Graduate Students

Jiabao Zhang
Jiabao Zhang
Nankai University
B.S. Pharmacy, 2015
University of Illinois
Ph.D. Chemistry
Current Position: Scientist I at Biogen
Claire Simons
Washington University in St. Louis
A.B. Chemistry, 2015
University of Illinois
PhD Chemistry, 2021
Rajeev Chorghade
Carnegie Mellon University
B.S. Chemistry, 2014
University of Illinois
Ph.D. Chemistry, 2020
Current Position: Post Doc, MIT
Andrea Palazzolo
University of Notre Dame
B.S. Chemistry, 2013
University of Illinois
Ph.D. Chemistry, 2019
Current Position: Orthopedic Surgery Resident at Indiana University
Hannah Haley
Macalester College
B.A. Chemistry, 2011
University of Illinois
Ph.D. Chemistry, 2018
Post Doc: Sarpong Lab
Current Position: Scientist at AbbVie
Anna SantaMaria
Moravian College
B.S. Biology, 2013
University of Illinois
Ph.D. Biochemistry, 2018
Post Doc: Roualt Lab, NIH
Current Position: Associate Director of Laboratory Affairs, Labcorp
Jenn Hou
Johns Hopkins University
B.S. Molecular and Cellular Biology, 2011
M.S. Biology, 2012
University of Illinois
Ph.D. Biochemistry, 2018
MD, 2021
Current Position: GI Fellow, Riverside Community Hospital
Katrina Diaz
University of Michigan
B.S. Biology, 2012
B.S. English, 2012
University of Illinois
Ph.D. Biochemistry, 2018
Current Position: Emergency Medicine Resident, University of Michigan
Jonathan Lehmann
Grand Valley State University
B.S. Chemistry, 2013
University of Illinois
Ph.D. Chemistry, 2018
Current Position: Scientist II, Takeda
Anthony Sotelo
California Lutheran University
B.S. Biochemistry and Molecular Biology, 2015
University of Illinois
M.S. Chemistry, 2018
Current Position: Intellectual Property Associate, Dechert LLP
Adam Hill
University of North Carolina - Chapel Hill
B.S. Chemistry, 2011
University of Illinois
Ph.D. Chemistry, 2018
Current Position: Senior Principal Scientist ADC Chemistry, Pfizer
Tony Grillo
University of Michigan
B.S. Chemistry, 2011
B.S. Biochemistry, 2011
University of Illinois
Ph.D. Chemistry, 2017
Post Doc: Kaeberlein Group
Current Position: Assistant Professor of Chemistry, University of Cincinnati
Alex Cioffi
Saint Louis University
B.S. Chemistry, 2011
University of Illinois
Ph.D. Biochemistry, 2017
Post Doc: Nomura Group
Current Position: Scientist II, Frontier Medicines
Michael Schmidt
Kent State University
B.S. Chemistry, 2013
M.S. Chemistry, 2016
University of Illinois
Current Position: Senior Research Associate II, Gilead Sciences
Lingbowei Hu
Fudan University
B.S. Chemistry, 2012
University of Illinois
M.S. Biochemistry, 2016
Current Position: Scientist, Bristol Myers Squibb
Jungqi Li
National University of Singapore
B.Sc., 2007
M.Sc., 2009
University of Illinois
Ph.D. Chemistry, 2015
Post Doc: Toste (Berkeley) and Miller (Yale) Groups (joint)
Current Position: Assistant Professor of Chemistry, Iowa State University
Stephen Davis
Purdue University
B.S. Chemistry, 2008
University of Illinois
Ph.D. Chemistry, 2014
Current Position:
Brice Uno
Grinnell College
B.A. Chemistry, 2007
University of Illinois
Ph.D. Chemistry, 2014
Current Position: Senior Scientist II, AbbVie
Seiko Fujii
Smith College
B.A. Chemistry, 2008
University of Illinois
Ph.D. Chemistry, 2014
Current Position:
Greg Morehouse
Northeastern University
B.S. Chemistry, 2009
M.S. Chemistry, 2009
Current Position: Senior Manager, RA Device/Combination Products, AbbVie
Pulin Wang
Emmanuel College
B.S. Chemistry, 2006
University of Illinois
Ph.D. Chemistry, 2013
Current Position: Co-Founder of Stretch Med, Inc.
