Faculty Mentors

Brenda Andrade Rounds, Ph.D.

Organic/Physical Organic Chemistry.

Supramolecular chemistry and the structure-function-relationship of cyclodextrins with the aim of scavenging toxic agents from different environments.

Yong Ba, Ph.D.

Physical/Biophysical Chemistry.

Development and application of magnetic resonance techniques for the studies of important physicochemical properties of biological/biomedical, porous, includion, and nanostructured materials. Current research projects cover molecular mechanism of anti-freeze proteins and anti-freeze fluids for medical and industrial applications, and molecular drug carriers, nanoparticles, and hydrogels for drug delivery applications. Click here for more information.

Michael L. Hayes, Ph.D.

Biochemistry

Biochemistry of sequence specific RNA binding proteins and C-to-U RNA editing mechanisms. Investigating nuclear and organelle genome coordination. Development of new biotechnological tools that can specifically alter RNA transcripts. Click here for more information.

Yangyang Liu, Ph.D. 

Inorganic/Materials Chemistry

Design and synthesis of nanoporous materials (e.g., Metal-Organic Frameworks) for applications, including energy storage, renewable energy, solar cells, carbon capture, catalysis, sensing, drug delivery, and semiconductors. Current research projects explore new hybrid materials and the structure-property relationship through collaborations with computational scientists and the industry. Click here for more information.

Caitlin Scott, Ph.D.

Computational/Biochemistry

Dr. Scott earned her Ph.D. at California Institute of Technology in 2014. Computational and Biological Chemistry- development of drugs to target proteins in the brain using molecular dynamics, docking, and virtual ligand screening.

Matthias Selke, Ph.D.

Organic Chemistry

Mechanistic organic, bioorganic, and organometallic chemistry; detection of reactive intermediates in oxygenation reactions; models for oxygen activation in enzymatic reactions; organic and organometallic photochemistry, especially the chemistry of singlet oxygen; history and philosophy of science. Click here for more information 

Olaseni Sode, Ph.D. 

Computational/Theoretical Chemistry

Development and implementation of ab initio electronic and vibrational structure methods for molecules and solids. Current projects include using machine learning approaches to understand the properties of molecular solids. Click here for more information.

Linda Tunstad, Ph.D.

Organic Chemistry

Host-guest complexation chemistry; synthesis of receptor compounds (hosts) for the recognition of charged or uncharged substrates (guests).

Robert Vellanoweth, Ph.D.

Biochemistry

Characterization and biochemical and molecular genetic events governing lifespan in Arabidopsis thaliana and Oryza sativa.

Petr Vozka, Ph.D.

Analytical Chemistry

Method development for complex chemical mixtures (e.g., alternative fuels, microplastics, oil spill) using comprehensive two-dimensional gas chromatography and mass spectrometry. Click here for more information.

Yixian Wang, Ph.D. 

Analytical Chemistry

Development of novel analytical imaging and sensing tools for a broad range of applications in biomedical, nanomaterials, and environmental sciences. Click here for more information.

Xin Wen, Ph.D. 

Biophysical, Bioanalytical, and Bioinorganic Chemistry

Integration of chemical and biophysical tools to tackle biological problems. Protein-ligand interactions at solid-liquid interface and in solution and the applications in biomedical fields. Click here for more information.