Neal Devaraj Explained

Neal Devaraj
Birth Date:	7 September 1980
Birth Place:	Manhattan Beach, California, U.S.
Field:	Chemical biology Biochemistry
Work Institutions:	Harvard University of California, San Diego
Alma Mater:	MIT Stanford
Doctoral Advisor:	James P. Collman Christopher Chidsey
Academic Advisors:	Moungi Bawendi Ralph Weissleder
Known For:	Tetrazine bioorthogonal reactions; synthesis of artificial cells and membranes
Awards:	Guggenheim Fellowship (2019) Eli Lilly Award in Biological Chemistry (2019) ACS Award in Pure Chemistry (2017) NSF CAREER Award (2013)

Neal K. Devaraj (born September 7, 1980) is an American chemist and professor at the University of California, San Diego (UCSD).^[1] His research interests include artificial cells, lipid membranes, and bioconjugation.

Education

Devaraj attended college at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, where he performed research in the lab of Professor Moungi Bawendi.^[2] In 2007, Devaraj earned his PhD in chemistry from Stanford University, where he worked in the labs of Professors James P. Collman and Christopher Chidsey.^[3]

Career and research

From 2007-2011, Deveraj completed a postdoctoral fellowship at the Harvard Medical School in the lab of Professor Ralph Weissleder.^[4] In 2011, Devaraj became a faculty member in the department of Chemistry and Biochemistry at UCSD, where he is currently the Murray Goodman Endowed Chair in Chemistry and Biochemistry.^[5]

Selected publications

• 952–9. 10.1021/acscentsci.8b00251. The Future of Bioorthogonal Chemistry. 2018. ACS Central Science. 4. 8. 30159392. 6107859. Devaraj. NK.
• 11429–32. 10.1021/jacs.6b01625. A Bioorthogonal Near-Infrared Fluorogenic Probe for mRNA Detection. 2016. Wu. H. Alexander. SC. Jin. S. Journal of the American Chemical Society. 138. 36. 27510580. Devaraj. NK.
• 5805–9. 10.1002/anie.201400135. In situ synthesis of alkenyl tetrazines for highly fluorogenic bioorthogonal live-cell imaging probes. 2014. Wu. H. Yang. J. Šečkutė. J. Angewandte Chemie International Edition in English. 53. 23. 24764312. 4104127. Devaraj. NK.
• 7476–9. 10.1002/ange.201202122. Live-Cell Imaging of Cyclopropene Tags with Fluorogenic Tetrazine Cycloadditions. 2012. Yang. J. Angewandte Chemie International Edition in English. 51. 30. 22696426 . 3431913 . Devaraj. NK.
• 5222–5. 10.1002/anie.201201117. Metal-catalyzed one-pot synthesis of tetrazines directly from aliphatic nitriles and hydrazine. 2012. Yang. J. Karver. MR. Li. W. Sahu. S. Angewandte Chemie International Edition in English. 51. 21. 22511586. 3434974. Devaraj. NK.

Awards and honors^[1]

• 2022 - Vannevar Bush Faculty Fellowship
• 2022 - Bioconjugate Chemistry Lectureship Award
• 2021 - Tetrahedron Young Investigator Award
• 2019 - Leo Hendrik Baekeland Award
  • • 2019 - Guggenheim Fellowship 2019 - Eli Lilly Award in Biological Chemistry 2018 - Blavatnik National Laureate in Chemistry
• 2018 - Magomedov-Shcherbinina Memorial Prize
  • 2017 - ACS Award in Pure Chemistry 2016 - National Fresenius Award
• 2016 - Camille Dreyfus Teacher-Scholar Award
• 2016 - NIH T1D Pathfinder Award
• 2013 - NSF CAREER Award

Notes and References

1. Web site: Devaraj, Neal . www-chem.ucsd.edu . 18 October 2022.
2. Web site: Professor Neal Deveraj Receives the North Jersey Section’s 2019 Leo Hendrik Baekeland Award . www.njacs.org . The Indicator . 18 October 2022.
3. Web site: Guggenheim Fellows: Neal K. Devaraj . www.gf.org . 18 October 2022.
4. Web site: Neal K. Devaraj . jacobsschool.ucsd.edu . 18 October 2022.
5. Web site: Professor of Chemistry Neal Devaraj Named Vannevar Bush Faculty Fellow . today.ucsd.edu . 18 October 2022.