Eric Nacsa

Eric Nacsa is an Assistant Professor of Chemistry at the Department of Chemistry, Pennsylvania State University. He holds a BSc from Harvey Mudd College (2010), a PhD from Columbia University (2015), and completed a NIH Postdoctoral Fellowship at Princeton University (2019). His research focuses on developing synthetic organic chemistry strategies for preparing complex biologically active compounds, catalyst design, and scalable renewable feedstock approaches. The Nacsa Group emphasizes electrochemical methods, radical chemistry, and catalytic platforms for sustainable synthesis.

Education:

• NIH Postdoctoral Fellow, Princeton University, 2019
• PhD, Columbia University, 2015
• BSc, Harvey Mudd College, 2010

Research Interests:

• Design of new reactions and catalysts for organic synthesis
• Electrochemical catalysis and green chemistry
• Functionalization of simple olefins via radical or transition-metal-mediated pathways
• Development of enabling tools for chemical biology

Awards:

• NIH MIRA Award (2024–2029)
• NSF CAREER Award (2024–2029)
• ACS PRF New Investigator Award (2022–2023)

Grants & Funding:

• NIH R35 MIRA (2024–2029)
• NSF CAREER (2024–2029)

His lab, the Nacsa Group, includes 11 current members focused on advancing synthetic methodologies. The group’s recent work emphasizes electrochemical platforms for carboxylic acid substitution and arylation of simple olefins.