Origins of Life Initiative welcomes our Inaugural Kavli-Laukien Postdoctoral Fellows Jenny Calahan and Xavier Portillo

The Origins of Life Inititative is thrilled to announce our first Kavli-Laukien Postdoctoral Fellows, Jenny Calahan and Xavier Portillo.   Jenny and Xavier have joined a community of faculty, senior researchers, graduate students, and undergraduates conducting multi-disciplinary research aimed at revealing if life is abundant in the Universe.  Through the initiative, the fellows will strive to understand how initial conditions on planets dictate the origins of life and its subsequent evolution.

Jenny Calahan studies planet formation and astrochemistry and earned her Ph.D. in astronomy from the University of Michigan. In a recent publication, she and colleagues describe chemistry fueled by ultraviolet rays during later stages of planet formation. 

Xavier Portillo studies RNA evolution, and earned his Ph.D. in molecular, cellular and developmental biology from Yale University. His research is aimed at evolving RNA molecules using directed evolution methods. He and collaborators recently witnessed the structural evolution of an RNA enzyme.

A warm welcome to the Origins Community Jenny and Xavi!

For more information please see the Kavli Foundation website.