Maria I. Chiriac

Maria I. Chiriac is an accomplished scientist with extensive experience in the field of organic chemistry and drug discovery. As an Associate Principal Scientist at Merck since June 2017, Maria has contributed to significant research initiatives, including a role as a Senior Scientist. Prior to Merck, Maria worked as a Research Scholar at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center, focusing on the design of novel antibacterials and their interaction with bacterial cell permeability. Maria obtained a Doctorate in Organic Chemistry from Columbia University, where research involved developing selective functionalization methods for complex natural product synthesis, and also served as a teaching assistant. Earlier academic experience includes teaching at the California Institute of Technology and research work on synthetic intermediates. Maria possesses a strong educational background with a Bachelor of Science from Caltech and a Master's degree from Columbia University.