Steve Ballmer
Wright State University
B.S. Chemistry, 2007
University of Illinois
Ph.D. Chemistry, 2013
Current Position: Director, Revolution Medicines Inc.
Eric Woerly
Purdue University, School of Science at Indianapolis (IUPUI)
B.S. Chemistry, 2007
University of Illinois
Ph.D. Chemistry, 2013
Current Position: Director, Eli Lilly and Company
Erin Davis
Smith College
B.A. History, 2007
University of Illinois
M.S. Chemistry, 2013
Current Position:
Brandon Wilcock
University of Utah
B.S. Chemistry 2006
University of Illinois
Ph.D. Chemistry, 2013
Current Position:
Tom Anderson
Brigham Young University
B.S. Chemistry, 2005
University of Illinois
Ph.D. Chemistry, 2012
Current Position:
David Knapp
Rose-Hulman Inst. of Tech.
B.S. Chemistry and B.S. Biochemistry/Molecular Biology 2002
University of Illinois
Ph.D. Chemistry, 2012
Doctor of Law, 2016
Current Position: Associate Attorney at Locke Lord LLC
Ian Dailey
Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology
B.S. Chemistry, 2006
University of Illinois
Ph.D. Chemistry, 2012
Current Position: Senior Research Specialist, Solventum
Kaitlyn Gray
Harvey Mudd College
B.S. Chemistry, 2006
University of Illinois
Ph.D. Chemistry, 2011
Current Position: Senior Principal Scientist in Process Chemistry, Pfizer
Jenna Klubnick
The College of New Jersey
B.S. Chemistry, 2008
University of Illinois
M.S. Chemistry, 2011
Current Position: Hospitalist
Dan Palacios
UC San Diego
B.S. Chemistry, 2005
University of Illinois
Ph.D. Chemistry, 2011
Current Position: Director, Medicinal Chemistry, Neomorph
Eric Gillis
Grinnell College
B.A. Chemistry, 2005
University of Illinois
Ph.D. Chemistry, 2010
Current Position: Senior Director, Head of Chemistry, ViiV Healthcare
Stella Ekaputri
Stella Ekaputri
Kyushu University
B.S. Biology, 2018
University of Illinois
Ph.D. Biochemistry, 2023
Current Position: Postdoc, Sarkis Lab, CalTech
Nicholas Angello
Nicholas Angello
College of William & Mary
B.S. Chemistry, 2017
M.S. Chemistry, 2018
University of Illinois
Ph.D. Chemistry, 2023
Current Position: Investigator, Medicinal Chemistry, GSK
Corinne Soutar
Purdue University
B.S. Chemistry, 2014
B.S. Biology, 2014
University of Illinois
Ph.D. Chemistry, 2023
Current Position: Eli Lilly
Andrew Blake
Andrew Blake
University of Maryland - Baltimore County
B.S. Biological Sciences, 2014
M.S. Applied Molecular Biology, 2016
University of Illinois
Ph.D. Biochemistry, 2022
Current Position: Postdoc, Northwestern, Rosenzweig
Wesley Wang
University of California, Berkeley
B.S. Chemistry, 2019
University of Illinois
Ph.D. Chemistry, 2024
Current Position: Post Doc at UCSF (Shokat Group)
Antonio LaPorte
North Central College
B.S. Chemistry, 2018
University of Illinois
Ph.D. 2024
Post Doc, 2024-2025
Current Position: Post Doc, Harvard (Jacobsen Group)
Co-founder of Chemetrian: www.chemetrian.com
Nolan Green
Wake Forest University
B.S. Chemistry, 2020
University of Illinois
Ph.D. Chemistry, 2025
Current Position: Visiting Assistant Professor, Swarthmore College

Postdoctoral Researchers

Suk Joong Lee
Chungnam National University
Ph.D. Organic Chemistry, 2001
Post Doc: Beak Group, 2001-2005
Post Doc: Burke Group, 2005-2010
Current Position: Senior Principal Scientist, Epigen Biosciences
Nagarjuna Palyam
Marek Majewski Group
University of Saskatchewan
Ph.D. Organic Chemistry, 2010
Post Doc: Burke Group, 2010-2013
Current Position: Principal R&D Leader, Celanese
Justin Struble
University of Pennsylvania
Jeff Bode Group
