Vishal Yadav
He/Him
I am gay and I am a bioinorganic chemist.//
Hailing from Kolkata, India, known as the “Cultural Capital,” “City of Processions,” “City of Palaces,” and “City of Joy,” I overcame the odds of a lower-middle-class background to pursue my educational dreams in the United States. With a Bachelor’s in Chemistry from the University of Calcutta (2011-14) and an MS from the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay (2014-16). I embraced a pivotal summer internship at the University of Western Ontario in 2015. This experience revealed the boundless possibilities in academia. Subsequently, I earned my Ph.D. in Chemistry from Johns Hopkins University (2016-2022) and now work as a postdoctoral scholar at The Pennsylvania State University.
My journey began with an unwavering childhood fascination for biology and an insatiable thirst for knowledge. Over time, I realized that it’s the intricate chemistry underpinning biological phenomena that truly kindles my curiosity and passion. Inorganic chemistry, particularly bioinorganic chemistry, became my focus. At Johns Hopkins University, my research delved into the roles of earth-abundant metals in biochemical reactions, using synthetic chemical models. In my current role, I explore similar questions with a more biochemical perspective, bridging the gap between chemistry and biology. My expertise spans synthetic and biological inorganic chemistry, including ligand synthesis, spectroscopy, crystallography, and computational studies like DFT. My future goals revolve around furthering my understanding of metalloenzymes and bridging the gap between inorganic chemistry and biochemistry.