POSTDOCTORAL FELLOWS
Dr. Satya Rama Krishna Boddu
hf5820@wayne.edu
Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur (with Prof. M. L. N. Rao)
Project: Phenanthroline-Catalyzed Stereoselective Glycosylation
Dr. Kartikey Singh
hn6567@wayne.edu
Ph.D. in Medicinal and Organic Synthesis, Central Drug Research Institute, Lucknow (Dr. Ramapati Tripathi)
Post-Doc. Bacterial Glycan Synthesis, Indian Institute of Technology Bombay, Mumbai (Prof. Survan S. Kulkarni)
Project: HS-mimicking Glycopolymer for Heparanase inhibition and Tauopathy
Dr. Jayanta Ghorai
jghorai@wayne.edu
Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry, Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (with P. Anbarasan)
Project: Vaccine adjuvant
Dr. Neha Rani
neharani@wayne.edu
Ph.D., Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Jammu
Project: Computational Investigation of Reaction Mechanisms for Carbohydrate Reactions and Catalytic Systems Involving Transition Metal Complexes
Dr. Daniil A Ahiadorme
daniil.ahiadorme@wayne.edu
Ph.D., University of Georgia
Project: Phenanthroline-catalyzed stereoselective glycosylation of 2-deoxy sugars
Dr. Junzhe Wang
hx6958@wayne.edu
Ph.D., Institute of Chemistry, Chinese Academy of Sciences (中国科学院化学研究所)
Project: Heparanase Project
Dr. Assia Chebieb
hm7896@wayne.edu
Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry, Tlemcen University, Algeria
Project: Vaccine Adjuvant
GRADUATE STUDENTS
Hawau Abdulsalam (Fall 2020)
abdulsalamhawau@wayne.edu
B.S. in Chemistry and Biology, Minnesota State University Moorhead, 2018
Project: HS Mimetics as Heparanase Inhibitors
Suendues Noori (August 2022)
snoori@wayne.edu
B.S. and M.S. in Chemistry, University of Windsor, 2022
Project: Protonated Phenanthroline-Catalyzed Glycosylation
Leila Almounajed (Fall 2022)
leilaa@wayne.edu
B.S. in Chemistry, University of Michigan at Flint
Project: Saponin Vaccine Adjuvants
Felix Chukwu (Fall 2022)
chukwu.felix@wayne.edu
B.S. in Chemistry, Ibrahim Badamasi Babangida University
Project: Catalytic Asymmetric Reactions
Michael Hotor (Fall 2022)
mhotor@wayne.edu
B.S. in Chemistry, Kwame Nkrumah University
Project: Development of Heparanase and SARS-CoV-2 Inhibitors
Livia Phillip (Fall 2022)
gm9939@wayne.edu
B.S. in Chemistry, Wayne State University
Project: Development of Heparanase Inhibitors
April Tapayan (Fall 2022)
aprilsweettapayan@wayne.edu
B.S. in Chemistry, Mindao State University – Iligan Institute of Technology
Project: Alzheimer’s Disease Project
Rollanda Tella (Fall 2023)
rollandatella@wayne.edu
B.S. in Chemistry, University of Lagos, 2018
Project: Transition Metal Catalyzed Allylic Fluorination
Tony Faraj (Fall 2023)
hp8919@wayne.edu
B.S. in Biochemistry and Mathematics, Eastern Michigan University, 2022
Project: Cis Pt-Arg complex project
Dylan Yost-Slinker (Fall 2023)
dyost@wayne.edu
B.S. in Chemistry, University of California Merced, 2023
Project: FGF2 Project
Jethro Akaito (Fall 2024)
jethro.akaito@wayne.edu
B.S. in Chemistry, Kaduna State University
Project: Organocatalytic Asymmetric Reactions
Lakmini Kosgahakumbura (Fall 2024)
ht2931@wayne.edu
B.S. in Chemistry, Institute of Chemistry Ceylon in Sri Lanka
Project: Saponin Vaccine Adjuvants
Rangika Samankumari (Fall 2024)
hu4714@wayne.edu
B.Sc. in Chemistry, Rajarata University of Sri Lanka, 2023
Project: Alzheimer’s Disease
Tharuka Chandrasiri (Fall 2024)
ht8620@wayne.edu
B.Sc. in Chemistry (Hons), University of Colombo, 2021
Project: Heparanase Project
Jayod Vishwaka Kariyawasam (Fall 2024)
hu3292@wayne.edu
B.Sc. in Chemistry, University of Ruhuna, Sri Lanka
Project: Oncocin project
Andrew Gulewicz (Fall 2024)
eh0925@wayne.edu
University of Pittsburgh
Project: Heparanase project
UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS
(1) Jacob Laney
(2) Bryce Heim
(3) Zeina Khalil
(4) Darsh Upadhyay (High School Student at Cranbrook)
FORMER GROUP MEMBERS
POSTDOCTORAL FELLOWS AND VISITING SCIENTISTS/STUDENTS
(1) Jaemoon Zhang (2006 – 2007)
Ph.D. at University of Pittsburg (with C. Wilcox)
Current Position: Cambridge Isotope Lab, Andover, MA
(2) Gregory Mercer (2006 – 2008)
Ph.D. at University of Utah (with M. Sigman)
Current Position: Senior Scientist at Corden Pharmaceutical, Woburn, MA
(3) Joe Topczewski (2011 – 2012)
Ph.D. at University of Iowa, 2011 (with D. Wiemer)
Postdoctoral at University of Michigan, 2015 (with M. Sanford)
Current Position: Assistant Professor at University of Minnesota
(4) Russel Pesavento (Visiting Scientist, 2012 – 2016)
Ph.D. at University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (with W. van der Donk)
Postdoctoral at Harvard University (with R. Holm)
Current Position: Clinical Assistant Professor at University of Illinois at Chicago
(5) Benjamin Ayela (04/2018 – 01/2019)
Ph.D. at Institut de Chimie Organique et Analytique (ICOA), Orléans (France).
