Elizabethtown College School of Science Adds Teaching and Research Postdoctoral Associate

Dr. Grant Walby
Teaching and Research Postdoctoral Associate

Elizabethtown College’s School of Science recently welcomed Dr. Grant Walby to the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry as the School’s first-ever Teaching and Research Postdoctoral Associate. 

Dr. Walby’s project is supported by AC Baugher Professor of Chemistry Dr. James MacKay’s National Science Foundation (NSF) research grant, “Nucleobase-Modified PNA for Sequence Selective Triple-Helical Recognition of Non-Coding RNA.”  As a team member on this international collaborative project, Dr. Walby will be developing new tools for biotechnology that allow for the sequence-specific recognition of ribonucleic acids – a major biochemical player in biology that affects virus transmission, gene regulation, and other crucial biological processes.  

He will also be teaching courses in the department of Chemistry and Biochemistry and supervising undergraduate research.

“This position offers the unique opportunity for me and other members of our campus community to mentor a young scientist and future faculty member,” MacKay said. “I’m especially grateful to the NSF for funding, and the support from Elizabethtown College administration to make this opportunity possible.”

Dr. Walby comes to Etown following a Graduate Research Assistant position at the University of Texas at Austin where he recently completed his dissertation under the direction of Dr. Stephen F. Martin in the area of synthetic organic chemistry and drug design. He earned his Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry with a specialization in synthesis from UT Austin in May 2022.

“I am excited to join Etown and to be able to work on such an exciting project,” Dr. Walby said. “I look forward to working with everyone both in and out of the classroom and am grateful to both the College and the NSF for this experience.”

Interested in studying Chemistry at Etown? The in-depth program includes foundational and advanced coursework in the five traditional subdisciplines in chemistry: analytical, biochemistry, inorganic, organic and physical. Learn more.