Graduate Student Profiles

Office Location: Mudd 522

Area of Specialization: Organometallic Chemistry

My primary research areas are organometallic and fluorine chemistry. In particular, I am interested in developing new metal-mediated synthetic methodologies to functionalize high global warming potential (GWP) hydrofluorocarbon (HFC) refrigerants. My current work involves catalytic sp³ C-H activation of HFCs with the aim of producing value-added fluorinated intermediates. I am also interested in mechanistic evaluation of these reactions to better understand the unique behavior of HFCs bound to transition metal complexes.

Office Location: Mudd 643

Area of Specialization: Biochemistry

My research focuses on developing reporter plasmids and functional assays to measure
single-stranded DNA gap repair. In cancers, such as glioblastoma, intrinsic and
acquired resistance to treatment results in the proliferation of treatment-resistant cells.
This proliferation is accelerated by translesion synthesis repair (TLS), which allows
cancerous cells to tolerate unrepaired DNA damage and resist chemotherapy. I am
developing quantitative functional assays for measuring TLS capacity in live cancerous
cells, providing information on how mutagenic DNA repair pathways influence and
contribute to treatment resistance.

Office Location: Mudd 573

Area of Specialization: Solid-State Transient Absorption Spectroscopy

I am primarily interested in solar cells due to their potential environmental and economic benefits. I work collaboratively with synthetic chemists, studying complete or partial solar cell stacks to grant insight into rational modifications to improve efficiency. My goal in studying charge transfer dynamics is to help push us toward a future where environmentally friendly energy generation is also efficient and inexpensive, allowing the technology to be deployed at scale.

Office Location: Mudd 648

Area of Specialization: Biochemistry/Biophysics

I am a graduate student in Damien Thévenin’s lab. My work focuses on using the pH (Low) insertion peptide (pHLIP) as a model for other pH dependent proteins and peptides by distinguishing how specific residues and environmental factors affect pHLIP’s pH dependent insertion. In my free time I enjoy playing tabletop and board games.

Office Location: Sinclair 315

Area of Specialization: Computational Physical Chemistry

I'm a student in the Fredin lab. My research currently focuses on the conductive
properties of COFs and other semiconductor materials.

Office Location: Mudd 432

Area of Specialization: Organometallics

My research involves making nickel complexes that can perform reductive elimination reactions to form fluorinated molecules that have potential applications in medicinal chemistry.

Office Location: Mudd 423

Area of Specialization: Organometallics

I'm interested in developing methods and reagents for fluorination and/or fluoroalkylation of organic molecules. I'm also currently working on ways to recycle some C2 refrigerants mainly by dehydrofluorination using neutral organic superbases.

Office Location: Mudd 657

Area of Specialization: Bioanalytical/Biochemistry

My research focuses on studying the effect of cholesterol in protein-ganglioside
interactions in lipid rafts, which are important in Alzheimer's disease and Multiple
sclerosis. I use various membrane models such as supported lipid bilayers and giant
unilamellar vesicles (GUVs), and techniques like fluorescence microscopy and quartz
crystal microbalance with dissipation monitoring (QCM-D).

Office Location: Mudd 657

Area of Specialization: Bioanalytical Chemistry

My research is focused on the biophysical properties of lipid bilayer membranes and molecular interactions that occur at biological surfaces. Specifically, I use techniques like optical microscopy, spectroscopy, and QCM-D to examine how oxidized lipids involved in cardiovascular disease alter membrane structure, and how these lipids are recognized by innate immune cells.

Office location: Mudd 447

Area of Specialization: Organic chemistry, mechanochemistry

I am a 2nd-year student in Dr. Junpeng Wang's lab. My research is focused on
molecules that generate fluorescence and benzyne when subjected to mechanical force
and their incorporation into polymer systems of polyurethane and poly(ethylene glycol).