Current Team
Graduate Students
Julius Semenya
Julius Semenya was born in Ghana. He earned his BS in Chemistry from the Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology–Ghana, KNUST, in 2015. At KNUST, Julius investigated antimicrobial activities of Ghanaian clays and plants in Prof. Lawrence Borquaye's lab . He later earned his MS in Chemistry from Central Michigan University working on the synthesis of antioxidant dendrimers in Prof. Choon Lee's lab . In his free time, Julius enjoys cooking and playing volleyball.
Cesar Reyes
Cesar was born and raised in Texas. After serving as an active-duty member in the Marine Corps, he earned his BS in Biochemistry and MS in Chemistry at The University of Texas at Dallas (2021). At UT Dallas, Cesar investigated the use of MOFs and biomaterials for drug delivery in Prof. Jeremiah Gassensmith’s lab . In his free time, Cesar enjoys going to the beach and hiking.
Yuanjie Yang
Yuanjie Yang was born in China. In 2021, he completed the B.A/M.A program in Chemistry at Brandeis University. While at Brandeis, Yuanjie investigated iron-catalyzed C-C bond formation reactions in Prof. Hao Xu’s lab . In his free time, Yuanjie enjoys reading novels and cooking.
Kelly Biv
Kelly Biv was born in Paris, France, and moved to Lynn, Massachusetts at the age of ten. She earned a B.S. in Chemistry from Salem State University in 2022. At Salem State, she synthesized antibacterial silver nanoparticles under the guidance of Prof. Mustafa Yatin . Prior to joining our group, Kelly started her USC graduate studies under the guidance of Prof. Mark E. Thompson in 2022. There, she developed novel two-coordinate complexes for solar induced conversion of water to hydrogen gas. In her free time, Kelly likes to run, explore new places, and bake.
Chloe Ramsperger
Chloe was born and raised in Redlands, California. She earned her BS in Chemistry from Oregon State University in 2021. At Oregon State, Chloe developed hydrogen peroxide sensors in Prof. Dipankar Koley’s lab , and investigated MOFs as heterogeneous catalysts in Prof. Kyriakos Stylianou’s lab . After graduating from Oregon State, she worked as a synthetic chemist at Inpria where she focused on upscaling chemistry and developing new organotin compounds. In her free time, Chloe enjoys hiking, rock climbing, and listening to music.
Khan A. Talim
Talim was born and raised in India. He completed his BS at the University of Mumbai. In 2022 he completed his MS in chemistry at IIT Varanasi where he worked on copper-catalyzed cross coupling reactions in Prof. Jeyakumar Kandasamy’s lab . After his MS he joined Aragen Lifesciences, India where he investigated novel chemical entities pertaining to drug discovery. He is interested in catalysis, new synthetic methodologies and natural product synthesis. In his free time Talim loves to hike, cook and is a photography enthusiast.
Alex Karr
Alex was born and raised in Southern California. He graduated from the University of California Los Angeles (UCLA) in 2021 with a B.S. in Chemistry. After graduation he went on to work as a quality control analyst at Curia for two years. Curia is a global contract research, development and manufacturing organization (CDMO), offering products and services across the drug development spectrum. In his spare time Alex likes to play pickleball, go to sporting events, and hike.
Patricia Hoye
Patricia was born and raised in Chicago, Illinois. She earned her BA in Chemistry from Boston University in 2024. At BU, Patricia investigated the antimicrobial activity of pyrrolodiazepines through the synthesis of various pyrrolidinone/diazepine-fused systems in Prof. Lauren Brown's lab . In her free time, Patricia enjoys reading, crocheting, and anything musical.
Allison Shao
Allison was born in Charlottesville, Virginia, and moved to San Diego, California when she was five. She earned her BA in Biochemistry at Occidental College, where she researched photoredox/titanium dual catalysis in Prof. Jeffrey Cannon’s lab . In her free time, Allison enjoys art museums, cooking, and chocolate croissants.
Mingzhe Zhang
Mingzhe, who was born and raised in China, earned his B.S. in applied chemistry from Dalian University of Technology. He earnd his M.S. in chemistry in 2023 from UC San Diego, where he worked on chemical synthesis of decalin-containing tetramic acids under the guidance of Prof. Emmanuel Theodorakis . In his free time, Mingzhe enjoys cooking, playing video games, ping-pong, and soccer.
Undergraduate Students
Eleanor Tupper
Eleanor was born and raised in Michigan. She is currently working toward a BS in Chemistry and a BA in French at USC, expecting to graduate in 2027. Outside of classwork, Eleanor is involved in the Trojan Chemistry Club, SCout Science Outreach, and enjoys reading, weightlifting, and cooking.