USC Dornsife chemistry professor named fellow of leading global scientific organization

Matthew Pratt began his university studies eyeing a career in medicine. But an undergraduate stint in an organic chemistry lab changed that plan, setting him on a course that has since earned him a place among Nobel laureates, astronauts, inventors and innovators. The professor of chemistry at the USC Dornsife College of Letters, Arts and Sciences has been named a 2025 Fellow of the American Association for the Advancement of Science.

Pratt arrived at the University of Arizona in 1995 to study math and biochemistry, with medical school as his long-term academic goal. That changed when the young undergraduate stepped into Professor Robin Polt’s organic chemistry lab.

“I was hooked by the logic of chemical transformations and the ability to make molecules with my own hands,” Pratt says. “That ability to forge molecules with precision, from drug-like compounds to full proteins, and using them to answer questions in biology is what gets me excited about what my lab is doing now.”

After earning his bachelor’s degree in biochemistry and mathematics and studying glycosylation reactions — the bonding of carbohydrate molecules to proteins — under Polt’s guidance, he moved on to the University of California, Berkeley, where he earned his PhD in chemistry in 2004 with future Nobel laureate Carolyn Bertozzi. Pratt then completed an American Cancer Society Postdoctoral Fellowship at Rockefeller University in Professor Tom Muir’s lab before joining USC Dornsife’s Department of Chemistry in 2009.

Now in his 16th year at the College, Pratt studies the molecular and physiological effects of chemical alterations of proteins while mentoring a new generation of postdocs and PhD students, perhaps some destined for prestigious scientific honors of their own.

“Helping students and postdocs mature as scientists, promoting them, and getting to watch them go off and do amazing things is my favorite part of this job,” Pratt says.

“AAAS Fellows have a responsibility to be examples of strong science and mentorship,” he adds. “I’ve strived to do both of these things throughout my career, but the visibility of the honor makes it all the more important.”

Pratt says becoming a fellow also provides an important opportunity to contribute to the broader scientific community. “Our profession faces challenges from a murky grant-funding landscape to reduced trust in science and scientific leaders. Our community needs to come together to address those issues, and I’m excited to be a part of that effort.”