Andy I. Nguyen 2026 Early Career Lectureship Recipient

Andy Nguyen is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Chemistry at the University of Illinois Chicago, UIC. He received his B.S. in chemistry from the University of California, Irvine, in 2010, and his Ph.D. in inorganic chemistry from the University of California, Berkeley, in 2016. His graduate research, in the group of T. Don Tilley, focused on the chemistry of artificial photosynthesis using cobalt metalloclusters.

In 2016, he began a Materials Sciences Postdoctoral Fellowship at Lawrence Berkeley National Laboratory, in the group of Ron Zuckermann, where he developed coordination and noncovalent strategies for folding peptoids.

Andy joined the University of Illinois Chicago in 2020, to launch his independent career. His lab investigates the chemistry of peptide assemblies, with particular emphasis on porous peptide frameworks. The group has developed frameworks that exhibit both secondary and tertiary structural folds, establishing a platform that merges protein architecture with solid-state porous materials. These materials are being explored as evolvable catalysts, adsorbents, and sensors, as well as model systems for advancing the understanding of protein function.

His independent work has been recognized with several awards including the "Alfred P. Sloan Research Fellowship," 2026, the National Science Foundation "CAREER Award," 2025, the Department of Energy "Early Career Research Program Award," 2024, and the National Institutes of Health "Maximizing Investigators' Research Award," 2024.