Fellows

The Chemical Biology Laboratory boasts a wide variety of expertise stemming from outstanding fellows from diverse backgrounds who join the Lab for a Postbaccalaureate or Postdoctoral Fellowship.

	name, group, expertise	academic credentials
Image	Dr. Caleb Anderson (Schneider Group) Supramolecular biomaterials Peptide self-assembly Drug Delivery	Ph.D. Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD USA B.S. Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA USA
Image	Dr. Sumirtha Balaratnam (Schneekloth Group) Nucleic Acid Structure/Interaction/Functional Analysis Molecular Biology and Genetics Protein Biochemistry Microscopy and Cell Culture	Ph.D. Chemistry Kent State University, Kent, OH USA B.S. Molecular Biology and Biochemistry University of Colombo, Colombo, Sri Lanka
Image	Claire Brown (Gildersleeve Group) Immunology Glycobiology Biochemistry Cancer Biology	B.A. Biology and Political Science Brown University, Providence RI
Image	Dr. Ramesh Chingle (Burke Group) Synthetic Organic/Medicinal/Peptide Chemistry, Chemical Biology/Drug Discovery NMR Spectroscopy	Ph.D. Organic Chemistry Université de Montréal, Montréal, Quebéc, Canada M.Sc. Organic Chemistry Goa University, Panaji, Goa, India B.Sc. Chemistry Ponda Education Society College of Arts & Science, Ponda, Goa, India
Image	McKenna Crawford (Meier Group) Cell-based and target engagement assays Post-translational modifications	B.S. Chemistry Duke University, Durham, NC USA
Image	Dr. Achyut Dahal (Barchi Group) Peptide Drug Design Antibody-Drug Conjugate Cancer Pharmacology and Immunology	Ph.D. Pharmaceutical Sciences University of Louisiana at Monroe, Monroe, LA USA Bachelor of Pharmacy. Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences, Bengaluru, India
Image	Griffin Davis (Yoo Group) Peptide Synthesis Activity-based Probe Development	B.S. Chemistry Emory University, Atlanta, GA USA
Image	Dr. Shivaji Edupuganti (Schnermann Group) Medicinal Chemistry Chemical Biology Antibody Drug Conjugates	Ph.D. Chemistry University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand M.Sc. Organic Chemistry Osmania University, Hyderabad, India B.Sc. Chemistry Osmania University, Hyderabad, India
Image	Dr. Christopher Fullenkamp (Schneekloth Group) Organic Synthesis Medicinal Chemistry	Ph.D. Chemistry Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN USA B.S. Chemistry, Ball State University, Muncie, IN USA
Image	Emily Guo (Gildersleeve Group) Glycobiology Antibody Evolution Immunology	B.S. Microbiology and Anthropology Washington University, St. Louis, MO USA
Image	Dr. Muhammad Kazim (Yoo Group) Organic Synthesis Medicinal Chemistry	Ph.D. Chemistry Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD USA B.S. Chemistry Lahore University of Management Sciences. Lahore, Punjab Pakistan
Image	Dr. Samanthreddy Kedika (Burke Group) Medicinal Chemistry/Peptide Chemistry Chemical Biology Drug Discovery	Ph.D. Medicinal Chemistry University of Houston, Houston, TX USA M.S. Medicinal Chemistry NIPER, Kolkata, India B.S. Pharmacy Kakatiya University, Warangal, India
Image	Dr. Tania Lopez-Silva (Schneider Group) Self-Assembling Peptides Peptide-based Biomaterials and Hydrogels Drug Delivery Immune Response	Ph.D. Chemistry Rice University, Houston, TX USA B.S. Chemistry Tecnológico de Monterrey (ITESM) Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico
Image	Dr. Pankaj Mahajan (Burke Group) Organic Synthesis Medicinal Chemistry Chemical Biology	Ph.D. Organic Synthesis CSIR-National Chemical Laboratory, Pune, India M. Sc. Organic Chemistry North Maharashtra University, Jalgaon, India B.Sc. Chemistry North Maharashtra University, Jalgaon, India
Image	Ammar Masood (Schnermann Group) Flow Cytometry Assays Cell Retention and Inhibition Studies	B.S. Biological Sciences: Physiology and Neurobiology University of Maryland, College Park, MD USA
Image	Shams Mehdi (Schneekloth Group) Computational Biophysics Molecular Dynamics Simulations Artificial Intelligence Statistical Mechanics	B.S. Physics University of Dhaka, Dhaka, Bangladesh M.S. Physics University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Brownsville, TX USA Ph.D. (candidate) Biophysics University of Maryland, College Park, MD USA
Image	Dr. Richard Mitchell (Meier Group) Bioinorganic chemistry Inorganic Synthesis Photochemistry Chemical Biology	B.S. Chemistry University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH USA Ph.D. Chemistry University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY USA
Image	Dr. Monessha Nambiar (Schneider Group) Peptide Synthesis Biomaterials	Ph.D. Chemistry Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN USA B.Sc. Nanotechnology Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia
