ABOUTThe NIH supported Biological Chemistry Program (BCP) is a cross-disciplinary graduate program designed for research at the interface of Chemistry and Biology. Participating Faculty are primarily from the Departments of Chemistry and Biochemistry, and the Drug Discovery and Development Division of Pharmacology and Toxicology. Students entering the Biological Chemistry Program may work with any of these faculty while earning a PhD in one of two degree programs. WHY JOIN THE BCP?The Biological Chemistry Program offers unique opportunities for cutting-edge research with the advantages of choosing from research conducted in any of three excellent programs. The three programs have internationally renowned faculty, state-of-the-art instrumentation, and outstanding support facilities. | Image
CAREER OPORTUNITIESThe Biological Chemistry Program provides exposure to the myriad of excellent career opportunities that exist for scientists trained at the chemistry/biology interface. These opportunities include careers as faculty in Universities and Colleges and as scientists in biotechnology and pharmaceutical companies, National Institutes of Health, Food and Drug Administration. |
The Biological Chemistry Program (BCP) is an NIH supported graduate training program that can be joined as a track through two departments: Chemistry and Biochemistry, and the Drug Discovery and Development of Pharmacology and Toxicology. The program is interdisciplinary and students undertake research rotations, courses and seminars involving all three Graduate Programs: Biochemistry, Chemistry, and Drug Discovery and Development. The background for BCP students is expected to include a year of biochemistry and a year of physical chemistry. In our program, students:
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Satisfy all home program requirements. It is expected that students will remain in good academic standing in their home department, and will achieve candidacy and a Ph.D. degree in Chemistry, Biochemistry or Pharmaceutical Sciences through their home department.
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Undertake research rotations in at least two programs. Rotations can be with any BCP faculty member and should include at least two research disciplines. BCP faculty, research interests and current rotation opportunities are listed on our web page. Students often choose their thesis advisor by spring break and the fourth rotation can be in this lab even if previously visited. A rotation poster session is held during our Research Forum after each rotation period. Students are expected to devote 10-15 hours per week to the rotation and will receive a grade. Rotations are an excellent hands-on opportunity to learn about a new area of research as well as for learning more about a potential thesis lab. Students are encouraged to use one of their rotations for something completely out of their experience – for example, a synthetic chemist might try cloning and expressing a protein.
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Undertake one cross-disciplinary core course and an ethics course. In addition to fulfilling the coursework required for a degree in Chemistry, Biochemistry or Pharmaceutical Sciences, BCP students must take at least two of the approved courses listed below, one each from the Biology and Chemistry disciplines. Students must also take an ethics course such as MCB 695e or CHEM 595A/B.
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Undertake thesis research with any of the ~35 BCP faculty, regardless of home department. Although most students will have a thesis advisor from their home department, we offer the opportunity for BCP students to work with any of the BCP faculty.
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Assemble a thesis committee with at least one member outside of their home program. Generally, this person will be a BCP faculty member with cross-disciplinary interests in the student’s research area. Students are encouraged to use this as a means for initiating cross-disciplinary collaborations.
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Attend the weekly BCP Research Forum (also called Journal Club). Students are expected to attend throughout their graduate careers. Generally, students will present rotation posters in the Research Forum during their first year and full research seminars in their third and fifth years of study. In year four, students present a journal article.
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Are eligible for BCP fellowships. Applications are solicited each spring; awards are made based on merit, generally within the second and third years.
| Biological | Chemical | |
|---|---|---|
BIOC 565 Proteins & Enzymes BIOC 568 Nucleic Acids, Metabolism and Signaling PHSC 530 Intro. Mol. Therapeutics & Drug Discovery PHSC 670 Princip. Drug Discov., Design and Dev. PCOL 520a Cellular Commun. And Signal Trans.
| CHEM 550 Synthetic and Mechanistic Organic Chemistry CHEM 549A Topics in Chemical Biology CHEM 510 Advanced Inorganic Chemistry CHEM 523a Bioanalytical Chemistry CHEM 580 Introduction to Quantum Chemistry | |
| Other Requirements: BIOC 595e BCP Journal Club MCB 695e Science, Society & Ethics CHEM 595A/B Professional Development, or an equivalent course | ||
*Last Updated in 2022
Prospective Students should apply to one of the two participating departments, Chemistry and Biochemistry or Pharmacology and Toxicology, for admission to the University of Arizona. Students accepted into any of the two home departments are welcome to join the Biological Chemistry Program.
Currently Enrolled University of Arizona Graduate Students wishing to join the Biological Chemistry Program should contact Professor M. Leandro Heien.
Faculty participating in the program hold appointments in either the Department of Chemistry and Biochemistry, Department of Immunobiology, or the Department of Pharmacology and Toxicology.
