Sarah Wengryniuk PhD

Sarah was born and raised in the rural farmlands of Frederick, MD. She received her B.S. in both chemistry and biology from Winthrop University in Rock Hill, SC in 2007 where she also competed on both the Track and Cross Country teams. At Winthrop, she began her chemistry research career in the laboratory of Professor Aaron Hartel, where she studied the use of the 1,2-Brook rearrangement to access b-hydroxy carbonyl compounds. Upon graduation, she moved to Duke University where she received her Ph.D. from the laboratory of Professor Don Coltart as an NSF Graduate Research Fellow. Her doctoral thesis focused on the development of N-amino cyclic carbamate (ACC) chiral auxiliaries for use in the region- and stereocontrolled polyalkylation of ketones.

She also applied this methodology to the synthesis of natural products (+)- and (–)-stigma one and aflatoxin D. After completing her Ph.D. in 2012, she ventured west to La Jolla, CA where she began a postdoctoral position in Professor Phil Baran’s laboratory at The Scripps Research Institute as a Ruth L. Kirchstein NIH Postdoctoral Fellow. While in the Baran Laboratory, she worked on numerous projects including an industrial collaboration in medicinal chemistry with Bristol-Myers Squibb, the regioselective bromination of heterocyclic N-oxides, and efforts toward the concise total synthesis of challenging diterpenoid natural products. Sarah began her faculty position at Temple University in January 2015 where her research group explores novel methodology development as a means to access biologically active natural products and subsequent investigation of their potential as both chemical probes and therapeutics. When not in the lab, Sarah is an avid sports fan with allegiances to the Washington Redskins, Cleveland Indians, and Duke Blue Devils.