Elijah Bring Horvath
Email address: eli.bringhorvath@utah.edu
Lab: Winter
Background:
Eli obtained his Bachelor's in Cell and Molecular Biology from Boise State University in 2019, where he researched the biology and metastatic process of ovarian cancer. He joined the University of Utah Biosciences PhD program that same year through the Molecular Biology track. In 2020, he joined the lab of Dr. Jaclyn Winter, joint with Dr. Matthew Mulvey where he studies mechanisms of antibiotic resistance and new antibiotic drug discovery and development.
Research Interests:
Microbial genomics, antibiotic development, antibiotic resistance in bacterial pathogens, natural product chemistry and biosynthesis, synthetic biology, bioinformatics.
Awards:
ARUP Graduate Research Fellowship.
3i Graduate Research Fellowship.
Albebson Lim
Email address: albebson.lim@pharm.utah.edu
Lab: Schmidt Lab
Background:
Albeb grew in the island of Oriental Mindoro in the Philippines. He got his undergraduate degree in Biology Major in Microbiology at the University of the Philippines Los Banos where he studied the bacterial community structure of Mt. Makiling soil. After graduating, he got a job as a microbiologist and cell biologist at the Marine Science Institute of the University of the Philippines Diliman under the supervision of Dr. Gisela P. Concepcion. He also got his Master’s degree in Marine Science specializing in Marine Biology at the same institution with his thesis focusing on the identification and characterization of a novel bacterium from a turrid snail. In 2018, he moved to Utah to be a Research Scholar under the Philippine Mollusk Symbiont – International Cooperative Biodiversity Group Project where he worked on isolation and characterization of mollusk-associated bacteria, and development of novel assays for screening compounds for their antibacterial, antiviral, and anti-pain properties. During this stint, he worked under the supervision of Drs. Eric W. Schmidt, Margo Haygood, Lou Barrows, and Randy Peterson. He is currently working on his Ph.D. in Medicinal Chemistry at the lab of Dr. Eric Schmidt with his dissertation focusing on elucidating the mechanism of action of turnercyclamycins. In his free time, he enjoys playing his guitar and making music, playing badminton, as well as doing classic Utah stuff such as climbing and snowboarding.
Research Interests:
Microbial natural products, microbial chemical ecology, antibiotic, antibiotic resistance, infectious disease
Awards:
Invention Disclosure Incentive (IDI) Award - Pyoluteorin and Mindapyrrole B and their use in single and combination antimicrobial chemotherapy
Aarthi Venugopalan
Email address: aarthi.venugopalan@utah.edu
Lab: Eric W. Schmidt
Background:
I received my Bachelors in Biopharmaceutical Technology from Anna University, Chennai. I completed my Masters in Biotechnology from the Indian Institute of Technology - Chennai. I worked briefly as a Program Analyst Trainee for Cognizant Technology Solutions.
Research Interests:
Biochemistry
Awards:
ARUP fellowship 2019
Erykah Starr
Email address: u1317786@utah.edu
Lab: Amy Barrios
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: Katharine Diehl
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
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: Eric Schmidt
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: Katharine Diehl
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: Katharine Diehl
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