| Faculty | Research Interests |
|---|---|
| Craig A. Aspinwall Chemistry/Biochemistry | Cellular Function at the Interface of Analytical Chemistry and Cell Physiology |
| Deepta Bhattacharya Immunobiology | Immunology |
| Alfred Bothwell Immunobiology | Cancer biology and infectious disease |
| Michael Brown Chemistry/Biochemistry | NMR spectroscopy; membrane proteins and lipid bilayers; receptors and biological signaling; vision |
| Samuel Campos Immunobiology | Papillomavirus Infection and host/virus interactions |
| Pascale Charest Chemistry/Biochemistry | Signaling mechanisms and directed cell motility |
| Matthew Cordes Chemistry/Biochemistry | Structural Evolution and Conformational Switching in Proteins |
| Abhijit Date Pharmacology and Toxicology | Nanomedicine, infectious diseases, drug repurposing |
| Xinxin Ding Pharmacology and Toxicology | Drug metabolism/disposition, enzyme function/regulation, drug safety/efficacy, and Genetic/enviromental risks for chemical toxicity |
| James Galligan Pharmacology and Toxicology | Studying cell metabolism and chromatin function |
| Felicia Goodrum Immunobiology | Herpesvirus, cytomegalovirus, viral latency and reactivation |
| Michael Heien Chemistry/Biochemistry | Measuring neurotransmitters and neuromodulators. Specifically to figure out how chemicals affext individual neurons and behavior. The goal of his research is to understand the molecular mechanisms behind synapse formation, the role of supporting cells in modulation of neurotransmission, and how these work to regulate behavior |
| Nancy Horton Chemistry/Biochemistry | Macromolecular structure and function; X-ray crystallography |
| Christopher Hulme Chemistry/Biochemistry | Enabling chemistries and platform technologies for the construction of targeted small molecule libraries that span possible applications across multiple target families |
| John Jewett Chemistry/Biochemistry | Chemical virology - Developing chemical tools to study dengue virus |
| Michael Johnson Immunobiology | Orchestrated bacterial response to metal stress using copper as a focal point |
| Michael Kuhns Immunobiology | T cell activation and biomimetic engineering of T cell-based immunotherapies |
| Tally Largent-Milnes Pharmacology | Pain and drugs of abuse |
| Nam Lee Chemistry/Biochemistry | Metabolism, Signaling, and Regulation Protein and Membrane Biochemistry |
| Hongmin Li Pharmacology and Toxicology | Structural biology, X-ray crystallography, protein-protein interaction, target-based drug discovery, high throughput screening |
| Jianqin Lu Pharmacology and Toxicology | Drug delivery, Nanomedicine, Pharmaceutics and Pharmacokinetics, Nano-Immuno Engineering, Cancer Immunotherapy, Chemotherapy, Biomaterials |
| Michael Marty Chemistry/Biochemistry | Membrane proteins play a number of critical biochemical roles and make up the majority of drug targets. Despite their importance, membrane proteins remain challenging systems for analysis due to their amphipathic nature and low expression levels. Moreover, the lipid bilayer can play an important but largely unexplored role in regulating membrane protein structure and function. New analytical and biochemical methods are necessary to better understand and design drugs to target membrane proteins |
| William R. Montfort Chemistry/Biochemistry | Protein structure, function and dynamics; X-ray crystallography |
| Janko Nikolich Immunobiology | Basic mechanisms of immunity, longevity and health span modulation by nutritional and metabolic intervention |
| Aikseng Ooi Pharmacology and Toxicology | NRF2 signaling, Iron metabolism, Hereditary Leiomyomatosis and Renal Cell Cancer (HLRCC), Computational Biology. |
| Robin L. Polt Chemistry/Biochemistry | Cell-surface Carbohydrates |
| John Purdy Immunobiology | Human virus-host metabolism interactions with a focus in metabolomics and lipidomics |
| Arthur Riegel Pharmacology | Neuroscience and pain |
| Patrick Ronaldson Pharmacology | Blood-brain barrier; transporters; drug delivery; ischemic stroke; Alzheimer's disease; drug abuse/misuse |
| Rick Schnellmann Pharm/Tox - DDD | Identifying and developing drugs to treat acute kidney injury, diabetic kidney disease, stroke, spinal cord injury and Parkinson’s disease. |
| Catharine L. Smith Pharmacology and Toxicology | Epigenetic mechanisms of gene expression, their regulation through signaling pathways and modulation by anti-cancer drugs |
| John Streicher Pharmacology | Opioid and cannabinoid signal transduction |
| Michael Taylor Chemistry/Biochemistry | Design, develop, and apply new organic chemical transformations that can be used to explore the chemistry-biology interface in living systems |
| Gregory Thatcher Pharmacology and Toxicology | Drug Discovery from design through clinical trials. Use of chemical, molecular, and structural biology tools to understand biomolecule targets and design small molecules to engage these targets in cell and animal models. |
| Thomas Tomasiak Chemistry/Biochemistry | Advanced structural approaches (x-ray crystallography and cryo-EM) and membrane protein stabilization techniques based on lipid nanodiscs to address pharmacological problems involving eukaryotic lipid and drug transporters. |
