About Justin

Justin Wilson began his research career as an undergraduate in the lab of Prof. Jeff Long at UC Berkeley, where he investigated cyanide-bridged transition metal clusters as single-molecule magnets. After graduating in UC Berkeley with Highest Honors and the Departmental Citation in 2008, he began is PhD studies in Inorganic Chemistry at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology under the mentorship of Prof. Stephen J. Lippard. Justin’s graduate research focused on the design and investigation of novel platinum-based anticancer drug candidates, for which he received the annual Davison Prize for best inorganic thesis. From 2013–2015, Justin was a Seaborg Institute Postdoctoral Fellow at Los Alamos National Laboratory, where he worked with Dr. Eva Birnbaum on radioisotope production, separation, and ligand design.

In 2013, Justin began his independent career as an assistant professor in the Department of Chemistry and Chemical Biology at Cornell University, and was subsequently promoted to the rank of associate professor with tenure in 2021. In 2024, Justin joined the Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry at UC Santa Barbara as a professor. In addition to chemistry, Justin enjoys being outdoors on hikes, going to the beach, and is an avid swimmer. He likes to travel with his family, both locally in California and the USA, as well as abroad.

Academic & Career History

2024–Present Professor, University of California – Santa Barbara

2021–2024 Associate Professor, Cornell University

2015–2021 Assistant Professor, Cornell University

2013–2015 Seaborg Institute Postdoctoral Research Fellow, Los Alamos National Laboratory

2008–2013 Ph.D. in Inorganic Chemistry, Massachusetts Institute of Technology

2004–2008 B.S. in Chemistry, University of California, Berkeley

Awards & Honors

• 2022 ACS National Award – Harry Gray Award for Creative Work in Inorganic Chemistry by a Young Investigator

• 2020 Stiefel Lecture Award, Metals in Biology Gordon Research Conference

• 2019 NIH NIBIB R21 Trailblazer Award

• 2019 ACS Jonathan L. Sessler Award for Emerging Leaders in Bioinorganic and Medicinal Inorganic Chemistry

• 2019 Cottrell Scholar Award

• 2018 National Science Foundation CAREER Award

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