Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology

The Charles V. Schaefer, Jr. School of Engineering and Science is pleased to announce the reappointment of Dr. Woo Lee as chair of the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology (CCB) for a second five-year term, effective July 1, 2025 through June 30, 2030.

Since assuming the role in 2020, Dr. Lee has led the department with a strategic vision centered on student success, faculty and staff development, and a collaborative, innovation-driven culture. Under his leadership, the department has transformed its undergraduate and graduate curricula through the introduction of a research spine, integration of artificial intelligence, and emphasis on skill-based learning aligned with career pathways.

Dr. Lee’s efforts have resulted in significant growth in undergraduate and accelerated master’s enrollments, strong student placements in medical and dental schools and the biopharma industry, and new philanthropic support for student research. He also established a 15-member External Advisory Board composed of alumni and regional leaders, which has helped expand research and experiential learning partnerships with institutions such as Hackensack Meridian Center for Discovery & Innovation and Jersey City Medical Center.

Looking ahead, Dr. Lee will continue to advance the department’s mission by fostering innovation at the intersection of molecular, cellular and AI technologies—driving student and faculty success and societal impact.

On March 19, 2025, Stevens President Nariman Farvardin and Senior Vice President for Academic Affairs and Provost Jianmin Qu announced that Teaching Professor and Associate Chair for Undergraduate Studies in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology Patricia Muisener has been selected to receive the Stevens Distinguished Teacher-Mentor (DTM) Award.

This award recognizes faculty members who excel in the scholarship of education with demonstrated success in pedagogical innovation, curriculum development, classroom teaching and mentoring students outside the classroom.

"I am extremely honored to receive this recognition by Stevens," said Muisener. "I have had the privilege to teach, mentor, advise and work with a diverse array of fantastic students while collaborating with many amazing faculty and staff across the University. I am grateful for my role as an educator and mentor at this world-class institution and I look forward to continue to teach, mentor and find innovative methods to educate the future leaders in STEM."

Since joining Stevens in 2015, Muisener has taught, revised and developed eight undergraduate and graduate courses that integrate multiple innovative teaching practices as well as actively participated in curriculum development including collaborating on the department’s Research Spine development. Muisener’s research in chemical education focuses on analyzing how students learn and develop creative, evidence-based strategies to enhance the learning process. Muisener has also participated in various educational initiatives, including the Stevens Foundations Grant funded by National Science Foundation, which led to reforming General Chemistry I and II and the creation of innovative digital resources. She also served as co-PI and co-director of an NSF Interdisciplinary Research Experience for Undergraduates/Research Experience for Teachers (REU/RET) in Sustainable Energy and Bioengineering as well as chair of the Stevens Health Professions Advisory Committee. Muisener’ s previous honors include the 2021 Alexander Crombie Humphreys Distinguished Teaching Associate Professor Award and the 2024-2025 Stevens Employee Excellence Award for Student Success Champion.

As a DTM Award winner, Muisener receives annual discretionary funds for three years to support her research, teaching and mentoring activities. During this period, Muisener will hold the title of Stevens Distinguished Teacher-Mentor.

Abhishek Sharma, assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology, recently received a $1.55M Maximize Investigator’s Research Award (MIRA) from the National Institutes of Health (NIH) for his project "Novel Acylborons and Alpha-hydroxy Borons to Enable Modular, Regio- and Stereocontrolled Synthesis of Bioactive Molecules and Protein Conjugates." The project seeks to develop novel molecular building blocks that will significantly expand the chemical space for drug discovery and also provide new tools to functionalize and probe therapeutically important proteins.

Abhishek Sharma, assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology in the Schaefer School of Engineering and Science, was recently awarded a grant of $462,600 from the National Institutes for Health. His project, entitled “ Modular Approaches to Unusual Borylated Heterocycles Using Novel Acylborons and alpha-Hydroxy Borons as Enabling Tools,” will enable him to continue one of his primary research focuses of expanding the chemical space (novel structures) of medicinally important molecules—in this case, heterocyclic drugs.

The grant will enable the development of chemical synthesis methods to broaden the availability of molecular building blocks, ultimately providing access to more “chemical space” to develop new therapeutic agents.