Joan Selverstone Valentine

Joan Selverstone Valentine is Professor of Chemistry and Biochemistry at UCLA.  She is a leading figure working at the interface of inorganic chemistry and biology and has published over 200 research papers and several books, and her work is widely cited. She pioneered the chemistry of the superoxide anion, and her discoveries have been fundamental to our understanding of the biological reactions of dioxygen and its interactions with metalloenzymes. Particularly notable in recent years are her demonstrations of the remarkable nucleophilic properties of iron porphyrin peroxo complexes, development of novel sol-gel techniques to entrap biological macromolecules in an optically transparent rigid matrix, and her ongoing detailed biophysical characterization of mutant copper-zinc superoxide dismutase enzymes that cause Lou Gehrig’s disease. She is a recipient of several awards, including the John C. Bailar, Jr. Medal, has held numerous distinguished lectureships in the United States and abroad, and was recently elected to membership in the National Academy of Science. She is Editor-in-Chief of Accounts of Chemical Research, an American Chemical Society journal.