| Elisa Tomat Chemistry/Biochemistry | Biological inorganic chemistry of oxidative stress, wound healing, cell proliferation, and cancer |
| Todd Vanderah Pharmacology | Chronic pain and opioid addiction |
Chemistry/Biochemistry | Alzheimer’s disease (AD) is a fatal neurodegenerative disease affecting 5.5 million Americans. Despite many decades of research there is still no known cure. AD is a protein misfolding disease, where the Alzheimer’s protein, Ab, aggregates from a random coil entity into fibrils, which are highly organized aggregates containing a cross-b sheet structure. However, the nature of the toxic species in Alzheimer’s disease remains unknown. |
| Wei Wang Pharm/Tox - DDD | Organic synthesis, molecular imaging and recognition, chemical biology and medicinal chemistry (drug discovery) |
| Georg Wondrak Pharmacology and Toxicology | Molecular pathways of skin photocarcinogenesis that involve cellular photooxidative and carbonyl stress; Developing chemical reagents into potent drugs that target reactive chemical intermediates |
| Rui Xiong Pharmacology and Toxicology | Focused on the structure-based design of bioactive molecules to modulate disease-causing proteins or genes using X-ray crystallography and computational modeling to guide molecule design |
| Fei Yin Pharmacology | Mitochondrial dysfunction in neurodegenerative diseases |
| Donna Zhang Pharmacology and Toxicology | The Nrf2/Keap1 signaling pathway that is activated by oxidative stress and chemopreventive compounds; Regulation of gene expression by the ubiquitination and proteasomal degradation pathway |
| Haining Zhu Pharmacology and Toxicology | Neurodegenerative diseases, Amyotrophic lateral sclerosis (ALS), Frontotemporal dementia (FTD), RNA binding proteins in neurodegenerative diseases, Regulation of RNA metabolism and protein translation in neurodegenerative diseases, Stress granules in neurodegenerative diseases and other human health conditions, Protein homeostasis, misfolding, aggregation and turnover, Mass spectrometry, proteomics and functional genomics, Protein chemistry, biophysics, structure and function relationship |
| Student | Home Department | Entered Program | Advisor |
|---|---|---|---|
| Luke Addington | CBC/Chemistry | Fall 2023 | Katrina Miranda |
| Ayobami Adegbenro | CBC/ Chemistry | Fall 2024 | |
| Ajibola Adelakun | Drug Discovery and Development | Fall 2021 | Jacob Schwartz |
| Fahmida Alam | CBC/ Chemistry | Fall 2023 | Andrew Thatcher |
| Ohoud AlMalki | CBC/ Biochemistry | Fall 2023 | Nam Lee |
| Maya Arruda | CBC/ Biochemistry | Fall 2024 | |
| Zachary Bachler | CBC/ Biochemistry | Fall 2023 | Michael Brown |
| Saryu Bhardwaj | CBC/ Chemistry | Fall 2024 | |
| Sydeny Call | CBC/ Biochemistry | Fall 2024 | |
| Mengyang Chang | CBC/ Biochemistry | Fall 2020 | Wei Wang |
| Tim Chavez | CBC/Chemistry | Fall 2020 | Chris Hulme |
| Evelyn Cheng | CBC/Chemistry | Fall 2024 | |
| Estevan Cleveland | CBC/ Biochemistry | Fall 2023 | Michael Marty |
| Leonardo Correa | CBC/ Biochemistry | Fall 2024 | |
| Jenna Courey | CBC/Biochemistry | Fall 2022 | Andrew Thatcher |
| Abagail Darling | CBC/ Chemistry | Fall 2023 | John Jewett |
| Dash Tapasyatanu | CBC/ Chemistry | Fall 2021 | Michael Marty |
| Madison DeJesus | CBC/ Biochemistry | Fall 2023 | Michael Marty |
| Tochukwu Eze | CBC/ Chemistry | Fall 2023 | Greg Thacker |
| Oluwaseun Fapohunda | CBC/ Biochemistry | Fall 2021 | Michael Marty |
| Kimber Focke | CBC/ Chemistry | Fall 2022 | Michael Marty |
| Sean Ginn | CBC/ Chemistry | Fall 2022 | Chris Hulme |
| Keren-ha Goraum | CBC/ Chemistry | Fall 2022 | John Jewett |
| Andrea Hamilton | CBC/ Chemistry | Fall 2019 | M. Leandro Heien |
| Sara Hashemi | CBC/ Biochemistry | Fall 2024 | |
| Bai Hei | CBC/ Chemistry | Fall 2019 | Michael Brown |
| Alyss Humphrey | CBC/ Biochemistry | Fall 2024 | |
| Luke Illes | CBC/ Biochemistry | Fall 2024 | |
| Promise Inegbedion | CBC/ Biochemistry | Fall 2024 | |
| Lipsa Jena | CBC/ Biochemistry | Fall 2019 | Khanna/ Tomasiak |
| Ren-Hua Jheng | CBC/ Chemistry | Fall 2023 | Elisa Tomat |
| Priyajit Kaur | CBC/ Biochemistry | Fall 2024 | |
| Emma Kempton | CBC/ Biochemistry | Fall 2023 | John Jewett |
| Naoya Kitamura | Drug Discovery and Development | Fall 2021 | Jim Galligan |
| Jake Kozora | Drug Discovery and Development | Fall 2023 | Wei Wang |
| Megan Laham | CBC/ Chemistry | Fall 2020 | Greg Thatcher |
| Aidan McMahon | CBC/ Chemistry | Fall 2022 | Chris Hulme |
| Farhana Mohona | CBC/ Chemistry | Fall 2022 | Michael Marty |
| Maniza Muni | CBC/ BioChemistry | Fall 2024 | |
| Phani Nekkalapudi | CBC/ Biochemistry | Fall 2024 | |
| Michael Okine | CBC/ Chemistry | Fall 2022 | John Streicher |
| Agata Orlinski | CBC/ Biochemistry | Fall 2016 | Pascale Charest |
| Abigail Page | CBC/ Biochemistry | Fall 2022 | Marielle Walti |
| Leo Parra | CBC/ Biochemistry | Fall 2024 | |
| Rithika Parthasarathy | CBC/ Chemistry | Fall 2024 | |
| Hieu Cong Pham | CBC/ Chemistry | Fall 2022 | Michael Taylor |
| Devin Pontigon | CBC/ Chemistry | Fall 2020 | Wei Wang |
| Manan Rana | CBC/ Biochemistry | Fall 2024 | |
| MD Shamiul Rasel | CBC/ Chemistry | Fall 2022 | Tom Tomasiak |
