Abigail Knight, PhD

Abby returned to the UNC Chemistry Department in the summer of 2018 - she completed her Bachelor of Science in Chemistry with minors in Mathematics and Biology as UNC undergraduate and she completed an undergraduate research in Prof. Marcey Waters’ research group developing new ligands for RNA and DNA structures. After graduating from UNC, Abby pursued a PhD in the chemical biology program at the University of California, Berkeley in the lab of  Prof. Matthew Francis. Her PhD research focused on the development of a platform applying combinatorial libraries for the identification of selective metal ligands to address major challenges in water and environmental remediation and metal poisoning. During her postdoctoral position with Prof. Craig Hawker at the University of California, Santa Barbara, she designed smart nanomaterials with unique architectures and both biological and materials applications. These pursuits provided expertise in materials characterization, supporting the Knight Research Group’s mission to design synthetic nanomaterials that rival the binding capabilities of proteins.

Academic Honors and Memberships

2024, Sloan Research Fellow
2024, PMSE Early Investigator Award (ACS, Polymeric Materials: Science and Engineering Division)
2023, Academic Young Investigator Award (ACS, Division of Organic Chemistry)
2021, NSF CAREER Award
2021-2023, Member of the Biomacromolecules Editorial Advisory Board
2019, Junior Faculty Development Award (UNC)
2018-2020, Member of the ACS Biomaterials Science & Engineering Early Career Board
2017, Dan Su Travel Award (Postdoc to Faculty Workshop, ACS)
2017, Chemical Sciences Seminar Series Award (UC Santa Barbara)
2016 - 2018, Arnold O. Beckman Postdoctoral Fellow
2013-2014, Philomathia Graduate Student Fellowship (UC Berkeley)   
2008 - 2010, Beckman Scholars Award (UNC)