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
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
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
Swapnamoy Ganguly
Graduate Student
Hometown: Kolkata, India
B.S./M.S.: Indian Association for the Cultivation of Science, Kolkata, India
(Chemistry, 2024; Advisor: Rajib Kumar Goswami)
Research: Chemical Biology, Total Synthesis
Anna McCrary
Green Fellow
Hometown: Rowlett, TX
B.S.: University of Texas Dallas, Richardson, TX
Research: Chemical Biology
Lab Alumni
Karla Bravo-Altamirano
Currently: Principal Investigator, Corteva Agriscience Indianapolis, IN
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: Laboratory Supervisor at CED Analytical Laboratory, 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
Julia DiSapio
Currently: Medicinal Chemist in Early Oncology at AstraZeneca, Watertown, MA
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 (M. S., 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
Adriana Paola Claudio Vázquez (M. S., 2025)
Currently: Globe Life - Liberty National Division, T
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 and 2021)
Ariana Subhit (SURF Program, 2021)
Aditya Kolisetti (SURF Program, 2023)
Brandon Espinoza (SURF Program, 2023)
Mohamad Lababidi (SURF Program, 2024)
Rosa Kingsbury (Green Fellow, 2024)
Nicholas Forsyth (SURF Program, 2024)
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