News

September 8, 2024  Group alumnus Dr. Bhaskar Halami (PhD, 2019) assumes a principal scientist position at Alloy Therapeutics, Waltham, MA

August 18, 2024  Graduate student Ms. Samyuktha Thirukkovaluri joined our research group. Samyuktha obtained her MS in Sri Krishnadevaraya University and BS in Acharya Nagarjuna University in India. She was admitted to our PhD program in the Fall semester of 2024

August 1, 2024  Graduate student Mr. Yipeng (Criss) Yin successfully defended his PhD dissertation. Criss has accepted a position in GenScript

June 15, 2024  Group alumna Dr. Komal Chillar (PhD, 2024) accepted a scientist position from Prime Medicine

May 23, 2024  Group alumna Dr. Xi (Sissi) Lin (PhD, 2013) assumed the position of Deputy Director, R&D Strategy, Nucleic Acid Therapeutics Initiative (NATi), Singapore

April 26, 2024  Undergraudate student Mr. Nick Peterson joins our research group. Nick is a McNair Scholar. He will mainly study in our collaborator Dr. Yinan Yuan’s lab to learn techniques useful for antiviral drug development. Graduate students Mr. Reed Arneson and Mr. Alexander Apostle are his mentor

April 21, 2024  Group alumni, primarily nucleic acid chemists, Dr. Wei Tang, Dr. Bin Cao, Dr. Xi (Sissi) Lin, and Dr. Jinsen Chen recently convened at nucleic acid conferences in China

April 10, 2024  MS student Mr. Parker Harstad successfully defended his research report

March 14, 2024  Graduate student Ms. Komal Chillar successfully defended her PhD dissertation

March 12, 2024  Graduate student Ms. Komal Chillar is awarded the Spring 2024 Dean’s Award for Outstanding Scholarship

February 17, 2024  PhD student Mr. Alexander Apostle is awarded the 2024 Michigan Space Grant Consortium (MSGC) Graduate Fellowship. MSGC’s mission is to create, develop, and promote programs that reflect NASA strategic interests

January 3, 2024  Graduate student Ms. Komal Chillar is awarded the Spring 2024 Health Research Institute Graduate Fellowship

November 28, 2023  MS (course-based) student Mr. Parker Harstad joined our research group. PhD student Mr. Manoj Perera is his mentor

November 10, 2023  PhD student Mr. Yipeng (Criss) Yin won Graduate School Spring 2023 Finishing Fellowship

October 25, 2023  Undergraduate student Ms. Claire Noble joined our research group

October 20, 2023  Group posted a preprint describing long oligo (400-mer) synthesis. The key compound (polymerizable tagging phosphoramidite) needed for the synthesis is available with affordable price by contacting amidites@mtu.edu. Help to spread the word

October 9, 2023  Group Alumnus Dr. Zachary Nelson (BS, 2018) successfully defended his PhD dissertation in Wayne State University

September 8, 2023  Undergraduate researchers Mr. Joden Robinson, Mr. Daniel Middleton and Mr. William Green joined our research group. PhD students Mr. Fnu Rohith Awasthy, Mr. Alexander Apostle and Mr. Manoj Perera are their mentors

August 18, 2023  Research group recieves award from NIH to develope methods for the synthesis of sensitive epitranscriptomically modified RNAs and study their biological functions

August 10, 2023  Group Alumnus Mr. Logan Mikesell (BS and accelerated MS, 2021) published a paper in JOC

July 10, 2023  PhD student Ms. Komal Chillar won Graduate School Fall 2023 Finishing Fellowship

May 3, 2023  PhD student Mr. Alexander Apostle won Summer 2023 Health Research Institute (HRI) Graduate Research Fellowship

April 19, 2023  Undergraduate researcher Mr. David Hutchings won Chemistry Department Undergraduate Organic Chemistry Award

April 19, 2023  PhD student Mr. Yipeng (Criss) Yin won Robert and Kathleen Lane Graduate Research Award, and Ambassador Award

April 19, 2023  PhD student Mr. Alexander Apostle won Outstanding Upper-Division Chemistry Teaching Assistant Award, Outstanding Graduate Student Fellowship, and Ambassador Award

April 19, 2023  PhD student Ms. Komal Chillar won Fleming-Skochelak Fellowship, and Ambassador Award

January 10, 2023  MS graduate students (course-based) Ms. Oluwanifesimi (Nifesimi) Afolabi and Mr. Henry Lanquaye joined our research group. PhD student Mr. Alexander Apostle is their mentor

January 1, 2023  Graduate student Mr. Fnu Rohith Awasthy joined our research group. Rohith obtained his MS degree in Panjab Univeristy and BS degree in Himachal Pradesh University in India. He was admitted to our PhD program in the fall semester of 2022

October 5, 2022  Group alumna Dr. Dhananjani N. A. M. Eriyagama (PhD 2022) accepted a scientist position from MSD/Merck & Co (US)

August 22, 2022  Graduate student Ms. Fakhira Razzaq (BS, Bahauddin Zakariya University, Multan; MS, National University of Science and Technology, Islamabad, Pakistan) joined our research group

August 22, 2022  Graduate student Mr. Manoj Perera (BS, University of Peradeniya; MS, University of Colombo, Sri Lanka) joined our research group

