Kaitlin Landy, a postdoctoral researcher in both the Rowan Group and Gardel Lab at the University of Chicago Pritzker School of Molecular Engineering (UChicago PME), has been named to a program designed to help top-tier PhD students and postdocs take their careers to the next level.
Landy was named a 2026 CAS Future Leader, one of just 31 young scientists from across the globe selected for this prestigious honor. Run by CAS, a division of the American Chemical Society, the CAS Future Leaders Program creates opportunities to learn leadership skills, engage in scientific discourse, and connect with peers and innovators from around the world.
“I’ve known some other participants in previous years, and it seems like a really great network of people that have maintained connections while going from postdoc to early career faculty,” said Landy, who is planning to apply for faculty positions at institutions around the world starting in the fall.
Landy said Future Leaders and other career development programs help fill a gap in the life of a postdoctoral researcher. Their current jobs focus on research. Their next jobs will expect leadership skills.
“As a postdoc, you’re mainly focused on the research and at whatever your next career stage is – whether it’s industry, academia, anything – you're likely taking on a leadership role,” she said. “But there's not necessarily direct training that goes along with that. It's often just more research-focused day to day.”
A highly competitive honor, CAS Future Leaders accepts less than 4% of applicants. The fact Landy joined this select group was not a surprise to her two advisors – the Barry L. MacLean Professor for Molecular Engineering Innovation and Enterprise Stuart Rowan and Edward L. Ryerson Distinguished Service Professor Margaret Gardel.
“In her time at UChicago PME, Katie has proven herself a natural leader in the lab,” Rowan said. “She is an innovative, creative interdisciplinary scientist who always looks for opportunities to mentor younger researchers. We could not be more proud of her for this well-deserved recognition.”
Landy’s research bridges the gap between materials and biology, from colloidal crystals that repurpose DNA as both a blueprint and construction material to trainable soft materials that mimic the actin cytoskeleton.
“Katie has a wonderful interdisciplinary mind, seamlessly transitioning between the materials science and biochemical approaches to study nano-scale assemblies,” said Gardel. “She is extremely generous in sharing these insights to lead and drive discoveries.”
Landy said she’s excited for the professional development opportunities the program offers, including presenting at the American Chemical Society 2026 Fall Meeting. But she’s even more excited about the community and the connections CAS Future Leaders is helping her build among her peers around the world.
“It's really exciting to be part of a larger program as a postdoc that connects you more broadly to people at other institutions,” she said.