Mydy named Purdue assistant professor

Lisa Mydy has been appointed assistant professor of biochemistry at Purdue University, beginning in Fall 2025. She previously worked at the University of Michigan as a National Institutes of Health postdoctoral Ruth L. Kirschstein National Research Service Award fellow and senior research fellow in medicinal chemistry.

Lisa Mydy

As part of Purdue’s Chemical Biology and Biomolecular Structure and Biophysics training groups, Mydy’s current work focuses on elucidating novel plant peptide cyclases for antimicrobials and other disease therapies. Her lab studies protein structure and function, enzyme mechanisms and plant natural product biosynthesis, working to characterize and engineer plant natural products for therapeutic and agricultural applications. She is also a member of Purdue’s Center for Plant Biology.

Mydy earned her bachelor’s degree and Ph.D. in chemistry from the University of Wisconsin–Milwaukee. She subsequently completed postdoctoral training at the University at Buffalo, New York, and worked in industry as a senior scientist for Abbott. She was awarded the Journal of Biological Chemistry poster prize at the 2022 Enzyme Mechanisms Conference for her work in plant cyclic peptide biosynthesis.