May 10, 2022    Undergraduate student Ms. Martina Jahfetson from Finlandia University started research in our research group. PhD student Mr. Yinpeng (Criss) Yin is her mentor

April 20, 2022  Undergraduate student Mr. Lucas Prehoda is awarded the Chemistry Department Outstanding Senior Research Award

April 20, 2022  Graduate student Mr. Alexander Apostle is awarded the 2021-2022 Robert and Kathleen Lane Outstanding Graduate Student Research Award, and 2021-2022 Ambassador Award

April 20, 2022  Graduate student Ms. Komal Chillar is awarded the 2021-2022 Robert and Kathleen Lane Outstanding Graduate Student Research Award, and 2021-2022 Ambassador Award

April 5, 2022  Graduate student Ms. Dhananjani N. A. M. Eriyagama successfully defended her PhD dissertation. Dhananjani has accepted a postdoc position in Dr. Marc Greenberg’s research group at Johns Hopkins University

March 23, 2022  Group alumna Dr. Xi (Sissi) Lin (PhD 2013) has been on a position in Cargene in Singapore. Her team is developing siRNA drugs

January 25, 2022  Undergraduate researcher Mr. Allen Cureton joined our research group. PhD student Mr. Alexander Apostle is his mentor

November 18, 2021    Graduate student Mr. Alexander Apostle successfully defended his research proposal and entered research-only mode

November 18, 2021    Graduate student Ms. Dhananjani N. A. M. Eriyagama is awarded the 2022 Spring Semester Graduate Finishing Fellowship

November 9, 2021  Undergraduate researcher Mr. Bryan Horning (Chemistry) joined our research group. PhD student Ms. Komal Chillar is his mentor

November 8, 2021  Group Alumnus Dr. Jinsen Chen takes the Senior Director of Nucleic Acid Chemistry position at Hitgen Inc

September 3, 2021    Undergraduate student Mr. David Hutchings joined our research group. PhD student Ms. Komal Chillar is his mentor

August 10, 2021    PhD student Mr. Yinpeng (Criss) Yin successfully defended his ORP and entered research-only mode

July 21, 2021   Graduate student Mr. Logan Mikesell successfully defended his MS thesis. Logan will continue his graduate study in the PhD program of the Montana State University

July 1, 2021    Group alumnus Dr. Bhaskar Halami (PhD 2019) assumes a senior scientist position in Sirnaomics Inc (Maryland)

June 28, 2021    Undergraduate student Ms. Cassandra Troy from Finlandia University started research in our research group. PhD student Mr. Yinpeng (Criss) Yin is her mentor

May 14, 2021    Undergraduate student Ms. Olivera Powder (Biochemistry and Molecular Biology) joined our research group. PhD students Mr. Alexander Apostle and Mr. Yipeng (Criss) Yin are her mentor

April 22, 2021    Graduate student Ms. Dhananjani N. A. M. Eriyagama is awarded the 2021 Robert and Kathleen Lane Outstanding Graduate Research Award. Graduate student Ms. Komal Chillar and Undergraduate student Ms. Abby Schwartz win the Chemistry Department Ambassador Award. Graduate student Mr. Alexander Apostle wins Honorable Mention for Outstanding Lower-Division Chemistry Teaching Assistant

February 1, 2021    Undergraduate student Ms. Madeline Johnson (Chemical Engineering) joined our research group. PhD student Ms. Komal Chillar is her mentor

February 1, 2021    Group alumnus Mr. Brett Otto (BS MTU 2020) started working at Charles Reviver Laboratories as a Research Associate

January 14, 2021    Group alumnus Dr. Durga Pokharel (PhD 2014) now works for PerkinElmer as the company Horizon Discovery he used to work for becomes part of PerkinElmer

November 14, 2020    Graduate student Ms. Dhananjani N. A. M. Eriyagama is awarded the 2021 Spring Semester Health Research Institute (HRI) Graduate Research Fellowship

August 20, 2020    Graduate student Ms. Komal Chillar successfully defended her ORP, and entered research-only mode

August 15, 2020    Undergraduate student Mr. Logan Mikesell transferred to our Chemistry Accelerated Master’s (BS-MS) program

July 23, 2020    Research group receives award from NSF for the development of technologies for the synthesis of long oligodeoxynucleotides

May 21, 2020   Group alumnus Dr. Ashok Khanal (PhD, MTU, 2018) plans to assume a tenure-track Assistant Professor position at University of the Incarnate Word, San Antonio, Texas in August 2020. Ashok has been an Assistant Professor in Finlandia University while his wife is studying in Michigan Tech, who obtained her PhD in Biochemistry and Molecular Biology recently

April 27, 2020   Group alumnus Mr. Zachary Nelson (BS, MTU) successfully passed his PhD candidacy qualification examination in Wayne State University

April 14, 2020   Group alumnus Mr. John M. Hausman (BS, MTU) published a paper in Biochemistry. John is the first author. The paper is entitled The Two Deubiquitinating Enzymes from Chlamydia trachomatis Have Distinct Ubiquitin Recognition Properties. John is currently a PhD candidate in Purdue University

January 10, 2020   Graduate student Mr. Alexander Apostle (BS, Michigan State University) joined our research group

January 10, 2020     Undergraduate student Mr. Logan Mikesell joined our research group. PhD student Ms. Dhananjani N. A. M. Eriyagama is his mentor. Logan plans to obtain an MS degree