Image	Nick O'Brien (Gildersleeve Group) Cancer immunology Protein engineering Anti-glycan antibodies	B.A. Biochemistry Columbia University, New York, NY USA
Image	Dr. Shaifaly Parmar (Schneekloth Group) Molecular Biology Cellular Biology	Ph.D. Biotechnology Institute of Life Sciences, Bhubaneswar, India M.Sc. Biotechnology Banasthali University, Jaipur, India B.Sc. Biotechnology Barkatullah University, Bhopal, India
Image	Dr. Pavan Patel (Gildersleeve Group) Protein Biochemistry Cancer Glycobiology Molecular Biology Fungal Cell Wall Biosynthesis	Ph.D. Biological Sciences SUNY at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, USA M.Sc. Biotechnology University of Mumbai, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India B.Sc. Biotechnology University of Mumbai, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India
Image	Dr. Minervo Perez-Lopez (Meier Group) Assay Development Kinase Biology Mass Spectrometry Phosphoprotemics	Ph.D. Chemical Biology Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN USA B.S. Pre-Professional Health Benedictine University, Lisle, IL USA
Image	Peri Prestwood (Schneekloth Group) Organic Synthesis Medicinal Chemistry RNA Chemical Biology	B.S. Biochemistry University of the South, Sewannee, TN USA
Image	Dr. Chathuranga Rathnamalala (Schnermann Group) Organic Materials SWIR Dyes Fluorescence Imaging Photoacoustic Imaging	B.S. Biochemistry, Chemistry, Microbiology University of Kelaniya, Kelaniya, Sri Lanka M.S. Analytical Chemistry University of Colombo, Colombo, Sri Lanka M.B.A. Business Administration Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, UK Ph.D in Organic Chemistry Mississippi State University, Starkville, MS USA
Image	Dr. Srijani Sarkar (Schneider Group) Peptide Nucleic Acids Nucleic Acids Biochemistry Peptide Hydrogels Medicinal Chemistry	Ph.D. Chemistry Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA M.Sc. Chemistry Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (IITK), Kanpur, India B.Sc. Chemistry Presidency University, Kolkata, India
Image	Srinath Seshadri (Schneekloth Group) Nucleic Acid Biochemistry High-throughput drug discovery	B.A. Biochemistry Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH USA
Image	Dr. Pradeep Shrestha (Schnermann Group) Drug Delivery Photochemistry Organic Synthesis	Ph.D. Organic Chemistry Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa USA M.Sc. Organic Chemistry Tribhuvan University, Kirtipur, Nepal B.Sc. Chemistry Trichandra Campus, Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, Nepal
Image	Dr. Christopher Sibley (Schneekloth Group) Organic Synthesis Medicinal Chemistry RNA Biology	Ph.D. Organic Chemistry Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA USA B.S. Biochemistry Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA USA
Image	Dr. Kevon Stanford (Schneider Group) Peptide/Peptoid Synthesis Protein Expression Peptide-based Hydrogels	Ph.D. Chemistry University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI USA M.S. Chemistry University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI USA B.S. Chemistry & Biology Johnson C. Smith University, Charlotte, NC USA
Image	Caitlin Strain (Barchi Group) Glycochemistry Organic Synthesis Neuroscience	B.S. Chemistry B.S. Neuroscience Muhlenberg College, Allentown, PA USA
Image	Dr. Sebastian Temme (Gildersleeve Group) Glycan Microarray Technology Antibody Engineering Glycobiology and Immunology Bioorganic Chemistry	Ph.D. Chemistry Brandeis University, Waltham, MA USA B.S. Chemistry University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA USA
Image	Dr. Supuni Thalalla-Gamage (Meier Group) Nucleic Acid Biochemistry Epitranscriptomics Molecular Biology	Ph.D. Biochemistry Wayne State University, Detroit, MI USA B.Sc. Chemical Biology University of Colombo, Colombo, Sri Lanka
Image	Dr. Ebaston Thankarajan Mini Mablet (Schnermann Group) Organic/Medicinal Chemistry Fluorescence Imaging Drug Delivery Antibody Drug Conjugates (ADC) Photodynamic Therapy (PDT)	Ph.D. Chemistry Ariel University, Ariel, Israel M.Sc. Chemistry National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli, India B.Sc. Chemistry Nesamony Memorial Christian College, Marthandam, India
Image	Connor Wang (Schnermann Group) Fluorescence Microscopy Cell Culture Protein Engineering	B.S. Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD USA
Image	Dr. Mo Yang (Schneekloth Group) Small Molecule Microarrays Biomaterials Surface Chemistry	Ph.D. Material Science Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, PR China B.S. Polymer Materials and Engineering Jilin University, Jilin Province, PR China