| Samantha Rokey | CBC/ Chemistry | Fall 2020 | Chris Hulme |
| Paige Sandoval | CBC/ Biochemistry | Fall 2023 | Greg Thacker |
| Hannah Schmidt | CBC/ Biochemistry | Fall 2018 | Craig Aspinwall |
| Annika Schulz | CBC/ Biochemistry | Fall 2022 | Tom Tomasiak |
| Sahan Senanayaka | CBC/ Biochemistry | Fall 2024 | |
| Rashid Serdah | CBC/ Biochemistry | Fall 2024 | |
| Hager Shogaaeldein | CBC/ Biochemistry | Fall 2023 | John Steicher |
| Annika Silverberg | CBC/ Chemistry | Fall 2022 | Michael Marty |
| Farinaz Soleymani | CBC/ Chemistry | Fall 2022 | Greg Thatcher |
| Yinchi Song | CBC/ Chemistry | Fall 2023 | Rui Xiong |
| Kavya Sooriyaarachchi | CBC/ Chemistry | Fall 2024 | |
| Farhin Sachana | CBC/ Biochemistry | Fall 2024 | |
| Hriday Sutradhar | CBC/ Chemistry | Fall 2023 | Marielle Walti |
| Brian Tran | CBC/ Chemistry | Fall 2023 | Michael Marty |
| Marissa Trujillo | Drug Discovery and Development | Fall 2019 | Jim Galligan |
| Nathan Weintraub | CBC/ Biochemistry | Fall 2020 | M. Leandro Hein |
| Helena Woroniecka | CBC/ Biochemistry | Fall 2020 | Pascale Charest |
| Jordan Yoder | CBC/ Biochemistry | Fall 2024 |
| Alumnus | Dissertation |
|---|---|
| TASMIA AHMED – Ph.D. 2024 | Title: Mechanistic Roles of Transforming Growth Factor-Beta, TGFß and Receptor Tyrosine Kinase, RTK Cross-Talks in Sprouting Angiogenesis
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| GENESIS CAHIGAS – Ph.D. 2024 | Title: Determining the Role of Ras Family GTPase Rap1 in Regulating mTORC2 Activity and Function in Cell Migration
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| NATASHA CORNEJO – Ph.D. 2023 | Title: Investigating the Intricacies of Aryl Diazonium Ion Chemistry in Biological Environments for Improved Bioconjugation and Targeted Delivery
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| PAOLA CRUZ FLORES – Ph.D. 2024 | Title: Investigating the Intricacies of Aryl Diazonium Ion Chemistry in Biological Environments for Improved Bioconjugation and Targeted Delivery
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| ALESSANDRA FISTROVICH – Ph.D. 2024 | Development of Small Molecule DYRK/CLK Inhibitors for the Treatment of Solid Tumors
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| MICHELLE LAY – Ph.D. 2024 | Title: The Role of Wildtype and Fusion FET Proteins in Transcription Related R-Loop Regulation
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| YAN LIANG – Ph.D. 2024 | Title: Smartphone-Based Point-of-Care Testing
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| KEVIN SCHOFIELD – Ph.D. 2024 | Title: Structural Analysis of Loss of Function Mutations to Human and Fungal Membrane Associated Proteins
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| DEVIN SEKA – Ph.D. 2024 | Title: Structural Analysis of Loss of Function Mutations to Human and Fungal Membrane Associated Proteins
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| JARED SIVINSKI – Ph.D. 2023 | Title: Targeting the GroES/GroEL Chaperone System as an Antimicrobial Strategy
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| JEREMY SNELL – Ph.D. 2023 | Title: The Role of Environmental Chlorination Stress and Solar Ultraviolet Radiation in Skin Inflammation and Carcinogenesis
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| JULIA TOWNSEND – Ph.D. 2023 | Title: Analysis of Viroporins and Membrane Systems With Native Mass Spectrometry
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| ZHIHAN WANG – Ph.D. 2023 | Title: Improving Stability and Preparation Efficiency of Electrophysiological Sensors
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| ALYSSA WERNER, Ph.D. 2023 | Title: The Role and Regulation of the Mechanistic Target of Rapamycin Complex 2 and Ras in Non-Small Cell Lung Cancer Cell Migration Research Director: Pascale Charest |
| STEPHEN SMITH, Ph.D. 2022 | Title: Uncovering the Role Select Residues Play in Mediating RasC Activation and Interaction With mTORC2 Research Director: Dr. Pascale G. Charest |
| LAURA BASANTES, Ph.D. 2022 | Title: DYRK1a Kinase Structural and Biochemical Studies Research Director: Dr. William Montfort |
| ZEKUN LIU, Ph.D. 2022 | Title: Peptide Drug Design and the Investigation of Biased Signaling for Melanocortin Receptor System Research Director: Dr. Victor Hruby |
| HOLLY SOFKA, Ph.D. 2022 | Title: Base-Activated Lysine Probes and their Utility in Mosquito Larvae Midguts Research Director: Dr. John Jewett |
| SAMUAL SUGERMAN, Ph.D. 2022 | Title: Post-Translational Protein Switches: Novel and Selective Control in Human Cells Research Director: Dr. Indraneel Ghosh |
| BRITTANY STANKAVICH, Ph.D. 2022 | Title: The Development and Application of Ligand-Gated Split-Kinases to Interrogate Signal Transduction of Src Family Kinases Research Director: Dr. Indraneel Ghosh |
| JONATHON SAWYER, Ph.D. 2022 | Title: Structure-Activity Studies of A-Melanotropin and Ultra- Short Glp-1 Analogs to Benchmark the Development of Improved Anti-Obesity Drugs Research Director: Dr. Victor Hruby |
| ALEXANDER MARCINIAK, Ph.D. 2022 | Title: Development of Immune Modulators Targeting Autoimmune Disor-Ders And Pulmonary Injury: Design, Synthesis, and Biological Evaluation of Sphingolipid-Derived Sphingosine-1 Phosphate Receptor 1 Agonists Research Director: Dr. Robin Polt |
