Marian is a nature-loving person who hails from Ghana. She earned her master’s degree from Illinois State University where her research was on synthesizing a protease inhibitor for Human T-cell Leukemia virus. She joined the Gerdt lab in December 2020. Marian is very interested in medicinal chemistry and so she’s excited to research into microbial natural product discovery in the Gerdt lab. During her free time, she loves to cook, read poetry, watch movies or listen to music.

Bryan was born in Indianapolis, IN, graduated from Zionsville high school, and earned a bachelor’s degree at Indiana State University. As an undergraduate, he performed research on metal-carbene complexes using computational methods such as Natural Bond Orbitals (N.B.O.) and Natural Resonance Theory (N.R.T.). In the Gerdt lab, his research focus is on chemical signaling and chemotaxis in microorganisms. He is also interested in green chemistry and is passionate about bringing more diversity to the S.T.E.M. fields by being a role model to other black people considering S.T.E.M. endeavors. In his spare time, he loves to be around people and is a huge basketball fan.

Virginia Smith received her B.S. in chemistry at a private HBCU, Bethune-Cookman University in Daytona Beach, Fl. She was a Ph.D. student in biochemistry where she was working on developing an optical approach to real-time measuring of viral RNA encapsulation, presentation and release. She graduated and currently serves as a biomedical scientist at Hesperos Inc.

Maissa Gaye received her B.S. in chemistry and M.S. in Production and Industrial Valorization of Natural Substances from the University of Reims Champagne-Ardenne (France). She was a Ph.D. student in analytical chemistry.  Her research efforts were focused on the development and application of high-throughput Ion Mobility Spectrometry (IMS) techniques to disease phenotype delineation. One of her specific aims was to probe the gas-phase structures of N-linked glycan ions and correlate structural differences to disease states. She was also investigating new IMS methodologies for the characterization of carbohydrate isomers and enantiomers.  She currently serves as a Post-Doctoral Associate at Boston University School Of Medicine.

Toya Scaggs received her B.S. in chemistry from the University of Notre Dame in 2008. After graduating she worked in Industry for a few years before attending graduate school. Toya was a doctoral graduate student studying organic chemistry in the Snaddon Research Group. Currently she serves as a Staff Scientist at Molecular Design and Synthesis Center – Vanderbilt Institute for Chemical Biology.

Neelam Khanal was a second year graduate student in the Clemmer Research Group. Originally from Nepal, Neelam completed her undergraduate degree in Columbia College, in South Carolina. She currently serves as a Process Development Scientist at Amgen.

Brittany Witherspoon received her B.A. in chemistry at West Virginia University (Go Mountaineers!). She  was working in the Brown Group as a PhD student in Organic Chemistry. Her thesis work centered on developing new enantioselective methods to access cyclobutane derivatives and applying these strategies towards the synthesis of biologically important molecules. She currently serves as  a Scientist at The Janssen Pharmaceutical Companies of Johnson & Johnson.

Nancy Ortiz received her B.S. in chemistry at Sam Houston State University and is currently a Ph.D. candidate in materials chemistry at Indiana University—Bloomington. She is investigating the kinetics of nanoparticle growth and their subsequent assembly into branched nanoparticles under the tutelage of dissertation research aims to develop novel methods for synthesizing nanoparticles with controlled structural and functional dimensionality. She is a devoted fan of the San Antonio Spurs of the NBA. Nancy graduated with her PhD in Material Chemistry in 2014 and is currently working as a chemist at Exxon Mobile in New Jersey.

Latisha Jefferies received her Bachelor’s degree in chemistry from the University of Mary Hardin-Baylor in Texas. While obtaining her Bachelors, Latisha participated in a NSF-REU summer program at Texas A&M University. Her research focused on molecular sensing of fluoride ions in water under the guidance of Prof. Francois Gabbai. In 2010, Latisha joined the Cook group and is currently exploring iron catalyzed dehydration strategies of unactivated and activated alcohols using various nucleophiles. Latisha accepted a position as a lecturer at the University of Massachusetts. She plans to defend in Spring 2015.

Jeremy Felton is from Morehead City, NC, and received a B.S. in chemistry from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill where he also became a member of NOBCChE. He is currently in his 6th year at Indiana University studying analytical chemistry, after which he hopes obtain a postdoctoral position in bioanalytical chemistry at the University of Michigan.

Jeremy graduated in 2013 and is currently a Postdoc at Michigan University.