Lab Members

POST-DOCS

Dr. Anupama Das

Postdoctoral Fellow

Anupama received her PhD in Carbohydrate chemistry from the Indian Institute of Science, India, under the supervision of Professor Narayanaswamy Jayaraman in 2021. During the graduate program, she worked on the development of novel glycosylation methods for allyl glycosides and its application in glycan synthesis.

In 2022, she joined Professor Alexei V. Demchenko’s group as a postdoctoral researcher.

Dr. Gustavo Kashiwagi

Postdoctoral Fellow

I am a nikkei nisei born in Argentina. I received my Chemistry and PhD degree from Universidad de Buenos Aires under the supervision of Dr. Carola Gallo Rodríguez at Centro de Investigaciones en Hidratos de Carbono (CIHIDECAR).

During my PhD, I worked on strategies for the chemical synthesis of oligosaccharides found in Trypanosoma cruzi, the etiological agent of Chagas disease. After that, I moved with a postdoctoral fellowship from National Research Council of Argentina (CONICET) to work on the chemical ecology of Chagas disease vector: Triatoma infestans, under the supervision of Dr. Gabriel Manrique and Dr. Paola González-Audino. The objective of this research was centered on the control of vectors using formulations with behavioral modifiers.

Thereafter, still thinking on how to perform better strategies to obtain complex oligosaccharides, in 2021 I joined Dr. Demchenko´s group as postdoctoral researcher.

Dr. Yogesh Sutar

Postdoctoral Fellow

Yogesh received his Ph.D. degree from the Indian Institute of Science Education and Research Pune under the supervision of Prof. Srinivas Hotha. He joined IISER Pune in Jan 2016 and worked as a glycochemist. His research was supported by CSIR. His research was particularly related to “Solid-phase Oligosaccharide Synthesis”. During his Ph.D. program, he worked on the development of various linkers and the synthesis of glycosidic linkages using gold/silver catalysts. Before joining Ph.D., he worked as a lecturer for PG students for two years (2014-2015) at Dr. Babasaheb Ambedkar College, Mahad, where he earned his bachelor’s and post-graduation degrees.

 

In 2023, he joined Professor Alexi V. Demchenko’s group as a postdoctoral researcher.

STUDENTS

Kevin Burke

Undergraduate Student

I’m Kevin, and I am from Florissant Missouri.  I went to high school At Duchesne Highschool in St. Charles, where I graduated in 2020. At SLU I’m getting a B.S in Chemistry and minoring in biology, with hopes to attend medical school after graduation.

He joined the lab in 2023.

Alessandra D’Amico

PhD Candidate, F2022

Alessandra D’Amico received her Master’s Degree in Chemical and Pharmaceutical Technology from University of Catania, Italy.

She joined the Demchenko lab in July 2022

Ashley Dent

PhD Candidate, W2021

Ashley Dent was born and raised in St. Charles, Missouri. She received her Bachelor of Science degree from University of Missouri St. Louis.

She joined the Demchenko lab in January of 2021.

Cece Fitz

Undergraduate Student

Cece Fitz is an undergraduate working to get her degree in Chemical Biology and Pharmacology. She is also on the Saint Louis University Volleyball team. She hopes to go to pharmacy school and work in a hospital.

She joined the Demchenko lab in the Spring of 2023. 

Nicholas Forsythe

PhD Candidate, S2021

Nick Forsythe finished his BS in Chemistry, Emphasis in Biochemistry, from University of Missouri – St. Louis in 2021 and promptly joined the laboratory of Professor Alexei Demchenko.

Research focuses on drug design and glycan synthesis.

Daniel Hoard

PhD Candidate, F2020

Daniel Hoard graduated from the University of Missouri-St. Louis (UMSL) with a BS in Chemistry in 2020. He began his Ph.D program at the same university in Fall 2020 under Dr. Alexei Demchenko.

Transferred to St. Louis University (SLU) in 2021 with Dr. Demchenko to complete his program. His research focuses on carbohydrate synthesis techniques and hopes to branch into automated synthesis.