| KEERTHANA ANDAKUDI KESAVAN, Ph.D. 2022 | Title: Chemical Biology Strategies for Controlling Protein Function and the Interrogation of Cyclin/CDK Interactions Research Director: Dr. Indraneel Ghosh |
| NILOOFAR GHADIRIAN, Ph.D. 2022 | Title: Study of DNA Binding Proteins, Structure, Mechanism, and Functional Relevance Research Director: Dr. Nancy Horton |
| GARRETT DAVIS, Ph.D. 2022 | Title: Forging the Bioconjugate Toolbox: Development of Novel Probes for Orthogonal and Bioorthogonal Protein Functionalization Research Director: Dr. John Jewett |
| AMOFAH BISMARK, Ph.D. 2022 | Title: Protein Engineering Methods to Understand Kinase Signaling and Protein-Protein Interactions Research Director: Dr. Indraneel Ghosh |
| CHRIS ZERIO, Ph.D. 2021 | Title: Targeting the Central Dogma to Inhibit Nodes of Convergence in Cancer Research Director: Dr. Eli Chapman |
| SARAH YOUNG, Ph.D. 2021 | Title: Resolving CD47 Structure and Discerning Function to Understand Signal Transduction Mechanism Research Director: Dr. William Montfort |
| KRISTIANE TORGESON, Ph.D. 2021 | Title: Conserved Conformational Dynamics Control PTP1B Enzymatic Activity Research Director: Dr. Rebecca Page |
| ABIGAIL SHEPARD, Ph.D. 2021 | Title: Synthetically Diverse Triazabutadienes and Their Applications Towards Biological Systems Research Director: Dr. John Jewett |
| KEVIN SCOTT, Ph.D. 2021 | Title: Analysis of FDA-Approved Drugs and Select Methods Toward Analogs of Cantharidin and Apomorphine Research Director: Dr. Jon Njardarson |
| MARTA SCHOENLE, Ph.D. 2021 | Title: Using Structure to Study the Function of Proteins Involved in Antibiotic Resistance and Viral Infection Research Director: Dr. Rebecca Page |
| MATTHEW ROLLINS, Ph.D. 2021 | Title: Elucidating the Role of RNA Binding Proteins in Maintaining Genome Integrity Research Director: Dr. Jacob Schwartz |
| NILOUFAR MOLLASALEHI, Ph.D. 2021 | Title: Two Different Approaches Towards Development of Therapeutics for Neurological Disorders Research Director: Dr. May Khanna |
| YANMEI HU, Ph.D. 2021 | Title: Targeting Viral Proteins and Host Factors for Discovery and Development of Antivirals Against Influenza, Enterovirus and Coronavirus Research Director: Dr. Jun Wang |
| MICHAEL DELOST, Ph.D. 2021 | Title: Development of New Anionic Cascades and Analysis of US FDA Drug Architectures Research Director: Dr. Jon Njardarson |
| CLAUDIA BARAHONA, Ph.D. 2021 | Title: SgrAI, A Model System for the Study of Enzyme Regulation Via Filamentation Research Director: Dr. Nancy Horton |
| RAMI MUSHARRAFIEH, Ph.D. 2020 | Title: Small-Molecule Drugs Against RNA Viruses - Novel Action and Resistance Mechanisms Research Director: Dr. Michael Brown |
| MAHTA MOINPOUR, Ph.D. 2020 | Title: Discriminating Changes in Protein Structure Using Tyrosine Conjugation Research Director: Dr. Jacob Schwartz |
| CHATHURI KOMBALA, Ph.D. 2020 | Title: Development and Application of CEST MRI Contrast Agents that Evaluate Tumor Acidosis and Enzyme Activity Research Director: Dr. Marty Pagel |
| LINDSAY GUZMAN, Ph.D. 2020 | Title: Protected Triazabutadienes in Chemical Biology Research Director: Dr. John Jewett |
| TAYLOR GEE, Ph.D. 2020 | Title: Pain and Dopamine in the Mesolimbic System Research Director: Dr. M. Leandro Heien |
| CHRISTOPHER FOLEY, Ph.D. 2020 | Title: The Discovery of DYR533, a Selective, Orally Bioavailable, Non-Toxic, Brain Penetrant DYRK1A Inhibitor, a Potential Therapeutic for Neurodegenerative Diseases Research Director: Dr. Christopher Hulme |
| SHANNON COLLINS, Ph.D. 2020 | Title: Role of Ras in Regulating mTORC2 Activity and Function in Cancer Cell Migration Research Director: Dr. Pascale Charest |
| ANDREW AMBROSE, Ph.D. 2020 | Title: Characterization and Exploitation of Divergence Substrate Binding Within GRP78 for the Development of Selective Inhibitors Research Director: Dr. Eli Chapman |
| YANG ZHOU, Ph.D. 2019 | Title: Development of Selective Peptide Ligands Targeting Melanocortin Receptors for Melanoma Prevention and Therapy Research Director: Dr. Victor Hruby |
| MARGARETHA SCAVELLO, Ph.D. 2018 | Title: Uncovering the Role of Protein Kinase A in Dictyostelium Chemotaxis Toward Cyclic Adenosine Monophosphate Research Director: Dr. Pascal Charest |
| NICHOLAS MCCONNELL, Ph.D. 2018 | Title: Identification and Development of TrkA, Flt3, Aurora B and CSF-1R Kinase Inhibitors Research Director: Dr. Georg Wondrak |
| JOSHUA GOLDENBERG, Ph.D. 2018 | Title: Machine Learning-Based Classification to Differentiate Bacterial Infection from Inflammation Research Director: Dr. Georg Wondrak |
| CHANDA DE SILVA, Ph.D. 2018 | Title: Employing Chemical Biology Tools for Selective Control of Acetyltransferases and Interrogation of Signal Transduction Pathways of Kinases Research Director: Dr. Indraneel Ghosh |
| JESSICA WALES, Ph.D. 2017 | Title: Allosteric Regulation of Soluble Guanylyl Cyclase: The Nitric Oxide Receptor Research Director: Dr. William Montfort |
| KATHERINE PARENT, Ph.D. 2017 | Title: Expanding the Toolbox for Neurochemical Analyses Research Director: Dr. M. Leandro Heien |
| KEITH OLSON, Ph.D. 2017 | Title: Design, Synthesis and Biological Evaluation of Selective Antagonists at the Mu-Delta Opioid Heteromer Research Director: Dr. Victor Hruby |
