Alumni Group Members

Dr. Marc MacKinnon (Postoctoral Fellow 2021-2022) Prior to our lab Marc completed his BSc at Wilfrid Laurier University and his PhD at Memorial University of Newfoundland (with Prof. Graham Bodwell).  Marc's work our lab included a wide range of medicinal chemistry projects.  After our lab, Marc began his independent academic career as an Assistant Professor at the University of Regina in Saksatchewan (www.mackinnongroupchem.com)

Dr. Lakshmana Kinthada (Postoctoral Fellow 2018-2020)  Prior to our lab, Lakshmana obtained his BSc and MSc degrees at Andhra University and his PhD at IISER Bhopal, India.  His research at McMaster focused on anti-cancer medicinal chemistry and heterocyclic synthetic methodology development.  After our lab, Lakshmana moved to Montreal to join the team at Zamboni Chem Solution Inc. 

​

Dr. My Phan Thuy Cao (Postdoctoral Fellow 2019-2020) Prior to our lab, My completed undergraduate studies at Hochiminh University of Technology, Vietnam, an MSc degree at Yeungnam University, South Korea, and a PhD at the University of Saskatchewan (J. Muller).  At McMaster, My worked on antimicrobial medicinal chemistry.  After our lab, My became a medicinal chemist at Dalriada Drug Discovery in Mississauga, Canada.

Dr. Srinivas Dharavath (Postdoctoral Fellow, 2017-2019) Prior to our lab, Sri completed BSc & MSc degrees at Osmania University and his PhD degree at the University of Hyderabad, India.  At McMaster, Srinivas contributed to medicinal chemistry projects in the fields of metabolic health and infectious disease and also worked on synthetic methodology development.  After our lab Srinivas began his independent academic career as a faculty member in the Department of Chemistry at the Indian Institute of Technology in Kanpur, India.  Prof. Drharavaths's research group website.

Dr. Venkatesh Miriyala (Postdoctoral Fellow, 2018-2019) Prior to our lab, Venkatesh obtained his PhD at Indian Institute of Chemical Technology, Hyderabad, India.  At McMaster, he worked on the synthesis of positive allosteric modulators of the CB1 receptor for the potential treatment of neuropathic pain.  After our lab, Venkatesh returned to India to work as a Scientific Manager at Aragen Life Sciences in Hyderabad, Telangana, India.

PhD Degree

Dr. Xiong Zhang

2014-2020, PhD - Biochemistry (McMaster University) "Alumina-Directed Ortho-Allylation of Phenols"

After our lab: Xiong returned to China to work for WuXi AppTec in Tianjin.

Dr. Ebenezer Jones-Mensah

2011-2016, PhD - Chemistry (University of Idaho) "Selective Reductions Directed by Rehydrated Alumina and Thiomethylation Using Dimethylsulfoxide"

After our lab: "Jones" became a process engineer at Intel in Portland, OR.

Dr. Megha Karki

2010-2015, PhD - Chemistry (University of Idaho) "Development of Oxidation Reactions Based on Vanadium Pentoxide, Dimethylsulfoxide, and Synthetic Iron-Rich Clays"

After our lab: Megha completed a postdoctoral fellowship at Scripps, San Diego with Prof. R. Krishnamurthy and became a scientist at Singular Genomics in San Diego.

Update (2021) - Megha now works as a scientist at Zymotrix in Ithaca, NY.

Master's Degree

Arnav Kaul

2020-2022, MSc - Biochemistry (McMaster University) "Synthesis and Antimicrobial Evaluation of Sideromycins"

Prior to our lab: Arnav obtained his BSc at McMaster University. 

After our lab: Arnav became a medical student McMaster.

​

Louis Borrillo

2019-2021, MSc - Chemical Biology (McMaster University) "Lewis Acid Mediated N-aryl Nitrone Synthesis from Benzyl Alcohols"

Prior to our lab: Louie obtained his BSc at the University of Guelph

After our Lab: Louie became a scientist at Wellington Laboratories in Guelph.

​

Paul Saliba

2018-2020, MSc - Chemistry (McMaster University) "Regioselective Hydrolysis of Alkynes via Organosulfur Intermediates"

Prior to our lab: Paul obtained his BSc at the University of Toronto, Mississagua.

After our lab: Paul pursued his PhD in the McNulty lab at McMaster University. 

​

Hugo Araujo 

2012-2014, MSc (University of Idaho, Chemistry) "Total Synthesis of Veranamine"

After our lab: Hugo studied Osteopathic Medicine at Pacific Northwest University of Health Sciences in Yakima. 

Update (2021) - Hugo now works as a physician in the Phoenix Area.

Other graduate students who contributed to our program:

Mohammed Salha (2022) Mo was a visiting international graduate student from the group of Prof. Gregory Chass at Sapienza University in Italy.  In our lab he worked on computational conformational studies focused on prenylated phenolic natural products.

Jessica Knight (2016-2017) Jessica was an MSc candidate in our lab at the University of Idaho for one year.  When when we moved from Idaho to McMaster, Jessica transferred to Washington State University where she continued her graduate studies under the supervision of Prof. Ming Xian.

