Jelena Samonina

Dr. Jelena Samonina is an Assistant Professor of Chemistry and a CTE Faculty Fellow for 2025-2026. She joined the 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 Stanford University, she joined the faculty of Washington and Lee University.

Dr. Samonina is passionate about teaching and designs her courses to motivate and excite students through proactive learning. Her teaching style effectively engages students and encourages 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.