Principal Investigator
Uttam Tambar, Ph.D.
Bonnie Bell Harding Professor in Biochemistry
Chair of Organic Chemistry Graduate Program
UT Southwestern Medical Center
Current Lab Members
Melanie Rodriguez
Postdoctoral Fellow
Hometown: Arecibo, Puerto Rico
B.S.: University of Puerto Rico, Rio Piedras Campus (UPR-RP)
(Chemistry and molecular Biology, 2014; Advisor: Eduardo Rosa-Molinar)
Research: Neural Circuits, Immunohistochemistry, Neuroscience
Ph.D.: Rutgers, The state University of New Jersey (Newark campus)
(Organic Synthesis, 2020; Advisor: Stacey E. Brenner-Moyer)
Research: Organic Chemistry, Synthesis, Medicinal Chemistry, Organocatalysis
Julia DiSapio
Postdoctoral Fellow
Hometown: Wolcott, CT
B.S.: Central Connecticut State University
(Chemistry, 2017; Advisors: Guy Crundwell and Neil Glagovich)
Research: Organic chemistry, Synthesis, Inorganic chemistry, Single crystal X-ray diffraction
Ph.D.: The University of Connecticut
(Organic Chemistry, 2022; Advisor: Amy Howell)
Research: Organic Chemistry, Synthesis, Methodology, Natural Product Synthesis, Medicinal Chemistry
Research: Natural Product Synthesis
Nate Schmitt
Graduate Student
Hometown: Des Moines, Iowa
B.S.: Texas Christian University, Fort Worth, TX
(Chemistry, 2020; Advisor: David Minter)
Research: Natural Product Synthesis, Catalytic Reactions
Tiffany Brisco
Graduate Student
Hometown: Harrison, Arkansas
B.S.: University of Central Arkansas, Conway, AR
(Chemistry, 2021 Advisor: Gregory Naumiec)
Research: Catalytic Reactions
Alexander Busse
Graduate Student
Hometown: San Diego, California
B.S.: UC Santa Barbara, Santa Barbara, CA
(Biochemistry, 2020, Advisor: Armen Zakarian)
Research: Medicinal Chemistry, Chemical Biology, Methodology
Lauren Edwards
Graduate Student
Hometown: Grapevine, Texas
B.S.: Texas Christian University, Fort Worth, TX
(Chemistry, 2020; Advisor: David Minter)
Research: Reaction Development
René José García Del Valle
Graduate Student
Hometown: San Lorenzo, Puerto Rico
B.S.: University of Puerto Rico, Río Piedras Campus (UPR-RP)
(Chemistry, 2022; Advisor: Néstor Carballeira)
Research: Methodology
Adriana Paola Claudio Vázquez
Graduate Student
Hometown: Carolina, Puerto Rico
B.S.: University of Puerto Rico - Río Piedras, San Juan, PR
(Chemistry, 2022; Advisor: José Rivera)
Research: Chemical Biology, Medicinal Chemistry
Jordan Martinez
Graduate Student
Hometown: Bastrop, TX
B.S.: Texas Tech University, Lubbock, TX
(Chemistry, 2022, Advisor: Clemens Krempner)
Research: Methodology, Catalytic Reactions
Thor Peterson
Graduate Student
Hometown: Leander, TX
B.S.: Abilene Christian University, Abilene, TX
(Chemistry, 2023; Advisor: Kathleen Lee)
Research: Catalytic Reactions
Rosa Kingsbury
Green Fellow
Hometown: Sherman, TX
Undergraduate at University of Texas, Dallas
Research: Natural Product Synthesis and Isolation
Lab Alumni
Karla Bravo-Altamirano
Currently: Principal Scientist, Medicinal Chemistry at Pfizer, Groton Groton, CT
Prasanta Das
Currently: Post-doctoral Scientist in Ashton T. Hamme's Laboratory, Jackson State University, Jackson, MS
Charles Caldwell
Currently: Retired
Arash Soheili
Currently: Web Developer, MarketSmart, College Park, MD
Ben (Xiangbing) Qi
Currently: Director of Chemistry Center, National Institute of Biological Sciences, Beijing, China
Hongli Bao
Currently: Professor, Key Laboratory of Coal to Ethylene Glycol and Its Related Technology, Fujian Institute of Research on the Structure of Matter, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Fuzhou, Fujian, China (Hongli Bao Laboratory)
Pradip Maity
Currently: Senior Scientist, Organic Chemistry Division, CSIR-National Chemical Laboratory, Pune, India (Pradip Maity Laboratory)
Yang Yu
Currently: Professor, Shanghai University, Shanghai, China.
