The Team

Fellows & Scholars ⋅ Graduate Students ⋅ Undergraduate StudentsAlumni

Postdoctoral Fellows & Visiting Scholars

Pavitra Laohapaisan
Ph.D., Chulabhorn Research Institute, Bangkok, Thailand, 2022
Advisor: Prof. Jumreang Tummatorn
  • Royal Golden Jubilee Scholar Award, Kingdom of Thailand, 2020
Dr. Xueling Mo
B.Sc., Guangxi Normal University, China, 2017
Advisor: Prof. Dongliang Mo
Ph.D., Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry (SIOC), Shanghai, China, 2022
Advisor: Prof. Guozhu Zhang
Dr. Xiangdong Li
Ph.D., Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry (SIOC), Shanghai, China, 2017
Advisor: Prof. Yuanhong Liu
Postdoc, Georg-August-University, Göttingen, Germany, 2021
Advisor: Prof. Manuel Alcarazo
Postdoc, École Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL), Lausanne, Switzerland, 2023
Advisor: Prof. Jérôme Waser
Dr. Uttam Dutta
Ph.D., Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Bombay, India, 2020
Advisor: Prof. Debabrata Maiti
Postdoc, University of Freiburg, Germany, 2023
Advisor: Prof. Bernhard Briet

Graduate Students

Taylor Bednar
B.S., Dickinson College, Carlisle, PA, 2019
Research: Hydrogenolysis of Cysteine Perfluoroaryl Thioethers
Advisor: Prof. Jason Gavenonis
  • National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship Honoree, 2021
Young Ngo
B.S., University of Mississippi, Oxford, MS, 2019
Research: Electropolymerization of Organic Semiconducting Triblock Copolymers
Advisor: Prof. Davita Watkins
Henry Sise
B.S., Villanova University Villanova, PA, 2019
Research: Structure elucidation of asymmetric halonium ions
Advisor: Prof. Brian Ohta
Jacob Garwood
B.S., La Salle University, Phila, PA, 2020
Research: Elucidation of natural products from honey bees
Advisor: Profs. William Price and Zeb Kramer
  • OSU Distinguished University Fellow, 2020
Joseph Lokant
B.S., University of West Virginia, Morgantown, WV, 2020
Research: Ni-catalyzed C-H trifluoromethylation
Advisor: Prof. Jessica Hoover
  • ACS Organic Division Undergraduate Award, 2020
Khue Nguyen
B.S., University of Mississippi, Oxford, MS, 2020
Research: Synthesis of emissive NIR dyes in solar cells
Advisor: Prof. Jared Delcamp
Bethany DeMuynck
B.S., University of Vermont, Burlington, VT, 2019
Research: Mass spectrometry-based metabolomics and proteomics
Advisor: Prof. Dwight Matthews
Experience: Synthesis of DNA-encoded libraries (GSK)
  • OSU Distinguished University Fellow, 2021
Ipshita Roy
B.S., University of Calcutta, Kolkata, India, 2018
M.S., Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kharagpur, India, 2020
Research: Enantioselective scaffolding of biocatalytically derived synthons
Advisor: Prof. Samik Nanda
Meredith Rudich
B.S., Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, 2021
Research: Flow synthesis of O-linked mannosylated glycosides
Advisor: Prof. Nicola Pohl
Mohamed Elsayed
B.S., Zewail City of Science & Technology, Cairo, Egypt, 2022
Research: Synthesis of anticancer chromones
Advisor: Prof. Reem Arafa
Hojin Kim
B.S., Jeonbuk National University, South Korea, 2016
M.S., Kobe University, Kobe, Japan, 2019
Research: Radical additions to furoxans
Advisor: Prof. Ryosuke Matsubara
Kiro Mikhaeel
B.S., Kenyon College, Gambier, OH, 2022
Research: Synthesis of conjugated natural carbohydrates for drug delivery
Advisor: Prof. Mo Hunsen
Ali Pinarci
B.S., Rowan University, Glassboro, NJ, 2020
M.S., Rowan University, Glassboro, NJ, 2021
Research: Zr-catalyzed aziridininations
Advisor: Prof. Gustavo Moura-Letts
Xinyu Duan
B.S., Central South University, Hunan, China, 2022
Research: Palladium photocatalysis
Advisor: Prof. Hua Yang

