Erykah Starr
Email address: u1317786@utah.edu
Lab: Barrios Lab
Background:
I received my BS. Chemistry degree from Rhodes College, in Memphis, TN.
Research Interests:
Therapeutics, Chemical tools, Phosphatases and Kinases
Daniel Hansen
Email address: daniel.hansen@pharm.utah.edu
Lab: Barrios Lab
Background:
Daniel received his Associates of Arts from Utah State University in 2015. He subsequently received his Bachelor's in Chemistry from the University of Utah in 2017, conducting undergraduate research in the Hill Lab. He continued to be a part of the U research community as a Lab Technician in the Shen lab. Dan then joined the Biological Chemistry program in 2019, joining The Barrios Lab in the Department of Medicinal Chemistry spring of 2020.
Research Interests:
Structural Biology, Biochemistry, Drug Development
Awards:
PITCH Honorable Mention 2020
Publications:
Cooney, I.; Han, H.; Stewart, M. G.; Carson, R. H.; Hansen, D. T.; Iwasa, J. H.; Price, J. C.; Hill, C. P.; Shen, P. S. Structure of the Cdc48 Segregase in the Act of Unfolding an Authentic Substrate. Science (80-. ). 2019, 365 (6452), 502–505. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.aax0486.
Noel Lacerna
Email address: noel.lacerna@utah.edu
Lab: Schmidt Lab
Background:
Noel earned his Bachelor's and Master's degree in University of the Philippines-Diliman. While working in his degree, he worked as a Research Assistant in PMS-ICBG program searching for compounds from mollusk symbionts with potential biological applications.
Research Interests:
Chemical cology, Natural products discovery and biosynthesis with focus on ribosomal peptides, High-throughput biological screening and protein engineering
Publications:
Lacerna et.al., Inhibition of Biofilm Formation by Modified Oxylipins from the Shipworm Symbiont Teredinibacter turnerae. Mar. Drugs 2020, 18(12), 656.
Lacerna et.al., Mindapyrroles A-C, Pyoluteorin Analogues from a Shipworm-Associated Bacterium. (2019). J. Nat. Prod. 2019, 82, 4, 1024-1028.
Garrison Nickel
Email address: garrison.nickel@utah.edu
Lab: Diehl Lab
Background:
Garrison received his Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry from Brigham Young University in 2020, where he worked with Dr. Steven Castle on developing organic radical cyclization reactions initiated by microwave irradiation. He then moved to the University of Utah for his doctoral work, where he joined the Diehl lab. He currently works on identifying reader/writer domains of nuclear proteins which interact with noncanonical histone modifications, such as histone lactylation.
Research Interests:
Metabolism, Chromatin, Epigenetics, Histone post-translational modifications, Chemical biology
Certificates:
BS Biochemistry, Brigham Young University, 2020
Awards:
Willard Eccles Fellowship 2022-23
Publications:
Singh, J.; Nelson, T.; Mansfield, S.; Nickel, G.; Cai, Y.; Jones, D.; Small, J.; Ess, D.; Castle, S. Microwave- and Thermally-Promoted Iminyl Radical Cyclizations: A Versatile Method for the Synthesis of Functionalized Pyrrolines. Manuscript submitted to J. Org. Chem. 2022.
Nickel, G.A.; Diehl, K.L. Chemical Biology Approaches to Identify and Profile Interactors of Chromatin Modifications (a review). ACS Chem. Biol. 2022, doi: 10.1021/acschembio.1c00794.
Singh, J.; Nickel, G.A.; Cai, Y.; Jones, D.D.; Nelson, T.J.; Small, J.E.; Castle, S.L. Synthesis of Functionalized Pyrrolines via Microwave-Promoted Iminyl Radical Cyclizations. Org. Lett. 2021, 23, 3970-3974.
Georgia Morgan
Email address: georgia.morgan@pharm.utah.edu
Lab: Winter Lab
Background:
Georgia obtained a Bachelors of Science from California State University, Los Angeles, in 2020. While an undergraduate, Georgia worked in the lab of Dr. Yixian Wang and was awarded two undergraduate fellowships. Georgia was also awarded the Univresity of Utah Graduate Research fellowship in 2022.
Research Interests:
Natural products, Great Salt Lake, metallophores, antibiotic resistance
Awards:
Utah Graduate Research Fellowship
Publications:
Recent Advances in Nanosensors Built with Pre-Pulled Glass Nanopipettes and Their Applications in Chemical and Biological Sensing
Jared Seale
Email address: jared.seale@utah.edu
Lab: Schmidt Lab
Background:
Jared received his Bachelor of Science in Chemistry from Boise State University in 2020. During this time, he worked in the lab of Dr. Owen McDougal and investigated acrylamide formation in potato-based food products. Jared continued his work at BSU, receiving a Master of Science in Chemistry in 2022 where his thesis focused on the identification and bioactivity assessment of plant-derived steroidal alkaloids. Following the completion of his master's degree, Jared came to the University of Utah through the Biological Chemistry track of the Biosciences Ph.D. Program, and joined the lab of Dr. Eric Schmidt in the Department of Medicinal Chemistry.