name, group, expertise

academic credentials

Dr. Caleb Anderson
(Schneider Group)

Supramolecular biomaterials
Peptide self-assembly
Drug Delivery

Ph.D. Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD USA

B.S. Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
Georgia Institute of Technology, Atlanta, GA USA

Dr. Sumirtha Balaratnam
(Schneekloth Group)

Nucleic Acid Structure/Interaction/Functional Analysis
Molecular Biology and Genetics
Protein Biochemistry
Microscopy and Cell Culture

Ph.D. Chemistry
Kent State University, Kent, OH USA

B.S. Molecular Biology and Biochemistry
University of Colombo, Colombo, Sri Lanka

Claire Brown
(Gildersleeve Group)

Immunology
Glycobiology
Biochemistry
Cancer Biology

B.A. Biology and Political Science
Brown University, Providence RI

Dr. Ramesh Chingle
(Burke Group)

Synthetic Organic/Medicinal/Peptide Chemistry,
Chemical Biology/Drug Discovery
NMR Spectroscopy

Ph.D. Organic Chemistry
Université de Montréal, Montréal, Quebéc, Canada

M.Sc. Organic Chemistry
Goa University, Panaji, Goa, India

B.Sc. Chemistry
Ponda Education Society College of Arts & Science, Ponda, Goa, India

McKenna Crawford
(Meier Group)

Cell-based and target engagement assays
Post-translational modifications

B.S. Chemistry
Duke University, Durham, NC USA

Dr. Achyut Dahal
(Barchi Group)

Peptide Drug Design
Antibody-Drug Conjugate
Cancer Pharmacology and Immunology

Ph.D. Pharmaceutical Sciences
University of Louisiana at Monroe, Monroe, LA USA

Bachelor of Pharmacy.
Rajiv Gandhi University of Health Sciences, Bengaluru, India

Griffin Davis
(Yoo Group)

Peptide Synthesis
Activity-based Probe Development

B.S. Chemistry
Emory University, Atlanta, GA USA

Dr. Shivaji Edupuganti
(Schnermann Group)

Medicinal Chemistry
Chemical Biology
Antibody Drug Conjugates

Ph.D. Chemistry
University of Otago, Dunedin, New Zealand

M.Sc. Organic Chemistry
Osmania University, Hyderabad, India

B.Sc. Chemistry
Osmania University, Hyderabad, India

Dr. Christopher Fullenkamp
(Schneekloth Group)

Organic Synthesis
Medicinal Chemistry

Ph.D. Chemistry
Vanderbilt University, Nashville, TN USA

B.S. Chemistry,
Ball State University, Muncie, IN USA

Emily Guo
(Gildersleeve Group)

