Christopher hails from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. He obtained his BA in chemistry and biochemistry in 2009 from the University of Pennsylvania, where he conducted undergraduate research in organic chemistry in the laboratory of Professor Madeleine M. Joullié. In the same year, he began his graduate studies at Princeton University under the supervision of Professor David W. C. MacMillan. At Princeton his research focused on applications of photoredox catalysis, in which visible light is employed to promote chemical reactions. At Caltech, Chris pursued the engineering of enzymes for environmentally-benign chemical synthesis.
Chris is currently a Senior Scientist in Biocatalysis at Merck.