October 28, 2019   Group alumnus Mr. Nicholas Carlson (BS) has been on an engineering position in Honeywell UOP. On the position, he has the opportunity to enjoy visiting many beautiful places including Xi’an, Ningbo, Shanghai, Zhoushan Island, and Qingdao in China

October 24, 2019    Undergraduate student Ms. Abby Schwartz joined our research group. PhD student Ms. Dhananjani N. A. M. Eriyagama is her mentor

October 21, 2019   Graduate student Mr. Bhaskar Halami’s paper entitled Linear Oligosulfoxides: Synthesis and Solubility Studies is accepted for publication in Tetrahedron Letters. The authors are Bhaskar Halami, Dhananjani N. A. M. Eriyagama, Komal Chillar, Zack Nelson, Lucas Prehoda, Yipeng Yin, Bao-Yuan Lu, Brett Otto, Liam Haggerty and Shiyue Fang. The work is partially supported by NIH

September 19, 2019   Graduate student Mr. Shahien (Shawn) Shahsavari’s paper entitled Sensitive Oligodeoxynucleotide Synthesis Using Dim and Dmoc as Protecting Groups is accepted for publication in The Journal of Organic Chemistry. The authors are Shahien Shahsavari, Dhananjani Eriyagama, Jinsen Chen, Bhaskar Halami, Yipeng (Criss) Yin, Komal Chillar and Shiyue Fang. The work is supported by NIH

September 19, 2019   Group alumna Ms. Savannah Joslin (BS, 2019) has been an Assistant Scientist in Cayman Chemical

September 10, 2019   Graduate student Dr. Bhaskar Halami receives offer from PPD, LLC (Wisconsin)

August 14, 2019   Group Alumnus Dr. Jinsen Chen has been a senior scientist in GenScript Inc

July 30, 2019   Graduate student Mr. Bhaskar Halami successfully defended his PhD dissertation

July 8, 2019   Research group receives funding from NSF Partnerships for Innovation program for commercialization of affordable monodisperse polyethylene glycols and their derivatives

May 27, 2019   Graduate student Mr. Shahien (Shawn) Shahsavari successfully defended his PhD dissertation. He has been offered a position by Molecular Assemblies (San Diego) – a company made to the 10 Start-Ups to Watch in ACS Chemical & Engineering News in 2018

May 17, 2019   Group Alumnus Dr. Nathanael Green (BS, 2014) successfully defended his PhD dissertation at Baylor College of Medicine. He has been accepted to the prestigious Law Center of University of Houston

May 10, 2019   Graduate student Mr. Shahien (Shawn) Shahsavari’s paper entitled Electrophilic Oligodeoxynucleotide Synthesis using dM-Dmoc for Amino Protection is accepted for publication in Beilstein Journal of Organic Chemistry. The authors are Shahien Shahsavari, Dhananjani N. A. M. Eriyagama, Bhaskar Halami, Vagarshak Begoyan, Marina Tanasova, Jinsen Chen and Shiyue Fang. The work is supported by NIH

May 3, 2019    Undergraduate student Mr. Mark Franchi joined our research group. PhD students Mr. Bhaskar Halami and Ms. Dhananjani N. A. M. Eriyagama are his mentor

May 2, 2019    Undergraduate student Mr. Brett Otto joined our research group. PhD students Mr. Bhaskar Halami and Ms. Dhananjani N. A. M. Eriyagama are his mentor

April 24, 2019    Graduate students Mr. Bhaskar Halami and Ms. Dhananjani N. A. M. Eriyagama are awarded the 2019 David and Valeria Pruett Fellowship

April 8, 2019    Group alumnus Dr. Durga Pokharel (PhD 2014) accepted a scientist position in Horizon Discovery after his postdoc study in Dr. Michael Seidman’s research group at NIH

March 26, 2019    Graduate student Mr. Bhaskar Halami is awarded the 2019 Summer Portage Health Foundation Graduate Assistantship

March 24, 2019    Graduate student Mr. Bhaskar Halami was awarded the Distinction of First Place – Poster Presentation in the American Chemical Society Upper Peninsula Student Research Symposium, Northern Michigan University, Marquette, MI, March 23, 2019

February 15, 2019     Graduate student Mr. Shahien Shahsavari is awarded the Graduate School Outstanding Scholarship Award

January 8, 2019    Graduate student Ms. Komal Chillar joined our research group. Komal was admitted to our PhD program in August 2018. She obtained her BS from University of Delhi and MS from Maharshi Dayanand University Rohtak in India

January 8, 2019     Undergraduate student Mr. Owen Deming joined our research group. PhD students Mr. Bhaskar Halami and Ms. Dhananjani N. A. M. Eriyagama are his mentor

October 8, 2018    Undergraduate student Mr. Zachary (Zack) Nelson (BS 2018, Mentor: PhD Student Mr. Bhaskar Halami) is accepted to the chemistry graduate program of Wayne State University

September 5, 2018    Undergraduate students Mr. Liam Haggerty (Mentor: PhD student Mr. Bhaskar Halami) and Mr. Colton Monroe (Mentor: PhD student Mr. Shahien Shahsavari) joined our research group

