independent career at Berkeley, then moved to Caltech, and since 2006 I’ve been at Princeton, where I now serve as the James S. McDonnell Distinguished University Professor of Chemistry. Throughout this journey, I’ve had the privilege of working with remarkable students and collaborators who continually push our science in new directions.

My group is perhaps best known for helping to establish the field of organocatalysis—a simple but powerful way of building molecules without relying on metals. That work ultimately led to the 2021 Nobel Prize in Chemistry, which I shared with Ben List. My group also pioneered photoredox catalysis, which uses light to drive chemical reactions and has opened new possibilities for drug discovery and materials science. Both organocatalysis and photoredox catalysis are now widely used across multiple industrial sectors, from pharmaceuticals to agriculture to fragrances.

In recent years, my group has turned to using synthetic chemistry to tackle pressing questions in biology. One of our major efforts is called µMap, a photocatalytic “proximity labeling” technology. In essence, µMap uses light to chart how proteins are interacting with one another at nanometer resolution. This approach has given us new ways to study how cancer cells communicate with their surroundings, why some tumors resist therapies and where small molecules bind to proteins—questions that are central to developing better treatments. Our ongoing collaborations through the Ludwig Center have been especially rewarding, allowing us to pair chemical innovation with urgent challenges in cancer biology.

I’ve been fortunate to receive recognition for this work, including election to the Royal Society, the National Academy of Sciences, and the American Academy of Arts and Sciences. I was also honored to be knighted by Queen Elizabeth II in 2022. What continues to drive me, however, is seeing how ideas from fundamental chemistry can evolve into tools that advance biology and medicine.

At Princeton, I direct the Princeton Catalysis Initiative, which builds bridges between academia and industry. I also consult widely and have co-founded start-ups to translate new chemistry into practical tools for medicine. Even with these broader efforts, I view myself first and foremost as a synthetic organic chemist, focused on inventing new chemical tools and applying them to address major challenges in cancer research.