Research Interests:
Natural products chemistry and biosynthesis, drug discovery and development, chemical biology.
Awards:
N/A
Publications:
N/A
Faheem
Email address: u1360439@utah.edu
Lab: Diehl Lab
Background:
Faheem received his bachelor's degree in pharmacy from Sri Ramachandra Institute of Higher Education and Research, India. He then received his master's degree in pharmaceutical chemistry from BITS Pilani in 2020. During his time at BITS Pilani, Faheem worked in the lab of Dr. Murugesan, where he designed and synthesized novel beta-carboline analogs as potential antileishmanial agents. After a break year, he joined as a research fellow in a covid-19 project, "sySTEMs initiative," wherein he worked with a multi-disciplinary team to repurpose approved drugs for COVID-19. Faheem then moved to the University of Utah for his doctoral studies and currently works with Dr. Katharine Diehl in the Department of Medicinal Chemistry.
Research Interests:
Chemical biology, histone post-translational modifications, peptide synthesis, protein synthesis, drug discovery.
Awards:
Prof. K. Chinnaswamy gold medal for the best outgoing student in B. Pharmacy.
C.N.V.H.B Gupta Memorial gold medal for the best M. Pharm graduate.
Graduate Pharmacy Aptitude Test scholarship (2018-2020)
Tata Trusts Medical and Healthcare Scholarship (2019, 2020)
Publications:
Karan Kumar, Banoth, et al. "Design, synthesis and evaluation of novel β-carboline ester analogues as potential anti-leishmanial agents." Journal of Biomolecular Structure and Dynamics 40.23 (2022): 12592-12607.
MacRaild, Christopher A., et al. "Systematic Down-Selection of Repurposed Drug Candidates for COVID-19." International Journal of Molecular Sciences 23.19 (2022): 11851.
Faheem, et al. "1, 2, 3, 4-Tetrahydroisoquinoline (THIQ) as privileged scaffold for anticancer de novo drug design." Expert Opinion on Drug Discovery 16.10 (2021): 1119-1147.
Faheem, et al. "Druggable targets of SARS-CoV-2 and treatment opportunities for COVID-19." Bioorganic chemistry 104 (2020): 104269.
Austin Ablicki
Email address: austin.ablicki@utah.edu
Lab: Diehl Lab
Background:
Austin received his Bachelor of Science in Biochemistry from Binghamton University in 2020. During his undergraduate studies, he worked with Dr. Susan Bane on in-vitro labeling of tubulin. After college, he moved to Boston to work on the protein sciences team at a small biotech company, Compass Therapeutics, who focused on immuno-oncology. In 2022, Austin began his doctoral studies at the University of Utah through the Biological Chemistry track of the Biosciences PhD program and has joined Dr. Katharine Diehl’s lab.
Research Interests:
Chemical biology, cancer, metabolism, drug discovery.
Olivia Fisher
Email address: olivia.fisher@utah.edu
Lab: Cheatham Lab
Background:
Olivia grew up in North Carolina before receiving her undergraduate degree in Biochemistry with a minor in Computer Science from BYU in 2023. She then went through the Bioscience Biological Chemistry program at the University of Utah and joined Dr. Tom Cheatham's lab in 2024. Olivia is interested in the intersection of computer science and medicine and enhancing current computational methods.
Research Interests:
computational chemistry, machine learning, molecular dynamics simulations, computer-aided molecular design, nucleic acids
Publications:
Stern, J.; Hedelius, B.; Fisher, O.; Billings, W.M.; Della Corte, D. Evaluation of Deep Neural Network ProSPr for Accurate Protein Distance Predictions on CASP14 Targets. Int. J. Mol. Sci. 2021, 22, 12835. https://doi.org/10.3390/ijms222312835
Awards:
Goldwater Scholarship in 2021
Elizabeth Mumby
Email address: elizabeth.mumby@pharm.utah.edu
Lab: McPhail Lab
Background:
Elizabeth obtained her B.S. in Biochemistry and Biomedical Sciences from Western Michigan University in 2022. She was an undergraduate research assistant in the lab of Dr. Frederick Stull for 2.5 years (2020-2022). In addition, she was an R&D intern at Vestaron Corp. for 2.5 years (2020-2022). She joined the Bioscience BC program in August 2022.
Research Interests:
natural products discovery, pharmacology
Publications:
Biased Signaling in G Protein-Coupled Receptors: Understanding the Biological Relevance and Tools for Probing Functionally Selective Ligands Braden S. Fallon, Kathleen E. Rondem, Elizabeth J. Mumby, and Justin G. English Biochemistry 2025 64 (7), 1425-1436 DOI: 10.1021/acs.biochem.4c00871, Goyal, P.; Tao, A. J.; Mumby, E. J.; English, J. G.; Ferguson, F. M.
