Jingjia (Alina) Chen

B. Sci., Boston College, 2020

Alina was born and raised in Beijing, China. She left Beijing to pursuit her undergraduate degree in Biochemistry at Boston College. While at BC, she first worked with Prof. Eranthie Weerapana on the synthesis of unnatural amino acids. During the summer of her sophomore year, she interned at Novartis both as a medicinal chemist and a biologist. She discovered that she had a stronger interest in organic chemistry and therefore joined Prof. James Morken’s group in her junior year, where she worked on the enantioselective one-pot carbozincation Negishi cross-coupling cascade reaction. After finishing her bachelor’s degree, Alina came to Princeton and joined the Macmillan group, where she was happy to continue her research in both organic chemistry and biochemistry. Outside the lab, Alina enjoys figure skating, writing, and trying new foods.

Fun Facts

• Alina enjoys cooking only when she’s cooking for her family and friends. When it comes to cooking for herself, she’s the laziest person the world.
• As a compromise between her parents’ demand and her own dislike of pure milk, Alina’s morning always starts with a cup of milk with coffee. Now, she’s addicted to this drink
• Whenever she goes shopping, Alina’s first go-to are dresses, although she has very limited occasions for wearing them.