Abdulakeem Osumah (2015-2017) Akeem was an MSc candidate in our lab at the University of Idaho for two years.  Upon our move to McMaster, Akeem continued his graduate studies in Idaho in the group of Prof. Kris Waynant.  He completed his PhD in 2020, did postdoctoral reserach at Scripps in San Diego, and became a Process Engineer at Intel in Hillsboro, Oregon.

Undergraduate Research Class of 2022

Brenda Nkonge (2021-2022) Brenda's undergraduate senior thesis research project focused on antimicrobial medicinal chemistry. In 2022 Brenda finished undergraduate studies at McMaster with a degree in Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences specializing in Biomedical Discovery and Commercialization.

Ryan D'Souza (2021-2022) Ryan's senior undergraduate thesis reserach focused on synthetic methodology development and the total synthesis of phenolic natural products. In 2022 Ryan finished his undergraduate studies at McMaster with a degree in Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences specializing in Biomedical Discovery and Commercialization.

Shomaila Rashid (2021-2022) Shomaila's undergraduate thesis project in our lab was focused antimicrobial medicinal chemistry. Shomaila wrapped up her undergraduate studies at McMaster in 2022 with a degree in Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences.

Vincent Wang (2021-2022) Vincent completed his senior reserach thesis in our lab working on an anti-cancer medicinal chemistry project. In 2022 Vincent completed his undergraduate studies at McMaster with a degree in Health Sciences.

Emma-Kate Baker (spring 2022) Emma-Kate completed a four-month coop placement in our lab working on a medicinal chemistry project in the area of cardiovascular health. After our lab, Emma-Kate continued her undergraduate studies in the Chemical Biology program at McMaster.

Julian Fernback (spring 2022) Julian completed a four-month coop placement in our lab working on phenolic allylation chemistry. After our lab, Julian continued his undergraduate studies at the University of Waterloo.

Michelle Park (spring 2022) Michelle completed a four-month coop placement in our lab working on phenolic allylation chemistry. After our lab, Michelle continued her undergraduate studies at the University of Waterloo.

Gary Zheng (2019-2021) Gary completed two years of undergraduate research in our laboratory contributing to multiple projects in the area of antimicrobial drug discvoery.  In 2021, he completed his undergraduate studies at McMaster with a degree in Biochemistry.

Melanie Vanderpool (2020-2021) Melanie's undergraduate thesis was focused on synthesis of cannabinoid-inspired antimicrobial drug-candidates.  After our lab Melanie continued her studies in the Chemical Biology co-op program at McMaster.

Mateo Vendramini (2020-2021) Mateo's undergraduate thesis project focused on the synthesis Gram-negative antibiotic drug-candidates.  After our lab Mateo continued his undergraduate studies in the Chemical Biology Co-op program.

Benjamin Brakel (2020 Summer) Ben completed an NSERC-funded summer fellowship in our laboratory.  Working remotely due to COVID-19 restrictions, Ben contributed to a drug-discovery program with computational-docking studies. 

Zoe Piquette (2018-2020) Zoe completed two years of undergraduate research in our lab focusing on antimicrobial medicinal chemistry. After our lab she graduated from McMaster with a BHSc (Bachelor of Health Sciences) and began her medical studies at Western University.

Ramon Arora (2019-2020) Ramon's undergraduate thesis work was in the field anti-cancer medicinal chemistry.  After our lab, Ramon completed his studies at McMaster with a BSc in Chemical Biology and began graduate school in Chemistry at the University of Toronto in the lab of Prof. Mark Lautens.

Amirhossein Yeganeh (2018-2019) After our lab, Amir completed his BSc in Chemical Biology at McMaster and began graduate studies in Chemistry at the University of Toronto with Prof. Doug Stephan.

Sheryl Nguyen  (2018-2019) After our lab, Sheryl completed his BSc in Chemical Biology at McMaster and began graduate studies in Hospital for Sick Children, University of Toronto with Prof. Lynne Howell.

Victoria Coles (2018-2019)  After our lab, Victoria completed her BSc studies in Integrated Sciences at McMaster and began graduate studies in Biochemistry at McMaster in the lab of Prof. Lori Burrows.

Patrick Pieprzak (2017-2018) After our lab, Patrick continued his undergraduate studies in Chemistry at McMaster.

Kevin Zhou (fall 2018) After our lab, Kevin continued his undergraduate studies in Biochemistry at McMaster.

James Kazimowicz  (summer 2018) After our lab, James completed the Master's of Biomedical Discovery and Commercialization Program at  McMaster.

Undergraduate Research Class of 2017 - University of Idaho

Nicholas Weires (2010-2012) Nick completed his BSc at the University of Idaho.  He then finished a PhD at UCLA with Prof. Niel Garg, a postdoctoral fellowship at UC Irvine with Prof. Larry Overman, and became a Medicinal Chemist at Amgen in Thousand Oaks CA. (LinkedIn)