Measuring Ligand‐Bound Protein Complexes with Proximity Labeling: A Practical Guide. ChemBioChem 2024, 25 (10). https://doi.org/10.1002/cbic.202400073, Tao, A.J., Jiang, J., Gadbois, G.E. et al. A biotin targeting chimera (BioTAC) system to map small molecule interactomes in situ. Nat Commun 14, 8016 (2023). https://doi.org/10.1038/s41467-023-43507-5
Binding Interface and Electron Transfer Between Nicotine Oxidoreductase and Its Cytochrome c Electron Acceptor Elizabeth J. Mumby, Jamin A. Willoughby Jr., Cristian Vasquez, Niusha Delavari, Zhiyao Zhang, Christopher T. Clark, and Frederick Stull Biochemistry 2022 61 (20), 2182-2187 DOI: 10.1021/acs.biochem.2c00472
Awards:
ARUP–Blackman Graduate Student Fellowship (2022)
University of Utah Interdisciplinary Training Program in Chemical Biology T32 (2023)
Abby Wiley
Email address: abby.d.wiley@hci.utah.edu
Lab: Diehl Lab
Background:
Abby received her Bachelor's from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University in 2022 and her Master's from the University of Southern California in 2024. Her undergraduate research was focused on designing and evaluating novel organometallic compounds that enhance the inhibitory potency and selectivity against COX-1 and COX-2 enzymes. Abby's Master's research focused on histone tail proteolysis as a key regulator of gene expression and cell differentiation.
Research Interests:
Epigenetics, Chromatin Biology
Awards:
IMSD T32 2024-2025
MD Jamal Hossain
Email address: u1516787@utah.edu
Lab: Schmidt Lab
Background:
Jamal enrolled in the Bioscience PhD program in Fall 2024. He obtained his Bachelor of Pharmacy (2018) and Master of Pharmacy in Pharmaceutical Chemistry (2020) from the University of Dhaka, Bangladesh. Prior to joining the Ph.D. program, he spent nearly four years engaged in teaching and research at the State University of Bangladesh. Currently, he is conducting metabolomics- and bioassay-guided isolation of natural products from marine sponges with the goal of discovering novel therapeutics for neuropathic pain.
Research Interests:
Natural Product Drug Discovery, Ribosomal Peptides, Chemical Defenses and Ecology, Genomic Evolution, Biosynthesis, Synthetic Biology
Publications:
Bulbul IJ, Hossain MJ*, Haque MR, et al. Two rare flavonoid glycosides from Litsea glutinosa (Lour.) C. B. Rob.: experimental and computational approaches endorse antidiabetic potentiality. BMC Complement Med Ther. 2024; 24(1): 69. doi: 10.1186/s12906-024-04337-0.
Brittany Winter (Strobelt)
Email address: u1418338@utah.edu
Lab: Wang Lab
Background:
Brittany recieved her B.A. in English from BYU (2016), B.S. in Biotechnology from UVU (2021), and worked for Nu Skin from 2016-2019 in marketing and customer experience. She worked for ARUP Laboratories from 2021-2023 in a Genomics lab as a technologist, and at bioMerieux from 2023-2024 as a research associate on the Analytical Chemistry team in the R&D department. While at UVU (2020-2021), Brittany worked in a lab studying pigeons and genetic pathways of feather color variations.
Research Interests:
Epitranscriptomics
Awards:
Eliza R. Snow Student Fellowship (2014) from the BYU Humanities Center
BYU ORCA Grant for Undergraduate Research: Genre Analysis of 18th Century British Poetry Using Big Data (2014)
BYU Presidential Scholarship (2011-2015); National Merit Scholar (2011-2015)
College of Sciences Scholarly Activity Committee (SAC) Research Grant (2021) at UVU
Certified Technologist in Molecular Biology through ASCP BOC (2023)
Publications:
Domyan, Eric T., Shannon Baker, Whitney Brownlee, Brittany Burton, Kendrick Kiggins, Emily Naylor, Harrison Piper, et al. 2025. “An Integrated Investigation of SOX10 in Feather Color in Domestic Rock Pigeon (Columba Livia).” Pigment Cell & Melanoma Research 38 (6): e70061. https://doi.org/10.1111/pcmr.70061.
Perkins, B., Novis, C., Baessler, A., Sircy, L. M., Thomas, M. M., Harrison-Chau, M., Richens, A. W., Fuchs, B., Nguyen, N. X., Flint, K., Strobelt, B. M., Varley, K. E., Hale, J. S. Dnmt3a-mediated de novo methylation balances memory Th1 and Tfh cell plasticity and functionality. Under Review.