Undergraduate Students

Gabe Donovan
B.S., The Ohio State University, Expected 2025
  • OSU MUSE Scholar, 2023-2025
Amir Johnson
B.S., The Ohio State University, Expected 2024 
  • OSU MUSE Scholar, 2020-2024
  • NOBCChE Top Poster Award, 2022
  • OSU Kraska Scholar, 2023-2024
Emma Ralph
B.S., The Ohio State University, Expected 2025 

Alumni

Dr. Namitharan Kayambu
Postdoc, The Ohio State University, 2014-2015
Current PositionAssistant Professor, SRM University, Chennai, India
Trevor Chopko
B.S. with honors, The Ohio State University, 2016 
  • OSU Honors & Scholars Center Undergraduate Research Fellow, 2015-2016
  • Research Intern, Translational Biomarker Imaging, Merck, PA.
Current PositionResearch Assistant with Prof Craig Lindsley, Vanderbilt University Medical Center, Nashville, TN
Kui Pan
B.S. with honors, The Ohio State University, 2016 
  • OSU College of Arts & Sciences Honors Program Undergraduate Research Scholar, 2015-2016
M.Eng. in Materials Science, Cornell University, Ithaca, NY
Current PositionEngineer, Lionano Inc., Boston, MA
Dr Mathieu Bekkaye
Dr. Mathieu Bekkaye
B.Sc., University of Versailles Saint-Quentin-en-Yvelines, Île-de-France, France, 2009
M.Sc., University of Paris-Sud, Orsay, France, 2011
Ph.D., Institut de Chimie des Substances Naturelles, Paris, France, 2014
Advisor: Prof. Géraldine Masson
Postdoc, The Ohio State University, 2015-2016
Current PositionEngineer, Chromatotec, Bordeaux, France
Kevin Marchbanks-Owens
B.S., Alabama A&M University, 2017 
  • Research Fellow, Summer 2016
Hannah Naguib
B.S., University of Notre Dame, 2018
  • Research Fellow, Summer 2016
Current Position, Graduate Student , University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill, NC
Melissa Bettinger
B.S., The Ohio State University, 2017 
Current Position, Analyst, JPMorgan, Columbus, OH
Ahmad Dahman
B.S., The Ohio State University, 2017 
Current PositionMedical Student, West Virginia University, Morgantown, WV
Dr. Avassaya Vanitcha
B.Sc., Chulalongkorn University, Thailand, 2011
M.Sc., Sorbonne Universités, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris, 2012
Ph.D., Sorbonne Universités, Université Pierre et Marie Curie, Paris, 2015
Advisors: Profs. Louis Fensterbank and Virginie Mouriès-Mansuy
Current PositionResearch Scientist at SCG Chemical, a Dow affiliate, Bangkok, Thailand
Kara Edwards
B.S., The Ohio State University, 2018 
  • OSU Bertram Thomas Scholar, 2017
  • OSU Mayers Undergraduate Research Fellow, Summer 2017
Current PositionGraduate Student, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH
Xin Gu
B.S. with honors, The Ohio State University, 2018 
  • OSU Bertram Thomas Scholar, 2016
  • OSU Kraska Endowed Fellow, 2017
  • OSU Mayers Undergraduate Research Fellow, Summer 2017
  • American Chemical Society (ACS) Division of Organic Chemistry Undergraduate Award, 2018
Current PositionGraduate Student, Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT), Cambridge, MA
Advisor: Prof. Alison Wendlandt
Darsheed (Ani) Mustafa
B.S. with honors, The Ohio State University, 2018 
  • OSU Gary Booth Undergraduate Scholar, 2016
  • OSU Mayers Undergraduate Research Fellow, Summer 2016
  • American Chemical Society (ACS) Undergraduate Research Scholar, 2016-2017
