Dr. Patricia Calvo was born and raised in Dusseldorf, Germany. She moved to the United States at age 18 to attend Lindenwood University in Missouri, where she received her B.S. in Chemistry with concentration in Biochemistry. After graduating from Lindenwood, Dr. Calvo pursued her doctoral degree in Organic Chemistry at the University of Florida. Her graduate research, under the guidance of Dr. Ken Wagener and Dr. Brent Sumerlin, focused on the synthesis of well-defined functionalized polymers for biomedical applications. After receiving her PhD, Dr. Calvo accepted an industrial research position at a Biotech company in San Antonio, TX. Her research in this position focused on the applications of polymer chemistry to create advanced wound care products and antimicrobials. After two years in industry, Dr. Calvo realized that her true passion lies in academic teaching and research. After working as a Chemistry Lecturer at Texas A&M University San Antonio for a year, Dr. Calvo accepted her current position as Assistant Professor of Chemistry at Nova Southeastern University. Her research focuses on creating novel polymeric materials for applications, such as drug delivery and water purification. Dr. Calvo is actively involved with the American Chemical Society (ACS), both locally and nationally, and is passionate about teaching as well as involving students in research.  She hopes to share her passion for chemistry with her students and offer her experience and advice to help students achieve their goals.