CHEM 4420

I LOVED this class. I am also biased as I am planning to continue in academia with biochemistry, but seriously, this guy is the shit. Most engaging lecturer I have had at UVA, so much so that I didn't take notes during class because I was just so busy listening to all the interesting stories and mechanisms he discussed. As a result of this I did occasionally have to go back to recordings of class and make sure I was understanding a slide completely correctly, but this was not bad. I took the class when it was partially online (1/3 of the semester was online) due to his sabbatical and I can see why taking this class online would be really tough as the online version is not suitable to his dynamic lecture style, so I feel badly for people who had to take this class during COVID. The exams are tough and basically just raw memorization, but this is on par for most biochemistry courses so not unexpected at all. However, for me, the material was incredibly interesting to learn about (especially the translational applications of concepts from the molecular realm to clinical), so this memorization part was never hard especially with the Anki/Quizlet decks I made. Also, although he comes off as a bit scary, do go to his office hours. He is one of the most interesting human beings at this university and if you get him talking about his research you will be in awe.