Ka Un Lao earns VCU Outstanding Early Career Faculty Award

September 23, 2025

Ka Un Lao, Ph.D., an associate professor in the Department of Chemistry at VCU's College of Humanities and Sciences, earned VCU's Outstanding Early Career Faculty Award at the university's Faculty Convocation this fall.

Lao recently joined the Center for Drug Discovery as a research faculty member, bringing his research expertise on integrating knowledge from fields beyond traditional chemistry – such as differential geometry, set theory and machine learning – with quantum chemistry and electronic structure theory. His work could enhance energy solutions and propel drug discovery, molecular design and other initiatives.

Lao has drawn national attention as an early-career scientist whose work is both novel and significant: He is developing advanced computational tools for studying complex chemical systems.

Lao has focused his research on integrating knowledge from fields beyond traditional chemistry – such as differential geometry, set theory and machine learning – with quantum chemistry and electronic structure theory. His work could enhance energy solutions and propel drug discovery, molecular design and other initiatives.

"VCU has been a supportive place and also an energetic environment for me to grow as a scientist," Lao said. "It is a great place to do meaningful science and also help train the next generation of scientists."

A portion of this piece first appeared in a VCU News article by Amelia Heymann. Read the full article.