| VISHNU KUMARASAMY, Ph.D. 2017 | Title: Targeting the Transcription Of Ret Oncogene in Medullary Thyroid Carcinoma Using Drug-Like Small Molecules Research Director: Dr. Daekyu Sun |
| JIE HE, Ph.D. 2017 | Title: Study of Triazabutadienes as Protein-Labeling Agents, and Development of a Glycoprotein-Targeted Photocrosslinker Research Director: Dr. John Jewett |
| MAHSA GHAFFARI, Ph.D. 2017 | Title: Development of Full-Length Ligand-Activated Split-Kinases and Split-Phosphatases for Interrogation of Signal Transduction Pathways Research Director: Dr. Indraneel Ghosh |
| GABRIELA FERNANDEZ-CUERVO, Ph.D. 2017 | Title: Design, Synthesis and Application of catalyCEST MRI Agents for Enzyme Detection Research Director: Dr. Georg Wondrak |
| IMAN DARYAEI, Ph.D. 2017 | Title: Study, Evaluation, and Applications of MRI Contrast Agents that Work Based on CEST and T2-EX Mechanisms Research Director: Dr. Marty Pagel |
| CYF RAMOS, Ph.D. 2016 | Title: Design, Synthesis, and Biological Evaluation of Novel Peptide Ligands as Kappa Opioid Receptor Antagonists Research Director: Dr. Victor Hruby |
| BUKET ONEL, Ph.D. 2016 | Title: Promoter G-quadruplexes and Their Interactions with Ligand and Proteins Research Director: Dr. Danzhou Yang |
| MICAH NELP, Ph.D. 2016 | Title: Biological Synthesis and Transformation of Nitriles Research Director: Dr. Vahe Bandarian |
| STEPHANIE JENSEN, Ph.D. 2016 | Title: A Bioorthogonal Approach to Chemical Virology Research Director: Dr. John Jewett |
| UDEEP CHAWLA, Ph.D. 2016 | Title: Role of Membrane Lipids and Hydration in G-protein Coupled Receptor Signaling Research Director: Dr. Michael Brown |
| JAVIER CASTILLO-MONTOYA, Ph.D. 2016 | Title: Development of Orthogonal Split-Kinase and Split-Phosphatase Systems for Interrogation of Signal Transduction and Creation of Post-Translational Biological Logic Gates Research Director: Dr. Indraneel Ghosh |
| AFFANDI TRISIANI, Ph.D. 2016 | Title: Structural and Functional Studies of the Histidine Kinase CusS in Escherichia coli Research Director: Dr. Megan McEvoy |
| ANDREW VANSCHOIAK, Ph.D. 2015 | Title: Mass Spectrometry: Toward Elucidating the Biosignature of Coccidioidomycosis and Insights into Surface Induced Dissociation of Biologically Relevant Carbohydrates Research Director: Dr. Vicki Wysocki |
| BRELAND SMITH, Ph.D. 2015 | Title: Small Molecule Approaches Toward Therapeutics for Alzheimer¿s Disease and Colon Cancer Research Director: Dr. Christopher Hulme |
| ELIZABETH RESTIUYO, Ph.D. 2015 | Title: Chemical Tools for the Selective Control of Proteins: Protein Kinases and Acetyl Transferases Research Director: Dr. Indraneel Ghosh |
| KAYLA POLZIN, Ph.D. 2015 | Title: The Intricate Balance of Metal Trafficking in Bacteria: Import of Iron in Bacillus anthracis and Export of Excess Copper in Escherichia coli Research Director: Dr. Megan McEvoy |
| NINA PATRICK, Ph.D. 2015 | Title: The Role of Lysine Deacetylases in Glucocorticoid-Mediated Transcription Research Director: Dr. Catharine Smith |
| ZACHARY MILES, Ph.D. 2015 | Title: Discovery and Biochemical Studies of Enzymes Involved in the Queuosine Biosynthetic Pathway Research Director: Dr. Vahe Bandarian |
VLAD KUMIROV, Ph.D. 2015 Currently: Assistant Staff Scientist, University of Arizona | Title: Structural Plasticity in the Evolution of Cro Proteins Research Director: Dr. Matthew Cordes |
| CHRISTINE KAISER, Ph.D. 2015 | Title: Characterization and Targeting of the Multiple DNA Secondary Structures in the KRAS Proximal Promoter to Modulate Gene Expression Research Director: Dr. Laurence Hurley |
| SARA HALL, Ph.D. 2015 | Title: Bradykinin Ligands and Receptors Involved in Neuropathic Pain Research Director: Dr. Victor Hruby |
| SEAN CAMPBELL, Ph.D. 2015 | Title: Protein Engineering for Biochemical Interrogation and System Design Research Director: Dr. Indraneel Ghosh |
| LIU QI CHEN, Ph.D. 2014 | Title: Measure Extracellular pH with AcidoCEST MRI Research Director: Dr. Marty Pagel |
| RAHUL PUROHOT, Ph.D. 2014 | Title: The Mechanism of Allosteric Regulation in Soluble Guanylate Cyclase Research Director: Dr. William Montfort |
| PUI WING MOK, Ph.D. 2014 | Title: Design and Applications of Split-Luciferase Systems in Vitro and in Cellulo Research Director: Dr. Indraneel Ghosh |
| DANIEL LAJOIE, Ph.D. 2014 | Title: New Tricks from a 'Dead' Enzyme: Exploration of the Phospholipase D Toxins from the Sicariidae Spiders Research Director: Dr. Matthew Cordes |
| BRENDAN FRETT, Ph.D. 2014 | Title: Discovery and Development of Novel RET Inhibitors for the Treatment of Pervasive Malignancies Research Director: Dr. Hong Yu Li |
| YUWEI YU, Ph.D. 2014 | Title: NMR Solution Structures of Promoter Region G-Quadruplexes and their Interactions with Proteins Research Director: Dr. Danzhou Yang |
BOBBI ANGLIN, Ph.D. 2014 Currently: Adjunct Lecturer, University of Arizona | Title: Design and Synthesis of Pacap Based Glycopeptide Analogs; Effect of Clycosylation on Activity and Blood-Brain Barrier Penetration Research Director: Dr. Robin Polt |
