Sijia Dong

Sijia Dong is an Assistant Professor in Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Northeastern University, affiliated with Chemical Engineering, Physics, and multiple research institutes including the Institute for Chemical Imaging of Living Systems and the Quantum Materials and Sensing Institute. Her research focuses on developing computational methods to study chemical systems, with applications in renewable energy and biomedicine. She holds a PhD from Caltech and a B.Sc. from the University of Hong Kong.

Education:

• Ph.D. in Chemistry, Caltech (2017)
• B.Sc., First Class Honours, The University of Hong Kong (2010)

Research Interests:

Her lab develops physics-based and data-driven computational methods to study multiscale chemical processes. Key areas include quantum phenomena in biological systems, light-driven chemical transformations, and computational design of materials for energy and medicine. Techniques include electronic structure theory, machine learning, and quantum computing.

Awards:

• NIH MIRA Award (2024)
• Excellence in Mentorship Award (2024)
• Scialog Fellowship (2024)
• DOE and NSF Funding (2023-2025)

Lab and Teams:

Her lab, the Dong Theoretical and Computational Chemistry Lab, includes PhD students, postdocs, and undergraduates. Collaborations involve institutions like MITRE and Iowa State University. Current projects include quantum algorithm development for electronic structure simulations and photoenzyme design.