Dr. Jelena Samonina joined the faculty of the UVA Chemistry Department in 2019, where her teaching interests include Organic Chemistry and Chemistry for the Health Sciences. She earned her M.S. and her Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry at Warsaw University. After two postdoctoral trainings at the University of Virginia and at Stanford University she joined the faculty of Washington and Lee University.

Dr. Samonina is passionate about teaching and she designs her courses to motivate and excite students through proactive learning. Her teaching style effectively engages the students and encourage them to develop into future thinkers, inventors, and researchers, whether it be in industry, academia, or public service.

Dr. Samonina’s research interests lie at the interface of Organic and Polymer Chemistry, Nanomaterials and Medicine, and include the development of new concepts in drug delivery, imaging and diagnostics.

Selected Publications

Sawyer C. W., Suffield B. H., Finnefrock A. C., Billings H. M., Uffelman E. S., Zoeller J. R., Dombrowski M. S., Delaney J.K., Dooley K. A., Mass J. L., Samonina J., Whitesell M. M., A John White Alexander Painting at the Virginia Museum of Fine Arts: A Comparison of Imaging Technologies for Resolving a Painting under Another Painting, Journal of American Institute for Concervation. 2019, 58, 37–53.

De Crisci A. G., Samonina-Kosicka J., Gieleciak R., Fleischauer M., Morris R. H., Waymouth R. M., Electrocatalytic Transfer Hydrogenation for Carbon Dioxide (CO2) Activation and Utilization” – 2018. Poster won first prize at the Connaught Global Challenge Symposium on CO2 Solution to Climate Change.

Butler, T.; Morris, W.; Samonina-Kosicka, J.; Fraser, C., Mechanochromic Luminescence and Aggregation Induced Emission of Dinaphthoylmethane β-Diketones and their Boronated Counterparts – ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces. 2016, 8, 1242–1251

Samonina-Kosicka, J.; Weitzel, D. H.; Hofmann, C. L.; Hendargo, H.; Hanna, G.; Dewhirst, M. W.; Palmer, G. M.; Fraser, C. L., Luminescent Difluoroboron β-Diketonate PEG-PLA Oxygen Nanosensors for Tumor Imaging. Macromolecular Rapid Communications 2015, 36, 694-699.

Butler, T.; Morris, W. A.; Samonina-Kosicka, J.; Fraser, C. L., Mechanochromic Luminescence and Aggregation Induced Emission for a Metal-Free Beta-Diketone. Chemical Communications 2015, 51, 3359-3362. - highlighted as "Noteworthy Chemistry" by ACS

DeRosa, C. A.; Samonina-Kosicka, J.; Fan, Z.; Hendargo, H. C.; Weitzel, D. H.; Palmer, G. M.; Fraser, C. L., Oxygen Sensing Difluoroboron Dinaphthoylmethane Polylactide. Macromolecules 2015, 48, 2967-2977.

Samonina-Kosicka, J.; Kańska, M., Synthesis of Selectively Labeled Histidine and its Methylderivatives with Deuterium, Tritium, and Carbon-14. Journal of Labelled Compounds and Radiopharmaceuticals 2013, 56, 317-320.