JULIANA THE, Ph.D. 2014 Currently: Postdoctoral Fellow, Structural Genomics Consortium | Title: Structural Studies of Thioredoxin S-nitrosation and Detection of Protein S-nitrosothiols by Phosphine Derivatization Research Director: Dr. William Montfort |
| TONI GREEN, Ph.D. 2013 | Title: Membrane Protein Complexes Involved in Thrombospondin-1 Regulation of Nitric Oxide Signaling Research Director: Dr. William Montfort |
KATIE STEWART, Ph.D. 2013 Currently: Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Leeds | Title: A Reduction in Structural Specificity by Polar-to-Hydrophobic Surface Substitutions in the Arc Repressor Protein: A Romance of Three Folds Research Director: Dr. Matthew Cordes |
| VINEELA KADIYALA, Ph.D. 2013 | Title: Research Director: Dr. Craig Aspinwall |
SANTOSH SHAH, Ph.D. 2013 Currently: Postdoctoral Scholar, University of Alabama at Birmingham | Title: Structural and Functional Studies of DNA Nucleases: SgrAI and Mk0566 Research Director: Dr. Nancy Horton |
ELYSSIA GALLAGHER, Ph.D. 2013 Currently: Associate Professor, Baylor University | Title: Research Director: Dr. Craig Aspinwall |
| CHRISTOPHER CABELLO, Ph.D. 2013 | Title: Identification of Experimental Prooxidants Targeting the Redox Vulnerability of Malignant Melanoma Research Director: Dr. Georg Wondrak |
| TIFFANY MEALMAN, Ph.D. 2012 | Title: Metal Transfer and Protein-Protein Interactions in the CusCFBA Cu(I)/Ag(I) Efflux System of E. coli Research Director: Drs. Vicki Wysocki and Megan McEvoy |
| LOGAN AHLSTROM, Ph.D. 2012 | Title: Molecular Dynamics Simulation of the Effect of the Crystal Environment on Protein Conformational Dynamics and Functional Motions Research Director: Dr. Osamu Miyashita |
| WENZHOU LI, Ph.D. 2012 | Title: Protein Identification Algorithms Developed from Statistical Analysis of MS/MS Fragmetation Patterns Research Director: Dr. Vicki Wysocki |
JULIO CARDENAS, Ph.D. 2012 Currently: Posdoctoral Fellow, Vanderbilt Institute of Imaging Sciences | Title: New models and contrast agents for dynamic contrast-enhanced MRI Research Director: Dr. Mark Pagel |
FEMINA RAUF, Ph.D. 2012 Currently: Postdoctoral Research Assistant, The Biodesign Institute | Title: Chimeric and recombinant protein reagents for cellular analysis and immunoassays Research Director: Dr. Craig Aspinwall |
ERIN JOHNSON, Ph.D. 2011 Currently: Clinical Chemistry Fellow, Mayo Clinic | Title: Applications of Mass Spectrometry to Bacterial Diagnostics: Affinity Capture Matrix Assisted Laser Desorption/Ionization Mass Spectrometry and Polymerase Chain Reaction Mass Spectrometry Research Director: Dr. Vicki Wysocki |
REID MCCARTY, Ph.D. 2011 Currently: Postdoctoral Research Associate, University of Texas - Austin | Title: Elucidation of the biosynthetic pathway for 7-deazapurines Research Director: Dr. Vahe Bandarian |
BENJAMIN JESTER, Ph.D. 2011 Currently: Scientist, Luceome Biotechnologies | Title: Development of a three-hybrid split-luciferase system for interrogating protein kinase inhibition Research Director: Dr. Indraneel Ghosh |
CAROLYN SHOMIN, Ph.D. 2011 Currently: Scientist, Luceome Biotechnologies | Title: A bivalent methodology for targeting protein kinases: Conjugating phage display selected cuclic peptides to staurosporine Research Director: Dr. Indraneel Ghosh |
| JAMIN STEFFEN, Ph.D. 2011 | Title: Design, development, and evaluation of tools to study cellular ADP-ribose polymer metabolism Research Director: Dr. Myron Jacobson |
BRADLEY FRITZ, Ph.D. 2011 Currently: Scientist, Ventana Medical Systems | Title: Molecular model of soluble guanylyl cyclase: Insight into allostery in nitric oxide signaling Research Director: Dr. William Montfort |
MICHAEL KIMZEY, Ph.D. 2011 Currently: Assay/Product Development Scientist, ProZyme | Title: Identification, characterization, and quantification of dicarbonyl adducts in the plasma proteome in type-2 diabetes Research Director: Dr. Serrine Lau and Dr. David Galbraith |
JENNIFER FURMAN, Ph.D. 2010 Currently: Postdoctoral Researcher, The Scripps Research Institute | Title: In vitro and in vivo detection of nucleic acids and proteins using split-protein reassembly Research Director: Dr. Indraneel Ghosh |
KATHERINE BLOCK, Ph.D. 2010 Currently: Senior Development Scientist, Beckman Coulter | Title: Design of novel cancer therapeutics through the validation of PARG as a therapeutic target and the evaluation of small molecule inhibitors of hypoxia-induced transcription Research Director: Dr. Myron Jacobson |
DAVIDE BOTTA, Ph.D. 2010 Currently: Postdoctoral Fellow, University of Alabama at Birmingham | Title: Strategies for structural studies of poly(ADP-ribose) glycohydrolase: Towards the validation of a novel therapeutic target Research Director: Dr. Myron Jacobson |
TORI LOCKETT, Ph.D. 2010 Currently: Lecturer, University of Arizona | Title: Gas-Phase Photoelectron Spectroscopy and Computational Studies of [FeFe]-Hydrogenase Inspired Catalysts for Hydrogen Production Research Director: Dr. Dennis Lichtenberger |
JASON PORTER, Ph.D. 2010 Currently: Postdoctoral Researcher, University of California San Francisco | Title: Biomolecular interactions and modulators thereof Research Director: Dr. Indraneel Ghosh |