(6) Swati Nigudkar (04/2018-03/2019)
Ph.D. at University of Missouri (with Alexei Demchenko)
(7) Fei Yu (2010-2019)
Ph.D. at Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry (with S. Ma)
Current Position: Process Chemist at Ash Stevens
(8) Chanchamnan Um (2019-2020)
Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry, SUNY Buffalo (with S. Chemler)
Current Position: Professor of Chemistry in Cambodia
(9) Huy Van Le (2019-2020)
Ph.D. in Pharmaceutical/Medicinal Science, Kyushu University (with Miyamoto)
Current Position: Professor of Chemistry at Nong Lam University, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
(10) San-Yong Zhu (2018-2020)
Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry, SiChuan University in China (with J. Yang)
Current Position: Associate Professor at ChongQing Medical University, China
(11) Ravi Loka (2012-2021)
Ph.D. in Chemical Biology, University of Alberta (with C. Cairo)
Current Position: Senior Research Scientist, Complex Carbohydrate Center at UGA
(12) Hengfu Xu (2019-2022)
Ph.D. in Chemical Biology, Northwest A & F University (with Z. Pei)
Current Position: Senior Scientist, ASYMCHEM in China
13) Richard Schaugaard (2019-2022)
Ph.D. in Chemistry, Indiana University (with Krishnan)
Current Position: Assistant Professor at Sam Houston State University
(14) Nur-E Alom (2022-2024)
Ph.D. in Chemistry, University of Toledo (with Wei Li)
Current Position: Senior Scientist, Affinity Research Chemicals
(15) Chun-Xiao Li (2021 – 2024)
Ph.D. in Chemistry, Nanjing University (with Hong Yan)
Current Position: Postdoctoral Associate, WSU School of Medicine
GRADUATE STUDENTS
(1) Enoch Mensah (2006 – 2011)
Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry, University of Iowa, 2011
Postdoc at University of Michigan, 2013 (with P. Nagorny)
Current Position: Associate Professor at Indiana University Southeast
(2) Matthew McKay (2008 – 2013)
Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry, University of Iowa, 2013
Current Position: Senior Patent Agent, Cabot Microelectronics, Chicago, IL
(3) Jeffrey S. Arnold (2008 – 2014)
Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry, University of Iowa, 2014
Current Position: Associate Director of Medicinal Chemistry at Navidea Biopharmaceuticals
(4) Matthew McConnell (2010 – 2015, five publications)
Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry, University of Iowa, 2015
Postdoctoral Fellow at Northwestern University, Evanston, IL
Current Position: Assistant Professor at Western Illinois University
(5) Qi Zhang (2010 – 2016)
Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry, University of Iowa, 2016
Postdoctoral Fellow at Washington University in St. Louis
Current Position: Director at WuXi Shanghai
(6) Edo Mwenda (2012-2017)
Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry, University of Iowa, 2017
Current Position: Technology Specialist at Viksnins Harris Padys Malen, Minneapolis, MN
(7) Eric Sletten (2013-2018)
Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry, University of Iowa, 2018
Current Position: Postdoctoral Scholar at Max Plank with Peter Seeberger
(8) Jason Mixdorf (2015-2019)
Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry, University of Iowa, 2019
Postdoctoral Scholar at the University of Wisconsin with Brad Christian
Current Position: Assistant Scientist at UW-Madison Cyclotron Lab
(9) Alexandre Sorlin (2015-2020)
Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry, University of Iowa, 2020
Postdoctoral Scholar at UCSF with David Wilson
Current Position: Senior Scientist, Radiochemistry at Johnson & Johnson
(10) Paul DeMent (08/2017 – 12/2021)
Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry, Wayne State University, 2021
Current Position: Postdoc at NIH with Victor Pike
(11) Jiayi Li (08/2017 – 07/2022)
Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry, Wayne State University, 2022
Postdoc at MIT with Alison Wendlandt
Current Position: Scientist at FDA
(12) Sachini Rodrigo (12/2018 -09/2023)
Ph.D. in Analytical/Organic Chemistry (joint student with Prof. Luo)
Current Position: Postdoc at the University of Utah with Long Luo
(13) Madhawee Arachchi (12/2018 – 12/2023)
Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry
