Dr. Marissa Lavagnino

Ph. D., Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 2022

A true Californian, Marissa spent time growing up in both the Bay Area and San Diego before earning her B.S. in Chemistry from UC Berkeley. At Cal she worked in the lab of John Hartwig developing Pd-catalyzed fluoroalkylations, and the summer before her senior year was spent in the lab of Melanie Sanford at the University of Michigan studying MOFs as solid supports for hydrogenation catalysts. After seeing the (blue) light, Marissa continued her journey east to Princeton and joined the MacMillan Group. Her hobbies include playing the cello, watching lots of Netflix, and, of course, eating great food.

Fun Facts

• Throughout high school she studied cello performance in summer intensive programs on both coasts and in Europe.
• She has synesthesia, so she associates letters and numbers with specific colors.
• The “g” is silent, as in “lasagna.”