Laszlo Kurti PhD

Laszlo Kurti was born and raised in Hungary. He received his Diploma from Lajos Kossuth University (now University of Debrecen) in the laboratory of Professor Sándor Antus and his Master of Science degree at the University of Missouri-Columbia, working with Professor Michael Harmata. Laszlo earned his Ph.D. degree (2006) under the supervision of Professor Amos B. Smith III at the University of Pennsylvania.

While still in graduate school he authored the now popular textbook/reference book Strategic Applications of Named Reactions in Organic Synthesis with Barbara Czako which is now used in dozens of academic institutions and research laboratories worldwide. The second edition is currently under development, for details see http://sanros2.com. In 2006 Laszlo joined the group of Professor E.J. Corey at Harvard University as a Damon Runyon Cancer Fellow. In 2007 he co-authored the book Molecules and Medicine with Professor E.J. Corey and Dr. Barbara Czakó. In the Fall of 2010, Laszlo and Prof. Corey self-published Enantioselective Chemical Synthesis: Methods, Logic, and Practice that was warmly received by the community.

Laszlo began his independent career as an Assistant Professor in the Department of Biochemistry at UT Southwestern Medical Center, Dallas, Texas, but on June 1, 2015, he joined the faculty at Rice University (Houston, Texas) as an Associate Professor in the Department of Chemistry. His laboratory is located in the BioScience Research Collaborative (BRC) building that has state facilities and offers many opportunities for collaborations. The Kürti group focuses on the development of powerful new methods for the expedient enantioselective assembly of highly functionalized biaryls, heterocycles, and carbocycles. Recently, Laszlo has been the recipient of an NSF CAREER Award, Fellowship by the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS), the 2014 Amgen Young Investigators Award, and the 2015 Biotage Young Principal Investigator Award.