Current Members
Pariksha Thapa, MS (PhD Student) – Pariksha is a PhD student in the Pharmaceutical Sciences PhD program. Her research is evaluating novel ways to target the androgen receptor using xanthones from the mangosteen fruit. LinkedIn
Vamikrishna Gone, PhD – Krisha is a post-doctoral fellow with experience in LC-MS assay development and pharmacokinetic analysis. He completed his PhD from Jawaharlal Nehru Technological University in the Centre for Pharmaceutical Sciences. LinkedIn
Kanchan Yadav, PhD – Kanchan is a post-doctoral fellow with experience in preclinical studies that include cell culture and animal models. She completed her PhD at the enrolled with Jawaharlal Nehru University (JNU), New Delhi India from CSIR-Central Drug Research Institute (CDRI) with Lucknow India. LinkedIn
Bikash Dangi, PhD – Bikash is a post-doctoral fellow in our laboratory with expertise in pharmacokinetic LC-MS/MS assay development. He completed his PhD from Sun Moon University in South Korea and BS/MS from Bangalore University in India. LinkedIn
Rocio Rivera Rodriguez – Rocio is a graduate student in the UIC College of Pharmacy focusing on natural products pharmacology and pharmacokinetics. LinkedIn
Mirielle Nauman (PhD Student) – Mirielle is investigating the role of xanthones from the mangosteen fruit for disrupting the androgen receptor in prostate cancer. She received her BS from Gordon College in Massachusetts where she studied Chemistry, Biology and Spanish. LinkedIn
Past Members
Restituto Tocmo, PhD – Resty is a post-doctoral fellow with experience isolating natural products and performing cell culture based experiments. He received his PhD in food science at the National University of Singapore and his MS at Cornell University. LinkedIn
Shital Patel, MS – Shital was the Associate Director for Research Laboratory and Operations with experience performing pharmacogenomics, cell culture, and analytical pharmacokinetic assays.
Yunying Huang, PhD – Yunying was a visiting scholar and pharmacist at Guanghzou Medical University in China. She received her PhD from Sun Yat University. LinkedIn
Jacob Veenstra, PhD – Jacob is evaluating rosemary extract for the prevention of colitis using cell culture and the DSS animal model. He received his BS from Messiah College in Pennsylvania where he studied Biochemistry. Jacob defended his PhD in April 2021 and is now a post doctoral fellow at the University of Pittsburgh. LinkedIn
Bhaskar Vemu, PhD – is a post-doctoral fellow with experience performing cell culture, animal experiments and analytical LC-MS/MS assays for pharmacokinetic related projects. He received his PhD in Veterinary Pharmacology and Toxicology and MS in Veterinary Pharmacology and Toxicology. LinkedIn
Katherine Dye, MS – Katherine is a research specialist performing analytical assays using LC-MS/MS for our pre-clinical and pharmacokinetic projects. LinkedIn
Matthew Hart – Matt is a PharmD student at the University of Illinois at Chicago. His project was to work on natural products isolation. LinkedIn
Monica Haughan – Monica was a UIC Summer Undergraduate Research Fellow (SURF) studied the bergamot fruit for cholesterol lowering properties where she received first prize during the poster symposium. She is studying pharmaceutical sciences and plant sciences at Purdue University. LinkedIn
Xiaopein Tong – Xiaopei was a masters student in clinical pharmacology from Second Xiangya Hospital of Central South University. Her project was to evaluate natural products for cancer chemoprevention. LinkedIn
Dana Jandali, PharmD – Dana graduated from Long Island University College of Pharmacy and worked on evaluating natural products for diabetes. In addition, she worked on identifying natural products for drug interactions. LinkedIn
Jonghoon Won, PhD – Jonghoon was a post-doctoral fellow studying the mangosteen fruit for androgen receptor degradation. He received his PhD from Chung-Ang University (South Korea) in Pharmaceutical Sciences. LinkedIn
Gongbo Li, PhD – Gongbo was a post-doctoral fellow studying phytochemicals for disruption of the androgen receptor. He received his PhD from Central South University in Changsha, China. LinkedIn
Sakina Petiwala, MS, MS – Sakina was a research specialist responsible for studying phytochemcials for the treatment and prevention of prostate cancer. She received her MS from UIC (Microbiology) and an MS from University of Mumbai (Immunology). LinkedIn
Miao (Mel) Yan, PhD – Mel was a visiting scholar and is professor and Director of Scientific research at Central South University. He received his PhD from Central South University and is a clinical pharmacist with a focus on Therapeutic Drug Monitoring and Toxicology. LinkedIn
Munira Kachwala, PhD – Munira was a PhD student and visiting scholar from Mumbai University. LinkedIn
Saba Berhe, MS – Saba was an MS student from the University of Basel studying rosemary for disrupting the androgen receptor in prostate cancer. LinkedIn
Atul Ramaiya, PhD – Atul was involved in LC-MS/MS analytical assay development. He received his PhD from Virginia Commonwealth University in Pharmaceutical Sciences. LinkedIn
Tracy Souvannasing, PharmD – Tracy is a clinical pharmacist and worked on the pharmacoketinetics of natural products. LinkedIn
Anastasia Shiskoff, PharmD – Anastasia is a clinical pharmacist in Oncology and worked on evaluating natural products for skeletal dysplasias. LinkedIn
Vin Ng, PharmD – Vin Ng is a clinical pharmacist at Singapore General Hospital. LinkedIn
Emily R. Householter, PharmD – Emily was a summer research student from Drake University. LinkedIn
Angela Puthenveetil, MD – Angela is a family medicine physician where she emphasizes integrative medicine in her practice. LinkedIn
Ozair Rahman, MD – Ozair was a visiting scholar while at UIC during medical school and is now a radiology resident at Columbia University. LinkedIn
Edwin Lee – Edwin was a UIC Honors Student where he studied natural products for anti-cancer activity. He is now a PharmD student at UIC. LinkedIn
Emma Bodell – Emma was a UIC Honors student where she studied the anti-cancer activity of natural products.
Elise Bowler – Elise was a UIC Summer Undergraduate Research Fellow working on natural products for cancer where she received first prize at the summer research symposium. LinkedIn
Charles Nystrom – He was an undergraduate summer research student from Wheaton College (Illinois). He is a veterinary student at Cornell University. LinkedIn
Daniel Soto – Daniel was a UIC Honors student where he studied the anti-cancer activity of natural products. LinkedIn
Joseph Sahagun – Joseph was a UIC Honors student at UIC.
Robin Varghese, PharmD – Robin was a student researcher while at UIC and went on to complete his PharmD at Midwestern University. LinkedIn
Dana Pierce, PharmD – Dana spent two summers at UIC where she studied natural products for anti-caner activity. LinkedIn