  • Pelotonia Undergraduate Research Fellow, 2017-2018
  • National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellow, 2018
M.Sc., University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA), Los Angeles, CA
Current PositionResearch Chemist, Biogen, Cambridge, MA
Chido Hambira
Co-advisor: Prof. James Fuchs, Dept of Medicinal Chemistry & Pharmacognosy, College of Pharmacy
B.S., Berea College, 2012
Ph.D. The Ohio State University, 2018 
Thesis: Post-synthetic Functionalization of Bioactive Compounds
  • Albeit H. Soloway (OSU) Graduate Fellow, 2015
  • Jane Chen (OSU) Graduate Fellow, 2016
Postdoctoral Fellow with Prof. David Perrin at University of British Columbia, Vancouver, Canada
  • Michael Smith Foundation Postdoctoral Fellowship, 2019
Current Position, Medicinal Chemist at Xenon Pharmaceuticals, Vancouver, BC, Canada
Dr. Lu Wang
Ph.D., Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry (SIOC), Shanghai, China, 2013
Advisor: Prof. Yuanhong Liu
Postdoc, Institute of Microbial Chemistry, Tokyo, Japan, 2014
Advisor: Prof. Masakatsu Shibasaki
Current PositionProcess Chemist at Merck Process, Rahway, NJ
Stacy
Stacy Fosu
B.S., University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2011
M.S., Illinois State University, 2014
Thesis: Synthesis of novel benziporphyrins
Advisor: Prof. Timothy Lash
Ph.D. The Ohio State University, 2019 
Thesis: Functionalization of Arenes, Amines, Alkenes, and Alkynes Mediated by Radical Pathways
  • Howard Hughes Medical Institute (HHMI) Gilliam Fellow, 2016
Current PositionMedicinal Chemist at Abbvie, Chicago, IL
Kohki Nakafuku
Kohki Nakafuku
B.S., Duke University, 2014
Thesis: Gold-catalyzed allene isomerizations
Advisor: Prof. Ross Widenhoefer
Ph.D. The Ohio State University, 2019 
Thesis: Radical Relay Strategies for C–H Functionalization of Alcohols
  • Journal of Organic Chemistry (JOC) Outstanding Article of the Year, 2020
Current PositionMedicinal Chemist at Janssen, San Diego, CA
Ethan Wappes
Ethan Wappes
B.S., Indiana University, Bloomington, IN, 2014
Thesis:  Electrochemical ring‐expansions
Advisor: Prof. Dennis Peters
Ph.D. The Ohio State University, 2019 
Thesis: Radical sp3 C-H Functionalization of Amines and Alcohols
  • Charles Waring (OSU) Graduate Fellow, 2014
  • National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Honoree, 2016
  • ACS Division of Organic Chemistry (DOC) Travel Award, 2017
  • OSU Presidential Fellow, 2018
Current PositionDiscovery Process Chemist at Merck, San Francisco, CA
Jeremy Lear
Jeremy Lear
B.S., Wright State University, Dayton, OH, 2012
M.S., Wright State University, Dayton, OH 2014
Thesis: Synthesis of new DP-PPVs
Advisor: Prof. William Feld
Ph.D. The Ohio State University, 2019 
Thesis: Polarity-Reversal Cascades for the Coupling of Radicals with Unsaturated Systems
Postdoctoral Fellow with Prof. Christopher Hadad at The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH
Current PositionProcess Chemist at Pilot Chemical, Cincinnati, OH
Andrew Chen
B.S., Pitzer College, Claremont, CA
Ph.D. The Ohio State University, 2020 
Thesis: Harnessing New Radical Reactivity at the Interface of Synthetic Methodology Development and Computational Modeling
Current PositionProcess Chemist at Millipore Sigma, Madison, WI
Sean Rafferty