Phong Le
Currently: Lecturer, School of Biotechnology, International University-Vietnam National University, Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam
Ling Qin
Currently: Team Leader, Pharmaron, Beijing, China
Bin Xu
Currently: Research Scientist, Medicinal Chemistry, Fibrogen, San Francisco, CA
Charles Ochoa
Currently: Teacher, Science Department, J. L. Long Middle School, Dallas, TX
Madhu Sudan Manna
Currently: Medicinal Chemist, Eikon Therapeutics, Hayward, CA
Santhi Vardhana Reddy Yetra
Currently: Medicinal Chemist, HANSOH Bio, Rockville, MD
Badrinath N. Kakde
Currently: Senior Scientist, TCG GreenChem, Inc., Ewing, NJ
Liela Bayeh (Ph.D., 2016)
Currently: Assistant Professor, Department of Chemistry & Biochemistry, Baylor University, Waco, TX.
Aaron Nash (Ph.D., 2017)
Currently: Formulation Chemistry Supervisor, Ceutical Labs, Dallas, TX
Christopher Sleet (Ph.D., 2019)
Currently: Safety Specialist II, Chemical Safety at UT Southwestern Medical Center Environmental Health & Safety, Dallas, TX
Pranamita Muhkerjee (2021)
Currently: Kolkata, West Bengal, India
Jackson Gartman (Ph. D., 2020)
Currently: Senior Scientist I in Chemistry at Abbvie, North Chicago, IL
Mohammed Sharique (Ph.D., 2021)
Currently: Process Chemist, TCG GreenChem Inc., Ewing, NJ
Vaishnavi Nair (Ph. D., 2022)
Currently: Scientist at Sanofi, Process Chemist, Cambridge, MA
Cooper Vincent (Ph. D., 2023)
Currently: Institute Research Investigator at MD Anderson Cancer Center, Houston, TX
Daniel Stroud (Summer Medical Student Researcher, 2014)
Ravi Srivastava (S. N. Bose Scholar, 2015)
John Watson (Research Technician, 2009–2010)
Anjali Chacko (Research Technician, Summer 2015)
Kyle Owens (Green Fellow, 2012–2013)
Brooke Wright (SURF Program, 2010)
Carrie Johnson (SURF Program, 2011)
Bryan Cunningham (SURF Program, 2012)
Dalton Kim (SURF Program, 2013 and 2014)
Justin Waters (SURF Program, 2014)
Justin Seay (SURF Program, 2015)
Kyle Wende (SURF Program, 2015)
Amy Zhai (SURF Program, 2016)
Raymond Turro (SURF Program, 2016 and 2017)
Michael Collins (SURF Program, 2018)
Georgia Scott (SURF Program, 2018 and 2019)
René J. García Del Valle (SURF Program, 2019)
Carlene Winkles (STARS Program, 2010)
Jose Sanchez (STARS Program, 2015)
If you are interested in being part of our laboratory, reach out! We welcome curious and motivated students and researchers.
Badrinath Kakde, Alexander Busse, Uttam Tambar, Santhivardhana Yetra, Cooper Vincent, Lauren Edwards, Nate Schmitt, Tiffany Brisco, Andres Delarosa, Melanie Rodriguez