Christopher R. Shugrue, Ph.D.
Assistant Professor of Chemistry
University of Richmond
Biorgraphy:
Dr. Shugrue began his chemistry journey at College of the Holy Cross, where he had intended to major in math. He fell in love with organic chemistry and decided to change majors, earning a B.A. in 2013. Dr. Shugrue received his Ph.D. from Yale University in 2019 in the lab of Prof. Scott Miller, where he was an NSF Graduate Research Fellow. His work focused on the development of a new class of chiral phosphoric acid catalysts based on peptides, which were applied toward asymmetric transfer hydrogenations and reductive aminations. Dr. Shugrue next worked as an NIH Postdoctoral Fellow at MIT in Prof. Brad Pentelute’s lab, designing reactive peptide sequences for protein bioconjugation. He joined the faculty of the University of Richmond in 2021. His lab sits at the interface of organic chemistry and chemical biology and focuses on the development of tools for peptide library screening. The group has published three peer-reviewed papers with undergraduate co-authors and has been awarded two grants from the ACS Petroleum Research Fund and Organic Syntheses. Dr. Slives in Midlothian, Virginia, and loves going on adventures with his wife and two daughters, golfing, and landscaping his yard in his free time.
Education & Training:
Massachusetts Institute of Technology
NIH Postdoctoral Fellowship (2019-2021)
Advisor: Prof. Bradley Pentelute
Project: Programing specific reactivity into peptide sequences for the site-selective modifications of proteins.
Yale University
Ph.D. in Chemistry (2013-2019)
Advisor: Prof. Scott Miller
Dissertation: Exploration of Phosphothreonine (pThr)-Embedded Peptides as Brønsted Acid Catalysts for Stereoselective Catalysis
College of the Holy Cross
B.A. in Chemistry, Summa Cum Laude (2009-2013)
Advisor: Prof. Brian Linton
Dissertation: Thiourea Derivatives in Stereoselective and Regioselective Synthesis
University of Texas at Austin
NSF Research Experience for Undergraduates (REU)
Advisor: Prof. Stephen Martin
Dissertation: Investigation of asymmetric halonium-induced cyclizations
catalyzed by BINOL-derived bifunctional catalysts.
Funding:
- ACS Petroleum Research Fund – 2023-2025
- Ruth L. Kirschstein Postdoctoral Individual National Research Service Award – MIT, 2019-2021
- NSF Graduate Research Fellowship – Yale, 2014-2018
- NSF Research Experience for Undergraduates – UT Austin, 2021
- Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation Summer Research Fellowship – Holy Cross, 2011
Honors:
- Richard Wolfgang Prize: awarded for best doctoral dissertation in chemistry – Yale, 2019
- New England Division of American Institute of Chemists Foundation Award – Holy Cross, 2013
- ACS Division of Organic Chemistry Undergraduate award: Holy Cross, 2013
- ACS Undergraduate award in Analytical Chemistry: Holy Cross, 2012
- ACS POLYED Undergraduate award for Achievement in Organic Chemistry; Holy Cross, 2011
- College of the Holy Cross Honors Program, 2010-2013
- Charles A. Dana Scholarship: Holy Cross, 2010-2013
Professional Memberships:
- American Chemical Society
- Phi Beta Kappa – inducted 2012
- Alpha Sigma Nu – inducted 2012