B.S., Virginia Polytechnic Institute, Blacksburg, VA 2015
Thesis: Cu(II)-catalyzed hydroborations
Advisor: Prof. Webster Santos
Ph.D. The Ohio State University, 2020 
Thesis: Selective Ketyl Couplings via Atom Transfer Catalysis
Current PositionMedicinal Chemist at Enanta Pharmaceuticals, Boston, MA
Leah Stateman
B.S., Illinois State University, Normal, IL, 2015
Thesis: Syntheses of carbaporphyrinoids
Advisor: Prof. Timothy Lash
Ph.D. The Ohio State University, 2020 
Thesis: Catalytic Strategies for Remote C-H Functionalization of Alcohols and Amines
  • National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellow, 2016
Current PositionMedicinal Chemist at Merck, San Francisco, CA
J. Quentin Buquoi III
Lieutenant Colonel, U.S. Air Force
B.S., University of Georgia, Athens, GA, 2000
M.S., Wright State University, Dayton, OH 2010
Thesis: Poly(arylene ether) polymers
Advisor: Prof. Eric Fossum
Ph.D. The Ohio State University, 2019 
Thesis: Multicomponent Radical Reactions Incorporating Heteroatom-Carbon Bonds via Polarity-Reversal Cascades
Current Position, Assistant Professor, Department of Chemistry, U.S. Air Force Academy, Colorado Springs, CO
Allen Prusinowski
B.S., Le Moyne College, Syracuse, NY, 2016
Thesis: Synthesis of curcuminoids
Advisor: Prof. Joseph Mullins
Ph.D. The Ohio State University, 2021 
Thesis: Double Functionalizations of Alcohols via Imidate Radicals
  • ACS Organic Division Undergraduate Award, 2015
  • OSU University Fellowship, 2016
Current PositionDiscovery Chemist at Corteva Agriscience, Indianapolis, IN
Shania Hayward
B.S., Le Moyne College, Syracuse, NY, 2018
Research: Synthesis of alkylbutyrolactones
Advisors: Profs. Joseph Mullins & Nancy Totah
ACS Organic Division Undergraduate Award, 2018
M.Sc. The Ohio State University, 2021 
Thesis: Photochemical & Electrochemical C-H Functionalizations via Imidate Radicals
Current PositionChemist at Ask Chemicals, Columbus, OH
Dr. Jennifer C. Walters
B.Sc., Arcadia University, Glenside, PA, 2013
M.Sc., Arcadia University, Glenside, PA, 2014
Advisor: Prof. Barry Logan
Ph.D., Temple University, Philadelphia, PA, 2019
Advisor: Prof. Sarah Wengryniuk
Current Position, Lecturer, The Ohio State University, Columbus, OH
Dr. Xin Zhang
B.Sc., Nanjing University, Nanjing, China, 2009
Ph.D., Michigan State University, Lansing, MI, 2014
Advisor: Prof. William Wulff
Postdoc, Princeton University, Princeton, NJ, 2017
Advisor: Prof. Robert Knowles
Current PositionProcess Chemist at Enanta, Boston, MA
Dr. Zuxiao Zhang
B.Sc., Shandong University, Jinan, China, 2009
M.Sc., Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry (SIOC), Shanghai, China, 2012
Advisor: Prof. Guosheng Liu
Ph.D., University of Florida, Gainesville, FL, 2016
Advisor: Prof. William Dolbier Jr
Previous Position, Assistant Professor, Zhejiang Normal University, Zhejiang, China
Current Position, Assistant Professor, University of Hawaii, Honolulu, HI
Brian Daniels
B.S., The Ohio State University, 2020 
  • OSU Mayers Summer Scholar, 2019
  • OSU College of Arts & Sciences Research Scholar, 2019-2020
Current PositionPhD Candidate with Prof. Vy Dong, University of California, Irvine, CA
  • National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship Honoree, 2022
Sean McGivern