September 1, 2018    Graduate student Ms. Dhananjani N. A. M. Eriyagama’s paper on non-chromatographic DNA purification is accepted for publication in Organic Process Research and Development. The authors are Dhananjani N. A. M. Eriyagama, Shahien Shahsavari, Bhaskar Halami, Bao-Yuan Lu, Fengping Wei, and Shiyue Fang. The title is Parallel, Large Scale and Long Synthetic Oligodeoxynucleotide Purification Using the Catching Full-length Sequence by Polymerization Technique. The work is supported by NSF and NIH

July 25, 2018    Graduate student Mr. Bhaskar Halami’s paper on sensitive DNA analog synthesis is accepted for publication in ChemistrySelect. The authors are Bhaskar Halami, Shahien Shahsavari, Zack Nelson, Lucas Prehoda, Dhananjani Nisansala Adikari Mudiyanselage Eriyagama, and Shiyue Fang. Among them, Zack and Lucas are undergraduate researchers. The work is supported by NIH and NSF

July 4, 2018    Graduate student Mr. Yipeng (Criss) Yin is expected to join our research group in August 2018. Criss obtained his BS from our Chemistry Department at Michigan Technological University

July 3, 2018    Four undergraduate researchers Chase McNamara, Mark Sylvester, Emily Bromley, Savannah Joslin, and their mentor graduate student Mr. Shahien Shahsavari’s paper entitled Amine Protecting Groups Deprotectable under Nearly Neutral Oxidative Conditions is accepted for publication in Beilstein Journal of Organic Chemistry. The work is supported by NIH and NSF

May 3, 2018    Undergraduate student Mr. James Gooding (Mentor, PhD student Mr. Shahien Shahsavari) graduated in May, 2018. He has been accepted to the National Institutes of Health’s Postbaccalaureate IRTA Program. He will start his study in Dr. Chudasama’s lab in June

April 25, 2018    Graduate student Mr. Shahien Shahsavari is awarded the 2018 Outstanding Graduate Student Leadership Award

April 5, 2018    Graduate student Mr. Ashok Khanal successfully defended his PhD dissertation

March 25, 2018     Three undergraduate researchers Mr. Travis Wigstrom, Mr. James Gooding and Mr. Chase McNamara, and their mentor graduate student Mr. Shahien Shahsavari’s paper entitled dM-Dim for Carboxylic Acid Protection is accepted for publication in Tetrahedron Letters. The work is supported by NIH and NSF

March 3, 2018     Undergraduate student Mr. Travis Wigstrom (Mentor, PhD student Mr. Shahien Shahsavari) plans to graduate in May, 2018. He has been accepted to the National Institutes of Health’s Postbaccalaureate IRTA Program

March 3, 2018     Undergraduate student Mr. Chase McNamara (Mentor, PhD student Mr. Shahien Shahsavari) plans to graduate in May, 2018. He has been accepted to the Dental School of University of Michigan

March 3, 2018     Undergraduate students Mr. Justin Mitchell joined our research group. PhD student Mr. Shahien Shahsavari is his mentor

November 20, 2017    Group alumna Dr. Kyrie Pappas (MTU 2010 BS) is going to join Dr. Charles Sawyers research group at Memorial Sloan Kettering Cancer Center to conduct her postdoc research

November 1, 2017     Research group receives funding from NSF I-Corps Team Program for commercialization of affordable monodisperse polyethylene glycols and their derivatives

November 1, 2017     Graduate student Mr. Ashok Khanal is awarded the 2018 Spring Graduate School Finishing Fellowship

November 1, 2017     Graduate student Mr. Ashok Khanal is awarded the Graduate School Outstanding Scholarship Award

October 27, 2017     Undergraduate student Mr. Satyen Dhamankar joined our research group. PhD student Mr. Ashok Khanal is his mentor

October 27, 2017     Undergraduate student Ms. Savannah Joslin joined our research group. PhD student Mr. Shahien Shahsavari is her mentor

September 28, 2017     Research group receives funding from NIH for developing chemistry to decorate DNA with sensitive functional groups and exploring their utility for biomedical research

August 23, 2017     Graduate student Mr. Ashok Khanal’s work on solid phase PEG synthesis is accepted for publication in Chemistry – A European Journal. The work is supported by NIH and NSF

August 22, 2017     The MRI Program at Chemistry Division of NSF awards funding to Michigan Tech for acquiring an atomic force microscope. The instrument is crucial for the success of our projects involving measuring mechanical strength of single covalent bonds and single-molecule manipulations

August 22, 2017     Graduate student Mr. Ashok Khanal is awarded the 2017 Fall Semester Portage Health Foundation Graduate Assistantship

July 1, 2017     Research group receives funding from NSF STTR Phase-I Program

May 17, 2017     Undergraduate student Ms. Anna-Catharina Wilhelm (BS, MTU, December, 2016) is accepted to the graduate program of University of British Columbia. She will start her study in the Fall semester of 2017

May 11, 2017     Undergraduate researchers James Gooding and Travis Wigstrom published a paper with their mentor graduate student Shahien Shahsavari in Chemistry Select. The authors are Shahien Shahsavari, James Gooding, Travis Wigstrom, and Shiyue Fang. The title of the paper is Formation of Hindered Arylcarbamates using Alkyl Aryl Carbonates under Highly Reactive Conditions. The work is supported by NIH R15GM109288, NSF CHE111192, Portage Health Foundation, and MTU SURF