Ph.D. Organic Chemistry, 2009
Post Doc: Burke Group, 2009-2014
Current Position: Principal Research Scientist, Bayer Crop Science
Souvik Rakshit
Post Doc: Dalibor Sames Group, 2010-2013
Post Doc: Burke Group, 2013-2014
Current Position: Process Development Manager, BASF
Ian Crouch
University of Texas at San Antonio
Doug Frantz Group
Ph.D., Organic Chemistry, 2013
Post Doc: Burke Group, 2013-2017
Current Position: Senior Scientist, J-Star Research
Penagaluri Balasubramanyam
Biswanath Das FRSC Group
CSIR-Indian Institute of Chemical Technology
Ph.D. Organic Chemistry, 2012
Post Doc: Burke Group, 2016-2017
Current Position: Manager, Inventys Research Company
Anuj Khandelwal
University of Kansas
Brian Blagg Group
Ph.D. Medicinal Chemistry, 2016
Post Doc: Burke Group, 2016-2017
Melanie Trobe
Graz University of Technology
Rolf Breinbauer Group
Ph.D. Chemistry, 2015
Erwin-Schrodinger Fellowship
Post Doc: Burke Group, 2016-2019
Current Position: Senior Postdoctoral Fellow, Technische Universitat Graz
Daniel Blair
University of Bristol Aggarwal Group
Ph.D. Organic Chemistry, 2016
Post Doc: Burke Group, 2016-2022
Current Position: Assistant Member at St. Jude Children's Research Hospital
Su Yan
Stony Brook University
Ojima Group
Ph.D. Chemistry, 2018
Post Doc: Burke Group, 2018-2022
Current Position: Scientist II, FogPharma
Ganesh Murhade
IIT-Kanpur
Ph.D. Synthesis, 2017
Post Doc: Burke Group
Current Position:
Yogesh G. Shelke
Yogesh Shelke
IIT-Bombay
Ph.D. Organic Chemistry, 2018
Post Doc: Rice University, 2018-2020
Post Doc: Burke Group, 2020-2022
Current Position: Scientist II, Medicinal Chemistry, Novo Nordisk
Jia Qiu
Shanghai Institute of Organic Chemistry
Ding Group
Ph.D. Organic Chemistry, 2020
Post Doc: Kuangbiao Liao Group, 2020-2022
Post Doc: Burke Group, 2023-2024
Current Position:
Arun Maji
Indian Institute of Technology
Debabrata Maiti Group
Ph.D. Catalysis and Methodology
Post Doc: Burke Group, 2018-2023
Research Scientist: Burke Group, 2023-2024
Current Position: Assistant Professor, University of Kentucky School of Pharmacy
Theodore Tyrikos-Ergas
Max Planck Institute of Colloids and Interfaces
Ph.D Chemistry, 2022
Post Doc: Burke Group, 2022-2024
Current Position: Center for Transformation of Chemistry
Leonidas-Dimitrios Syntrivanis
University of Bologna
M.S. Medicinal Chemistry, 2013
University of Oxford
DPhil Organic Chemistry, 2017
Jeremy Robertson Group
University of Basel
Postdoc: Tiefenbacher Group, 2018-2019
Marie Skłodowska-Curie Global Fellowship
University of Illinois
Postdoc: Burke Group, 2019-2021
Current Position: Novartis University of Basel Excellence for Life Sciences Fellow, University of Basel

Undergraduate Students

Asa Melhado
Asa Melhado
University of Illinois
B.S. Chemistry, 2005
Dave Siebert
University of Illinois
B.S. Chemistry, 2009
University of Chicago, Pritzker School of Medicine
M.D. 2013
Current Position: Director, University of Washington Sports Medicine fellowship; Team physician, Seattle Seahawks and UW Huskies; Associate professor, UW Department of Family Medicine
Linda Johnson
University of Illinois
B.S. Chemistry, 2009
University of Oxford
D.Phil, 2016
Washington University at St. Louis
MD, 2017
Gretchen Bromann
University of Illinois
B.S. Chemistry, 2010
Alan Cherney
University of Illinois
B.S. Chemical Engineering, 2010
Caltech
Reisman Group
Ph.D. Chemistry, 2015
Current Position: Associate Director at Sanofi
Nashrah Maryum
University of Illinois
B.S. Molecular and Cellular Biology, 2011
