Our Research Team
The most rewarding thing we develop as academics are the people.
Assistant Professor (2024 - Present)
Department of Chemistry at the University of Utah
Postdoctoral Research (2021 - 2024)
University of Illinois Urbana Champaign
Advisor: Prof. Jeffrey S. Moore
PhD in Chemistry (2021)
University of Florida
Advisor: Prof. Brent S. Sumerlin
BS in Chemistry (2016)
University of New Hampshire
Advisor: Prof. Erik B. Berda
REU Advisor: Prof. Yoan C. Simon
Principal Investigator
Dr. Jacob J. Lessard
Dr. Kevin A. Stewart
Postdoctoral Research Associate (2024 - Present)
University of Utah
Ph.D. in Chemistry (2024)
University of Florida
Advisor: Prof. Brent S. Sumerlin
B.S. in Biochemistry (2019)
University of Colorado, Colorado Springs
Advisors: Prof. Allen Schoffstall
and Prof. Scott T. Iacono
Postdoctoral Research Associate
Dr. Philip P. Lamkin
Postdoctoral Research Associate
Arthur C. Cope and ONE-U RAI Postdoctoral Fellow (2026 - Present)
(Joint appointment with Prof. Matthew Sigman and Prof. Taylor Sparks)
University of Utah
Ph.D. in Chemistry (2025)
University of Wisconsin Madison
Advisor: Prof. Samuel H. Gellman
B.S. in Chemistry (2019)
University of San Francisco
Advisors: Prof. William Karney, Prof. Claire Castro
(2024 - Present)
B.S. in Chemistry (2024)
Appalachian State University
Advisor: Prof. Nicholas Shaw
Graduate Student
Darya A. Ivannikava
Francesca J. Lombardi
(2024 - Present)
B.S. in Chemistry (2024)
Providence College
Advisors: Prof. Jay D. Pike, Prof. Maria Carroll, Prof. Tyler M. Stack
Graduate Student
Riley M. Grant
Graduate Student
(2025 - Present)
B.S. in Chemistry (2025)
University of Alabama at Birmingham
Advisors: Prof. Andrei Stanishevsky and Prof. Jonathan Burns
REU Advisor: Prof. Christopher Kloxin
Samuel Gibbs Medina
Graduate Student
(2025 - Present)
M.S. in Chemistry (2025)
Queensland University of Technology
Advisors: Prof. Christopher Barner-Kowollik and Prof. Bryan Tuten
Sophia Q. Vo
(2026 - Present)
B.S. in Chemistry (2025)
University of Central Florida
Advisor: Prof. Dmitry Kolpashchikov
Graduate Student
Matthew O. Jensen
Graduate Student
(2026 - Present)
B.S. in Chemistry (2026)
California Polytechnic State University
Advisor: Prof. Philip Costanzo
Undergraduate Research Assistant
Start date: 2025
Joe J. Brosz
Audrey N. McMullin
Undergraduate Research Assistant
Start date: 2025
Undergraduate Intern
Start date: June 2024
Calvin Stevenson
Start date: 2025
Undergraduate Research Assistant
Malia Adams
Start date: 2026
Undergraduate Research Assistant
Ronan McCullough
Undergraduate Research Assistant
Start date: 2026
Alex Kim
Undergraduate Research Assistant
Start date: 2026
Bhavya Rai
High School Student
Start date: 2025
Alumni
Leonie Cordes
Former masters chemistry exchange student from TU Braunschweig (2025-2026)
Next chapter: Pursing graduate school positions.
Claire M. Massouh
Former undergraduate chemistry student at the University of Utah (2024-2025). Post-undergraduate researcher (2025-2026).
Next chapter: Went on to graduate school in chemistry at the University of Texas Austin.
Katherine Davies
Next chapter: Finishing undergraduate degree
REU undergraduate chemistry student at the Sacramento City College (Summer 2026)
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Next chapter: [Future Career or Studies]
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