Faculty & Leadership
Faculty
In the Master of Science in Applied Chemical Science & Technology, you’ll study with nationally and internationally recognized faculty from the UW Department of Chemistry. Learn more about the faculty.
For those pursuing one of the research tracks, department faculty conduct research across a wide range of areas. These include core areas such as analytical, inorganic chemistry, organic, and physical chemistry, as well as interdisciplinary fields such as nanoscience, materials and polymer chemistry, chemical biology, synthesis and catalysis, theoretical and computational chemistry, and chemical physics. Learn more about faculty research areas.
Leadership
Sharon Durfy
Director
Sharon Durfy is the director of the Master of Science in Applied Chemical Science & Technology program. She earned a bachelor’s degree in pharmacology and biochemistry and a Ph.D. from the Department of Molecular and Medical Genetics, both from the University of Toronto. Her doctoral research explored the molecular structure, sequence, and evolution of X chromosome centromeric DNA in humans and primates. She was a postdoctoral fellow at the Kennedy Institute of Ethics at Georgetown University and subsequently an assistant professor in the Department of Medical History and Ethics at the University of Washington, where she conducted research and developed training programs on genetics ethics and human subjects research ethics. After founding and leading successful businesses, she returned to academics, instructing trainees and administering diverse medical research education programs, including at the UW Department of Neurological Surgery where she was the senior advisor for research education. She joined the UW Department of Chemistry and the Master of Science in Applied Chemical Science & Technology program in 2024.
Dan Fu
Co-Director & Admissions
Dan Fu is a professor in the UW Department of Chemistry. His main research interests are the development and applications of quantitative chemical imaging tools to study various pathophysiological processes of living biological specimens at single-cell resolution. These tools involve state-of-the-art laser engineering, innovation in ultrasensitive signal detection, and novel machine learning/deep learning-based data analysis. Leveraging these powerful tools, the Fu lab aims to drive biomedical applications in three areas: new early detection and intraoperative methods for cancer diagnosis, understanding brain metabolism and brain dysfunction in neurodegenerative diseases, and understanding drug resistance mechanism in tissue. Fu earned his doctorate in physical chemistry from Princeton University. He is a recipient of the Beckman Young Investigator Award, the NSF Career Award, the NIH MIRA Award and the Eli Lilly Young Investigator Award.
