ACS-SA 2026 Symposium

Christine (Chris) Hrycyna (her-SIN-a) is currently the Dean of the School of Physical Sciences and Chancellor's Associates Chair in Chemistry and Biochemistry at the University of California, San Diego. Prior to joining UC San Diego in September 2023, Professor Hrycyna was the Head of the Department of Chemistry in the College of Science and a 150th Anniversary Professor at Purdue University. She received her BA in Chemistry from Middlebury College and her PhD in Biochemistry with Prof. Steven Clarke in the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry from UCLA. Prof. Hrycyna was subsequently a Jane Coffin Childs Memorial Fund for Medical Research Postdoctoral Fellow at the NIH in the National Cancer Institute with Dr. Michael Gottesman before starting as an Assistant Professor at Purdue in 2000. During her time at Purdue, she also served as Associate Department Head, Head of the Biochemistry Division in the Department of Chemistry, Head of the Interdisciplinary Life Science Graduate Program (PULSe), and as a representative on the University Senate and the University Educational Policy Committee. 

Dr. Hrycyna’s research focuses on the biochemical basis of aging disorders and cancer and the development of new treatments for brain, pancreatic and lung cancers. Her work has been supported by both federal and society research grants and she was named a University Faculty Scholar in 2017. Dr. Hrycyna has authored over 90 articles and book chapters and has graduated 24 Ph.D. students, 5 master’s students and mentored more than 40 undergraduate researchers. She currently serves on the Editorial Board of the Journal of Biological Chemistry and has served as a standing member of the peer review committee on cancer drug development (CDD) of the American Cancer Society, and as a reviewer for the Ford Foundation and various NIH Special Study Sections.