Current Position: Senior Scientist, AAPharmaSyn
(14) Fuad Usman (12/2019 – 04/2024)
Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry
Current Position: Senior Scientist, Dow Chemical
(15) Connor English (12/2019 – 08/2024)
Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry
Current Position: Patent Agent, USPTO
(16) Joseph Wakpal (12/2019 – 09/2024)
Ph.D. in Organic Chemistry
Current Position: Senior Scientist, GelbChem
(17) Brandon Schuff (2006 – 2007, one publication)
M.S. in Chemistry, Montana State University, 2007
Current Position: Pfizer, Groton, Connecticut
(18) Alexander Suihkonen (2010 – 2012)
M.S. in Chemistry, University of Iowa, 2012
Current Position: 3M, Minneapolis
(19) Patrick Ndungu (2010 – 2013)
M.S. in Chemistry, University of Iowa, 2013
(20) Greg Jenson (2016-2018)
M.S. in Chemistry, University of Iowa, 2018
(15) Reza Samarbakhsh (2019 – 2020)
M.A. Chemistry, Wayne State University
Current Position: Pharmaceutical Science Graduate Student, WSU College of Pharmacy
(21) Chenlu Liu (2019 – 2021)
M.A. in Chemistry, Wayne State University, 2021
Current Position: Computer Science Graduate Student, Northeastern University
(22) Nuwan Kondasinghe (2019 – 2022)
M.A. in Chemistry, Wayne State University, 2022
(23) James Willey (2011 – 2013, Medical Student)
MD, University of Iowa, 2016
Internal Medicine Resident, University of Iowa, 2016-2019.
Current Position: Associate of Internal, Department of Internal Medicine University of Iowa
(24) Joseph Lange (2021-2024)
M.A. in Chemistry, Wayne State University (2024)
Current Position: Scientist in Madison Height, MI
UNDERGRADUATE STUDENTS
(1) Nathan Park
Montana State University, B.S. in Chemistry and Environment Sciences, 2009
2011 NSF Pre-doctoral Fellow
2009-2011 – Graduate Student at Sloan Kettering Center (with D. Gin)
2011-2005 – Graduate Student at MIT (with S. Buchwald)
Current Position: Research Scientist at IBM in San Jose, CA
(2) Joseph Azzarelli
Montana State University, B.S. in Chemistry, 2010
2008 MIT Amgen Scholar (with S. Buchwald)
2009 Barry Goldwater Fellowship
2009 ACS SURF Fellow at Stanford (with B. Trost)
2011 – Rhodes Scholar Finalist
2011- 2016 – Graduate Student at MIT (with T. Swager)
(3) Benjamin Naab
Montana State University, B.S. in Chemistry, 2010
2009 Barry Goldwater Fellowship
2009 MIT Amgen Scholar (Declined)
2010 NSF Pre-doctoral Fellow
2010-2005 – Graduate Student at Stanford (with Z. Bao)
Current Position: Senior Scientist at Dow Chemical Company, Boston, MA
(4) Mellie Park (2010 REU Student)
Montana State University, B.S. in Biochemistry, 2010
2012-present – Graduate Student at University of Utah
(5) Gregory Cizio
University of Iowa, B.S. in Chemistry, 2012
2012 – 2014 – Graduate Student at UC-Irvine (with V. Dong)
Current Position: Research Scientist, Gilead, CA
(6) Nate Oldenhuis
University of Iowa, B. S. in Chemistry, 2012
2012 – 2017 – Graduate Student at UC-Irvine (with V. Dong)
2017 – present – NIH Postdoctoral Fellow at MIT with Johnson
Current Position: Assistant Professor of Chemistry, University of New Hampshire
(7) Drew Heitz
University of Iowa, B. S. in Chemistry, 2013
2012 ACS Division of Organic Chemistry SURF Fellow
2013 – present – Graduate Student at University of Pennsylvania (with Gary Molander)
(8) Kathleen White
University of Iowa, B. S. in Chemistry and Biochemistry, 2013
2009 – 2013 University of Iowa Presidential Scholar
2012 MIT Amgen Scholar (with T. Swager)
2013 NSF Predoctoral Fellow
2013 – 2019 – Graduate Student at MIT (with Tim Swager)
(9) Riley Svec
University of Iowa, B.S. in Chemistry, 2015
2014 ACS Division of Organic Chemistry SURF Fellow
2015 – 2020: Graduate Student at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign (with Paul Hergenrother)
(10) Michael Vinyard
University of Iowa, B.A. in Chemistry, 2016
2012 NASA Scholar
2013 University of Illinois Snyder Scholar
2015 Big Ten Academic Scholarship
2016 ACS Division of Organic Chemistry Undergraduate Award
2018-2024 – Graduate Student at Harvard Medical School
(11) Alexis Ho (2022 Summer Student)
Current: Senior at Sam Houston State University
(12) Cyrus Alan-Lee
Wayne State University, B.S. in Chemical Biology, 2022
Graduate Student at New York University (with Bobby Arora)