April 19, 2017     Graduate student Mr. Ashok Khanal wins the 2016-2017 Ray E. and Eleanor K. Cross Endowed Graduate Fellowship in Chemistry

April 19, 2017     Undergraduate student Mr. Patrick Kidwell wins the 2016-2017 Outstanding Lower-Division Chemistry Teaching Assistant Award and the 2016-2017 Undergraduate Award in Organic Chemistry sponsored by the American Chemical Society’s Division of Organic Chemistry

March 15, 2017     Undergraduate student Mr. James Gooding (Mentor, PhD student Mr. Shahien Shahsavari) is awarded the 2017 Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (MTU SURF). His project is Formation of Hindered Aryl Carbamates under Highly Reactive Conditions

March 15, 2017     Undergraduate student Mr. Travis Wigstrom (Mentor, PhD student Mr. Shahien Shahsavari) is awarded the 2017 Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (MTU SURF). His project is A Novel Carboxylic Acid Protecting Group Deprotectable Under Mild Neutral Conditions

March 5, 2017     Graduate student Mr. Shahien Shahsavari (Shawn) is awarded the 2017 Summer Portage Health Foundation Graduate Assistantship

March 3, 2017     Undergraduate students Mr. Zachary Smith joined our research group. PhD student Mr. Bhaskar Halami is his mentor

January 9, 2017     Graduate student Ms. Adikari Mudiyanselage Dhananjani Nisansala Eriyagama join our research group.  Dhananjani obtained her BS in University of Peradeniya, Sri Lanka

January 9, 2017     Undergraduate students Mr. Lucas Prehoda joined our research group. PhD student Mr. Bhaskar Halami is his mentor

January 9, 2017     Undergraduate students Mr. Chase McNamara, Ms. Emily Bromley, and Mr. Mark Sylvester joined our research group. PhD student Mr. Shahien Shahsavari is their mentor

September 1, 2016     Undergraduate student Mr. Zachary Nelson joined our research group. PhD student Mr. Bhaskar Halami is his mentor

September 1, 2016     Undergraduate student Mr. Christopher Sedenquist joined our research group. PhD student Mr. Shahien Shahsavari is his mentor

July 22, 2016     Postdoc, graduate and undergraduate researchers published a paper in the area of nucleic acid chemistry in Organic Letters. The authors are Xi Lin, Jinsen Chen, Shahien Shahsavari, Nathanael Green, Deepti Goyal and Shiyue Fang. The title is Synthesis of Oligodeoxynucleotides Containing Electrophilic Groups. Xi Lin, Jinsen Chen and Shahien Shahsavari contributed equally. The work is supported by NIH R15GM109288

July 20, 2016     Undergraduate researchers Travis Wigstrom, James Gooding, and Alexander Gauronskas published a paper in Tetrahedron Letters. The authors are Shahien Shahsavari, Jinsen Chen, Travis Wigstrom, James Gooding, Alexander Gauronskas, and Shiyue Fang. The title is Tritylation of Alcohols under Mild Conditions without Using Silver Salts. The work is supported by NIH R15GM109288

April 14, 2016     PhD candidate Mr. Ashok Khanal published his paper in the area of single-molecule mechanochemistry entitled Evidence of Splitting 1,2,3-Triazole into an Alkyne and Azide by Low Mechanical Force in the Presence of Other Covalent Bonds in the Chemistry—A European Journal. The authors are Ashok Khanal, Fei Long, Bin Cao, Reza Shahbazian-Yassar, and Shiyue Fang. Ashok and Fei made equal contributions to the work. Fei and Reza are our collaborators in the Department of Mechanical Engineering and Engineering Mechanics of Michigan Tech. The work is supported by NSF 1225720

April 14, 2016     PhD student Mr. Ashok Khanal wins the 2015-2016 Outstanding Lower-Division Chemistry Teaching Assistant Award and the 2015-2016 Robert and Kathleen Lane Outstanding Graduate Student Research Award

April 14, 2016     Undergraduate student Ms. Ashley Schuman wins the 2016 Outstanding Senior Award

April 14, 2016     Undergraduate student Mr. Patrick Kidwell wins the 2016 Undergraduate Award in Organic Chemistry

March 25, 2016     Undergraduate student Mr. Travis Wigstrom is awarded the 2016 Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (SURF). His project is A Better Approach to Tritylation of Alcohols

March 25, 2016     Undergraduate student Ms. Ashley Schuman is expected to graduate from Michigan Tech in May, 2016. She will attend the graduate school of Purdue University in Fall, 2016 to pursue a PhD

January 1, 2016     Undergraduate student Mr. James Gooding joined our research group. PhD student Mr. Shahien Shahsavari is his mentor

December 1, 2015     Undergraduate student Mr. Patrick Kidwell joined our research group. PhD student Mr. Ashok Khanal is his mentor

October 15, 2015     Undergraduate student Mr. Alexander Gauronskas joined our research group. Alex is a student in the Chemical Engineering Department of Michigan Tech. PhD student Mr. Shahien Shahsavari is his mentor

May 1, 2015     Undergraduate student Mr. Travis Wigstrom joined our research group. PhD student Mr. Shahien Shahsavari is his mentor

April 10, 2015     Graduate student Mr. Durga Pokharel accepted a postdoc position in Dr. Michael Seidman’s research group at the Laboratory of Molecular Gerontology, National Institute on Aging, NIH after a short postdoc in our research group