Glycobiology
Antibody Evolution
Immunology

B.S. Microbiology and Anthropology
Washington University, St. Louis, MO USA

Dr. Muhammad Kazim
(Yoo Group)

Organic Synthesis
Medicinal Chemistry

Ph.D. Chemistry
Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD USA

B.S. Chemistry
Lahore University of Management Sciences. Lahore, Punjab Pakistan

Dr. Samanthreddy Kedika
(Burke Group)

Medicinal Chemistry/Peptide Chemistry
Chemical Biology
Drug Discovery

Ph.D. Medicinal Chemistry
University of Houston, Houston, TX USA

M.S. Medicinal Chemistry
NIPER, Kolkata, India

B.S. Pharmacy
Kakatiya University, Warangal, India

Dr. Tania Lopez-Silva
(Schneider Group)

Self-Assembling Peptides
Peptide-based Biomaterials and Hydrogels
Drug Delivery
Immune Response

Ph.D. Chemistry
Rice University, Houston, TX USA

B.S. Chemistry
Tecnológico de Monterrey (ITESM)
Monterrey, Nuevo León, Mexico

Dr. Pankaj Mahajan
(Burke Group)

Organic Synthesis
Medicinal Chemistry
Chemical Biology

Ph.D. Organic Synthesis
CSIR-National Chemical Laboratory, Pune, India

M. Sc. Organic Chemistry
North Maharashtra University, Jalgaon, India

B.Sc. Chemistry
North Maharashtra University, Jalgaon, India

Ammar Masood
(Schnermann Group)

Flow Cytometry Assays
Cell Retention and Inhibition Studies

B.S. Biological Sciences: Physiology and Neurobiology
University of Maryland, College Park, MD USA

Shams Mehdi
(Schneekloth Group)

Computational Biophysics
Molecular Dynamics Simulations
Artificial Intelligence
Statistical Mechanics

B.S. Physics
University of Dhaka, Dhaka, Bangladesh

M.S. Physics
University of Texas Rio Grande Valley, Brownsville, TX USA

Ph.D. (candidate) Biophysics
University of Maryland, College Park, MD USA

Dr. Richard Mitchell
(Meier Group)

Bioinorganic chemistry
Inorganic Synthesis
Photochemistry
Chemical Biology

B.S. Chemistry
University of Cincinnati, Cincinnati, OH USA

Ph.D. Chemistry
University of Kentucky, Lexington, KY USA

Dr. Monessha Nambiar
(Schneider Group)

Peptide Synthesis
Biomaterials

Ph.D. Chemistry
Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN USA

B.Sc. Nanotechnology
Flinders University, Adelaide, Australia

Nick O'Brien
(Gildersleeve Group)

Cancer immunology
Protein engineering
Anti-glycan antibodies

B.A. Biochemistry
Columbia University, New York, NY USA

Dr. Shaifaly Parmar
(Schneekloth Group)

Molecular Biology
Cellular Biology

Ph.D. Biotechnology
Institute of Life Sciences, Bhubaneswar, India

M.Sc. Biotechnology
Banasthali University, Jaipur, India

B.Sc. Biotechnology
Barkatullah University, Bhopal, India

Dr. Pavan Patel
(Gildersleeve Group)

Protein Biochemistry
Cancer Glycobiology
Molecular Biology
Fungal Cell Wall Biosynthesis

Ph.D. Biological Sciences
SUNY at Buffalo, Buffalo, NY, USA

M.Sc. Biotechnology
University of Mumbai, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

B.Sc. Biotechnology
University of Mumbai, Mumbai, Maharashtra, India

Dr. Minervo Perez-Lopez
(Meier Group)

Assay Development
Kinase Biology
Mass Spectrometry
Phosphoprotemics

Ph.D. Chemical Biology
Purdue University, West Lafayette, IN USA

B.S. Pre-Professional Health
Benedictine University, Lisle, IL USA

Peri Prestwood
(Schneekloth Group)