ALBERTO RASCON, Ph.D. 2010 Currently: Postdoctoral Researcher, University of California San Francisco | Title: Enzyme kinetics and biochemical properties of serine proteases from the midgut of the Dengue mosquito, Aedes aegypti Research Director: Dr. Roger Miesfeld |
CHRISTIAN ROESSLER, Ph.D. 2010 Currently: Research Associate, Brookhaven National Laboratory | Title: Two case studies of protein fold evolution: Bacteriophage Cro proteins and insect salivary lipocalins Research Director: Dr. Matthew Cordes |
BRITTANY PERKINS, Ph.D. 2009 Currently: Instructor, Albuquerque | Title: Probing gas-phase peptide structure and protein-protein interactions using mass spectrometric techniques Research Director: Dr. Vicki Wysocki |
JUSTIN CROTTY, Ph.D. 2009 Currently: Law student, George Washington University Law School | Title: Crystal structures and kinetics of S-nitrosoglutathione reductase from Arabidopsis thaliana and Homo sapiens Research Director: Dr. William Montfort |
JUSTIN DIETRICH, Ph.D. 2008 Currently: Senior Scientist, Abbott Laboratories | Title: The design, synthesis, and evaluation of novel DFG-out allosteric kinase inhibitors Research Director: Dr. Laurence Hurley |
ASHLEY FISHER, Ph.D. 2008 Currently: Senior Scientist, SIGA Technologies | Title: Chemical-induced post-translational modifications and the consequent structural and functional alterations Research Director: Dr. Serrine Lau |
CLIFFORD STAINS, Ph.D. 2008 Currently: Assistant Professor, University of Nebraska (Lincoln) | Title: Methods for the detection of protein-nucleic acid and protein-protein interactions Research Director: Dr. Indraneel Ghosh |
JAMES SPOONAMORE, Ph.D. 2008 Currently: Research Scientist, Broad Institute | Title: Chemical transformations encoded by a gene cluster in Streptomyces coelicolor containing an unusual GTP cyclohydrolase Research Director: Dr. Vahe Bandarian |
KEXIAO GUO, Ph.D. 2008 Currently: Postdoctoral Research Associate, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital | Title: DNA secondary structures in the promoters of human VEGF and RET genes and their roles in gene transcriptional regulation Research Director: Dr. Laurence Hurley |
XIAHUI HU, Ph.D. 2008 Currently: Postdoctoral Researcher, University of California San Diego | Title: Nitric oxide signaling through soluble guanylate cyclase Research Director: Dr. William Montfort |
YONG QIN, Ph.D. 2008 Currently: Postdoctoral Fellow, MD Anderson Cancer Center | Title: Targeting the promoter regions of PDGF ligand and receptor Research Director: Dr. Laurence Hurley |
QIAN CHENG, Ph.D. 2007 Currently: Research Fellow, Vanderbilt University | Title: In vitro reconstitution of the entire enterocin biosynthetic pathway: New insights into type II PKS enzymology Research Director: Dr. Brad Moore |
AIK OOI, Ph.D. 2007 Currently: Postdoctoral Researcher, University of California Los Angeles | Title: Sequence-specific DNA detection utilizing custom-designed zinc finger proteins Research Director: Dr. David Segal |
| UZMA ZAKAI, Ph.D. 2007 | Title: Design, synthesis, and evaluation of chalcogen interactions Research Director: Dr. Richard Glass |
THOMAS DEXHEIMER, Ph.D. 2006 Currently: Research Scientist, NIH Chemical Genomics Center | Title: Defining the role of DNA secondary structures and transcriptional factors in the control of c-myc and bcl-2 expression Research Director: Dr. Laurence Hurley |
BRANWEN HALL, Ph.D. 2006 Currently: Postdoctoral Researcher, Massachusetts Institute of Technology | Title: Functional evolution of the Cro protein family of transcription factors Research Director: Dr. Matthew Cordes |
CHANDANAMALIE ADIKARAM-PUNCHIHEWA, Ph.D. 2006 Currently: Postdoctoral Fellow, St. Jude Children's Research Hospital | Title: DNA and DNA-interacting proteins as anticancer drug targets Research Director: Dr. Danzhou Yang |
STEVEN WARNER, Ph.D. 2005 Currently: Vice President of Drug Discovery, Tolero Pharmaceuticals | Title: Targeting the Aurora kinases to treat pancreatic cancer Research Director: Dr. Laurence Hurley |
ISABEL ALVES, Ph.D. 2005 Currently: Associate Scientist / Professor, University of Bordeaux | Title: Signal transduction studies of G-protein coupled receptors using plasmon waveguide resonance spectroscopy Research Director: Dr. Victor Hruby |
ANA ARAUJO, Ph.D. 2005 Currently: Research Associate, University of Sao Paulo | Research Director: Dr. Michael Brown |
MINYING CAI, Ph.D. 2005 Currently: Research Professor, University of Arizona | Title: Exploring the stereostructural requirements of peptide ligands for the melanocortin receptors and molecular mechanism study of GPCR based drugs Research Director: Dr. Victor Hruby |
GILMAR SALGADO, Ph.D. 2004 Currently: Assistant Professor, Université Victor Segalen Bordeaux 2 | Title: Structure and dynamics of retinal in rhodopsin elucidated by deuterium solid state NMR Research Director: Dr. Michael Brown |
LAURA BASANTES, Ph.D. 2022
| Title: DYRK1a Kinase Structural and Biochemical Studies Research Director: Dr. William Montfort |
ZEKUN LIU, Ph.D. 2022
| Title: Peptide Drug Design and the Investigation of Biased Signaling for Melanocortin Receptor System Research Director: Dr. Victor Hruby |
HOLLY SOFKA, Ph.D. 2022
| Title: Base-Activated Lysine Probes and their Utility in Mosquito Larvae Midguts Research Director: Dr. John Jewett |