Leah Liu

Undergraduate Student
Leah Liu is an undergraduate student. She is from California and is currently a junior at Saint Louis University pursuing a B.S. in Biochemistry and a Spanish minor. 

Sofia Malkun

Undergraduate Student

 My name is Sofia Melkun and I was born in Argentina but moved to the United States when I was 5 years old in 2006. I received my high school diploma from St. Joseph’s Academy in St Louis in 2019. During high school, the human body has never ceased to astound me with its diverse mechanisms working together to maintain our life. It is for this reason that I decided to pursue a BA in Biology at Saint Louis University.

 After graduation, my goal is to attend medical school. Also, my plan is not only to attend graduate school to become a physician, but also to prepare for a career in research and teaching in medicine.

Emma Mize

Undergraduate Student
Emma Mize is an undergraduate student working towards a BS in Chemistry with a minor in Spanish. She is the Service chair of the Chemistry club, as well as a member of the University Honors program and the Spanish club. She hopes to one day get her PhD and become a chemistry professor. 
 
She will join the Demchenko lab in Spring of 2022.

Mariya Novakova

PhD Candidate, S2021

Mariya Iliyanova Novakova. Born on October 9, 1980 in Ruse, Bulgaria. Moved to Sliven, Bulgaria when I was 1 year old. Graduated from Foreign Languages Academy in June 1998. Moved to Saint Louis in May 2020. Graduated from University of Missouri – Saint Louis in December 2019 with a bachelor’s degree in Biochemistry and biotechnology with a minor in chemistry.

Became a member of Glycoworld (and was very happy to do so) in June 2021.

Faranak Pooladian

PhD Candidate, F2021

Faranak Pooladian was born in Shiraz, Iran. She got her Bachelor’s degree in Applied Chemistry and her first Master’s degree in Physical Chemistry in Iran. She graduated from her second Master’s in Applied Chemistry at Southeast Missouri State University in 2021. She started a PhD Program at the Saint Louis University in 2021, where she joined the laboratory of Professor Alexei Demchenko. 

Her research focuses on developing new reactions for carbohydrate synthesis.

Melanie Shadrick

PhD Candidate, F2018

Melanie Shadrick graduated from Southern Illinois University of Edwardsville with a BS in Biological Sciences in 2015 and a MS in Chemistry in 2018. She began a PhD Program at the University of Missouri-St. Louis in 2018, where she joined the laboratory of Professor Alexei Demchenko. 

Her research focuses on expanding HPLC automation to the synthesis of human milk oligosaccharides and other glycans to synthesis.

Shirley Syed

Undergraduate Student

Shirley Syed is an undergraduate student at Saint Louis University. She grew up in Decatur, Illinois and now lives in Edwardsville, Illinois. She is majoring in Biochemistry (BS) and minoring in Women’s and Gender Studies on the pre-medicine track.

She joined Dr. Alexei Demchenko’s group in Spring 2022.

Chau Ta

Undergraduate Student

Chau Ta finds instrumental analysis very captivating. The combination of various scientific theories give rise to chemical analysis instruments, such as NMR or IR spectroscopy. Once the characteristics of a compound has been identified, their optimum attribute plays an important role in many essential fields, namely everyday life or emergency medicine.

Rouzi Warrad

Undergraduate Student
Born and raised in St. Louis, Missouri, Rouzi Warrad is pursuing a B.S. in Biochemistry and a minor in biology at Saint Louis University. 
 
I am very excited to begin undergraduate research in Glycoworld come the spring 2023! 

Joey Wise

Undergraduate Student
Joey Wise is an undergraduate student working toward his B.S. in Chemistry. He was born and raised in Houston, Texas. Joey swam competitively since he was 4 years old.
 
He joined the Demchenko lab in spring 2023

Higher Purpose. Greater Good

If you are interested in applying for a graduate program we encourage you to visit the Saint Louis University Website.

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