Welcome to Wooley's Group

Installation Ceremony for Karen L. Wooley as James S. McDonnell University Distinguished Professor

(Front row, L-R) Zhiyun Chen, Rhiannon K. Iha, Jeremy W. Bartels, Kenya T. Powell, Karen L. Wooley, Yali Li, David S. Germack, Jinqi Xu, Kevin G. Sullivan, Nam S. Lee, Shrinivas Venkataraman. (Back row, L-R): Eric (Wenjun) Du, Guorong Sun, Jun Ma, Andreas Nyström, Jeff Turner (former student), Ke Zhang, Chong Cheng and Zicheng Li. (December 6, 2006)

Karen L. Wooley was one of five professors within the Graduate School of Arts and Sciences at Washington University in Saint Louis to receive the Outstanding Faculty Mentor Award. This award is designed to honor faculty members whose dedication to graduate students and commitment to excellence in graduate training have made a significant contribution to the quality of life and professional development of graduate students in arts and sciences at Washington University. Karen was nominated for the honor by two of her 5th year Ph.D. students, Shrinivas Venkataraman and Brooke Van Horne.

Faculty Mentor Awards Ceremony for Karen L. Wooley as Outstanding Faculty Mentor of the Arts and Sciences Graduate School

Pictured here with some of the students from her laboratory are (from left to right): Shrinivas Venkataraman, Brooke Van Horne, Jinqi Xu, Andreas Nyström, David S. Germack, Yali Li, Ke Zhang, Jeremy W. Bartels, Kenya T. Powell and Karen L. Wooley. (April 18, 2007)

Our research interests are focused broadly upon the design, synthesis and characterization of unique polymers, with emphasis upon the development of synthetic methodologies that allow for the preparation of complex nanostructured materials. Just as typical synthetic chemists prepare molecules of specific stereochemistry and connectivity, using natural products as the targets to exercise their craft, we are identifying nanoscopic natural products, e.g. viral capsids, lipoproteins, and even dolphin skin, as synthetic targets. We do not attempt, however, to synthesize exactly these structures, but rather, to produce synthetic materials that capture the basic structural and functional elements.