April 10, 2015     Undergraduate student Mr. Nicholas Carlson joined our research group. Nicholas is a student in the Chemical Engineering Department of Michigan Tech. Postdoc Dr. Jinsen Chen is his mentor

January 19, 2015     Dr. Jinsen Chen joined our research group as a postdoc researcher. He obtained his PhD from Nanjing University, China

January 1, 2015     Graduate student Mr. Bhaskar Halami joined our research group

December 12, 2014     Graduate student Mr. Durga Pokharel successfully defended his PhD dissertation

December 5, 2014     Graduate student Mr. Suntara (Boat) Fueangfung successfully defended his PhD dissertation

November 12, 2014     Graduate student Mr. Suntara (Boat) Fueangfung won the Chemistry Division Superior Presenter Medal for his poster presentation at the 2014 Sigma Xi Annual Meeting & International Research Conference, Glendale, AZ, November 7-9, 2014. His presentation title is Purification of Synthetic Oligodeoxynucleotides via Catching by Polymerization (https://www.sigmaxi.org/news/article/2014/11/10/student-winners-announced-in-international-research-conference)

October 27, 2014     Group alumnus Dr. Garrett Gibbons (MTU 2008 BS) obtained his PhD from Professor Zaneta Nikolovska-Coleska’s research group in the Department of Pathology at University of Michigan. He is moving to Professors Virginia Lee and John Trojanowski’s research group at the Center for Neurodegenerative Disease Research (CNDR) at the University of Pennsylvania, Perelman School of Medicine to carry out his postdoc study

October 15, 2014     Group alumna Dr. Xi (Sissi) Lin (MTU 2013 PhD) assumed a Postdoc Researcher position in Professor Teo Yin Nah’s Research Group in Molecular Engineering Laboratory at A*Star in Singapore

September 16, 2014     Group alumnus Dr. Xiang Zhang (MTU 2011 PhD) completed his postdoc study in Professor Zhude Tu’s laboratory in Washington University St. Louis. He recently assumed a position in the Imaging Probe Development Center of National Institutes of Health. In addition, based on his work in Washington University, Xiang made two oral presentations in the 2014 Society of Nuclear Medicine and Molecular Imaging (SNMMI) conference, and both won awards. They are the first place Young Professional Committee Award in basic research and the Berson-Yalow Award (http://www.snmmi.org/Membership/Content.aspx?ItemNumber=5850)

August 15, 2014     Group alumna Dr. Wei Tang (MTU 2008 BS) obtained her PhD from Professor Richard Silverman’s research group in Northwestern University and has assumed a Scientist position in CHEMIR in St. Louis

July 15, 2014     Undergraduate student Ms. Ashley Schuman joined our research group. PhD student Mr. Ashok Khanal is her mentor

May 1, 2014     Graduate student Mr. Durga Pokharel wins the 2014 Michigan Tech Bhakta Rath Research Award

April 28, 2014    Undergraduate student Ms. Anna-Catharina Wilhelm wins the 2014 Sandretto Undergraduate Summer Research Fellowship

April 28, 2014     Graduate student Mr. Durga Pokharel wins the 2014 Chemistry Department Outstanding Graduate Student Award

April 11, 2014     Undergraduate student Mr. Nathanael Green is expected to graduate from Michigan Tech in May, 2014. He plans attend the graduate school of Baylor College of Medicine in Fall, 2014 to pursue a PhD

April 8, 2014     Undergraduate student Mr. Sean LeRolland-Wagner joined our research group

March 30, 2014     Graduate student Mr. Suntara (Boat) Fueangfung won the First Place Award for his poster presentation at ACS Upper Peninsula Student Research Symposium held at Northern Michigan University on March 29, 2014. His presentation title is Purification of Synthetic Oligodeoxynucleotides via Catching by Polymerization

March 30, 2014     Graduate student Mr. Ashok Khanal won the First Place Award for his poster presentation at ACS Upper Peninsula Student Research Symposium held at Northern Michigan University on March 29, 2014. His presentation title is Single-Molecule Probe Modification Using Copper-Catalyzed Click Chemistry

March 14, 2014     Undergraduate student Mr. Nathanael Green is awarded the Undergraduate Award in Organic Chemistry by the American Chemical Society’s Division of Organic Chemistry

February 14, 2014     Our paper published in Organic Letters and entitled Purification of Synthetic Peptides Using a Catching Full-Length Sequence by Polymerization Approach (http://pubs.acs.org/doi/pdf/10.1021/ol403426u) is covered in Michigan Tech News http://www.mtu.edu/news/stories/2014/february/story103114.html

January 15, 2014     Graduate student Mr. Shahien Shahsavari joined our research group. Shahien obtained his BS from University of California-San Diego

January 15, 2014     Undergraduate student Ms. Anna-Catharina Wilhelm joined our research group

December 13, 2013     Graduate student Ms. Xi (Sissi) Lin successfully defended her PhD dissertation

November 20, 2013     Graduate student Mr. Suntara Fueangfung is awarded the 2014 Spring Semester Graduate School Doctoral Finishing Fellowship

September 5, 2013     Undergraduate student Ms. Lucia Li joined our research group. Lucia is a student in the Chemical Engineering Department of Michigan Tech

