Parisa Mehrkhodavandi

parisa_headshotProfessor
UBC, Department of Chemistry

Parisa completed her B.Sc. in chemistry at the University of British Columbia in 1998 before pursuing graduate studies at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology under the guidance of Prof. Richard R. Schrock where she was the recipient of an NSERC Post Graduate Scholarship.  She completed her Ph.D. in polymer catalysis in 2002 and then went on to a 2-year Post-Doctoral Fellowship in metal-mediated methanol homologation with Professors John E. Bercaw and Robert H. Grubbs at the California Institute of Technology.

Parisa began her independent career at UBC in 2005 as an NSERC University Faculty Award recipient. She rose to the rank of Associate Professor in 2013.  In recognition of her research excellence, Parisa was twice awarded the national Ichikizaki Travel Award (’08,’10) and the international Government of France Mobility Award in Science & Technology.  In 2015 she was awarded the Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship and the UBC Killam Research Fellowship.

Research in the Mehrkhodavandi group currently focuses on the development and study of catalysts for formation of biodegradable polymers.

Awards

  • Alexander von Humboldt Fellowship (2015)
  • UBC Killam Research Fellowship (2015)
  • Ichikizaki Travel Award (2008, 2010)
  • Government of France Mobility Award (2008)
  • NSERC University Faculty Award (2005)
  • NSERC Post Graduate Scholarship (2001)

Funding and support

  • NSERC Discovery
  • NSERC Strategic
  • NSERC Engage
  • NSERC RTI
  • MITACS
  • CFI Leaders Opportunity Fund
  • BCKDF
  • Green Centre Canada
  • NOVA Chemicals
  • Polymer Research Technologies
  • Polychem Consulting Solutions
  • G-Kup Technologies
  • Precision Nanosystems
  • Ducan Industries
  • Nexterra Systems Corp.

Patents

  • 62/021071 July 4, 2014 (Provisional)
  • PCT/CA2013/050191
  • PCT/CA2012/050331

Technology Licensee

  • Green Centre Canada

Media

  • Synergy: Journal of UBC Science. 2010, 1(1), 12
  • ACCN 2012, 64(8), 14
  • ACCN 2013, 65(4), 34-38.
  • The Globe and Mail July 8 2019
Selected Invited Lectures

  • MIT JGSS (2021)
  • Dalhousie University (2021)
  • Université de Strasbourg (2018)
  • PSL Université de Paris (2018)
  • Imperial College London (2016)
  • Oxford University (2016)
  • University of Edinburgh (2015)
  • Technischen Universität Berlin (2015)
  • University of Münster (2015)
  • University of Marburg (2015)
  • University of Graz (2015)
  • University of Vienna (2015)
  • RWTH Aachen University (2015)
  • “Rising Stars in Chemistry Symposium”, Int. Conf. on Coordination
  • Chemistry, Singapore (2014)
  • GRC, Organometallic Chemistry (2013)
  • University of Pennsylvania (2013)
  • GRC, Inorganic Chemistry (2012)
  • University of Minnesota (2012)
  • UC Santa Barbara (2012)
  • California Institute of Technology(2012)
  • UC San Diego (2012)
  • UC Los Angeles (2012)
  • Cornell University (2012)
  • Rutgers University (2012)
  • University of Washington (2012)
  • Concordia University (2010)
  • McGill University (2010)
  • Université de Montreal (2010)
  • University of Guelph, Guelph (2008)
  • University of Toronto (2008)
  • Université de Rennes (2008)
  • Université de Toulouse (2008, 2015)