University of Illinois at Chicago
PharmD, 2015
Current Position: Senior Medical Science Liaison - Oncology
Stephanie Chang
University of Illinois
B.S. Chemistry, 2011
University of Illinois at Chicago
PharmD, 2015
Current Position: Infectious Diseasses & Antimicrobial Stewardship Clinical Pharmacy Specialist
Graham Dick
University of Illinois
B.S. Chemistry, 2010
B.S. Engineering Physics, 2010
Stanford University
Kanan Group
Ph.D. Chemistry, 2017
Post Doc: EPFL, 2017-2020
Current Position: Founder at Lygg
Sean O'Hara
University of Illinois
B.S. Chemical Engineering, 2013
Current Position: Production Engineer, BASF
Mathew Clark
University of Illinois
B.S. Biochemistry, 2013
Zixin (Laura) Chen
University of Illinois
B.S. Chemistry, 2013
Stanford University
Rao Group
Ph.D. Chemistry, 2019
Jim Tucker
University of Illinois
B.S. Chemistry, 2012
Harvard University
Shair Lab
Ph.D. Chemistry
Brooke Schuster
University of Illinois
B.S. Chemistry, B.S. Integrative Biology, 2014
University of Chicago
Tay Grou
Ph.D. Chemistry, 2021
Current Position: Biotech Equity Research Associate,
Dillon Svoboda
University of Illinois
B.S. Molecular and Cellular Biology, 2016
University of Wisconsin School of Medicine & Public Health
MD, 2021
Current Position: Resident, Yale School of Medicine
Robert Pipal
University of Illinois
B.S. in Biochemistry, 2016
Princeton University
MacMillan Group
Ph.D. Chemistry, 2021
Current Position: Senior Scientist - Medicinal Chemistry, Pfizer
Sarah Tucker
University of Illinois
B.S. Molecular and Cell Biology, 2016
Harvard University
Haigis Lab
Ph.D. 2022
Christopher Nardone
University of Illinois
B.S. Chemistry and Molecular and Cellular Biology, 2017
Harvard University
Elledge Group
PhD in progress
Eliot Rapoport
University of Illinois
B.S. Chemistry, 2018
University of Illinois College of Medicine
MD, 2022
Current Position: Internal Medicine Resident, Montefiore Health System
James Fan
University of Illinois
Urbana-Champaign
B.S. Chemical Engineering, 2018
University of Chicago Pritzker School of Medicine
MD, 2022
Current Position: Internal Medicine Resident, UChicago
Jack Feldner
University of Illinois
B.S. Molecular and Cellular Biology, 2022
UC Berkely
Ph.D. in progress
Matt Francis Group
Samantha Newman (Sami)
University of Illinois
B.S. Interdisciplinary Health, 2022
Vikram Mubayi
University of Illinois
B.S. Chemical Engineering, 2022
UC Santa Barbara
O'Malley Lab
PhD in progress
Tejashri (Teju) Venkatesh
University of Illinois
B.S. Chemistry, 2020
Current Position: Predoctoral Research Fellow - Department of Dermatology, Northwestern University
Sriya Chitti
University of Illinois
B.S. Chemistry, 2021
Goldwater Scholarship
Stanford University
NSF GRF
Fischbach Group
Ph.D. in progress
Aidan Kelly
University of Illinois
B.S. Biochemistry, 2020
David Kostyra
University of Illinois
B.S. Biochemistry, 2021
UMass Chan Medical School
MD/PhD in progress
Peng-Jui (Ruby) Chen
University of Illinois
B.S. Chemistry, 2021
CalTech
Stoltz Group
PhD in progress
Varshal Patel
University of Illinois
B.S. Molecular and Cellular Biology, B.A. Economics, 2024
Patricia Madel
University of Illinois
B.S. Molecular and Cellular Biology
B.S. Intradisciplinary Psychology, 2024
Current Position: NIH Post Baccalaureate Research Assistant
John Van Wazer
University of Illinois
B.S. Biochemistry, 2024
Ashley Hartwig
Southern Utah University
B.S. Biology, B.S. Chemistry, 2025
Burke Lab Snyder Scholar, 2024
Laura Haske
B.S. Physics, B.S. Chemistry, 2025