Dr. Caitlin Lacker

Dr. Lacker earned a B.S. in chemistry from Southwestern University in 2016. During her time as an undergraduate, she worked under Prof. Mike Gesinski to develop a novel, gold-cleavable protecting group for alcohols. Dr. Lacker then went on to earn her Ph.D. at the California Institute of Technology, working under Prof. Sarah Reisman on a variety of projects including the total synthesis of the small molecule Rumphellaone A and an enantioselective metallaphotoredox cross-coupling strategy to access N-benzylic heterocycles. She then went on to complete a postdoctoral appointment with Prof. Tehshik Yoon at the University of Wisconsin–Madison where her studies focused on developing photochemical methods to access pharmaceutically relevant compounds. She joined the faculty of UCM in 2024. Her research focuses on using photocatalysis to form carbon rings and skeletal editing of nitrogen-containing heterocycles.