May 23, 2013     Undergraduate student Mr. Matt Strong participated in our NSF-supported non-chromatographic peptide purification project in the summer of 2013. Matt is a student from Finlandia University. He is supported by funding from NSF

May 22, 2013     Undergraduate Ms. Chinyelu Umeokolo participated in our projects in the nucleic acid chemistry area in the summer of 2013. Chinyelu is from Wayne County Community College. She is supported by MiCUP (Michigan College and University Partnership) program. The MiCUP program is a collaborative effort between three Michigan community colleges (Delta College, Grand Rapids Community College, and Wayne County Community College District) and Michigan Tech. Its goal includes encouraging students to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) fields

April 18, 2013     Graduate student Mr. Suntara Fueangfung is named the Chemistry Department 2012-2013 Outstanding Lower Division Chemistry Teaching Assistant

April 18, 2013     Undergraduate student Mr. Nathanael Green is awarded the Chemistry Department Outstanding Senior Award and named the Chemistry Department 2012-2013 Departmental Scholar

April 18, 2013     Undergraduate student Mr. Christopher Thomas is awarded the Chemistry Department 2012-2013 Outstanding Senior Research Award and the Undergraduate Award in Inorganic Chemistry

March 22, 2013     Group alumnus Dr. Muralidhara Thimmaiah (MTU 2008 PhD) will assume a Senior Lecturer position in Washington University in September 2013

March 18, 2013     Undergraduate student Mr. Christopher Thomas is expected to graduate from Michigan Tech in May, 2013. He will attend the graduate school of University of Wisconsin-Madison in Fall, 2013 to pursue a PhD in its pharmaceutical science program

March 1, 2013     Undergraduate student Mr. Nathanael Green is awarded the Michigan Space Grant Consortium Undergraduate Research Fellowship

July 23, 2012     Dr. Bin Cao joined our research group as a postdoctoral researcher from Shanghai Institute of Materia Medica, Chinese Academy of Sciences, China

April 23, 2012     Graduate student Ms. Xi (Sissi) Lin is awarded the 2012 Ray E. and Eleanor K. Cross Endowed Graduate Fellowship and the 2012 Chemistry Department Lower Division Outstanding Teaching Assistant Award

April 23, 2012     Undergraduate student Mr. Nathanael Green is awarded the 2012 David J. and Valeria L. Pruett Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship

April 23, 2012     Undergraduate student Ms. Kaitlin Codere-Lanouette will participate in our NSF-supported non-chromatographic peptide purification project in the coming summer. Kaitlin is a student from Finlandia University. She is supported by funding from NSF

April 19, 2012     Graduate student Mr. Durga Pokharel successfully defended his Original Research Proposal. He has also finished the Cumulative Exams in this semester. As a result, he will enter the research-only mode in the coming summer

April 3, 2012     Undergraduate students Mr. Nathanael Green and Mr. Christopher Thomas joined our research group. They will start their research in the summer and fall semesters of 2012, respectively

February 12, 2012     Group alumnus Dr. Xiang Zhang (PhD 2011) assumed a postdoctoral researcher position in School of Medicine, Washington University, St. Louis

February 5, 2012     Graduate student Ms. Xi (Sissi) Lin is awarded the first place prize in Michigan Tech Graduate Research Colloquium Poster & Presentation Competition for her poster “Pt (II)-Catalyzed Isomerization of Oxo-Alkynes”. The poster is authored by graduate students Xi Lin and Zezhou Wang, and associate professors Rudy L. Luck and Shiyue Fang; and is presented on February 2, 2012

February 5, 2012     Graduate student Mr. Suntara (Boat) Fueangfung presented his poster entitled “Purification of Synthetic Oligodeoxynucleotides via Catching by Polymerization” at Michigan Tech Graduate Research Colloquium Poster & Presentation Competition on February 2, 2012. The authors of the poster are Suntara Fueangfung and Shiyue Fang

February 5, 2012     Dr. Mingcui Zhang joined our research group as a postdoctoral researcher from Anhui Normal University, China

January 8, 2012     Graduate student Mr. Ashok Khanal joined our research group. Ashok obtained his BS and MS degrees from Tribhuwan University, Nepal

November 24, 2011     Our Chemical Communications (2011, 47, 1345-1347) and Organic Letters (2010, 12, 3720-3723) papers on synthetic DNA purification are included in www.labome.org. Click the following link http://www.labome.org//expert/usa/michigan/fang/shiyue-fang-1638645.html

April 28, 2011     Undergraduate student Mr. Matthew Schultz joined our research group. Matt is supported by the 2011 David J. and Valeria L. Pruett Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship

April 25, 2011     Undergraduate student Mr. John Hausman joined our research group

April 23, 2011     Undergraduate student Mr. Travis Olds was selected as the Chemistry Department Scholar

April 5, 2011     Graduate student Mr. Xiang Zhang successfully defended his PhD dissertation

March 22, 2011     Undergraduate student Ms. Brigitte Koerner is admitted to the graduate program of School of Pharmacy in Concordia University in Mequon, WI

October 12, 2010     Undergraduate student Ms. Kyrie Pappas published a paper with graduate student Mr. Xiang Zhang, and Associate Professor Shiyue Fang in Letters in Organic Chemistry. The title is “Selective Acylation of Polyamines with Acid Anhydrides and Acid Chlorides in Water”

