Dr. Steven Townsend is an Assistant Professor of Chemistry at Vanderbilt University. As an organic chemist, Steve’s work involves making drugs and other molecules that are drug-like. He is interested in why people get sick and how he can use chemistry to prevent or treat disease. When he’s not doing science, Steve enjoys spending time with his wife and two young daughters, reading psychological thrillers, exercising (running, basketball, and weight lifting), composting, and gardening. He received his B.S. in Chemistry from Oakland University and his PhD in Organic Chemistry from Vanderbilt University. Prior to accepting his current appointment, Steve conducted postdoctoral research at the Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center and Columbia University. Steve has received numerous awards and honors, including the Oakland University Alfred G. Wilson Founders Medal, the Ruth A. Lawrence Investigator Award for Research in Human Milk Science, Vanderbilt University’s Jeffrey Nordhaus Award for Excellence in Undergraduate Education, the Vanderbilt Chancellor’s Award for Research, a National Science Foundation CAREER Award, the American Chemical Society Young Investigators Award, and the Camille and Henry Dreyfus Foundation’s Teacher-Scholar Award. In addition, he has been named a Vanderbilt University Dean’s Faculty Fellow and one of Chemical & Engineering News’s “Talented 12”. In our interview, Steve will share more about his life and science.