B.S., The Ohio State University, 2020 
Current PositionChemist, Eli Lilly, Lilly Genetic Medicines, Indianapolis, IN
Meghan Shea
B.S., The Ohio State University, 2020 
  • OSU Morrill Scholar, 2016-2020
  • Dept of Chemistry Undergraduate Research Fellow, Summer 2018
Current PositionConsultant, Accenture Life Sciences, Columbus, OH
James Herbort
B.S., Wright State University, Dayton, OH, 2017
Research: Synthesis of vanillin-based PEEK polymers
Advisor: Prof. William Feld
  • ACS Organic Division Undergraduate Award, 2017
  • OSU Hayes Research Forum, Grand Prize, 2021
Current PositionProcess Chemist at Merck, Rahway, NJ
Joy Rutherford
B.S., Michigan State University, E. Lansing, MI, 2017
Research: Enantioselective halogenation, and amino acid electroanalysis
Advisors: Profs. Swain and Borhan
  • National Institutes of Health (NIH) Ruth L. Kirschstein Predoctoral Individual National Research Service Award, 2019
  • OSU Arts & Sciences Fellow, 2017-2019
Current PositionCosmetic Chemist at Croda, Princeton, NJ
Raymond Twumasi
B.S., St. John’s University, Collegeville, MN, 2017
Research: Synthesis of aromatic azo inhibitors of tyrosine phosphatases
Advisor: Prof. Edward McIntee
  • National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellow, 2019
  • OSU Discovery Scholars Fellow, 2017-2018
  • NOBCChE Advancing Science Award, 2018
  • Merck Research Award for Underrepresented Chemists of Color, 2021
Current PositionMedicinal Chemist at Pfizer, San Diego, CA
Ross Dare
B.S., Rowan University, Glassboro, NJ, 2018
Research: Green synthesis of sulfonyl ureas
Advisor: Prof. Gustavo Moura-Letts
Current PositionProcess Chemist at GSK, Philadelphia, PA
Alyson Paneque
B.S., Rowan University, Glassboro, NJ, 2018
Research: Photocatalylic cyclizations of heterocycles
Advisor: Prof. Gustavo Moura-Letts
  • National Science Foundation (NSF) Graduate Research Fellowship Honoree, 2020
Current PositionLecturer at University of Pennsylvania, Philadelphia, PA
Tom Simons
B.S., Indiana Wesleyan University, IN, 2017
M.S., Duke University, Durham, NC, 2021
Research: Photoredox Ni-catalyzed reactions
Advisor: Prof. Jennifer Roizen
Current PositionLecturer at Wright State University, Dayton, OH
Liza Ryutov
B.S., The Ohio State University, 2023 
  • American Chemical Society, President of OSU Chapter, 2022
  • OSU McFarling Chemistry Scholar, 2022
Current PositionGraduate Student, University of Wisconsin, Madison, WI
Gary Gong
B.S., The Ohio State University, 2023 
  • OSU Kraska Chemistry Scholar, 2021-2022
Current PositionGraduate Student, MIT, Cambridge, MA
Lauren Scott
B.S., The Ohio State University, 2022 
  • OSU MUSE Scholar, 2020-2022
Current PositionMedicinal Chemist at Pfizer, Groton, CT
Hayat Mohammed
B.S., The Ohio State University, Expected 2023 
  • OSU MUSE Scholar, 2022-2023
Current PositionMedicinal Chemist Intern at Cytokinetics, San Franciso, CA
Dr. Lumin Zhang
B.Sc., Sichuan Normal University, Chengdu, China, 2013
M.Sc., Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry (SIOC), Shanghai, China, 2016
Advisor: Prof. Jun Yang & Ran Hong
Ph.D., Heidelberg University, Germany, 2020
Advisor: Prof. Stephen Hashmi
Current PositionAssistant Professor at the Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry (SIOC), Shanghai, China