Katie Starr joined the Department of Chemistry in 2025. Her scholarship is rooted in the drug discovery process and answering how structure determines function. She is especially interested in the synthesis of novel natural product derivatives with anti-diabetic activity. By combining traditional organic chemistry methodology with medicinal chemistry principles, her lab aims to analyze the structure-activity relationships of lead compounds and optimize their drug-like properties.
Prior to Kenyon, Starr received her Ph.D. from The Ohio State University where she worked on the synthesis of small molecule V-ATPase inhibitors with anti-ovarian cancer activity. At Ohio State, she also received the university’s Graduate Associate Leadership Award and the Teaching Online and Technology-Enhanced Teaching Endorsements from the Drake Institute for Teaching and Learning.
2025 — Doctor of Philosophy from The Ohio State University
2022 — Master of Science from The Ohio State University
2020 — Bachelor of Science from Gannon University
Courses Recently Taught
We create scientific knowledge through observation, mental models and careful design of experimental procedures. We invite you to explore and understand this process through a combination of practical experience and critical analysis. CHEM 123 and 126 are your introduction to modern experimental chemistry and are foundational to all upper-level chemistry laboratory courses. Course activities: analyze and design laboratory procedures, practice operation of laboratory equipment, assess and validate techniques, construct knowledge through discussion. Format: one three-hour laboratory session per week. Topics typically include gravimetric and volumetric techniques, standardization, titration, spectrophotometry, infrared spectroscopy, nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy, molecular modeling, separations, chromatography, thermal analysis, kinetics, programming, data acquisition and data analysis. Prerequisite: CHEM 123. First-years and sophomores only. Offered every spring semester.
This course is a continuation of CHEM 231. This lecture course offers a study of the chemical and physical properties of organic compounds. Theoretical principles are developed with particular emphasis on molecular structure and reaction mechanisms. The descriptive aspects of organic chemistry include strategies for synthesis and the study of compounds of biochemical interest. This counts toward advanced course electives requirement for the major. Prerequisite: CHEM 231. Offered every fall semester.
This laboratory course introduces fundamental methods in organic chemistry research and complements the topics covered in the lecture course, CHEM 231. This is achieved by carrying out experiments and research projects involving topics such as isolation of a natural product, oxidation and reduction reactions, and reactions of alkenes. The techniques include liquid extraction, distillation, recrystallization and thin-layer and gas chromatography. Compounds are identified and assessed for purity by melting-point determination, refractometry, gas chromatography, and infrared and nuclear magnetic resonance spectroscopy. Appropriate record-keeping on laboratory notebooks and writing laboratory reports is emphasized. This course is required for the major. Prerequisite: CHEM 126; or CHEM 122 and 123. Corequisite: CHEM 231. Offered every spring semester.
In this laboratory course, students engage in multiweek, multistep projects that integrate both modern organic synthesis and advanced high-field nuclear magnetic resonance techniques. This course meets for one three-hour laboratory period per week. This counts toward advanced lab elective requirement for the major. Prerequisite: CHEM 234. Not offered every year.
Advanced selected topics in advanced chemistry and biochemistry are explored with an emphasis on reading and discussing current scientific research and literature. Topics covered vary by faculty interest each semester and typically relate to interesting applications or emerging techniques within organic, biophysical, biochemical, materials or analytical chemistry. Offered every semester, sections will change. Inquire with the chair and look for announcements for the specific topic in a given semester. Please see the schedule of courses each semester for the section being taught. This counts toward advanced course elective requirement for the major. Offered every semester.
