Findings

Read about Erik Sorensen, Ph.D., in the September 2008 issue.

Chemist
Princeton University
Princeton, NJ

Erik Sorensen never expected to become a chemist, but a high school injury ended his dreams of professional running. Now he focuses on a different kind of long-distance race—the slow, sometimes grueling process of making new chemicals from scratch.

Sorensen designs his molecules with inspiration from natural substances like snake venom or bacterial toxins. Then, through a series of chemical reactions, he transforms a soup of raw materials into chemical concoctions with the power to kill cancer cells or fight infection.

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