Organic Synthesis
Medicinal Chemistry
RNA Chemical Biology

B.S. Biochemistry
University of the South, Sewannee, TN USA

Dr. Chathuranga Rathnamalala
(Schnermann Group)

Organic Materials
SWIR Dyes
Fluorescence Imaging
Photoacoustic Imaging

B.S. Biochemistry, Chemistry, Microbiology
University of Kelaniya, Kelaniya, Sri Lanka

M.S. Analytical Chemistry
University of Colombo, Colombo, Sri Lanka

M.B.A. Business Administration
Anglia Ruskin University, Cambridge, UK

Ph.D in Organic Chemistry
Mississippi State University, Starkville, MS USA

Dr. Srijani Sarkar
(Schneider Group)

Peptide Nucleic Acids
Nucleic Acids Biochemistry
Peptide Hydrogels
Medicinal Chemistry

Ph.D. Chemistry
Carnegie Mellon University, Pittsburgh, PA, USA

M.Sc. Chemistry
Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (IITK), Kanpur, India

B.Sc. Chemistry
Presidency University, Kolkata, India

Srinath Seshadri
(Schneekloth Group)

Nucleic Acid Biochemistry
High-throughput drug discovery

B.A. Biochemistry
Case Western Reserve University, Cleveland, OH USA

Dr. Pradeep Shrestha
(Schnermann Group)

Drug Delivery
Photochemistry
Organic Synthesis

Ph.D. Organic Chemistry
Iowa State University, Ames, Iowa USA

M.Sc. Organic Chemistry
Tribhuvan University, Kirtipur, Nepal

B.Sc. Chemistry
Trichandra Campus, Tribhuvan University, Kathmandu, Nepal

Dr. Christopher Sibley
(Schneekloth Group)

Organic Synthesis
Medicinal Chemistry
RNA Biology

Ph.D. Organic Chemistry
Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA USA

B.S. Biochemistry
Virginia Tech, Blacksburg, VA USA

Dr. Kevon Stanford
(Schneider Group)

Peptide/Peptoid Synthesis
Protein Expression
Peptide-based Hydrogels

Ph.D. Chemistry
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI USA

M.S. Chemistry
University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, MI USA

B.S. Chemistry & Biology
Johnson C. Smith University, Charlotte, NC USA

Caitlin Strain
(Barchi Group)

Glycochemistry
Organic Synthesis
Neuroscience

B.S. Chemistry
B.S. Neuroscience

Muhlenberg College, Allentown, PA USA

Dr. Sebastian Temme
(Gildersleeve Group)

Glycan Microarray Technology
Antibody Engineering
Glycobiology and Immunology
Bioorganic Chemistry

Ph.D. Chemistry
Brandeis University, Waltham, MA USA

B.S. Chemistry
University of Virginia, Charlottesville, VA USA

Dr. Supuni Thalalla-Gamage
(Meier Group)

Nucleic Acid Biochemistry
Epitranscriptomics
Molecular Biology

Ph.D. Biochemistry
Wayne State University, Detroit, MI USA

B.Sc. Chemical Biology
University of Colombo, Colombo, Sri Lanka

Dr. Ebaston Thankarajan Mini Mablet
(Schnermann Group)

Organic/Medicinal Chemistry
Fluorescence Imaging
Drug Delivery
Antibody Drug Conjugates (ADC)
Photodynamic Therapy (PDT)

Ph.D. Chemistry
Ariel University, Ariel, Israel

M.Sc. Chemistry
National Institute of Technology, Tiruchirappalli, India

B.Sc. Chemistry
Nesamony Memorial Christian College, Marthandam, India

Connor Wang
(Schnermann Group)

Fluorescence Microscopy
Cell Culture
Protein Engineering

B.S. Chemical and Biomolecular Engineering
Johns Hopkins University, Baltimore, MD USA

Dr. Mo Yang
(Schneekloth Group)

Small Molecule Microarrays
Biomaterials
Surface Chemistry

Ph.D. Material Science
Chinese Academy of Sciences, Beijing, PR China

B.S. Polymer Materials and Engineering
Jilin University, Jilin Province, PR China

Breadcrumb

Current Fellows