July 28, 2010     Our paper published in Organic Letters and entitled Scalable Synthetic Oligodeoxynucleotide Purification with Use of a Catching by Polymerization, Washing and Releasing Approach (http://pubs.acs.org/doi/abs/10.1021/ol101316g) is covered in Michigan Tech News http://www.mtu.edu/news/stories/2010/july/story29758.html; American Chemical Society, Chemical and Engineering News http://pubs.acs.org/cen/news/88/i31/8831news4.html (printed version, August 2, 2010 issue); Faculty of 1000 Biology http://f1000biology.com/article/id/4324976#cite; National Science Foundation, Science360 News Services: http://news.science360.gov/archives/20100726; and Omicron Technology Limited—PhysOrg: http://www.physorg.com/news199086389.html

July 22, 2010     Graduate student Xiang Zhang is awarded a finishing fellowship by the Biotechnology Research Center of Michigan Tech to support his research in the Fall semester of 2010

May 1, 2010     Undergraduate student Mr. Travis Olds joined our research group

April 19, 2010     Undergraduate student Ms. Kyrie Pappas won the first place award in the 9th annual MTU Undergraduate Research Expo, which took place on April 15, 2010. Graduate student Mr. Xiang Zhang was a co-author of the poster. He was responsible for teaching Kyrie lab skills for her project

April 1, 2010     Undergraduate student Ms. Kyrie Pappas is expected to graduate from Michigan Tech in May, 2010. She will attend the graduate school of Columbia University in Fall, 2010 to pursue a PhD

January 10, 2010     Graduate student Mr. Durga Pokharel joined our research group from Nepal

August 24, 2009     Undergraduate students Kyrie Pappas and Wei Tang published a paper with graduate student Xiang Zhang and assistant professor Shiyue Fang in Tetrahedron Letters, 2009, 50, 5741-5743. The title is “phenyl esters, preferred reagents for mono-acylation of polyamines in the presence of water”

May 5, 2009     Undergraduate student Mr. Brock Jackman joined our research group

May 1, 2009     Undergraduate student Ms. Brigitte Koerner joined our research group

April 8, 2009     Undergraduate student Ms. Kyrie Pappas is awarded the 2009 Michigan Tech Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (MTU SURF) for her proposal “Selective Acylation of Polyamines at Ambient Temperature”

December 26, 2008     Undergraduate student Mr. Garrett Gibbons co-authored a paper with graduate students Mr. Zezhou Wang and Ms. Xi Lin, and professors Rudy Luck and Shiyue Fang. It is entitled “Synthesis of Cyclic Allyl Vinyl Ethers Using Pt(II)-Catalyzed Isomerization of Oxo-Alkynes” and is accepted for publication in Tetrahedron. Garrett was supported by 2006 and 2007 Michigan Tech Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowships

November 1, 2008     Graduate student Mr. Suntara Fueangfung (BS, Thammasat University, Thailand) joined our research group. Suntara will be supported by the Royal Thai Government Scholarship

August 26, 2008     Undergraduate student Ms. Kyrie Pappas joined our research group

August 5, 2008      Undergraduate student Ms. Wei Tang’s paper “Mono-acylation of symmetric diamines in the presence of water” with Dr. Shiyue Fang is accepted for publication in Tetrahedron Letters. Wei’s work was partially supported by 2007 Michigan Tech Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (MTU SURF)

April 6, 2008     Undergraduate student Ms. Wei Tang is expected to graduate from Michigan Tech in May, 2008. She will attend the graduate school of Northwestern University in Fall, 2008 to pursue a PhD

April 6, 2008     Undergraduate student Mr. Garrett Gibbons is expected to graduate from Michigan Tech in May, 2008. He will attend the graduate school of University of Michigan at Ann Arbor in Fall, 2008 to pursue a PhD

March 5, 2008     Graduate student Mr. Muralidhara Thimmaiah successfully defended his PhD dissertation and started to work as a postdoctoral research associate in Professor Kerry McPhail’s research group in Oregon State University on March 1, 2008

February 25, 2008     Dr. Wenpeng Mai joined our research group as a postdoctoral researcher. Dr. Mai received his PhD from Chinese Academy of Sciences in 2007

January 14, 2008     Undergraduate student Mr. Tyler Soenen joined our research group. Tyler is a student in the Chemical Engineering Department of Michigan Tech

October 18, 2007     Graduate student Ms. Xi Lin joined our research group. Xi was admitted to our graduate program in Fall 2007. She obtained her BS from Southwest University in P. R. China

October 18, 2007     Graduate student Mr. Muralidhara Thimmaiah is awarded the Fall 2007 Finishing Fellowship by the graduate school of Michigan Tech. We congratulate Murali for the achievement and thank the graduate school and its sponsors for the generous award

October 7, 2007     Undergraduate student Ms. Melanija Obsenica joined our research group

May 05, 2007     PhD candidate Muralidhara Thimmaiah won the 2007 Michigan Tech Chemistry Department Outstanding Graduate Student Award

April 10, 2007     Garrett Gibbons and Wei Tang won the 2007 Michigan Tech Summer Undergraduate Research Fellowship (MTU SURF) to support their research on “Soft Lewis Acid-Catalyzed Cycloisomerization Reactions” and “Mono-acylation of Symmetric Diamines”, respectively

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